Due to a high number of requests, candle requests are on hold until January 2027. Find out more
Special Candle Trust

Free memorial candles for grieving families

A light to remember them by

The Special Candle Trust hand-crafts personalised memorial candles and gives them, as gifts, to families who have lost someone they love.

Request a candle Support our work

A Scottish charity based in Dundee, number SC045128. Run by volunteers and funded by our trustees since 2014.

In memory of a special young man.
Memorial candle lettered: There is no footprint too small that it cannot leave an impact on this world
No footprint too small

Our story

The Special Candle Trust was started in 2014 by a family who know what it is to lose someone close.

Many of our candles go to parents who have lost a baby at or around birth. It is a loss that is too often carried in silence. Families can leave hospital with very little support and almost nothing to hold on to, and many tell us they have no proper way to remember their child.

A candle gives them something real: their baby's name, a few words and a picture that means something, made into a keepsake they can hold, light and return to whenever they need to.

We also love what lighting a candle means. A small flame brings warmth into a dark room, and with it the light to see the beauty of what is still in front of us. That is what we hope every candle brings: a little light, given freely, in memory of someone loved.

Made around the person you've lost

Each candle has four panels framed in gold. You tell us what should go on them, and we take it from there.

Close-up of gold script reading Forever Loved on the side of a memorial candle

Their name and dates

Raised lettering in gold and silver, so their name catches the light.

Close-up of hand-lettered words on a memorial candle

Words that matter

A verse, a saying or a few words from the family, lettered by hand.

Close-up of a golden sun on a memorial candle

A picture that means something

Flowers, butterflies, a favourite animal or a team, crafted in colour.

How to request a memorial candle

Anyone can ask, for themselves or for someone they care about who is grieving. Due to a high number of requests, new requests are on hold until January 2027.

  1. Tell us about them

    Send us their name, any dates, and the words or pictures you'd like. We'll talk it through with you.

  2. We make it by hand

    Our volunteers craft the candle in Dundee, taking the time to get every detail right.

  3. It reaches the family

    The candle is sent as a gift, carefully boxed, wherever the family are.

A light for many families

We made the Our Special Children candle for the chaplaincy at Perth Royal Infirmary, on behalf of families in NHS Tayside who are grieving the loss of a baby.

The chaplain lights it at her weekly service at Perth Crematorium, so every family has a light to gather around.

The candle is perfect and will really be appreciated as a focal point for the families. Anne Findlay, Chaplain, Perth Royal Infirmary

Do you work in a hospital, hospice, neonatal unit or bereavement service? We'd love to make a candle for the families you support.

Get in touch about your service
The two founders of the Special Candle Trust, a father and son, in kilts standing together on a lawn
Our founders

From our family to yours

We started the Trust because we have lost people dear to us too.

Grief never touches just one person. It reaches partners, parents, children, grandparents and friends, and it can stay with a family for a very long time. It is one of the hardest things any of us will feel, and there is no right way or set time to carry it.

We know how hard it can be to find somewhere to put all of that. For us, lighting a candle in someone's memory became that place: a quiet moment to stop, remember and feel close to them again.

Every candle we make is our way of offering another family that same moment.

Out in the community

Since 2014 our founders, family and friends have taken the candles out to meet people, at home and abroad.

A Special Candle Trust volunteer in a high-visibility jacket beside a street stall of candles
A collection stall on the high street
A young volunteer at a Special Candle Trust stand with a German-language banner and candles on display
Our stand at a market in Germany
A runner with a Stafford Half Marathon 2018 medal holding a Special Candle Trust hoodie, beside a young girl
Running the Stafford Half Marathon for the Trust in 2018

#GuidingLight

Request a candle

Every candle is made by hand, and our trustees fund each one themselves.

We have had a very high number of requests, and we want to give every family the time and care they deserve.

Candle requests are on hold until January 2027

Due to the high number of requests, we are not taking new candle requests at the moment. Please come back in January 2027, when requests will open again.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have a question in the meantime, you can still email us at [email protected].

Questions people ask

Can I request a candle now?

Due to a high number of requests, candle requests are on hold until January 2027. Please come back then, when requests will open again.

Do you charge for memorial candles?

No. Memorial candles are always given free, as a gift, to families who are grieving.

Who can request a candle?

Anyone. You can ask for a candle for yourself, or for a family you care about who has lost someone.

Where do you send candles?

We send candles carefully boxed, wherever the family are.

Can hospitals and hospices request a candle?

Yes. We make candles for chaplaincies, neonatal units, hospices and bereavement services to use with the families they support.

How is the charity funded?

We are not funded by anyone. Our trustees pay for every candle themselves, so donations from the public let us help more families.