PARENTS whose son died from a rare form of cancer are inviting others to tie a yellow ribbon around their special Christmas tree in memory of their own loved ones.

Mandy and Jem Dyson have asked people to join them in celebrating the life of Matt by adding ribbons to the 24ft Christmas tree they have put up in their front garden.

People will be invited to make a donation to the Take Matt With You Trust, which funds Macmillan Cancer Care.

Matt died from nasal cancer, a rare form of the disease that just 500 people are diagnosed with each year in Britain, in June 2007.

The 23-year-old, who had a passion for fishing and his yellow MG ZR car and worked alongside his father at Joy Global Mining in St John’s as a forklift operator, left behind many friends, his parents and older brother Ben.

His mum said: “We’ve raised some money already but have been waiting until now to start properly because we were thinking about where the money should go.

“Macmillan helped Matt no questions asked and did a lot for him.”

Mr Dyson said they’d chosen the Norwegian Spruce from Leigh Sinton Christmas Tree Farm because Matt loved Christmas.

“We’re a small family and we have lost 25 per cent of ours so we wanted to do something,” he said. It was always Matt’s wish that when he recovered he would help to raise money for Macmillan.”

The Rev Duncan Ballard, of St Mark’s Church, who took Matt’s funeral, will be blessing the tree at 6pm today.

After the ceremony mince pies and hot chocolate will be handed out.

People who want to have a ribbon tied are being asked to write a short message including the name of their loved one and deliver it to the Dysons’ home at 28 Bunns Road, off Bath Road.

The tree will stay up until Thursday, January 29, when the ribbons will be available for people to collect.

The family is planning a host of other charity events for the new year.