Loved ones remembered at Rotorua Community Hospice Memorial Service

Remembrance cards from the Christmas trees at Farmers. Photo / Supplied

Rotorua Community Hospice held its annual memorial service at Novotel Rotorua last Sunday.

Rotorua Community Hospice chief executive Jonathon Hagger says the service is a special time for families, whanau and friends to come together and remember those who passed away in the previous year.

He says the service has a mixture of people who speak, including members of the Hospice clinical team who read poems.

Also in the service Hospice's prayer group dedicates the remembrance cards which people put in the trees at Christmas at Farmers. The cards are then cremated at a later time.

Jonathon says there were about 120 people at this years' service.

"There was a lovely balance of ethnicities with about half the audience being Maori.

"There were also a number of families who brought children aged under 5 and they add their own special touch to the service through their presence."

He says each year Rotorua Hospice asks families and whanau to send a photo of their loved one for inclusion into a PowerPoint presentation, along with the deceased person's birth date and date of death.

"Many families find this especially special as the birth date is a very special day. The other special portion of the service is the candle lighting.

"Each attendee is invited to light a candle in memory of their loved one and this is a very moving act of remembrance. There are many emotions on display during the candle lighting."

Jonathon says some attendees at the memorial service have described it as being very healing.

"The act of coming together with other people who have experienced a loss is very comforting, and can create a sense of belonging and closure.

"Being able to see some of the nurses and carers from Hospice who provided care to their loved one is also special.

"We receive many words of thanks for the work our clinical team does. We will definitely be carrying on this special service in the future and we wish to thank Novotel Rotorua for their support."