A BRASS band is to play a poignant performance at a service to remember lost loved ones this weekend.

The Durham Miners' Association Brass Band are to perform at a remembrance service in Durham Cathedral on Sunday, in support of St Cuthbert's Hospice.

The Service of Remembering, which starts at 6.30pm, is a chance for members of the local community to celebrate the memory of their loved ones.

The event will be especially moving for band secretary Richard Quin, whose wife Jean died in St Cuthbert's earlier this year.

Mrs Quin, from South Hetton, was diagnosed with lung cancer three days before Christmas and died just four weeks later, aged 68.

Her husband is now facing his first Christmas without his wife of 47 years.

Mr Quin said: "We grew up together and were childhood sweethearts - we courted as teenagers and were married at 21.

"This year, Christmas will be the hardest thing to get through.

"It was Jean's favourite time of year - we always had the whole family over at the house and she loved cooking for everyone."

Daughter Belinda Quin, a 43-year-old, from Durham City, added: "Mum's great passions in life were Christmas and shopping.

"She would start planning for Christmas in June, and she would have easily finished all her Christmas shopping by now."

After months of planning and shopping for the family, Mrs Quin spent her last Christmas Day in hospital, with her family bringing presents to her bedside.

Miss Quin added: "The support we had as family from the hospice was tremendous, and we knew that Mum was in safe hands."

Mr. Quin has now vowed to support St Cuthbert's Hospice in any way he can.

He added: "The whole brass band is committed to getting more involved with the hospice, so we are pleased to be playing at the Service of Remembering at Durham Cathedral."

The Service of Remembering will launch the hospice's annual 'Light up a Life' appeal, which invites people to remember the life of a loved one as Christmas approaches, by making a donation to St Cuthbert's in their name.

In return, the names will be inscribed into the Hospice's Books of Remembrance.

For more information, please contact Lucy Baxter at St Cuthbert's Hospice, on 0191 3861170.