A brave couple from West Huntspill have renewed their vows in an emotional ceremony at a hospice chapel.
Julie Trott, 53, who has secondary cancer, and her husband David, 54, held their ceremony in the chapel at Weston Hospicecare.
The couple invited 30 of their closest friends to the blessing, which was led by the Hospice Chaplain Karen Murphy.
Julie said: “We wanted it to be special and so we chose our 32nd Wedding Anniversary. We had a very small wedding originally with only two witnesses so it was lovely to be able to have our closest friends and family attend, including the Day Hospice nurses and some patients from my Tuesday group.”
“It was all about reaffirming our wedding vows in front of those we love and creating new special memories. We only have four photographs from our wedding day so it’s great to have so many photographs to remind us of this wonderful day.”
Julie and David arrived in a beautiful vintage car along with Teddybear, their ‘page dog’. Julie said: “We knew Teddy had to be a part of our special day, he’s such a big part of our family as we don’t have any children. We got him not long before I was diagnosed with secondary cancer, I thought he might be a handful but he’s been a godsend and has really helped myself and David to cope with everything.”
“So many people came together to ensure we had the most fantastic day, we loved having our family around us and my little niece Freya as my Flower Girl. I want to say a special thanks to Karen for such a beautiful service.”
“I can’t thank the Hospice enough for all the support they’ve given me throughout this journey and for arranging such a beautiful blessing for myself and David. We are very lucky to have each other and everyone who came together to make our day perfect.”
Julie is well known locally for being an active member of the campaign group that is fighting wind farm plans at West Huntspill.
Founded by the community in 1989, Weston Hospicecare provides physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual care to local people with life-limiting illnesses such as cancer, motor neurone disease and heart or lung failure. The Hospice’s care reaches out to local people in Weston, North Somerset, the Burnham-On-Sea area and border areas of Somerset providing a safe haven and source of comfort and guidance to every single person who needs it.
The hospice consists of a day hospice, a ten bed In-patient Unit, a team of Hospice Community Nurse Specialists, Hospice at home, chaplaincy and bereavement services. These complementary services work in harmony to ensure patients receive excellent specialist care, be that at home or in the Hospice, and that they and their families are cared for and reassured throughout the toughest experience they will ever face.
All of this is provided free of charge and it costs nearly £3 million every year to keep the Hospice doors open, of which only 19% is funded by the NHS. The rest is raised each year through the generosity of the local community, fundraising events, partnerships with local companies, the hospice lottery and via the network of hospice shops.
