The funeral of 32-year-old Kara Jane Spencer, the ME community’s musical sweetheart, will be held in the parish church of her home village in Derbyshire on Wednesday, 1st February.
Holy Trinity Church in the heart of the former mining village of Shirebrook is expected to be packed for the service, which will start at 11.15am – with arrangements being made for members of the community to watch online if they cannot attend in person.
The postcode for the church is NG20 8DD.
Mourners attending are invited to wear Kara’s favourite colour purple, or something else colourful.
Hundreds of online tributes to Kara and her music have been pouring in since she died on 2nd January.
And miles away in Liverpool, Edge Hill University – her alma mater, where Kara graduated 2:1 in 2012 despite significant health challenges – they too will remember her life.
The main building will be lit up in her memory and her debut album, ‘It’s Still M.E.’, played on campus all day. A second album called ‘Limbo’ is expected to be released later this year – with the help of the same musicians who volunteered to work with Kara on the first.
Kara described her time at Edge Hill as “the best years of my life.”
The university’s vice chancellor, Dr John Cater, said: “Kara’s determination to succeed and help others is an inspiration to us all. Despite her health problems she accomplished so much in life and her work to improve conditions for other disabled students has left a lasting legacy at the university.“
The family hope a world-wide live stream of the funeral service will be available on Kara Jane’s YouTube channel – but they need at least 1,000 subscribers to make it happen. It doesn’t cost a penny to subscribe!
An online Book of Remembrance has been opened on the MuchLoved website, where everyone is invited to share their memories.
In the meantime, Kara's £100,000 appeal to boost post-mortem research into M.E. and help create the world’s first-ever specialist M.E. tissue bank continues to gather pace.
The money is being collected by The ME Association and is ringfenced in a separate section of our Ramsay Research Fund.
If you have not already done so, please donate via Kara's Just Giving page:
For those able to attend, a wake will be held immediately after the church service at the Miners Welfare Club, Central Drive, Shirebrook, BG20 8B. Everyone is invited.
Close family and friends only are invited to the cremation due to limited space. This will be held at Mansfield and District Crematorium, NG18 5BJ, at 12.15pm.
The family request no flowers. Donations in lieu can be made to Kara’s Fund.
Those unable to attend can watch the livestream of the church service if they wish. The service will open with Kara’s song ‘Baby Breathe’ and close with ‘This Gift’ by Glen Hansard.
You might want to light a candle and share on social media, using the hashtag #LightforKara. The family say they look forward to connecting with as many people as possible on the day.
Tony Britton
Senior Fundraising Consultant, The ME Association
tony.britton@meassociation.org.uk Mob: 07393 805566
