FOR the last 11 years, Malvern Rotary Club has organised an annual commemoration of lost loved ones in the run-up to Christmas.

And this year is no exception, with preparations well under way for this year's Tree of Light, which will shine out over Priory Park throughout December.

As well as remembering loved ones, the initiative also raises money for good causes, and over the last 11 years more than £100,000 had been donated.

Since Tree of Light was founded, it has become a well established symbol of remembrance for people who have lost friends and family members, and once again the Malvern Gazette is delighted to offer its support.

As in previous years, members of Malvern Rotary will string lights on a 100-foot conifer in Priory Park, behind Malvern Theatres, and lights can be dedicated in exchange for a donation.

Michael Barraclough of the Rotary Club said: "The net takings this year will be split equally between Prostate Cancer Research Centre, Macmillan Cancer Support, and other charities which the Malvern Rotary Club supports through the year.

"We aim to cover the costs of setting up the tree, which are very modest, by getting sponsorship from local businesses. The actual physical work involved is mostly done by our club members."

The list of donors and lives remembered, updated regularly, together with the names of the Tree of Light's business sponsors will be displayed in the foyer at Malvern Theatre, on Rotary's website and on the Malvern Gazette's website.

They will also be printed in the pages of the Malvern Gazette over the Christmas period, a time when people's thoughts turn towards absent loved ones.

The ceremonial switching-on of the lights will be held at 6.30pm on Monday, December 1, an occasion that all are welcome to attend, and which last year attracted a large crowd, despite the winter cold.

The lights will be re-lit every evening until Twelfth Night, January 5.

Anyone who wishes to remember a loved by sponsoring a light is urged to compete the form on this page and send it off to the address shown.