by David Williams

A TIDE of human kindness is flowing in for St John's Hospice in Wirral's annual invitation to 'Light Up a Life for a Loved One' this Christmas.

Since this year's campaign was launched in last week's Globe, several thousand readers have returned the coupon which will appear each week in November in this newspaper.

Sue Dean, Fundraising Manager at St John's Hospice, a purpose-built complex next to Clatterbridge Hospital, said on Monday: "We have had lots and lots of Globe coupons arriving here each day - this morning there was a positive deluge - and our telephones have hardly stopped!"

The 'Light Up a Life for a Loved One' appeal, supported since its inception by the Globe and which last year raised a staggering £72,000, a new record, has a special place in people's hearts because it enables them to celebrate the life of a loved one in a positive and special way at such an emotional time of the year.

Said Sue Dean: "It gives people an opportunity to remember and to do so in a very positive way - it's not about mourning, it's to do with a celebration of life.

"The lights shining out from our trees in the hospice garden have become a symbol of hope and celebration for all."

The lights will be switched on at the now traditional open air carol service on Sunday, December 5 (6.30pm) by Edward Warren, principal conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orch-estra. Music will be supplied by a Salvation Army band and the choir of Weatherhead High School, Wallasey. The St John's Singers, comprising nurses and staff at the hospice, will also perform and are bringing out a new CD in time for Christmas.

The lights will illuminate the hospice garden and surrounding area until Twelfth Night (January 6).

For sponsorship of £5, members of the public can have one light donated either in memory of a loved one or as a Christmas gift for a relative or friend.

Everyone who sponsors a light will have the name of their loved one or friend entered in a Book of Honour which will be on display in the Chapel at St John's Hospice and can be viewed throughout the next 12 months.

Each light sponsor will also receive a Christmas card bearing their own name and the name of the person the light is for.

To 'Light Up a Life for a Loved One', simply complete the coupon on this page and send it to the address stated.

It costs £4,700 per day - that's £1.7 million a year - just to keep the doors open at St John's Hospice and to provide the care and other services for terminally ill patients.