The community is invited to get into the Christmas spirit and kickstart the festive season while helping to raise funds for one of the specialist teams in the Friarage Hospital.

The palliative care team and Our Hospitals Charity are hosting a Christmas fair on Wednesday, December 6 from 10am to 3pm in the Northallerton Town Hall – inviting friends, family, and local residents to come together and celebrate the festive period.

Anyone attending the fair will be treating themselves to piping hot drinks and delicious cakes whilst exploring a range of diverse stalls from local businesses in Northallerton.

Moreover, everyone is welcome to buy raffle draw tickets from the palliative care team at the fair – with all money collected going towards the team’s charity fund.

The unit will be raising funds to further enhance care by purchasing equipment that provides comfort to patients during their final moments and supports their grieving families.

The fund has, and continues to provide, heartwarming items such as memory boxes that contain keepsakes of loved ones for bereaved families.

Winners from the draw will be announced on Thursday, December 7 – with the lucky individuals standing a chance to win some attractive prizes such as gift cards and hampers, to name just a few.

Cancer care coordinator Kimberley Almond said: “The fundraising initiative is in addition to the compassionate nursing care we proudly provide in our unit. We believe that memory boxes are a valuable contribution in addition to nursing care – the psychological and emotional wellbeing of our patients is very important during their final moments as is giving a chance to their friends and families to have tokens of remembrance of their loved ones.

“We are grateful to the local community for their continued support throughout these years and we hope that everyone comes and joins us in supporting our work at the Friarage Hospital.”

The palliative care team at the Friarage supports people and their families with palliative diagnosis and consists of specialist palliative care, early palliative intervention care, occupational therapy and dietitian teams.