THERE was hardly a dry eye in Barrow's St Paul's church on Thursday night (7) as St Mary's Hospice continued their annual Light Up A Life services.

During an evening of remembrance attendees came together to reflect and remember the lives of loved ones they had lost. Looking through the order of services attendees could read more than 700 names of those who had passed away, and who were to be remembered that evening.

One of this year's surprise performers was vocal group Voce. Baritone Mark Johnson said the group were deeply moved to have been invited this year.

He said: "Light Up A Life holds a special place in our hearts. We've all lost someone in that connection. We have worked with St Mary's quite a few times over the years and hopefully many more in the future.

"It does mean a lot to us that they invited us."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Voce performing at last night’s Light up a Life service <a href="https://t.co/3sRTi1PWYW">pic.twitter.com/3sRTi1PWYW</a></p>— Jonathan Rees (@jreesNWEM) <a href="https://twitter.com/jreesNWEM/status/939116658983043074?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">8 December 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Joining the veteran performers was the school choir from nearby St Paul's C of E Junior School. Their headteacher, Ruth Webster, was proud that her young pupils understood the importance of remembrance.

She said: "We come here every month for school assemblies so they are familiar with the venue.

"They've always coped. The know it is OK for people to cry. The ethos of our school is very supportive. If someone is crying, that is OK."

The message of love and support ran throughout the entire service. Dalton doctor Sarah Richardson gave an emotional reading which reflected on the importance have having love in our lives.

She said: "I'm so thankful for St Mary's. I see first hand the difference that they make to so many people's lives. I don't know why you are here tonight as each one of us has a different story to tell, but what we all have in common is that we all know what it means to love somebody."

An important part of Light Up A Life services is that they continue the year-long fundraising drive for the Hospice. It costs almost £3m each year to run the organisation, and at the end of the service, St Mary's CEO Val Stangoe thanked everyone who helped to keep their doors open.

She said: "I would like to thank the staff and volunteers of St Mary's who deliver our services day to day. I am grateful for them and proud to work alongside them.

"The donations made tonight will be used to make sure families will be able to hospice love and support."

The third and final Light Up A Life service will be held at 3.30pm on Sunday December 10, at Cartmel Priory.

Due to the risk of adverse weather this weekend, St Mary's have asked those wishing to attend check the hospice's Facebook page in case its is forced to cancel.

If the event is cancelled, information will also be published through The Mail's website.