Lighting up the season: TEC Construction brings Christmas cheer to Turnchapel

12th December 2025

Our specialist unit at Turnchapel was filled with festive cheer last week as the kind-hearted TEC Construction helped us to light up our beautiful Christmas tree – standing tall enough for our patients to enjoy its sparkle from their windows.

Thanks to TEC Construction and their local subcontractors at LTC Access and ACD Electrical – the night’s sky was lit up with hundreds of multi-coloured lights and a shining star sitting atop of the impressive tree – watched on by our nurses, patients, family members and members of our community including children from Hooe Primary Academy who graced everyone with a selection of beautifully sung Christmas carols.

Martin Bownman, Operations Director at TEC Construction, said: “We were approached by St Luke’s to say that they were looking for someone to help put an extra special touch for Christmas. We came up with the idea of putting the lights on the Christmas tree which is straight outside the patient wards. So we approached a couple of our local subcontractors at LTC Access and ACD Electrical and together we managed to get some lifting equipment here and put the lights on the tree for the duration of Christmas for the patients.”

A local Plymouth-based company, TEC Construction are no strangers to helping St Luke’s, holding an annual winter dinner and dance at Boringdon Park Golf Club, which this year raised an impressive £14,000 for our patient care.

Martin added: “It’s great to see the local community getting involved and supporting St Luke’s. It is a small thing we can do, but it is such a big thing for patients and families to actually be able to look out the window and feel the magic of Christmas.”

Pupils from Key Stage 2 at Hooe Primary Academy made the trip to the hospice, to help bring some Christmas cheer to the evening. For many of the children, it was the first time coming to a hospice, which can often be a daunting prospect.

Mr Sullivan, Key Stage 2 Lead at Hooe Primary Academy, said: “Speaking to the children around things that happen not just on a global scale but also on a local scale – I think sometimes the things that are a little bit closer to home can get missed. We talk about lots of global issues but actually having this as an opportunity to come up and visit some people who unfortunately are going to pass away at some point.

“It’s important for the children to have an experience of that and I think to do it in an age-appropriate way that’s not scary for them and not something that’s going to make them feel upset or uncomfortable or worried is really important as well, reducing that taboo and letting them know that actually it’s okay to come to somewhere like this and it’s not somewhere you have to be scared of. It’s quite a warm pleasant place to come and giving them that positive relationship, may put a positive idea in their head that it’s not somewhere they need to be fearful about.

“To be able to bring a little bit of Christmas cheer is really important to us, but also to the children to understand that not everyone is as fortunate as them and to just bring that little bit of a smile to a few people’s faces.”

Thank you to TEC Construction, LTC Access, ACD Electrical and Hooe Primary Academy, together you have helped to create a magical start to the season, bringing light, joy, and a true sense of community to our hospice.

Our care at Turnchapel

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