Memorial service for Lord Tebbit results in over £1,000 donated to My WiSH
Donations from a memorial service for former political heavyweight Lord Norman Tebbit has led to £1,015 being donated to a charity based supporting the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.
The event was held at the Church of St Margaret, in Westminster, London, and attended by family, friends, and former colleagues of Lord Tebbit. These included former Prime Minister Sir John Major, Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP (a former leader of the opposition and leader of the Conservative Party) Kemi Badenoch MP, the current leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition, and The Very Rev Joe Hawes, the Dean of St Edmundsbury Cathedral.
The money was donated to the My WiSH charity to express Lord Tebbit’s family’s thanks for the way he and his wife Margaret “were treated with kindness and professionalism” at the West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds.
The service portrayed the devotion Lord Tebbit, who died aged 94, on July 7, 2025, in Bury St Edmunds, had to his family life, including his wife who needed support from the family as she was paralysed from the chest down as a result of the IRA bombing in Brighton.
As people left at the end of the service, the congregation was greeted by the St Margaret’s bell ringers who rang Grandshire “Titum” caters, a peal rung by members of the Tebbit family in 1830 in Soham Church.
Alison Hovesen, the daughter of Lord Tebbit, said: “Our mother and father were patients at the West Suffolk Hospital over many years.
“They were treated with kindness and professionalism whichever part of the hospital they attended.
“Everyone, whether from ophthalmology, A&E, cardiology wards or porters, admin or canteen staff, showed them great kindness in their old age.
“We can’t thank you enough to know that they were so well looked after and with such kindness.”
She added: “We are aware that sometimes seemingly small things can make the difference to care at a time when patients, staff and families are feeling overwhelmed or in need of TLC (tender loving care).
“This is why we chose to donate to the My Wish Charity which supports the West Suffolk Hospital community as we wanted to enable their good work to continue.
“It is a ‘thank you’ for looking after our parents so well over many years.”
Joanne Landucci, Head of Fundraising at My WiSH and who also attended the service, said it was “an honour” to be an attendee.
She said: “It was a privilege and an honour for My WiSH charity to be chosen to be one of the beneficiaries from Lord Tebbit’s memorial service and we are extremely grateful for the wonderful donation of just over £1,000.
“This donation will ensure others can have the same high standard of care that Lord and Lady Tebbit received.”