A HOSPICE is helping grieving relatives create free interactive memorials to their lost loved ones.

Butterwick Hospice Care has teamed up with online memorial charity, muchloved.

com to help bereaved friends and family members build personal web pages in memory of late relatives.

The site provides templates for people to create tribute pages, which can be tailored to include videos, photographs, a biography and music.

The person setting up the page – which can either be made public or restricted to those with permission – can also invite others to contribute.

They can also be used to raise funds for nominated charities.

The hospice, which is one of the site’s official partner organisations, is offering to help bereaved relatives set up the pages, as well as raising awareness about the website.

One of the first families to be helped by the hospice to create a tribute page are the Pearces, from Sedgefield, County Durham.

Colin Pearce, 52, and sons Jamie, 23, Chris, 27, and Robert, 14, have made a memorial on the site to wife and mother Carole, who died last year, aged 50, from lung cancer.

“It has been quite therapeutic and has helped us to grieve,” said Mr Pearce.

“She was a very popular figure in Sedgefield. She worked in one of the local shops and everyone knew her for her smile – she was always smiling.”

Jamie said: “It is nice that other people can add things. I have found out stories about my mum that I didn’t know. It is good that you can keep on adding photographs and tributes to the page.”

The family has raised more than £3,300 for charities, including the Butterwick, in her memory.

The hospice provides day, respite and end-of-life care plus support to families from County Durham, Teesside, North Yorkshire and Wearside.

Spokesman Scott Marshall said: “A tribute like this provides great comfort to people who have lost loved ones.”

Anyone who would like more information about muchloved.com, or who would like some help in creating their page, is asked to contact Mr Marshall on 0164 -