UP to 400 glowing fireflies have been installed in the grounds of the Dorothy House Hospice at Winsley.

They will be displayed on Tuesday, September 14 at an official opening for guests including the Deputy Mayor of Trowbridge, Cllr Graham Hill.

Artist Bruce Munro, from Kilmington, has created the shimmering installation to raise funds for Dorothy House Hospice.

Relatives who lose loved ones will be invited by Dorothy House to sponsor one of the lights in remembrance and to celebrate their life.

Mr Munro said: "The idea is to try and create this feeling of life after death and the idea the spirit does live on."

The 400 luminous fireflies have been installed by a 15-strong team in the woods in the Dorothy House grounds. Each "unique and special" light can be sponsored for a year to "celebrate the life of a loved one".

Mr Munro added: "It's for the residents who go there and their families. Each one is handmade and that's really a reminder of the individual care the hospice gives patients."

Crafted out of copper with a plume of fibre optics, the fireflies are "very reactive to wind movement," he said. "They dance a little bit like grasses in the wind.

"During the day they'll catch the light as they move but they'll come into their own after dark."

Following a dip in its fundraising income during the Covid-19 pandemic, the hospice hopes the fireflies will not only boost funds but "create a tranquil space to wander amongst and enjoy".

Don Kennedy, from the hospice, said: "After what has been such a difficult time for us all it feels wonderful that we can get together to celebrate those we love in such a beautiful way."

"Not only does this bring our community together again but we get to support ongoing vital care for patients and their families that need our help now."

Last year, Mr Munro, a world-renowned artist, created a 'ribbon of light' at Long Knoll using 120,000 CDs in tribute to the NHS.

In 2013, he transformed the same chalk hill into a giant breast for a UK cancer charity.

Beginning his career studying in Bristol, he has exhibited his incredible large scale light installations across the globe.

Local works include bespoke commissions at the Royal United Hospital and the Holburne Museum in Bath where ‘Field of Light’ was exhibited.

In Uluru, Australia, the place that inspired Field of Light, the installation is displayed indefinitely, such is its popularity.

Field of Light, Sensorio, in the United States of America, was voted number 6 in the New York Times, ‘52 must see things to do in the US in 2020’.

Bruce has worked with Cameron Macintosh to revitalise the Queens Theatre on London’s famous Shaftesbury Avenue, while further afield he has participated in an exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, as well as exhibitions in Norway, Madrid, Tennessee, Ohio, Australia and Mexico City.