I NEVER met Yvonne Rowe, but reading the tributes that flooded in following her death aged 81 in the hospice she helped to found, it is clear she was a remarkable woman. Not many people leave behind the kind of legacy that she has for their home town by helping to create somewhere like St Teresa’s.

While nursing a friend with cancer in 1985, she wrote a letter to The Northern Echo and sister paper the Darlington and Stockton Times which led to a public meeting being called – the first step along the road to the hospice’s formation. In another letter to this paper just two years ago, she described her feelings at the time.

“How I wished we had a hospice in Darlington so that my friend could be cared for so expertly,” she wrote. “I was inspired to write to our local papers, asking if we could set up a hospice in Darlington. Miraculously, it was the spark that set up our wonderful St Teresa’s Hospice which has gone from strength to strength over the years.

“Sadly my friend died before this could happen, but I feel it was the good that came out of a bad situation, and so many more people have been and are being helped instead of just one.”

Finding the good in a bad situation is not always easy, but the way the community of Darlington and the surrounding area came together to heed her call speaks volumes for the can-do attitude of people living here.

That spirit continues, with St Teresa’s raising millions every year to meet its running costs.

The region’s other hospices face the same challenges, relying on dedicated fundraising teams, volunteers and donations.

A very close friend of mine died in Teesside Hospice in March after a long fight with cancer. The care she and her family received was second to none.

To try and give something back, a big group of friends and family took part in one of the hospice’s biggest annual fundraisers, its midnight walk in Redcar and Marske.

I’m not really a glow-sticks or face paint kind of person, and the “’Clubbacise” high-energy dance warm-up wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, but the positivity of those taking part was infectious.

Most had the hospice to thank for caring for a lost loved one, but instead of sadness, the overwhelming emotion (and goodness me, it was emotional) was a powerful feeling of people coming together for a common good.

It was a tiny, tiny taste of what inspired Mrs Rowe all those years ago – honouring the memory of our friends or family members by doing something to help people who might need similar support in the future.

Of course, walking along Redcar seafront in a pink T-shirt isn’t quite the same as dedicating decades to the cause as Mrs Rowe did – and it is incredibly fitting that a lasting tribute to her will see her name become a permanent fixture on the St Teresa’s memory tree.

The hospice’s motto is “giving to life” – and that is exactly what she did in giving people the chance to make end of life choices that are right for them, all while bringing a community together.

Our sincere condolences go to her husband Alan, family and friends.