A grieving father has honoured his late daughter by illuminating every gravestone in the cemetery where she rests.

Harley-Rose Hawes died in March 2024 at the age of four after being born with DiGeorge syndrome, a rare genetic disorder.

Over Christmas, her dad, Dave Hawes decided to place about 400 lights, one for each gravestone, at Badshot Lea Cemetery, where Harley-Rose is buried.

This festive season was particularly hard for Dave and Harley-Rose's mum, Elly Percy, as it was their first without their child.

To keep Harley-Rose’s memory alive, and to show unity with other grieving relatives, Dave decided to light up the graves.

Dave said the lights at the cemetery meant Harley-Rose was there in spirit, putting smiles on people's faces as she had done in life.

Dave, who lives in Aldershot, was inspired by the memorial graves light-up in his hometown’s military cemetery, which takes place every Remembrance Sunday.

On Christmas Eve, Dave spent four hours with his family and friends installing the lights at Badshot Lea Cemetery.

He said the light-up had “given me peace.”

“I needed to do this to help me, but I’m glad to see more and more people are coming down too and doing something special for their loved ones,” he said.

“I just wish they put their names on the flowers at Harley’s grave so I can thank them.”

DiGeorge syndrome is caused by a condition called 22q11 deletion, where a small amount of genetic material is missing from a person's chromosome.

Harley-Rose was never discouraged by her symptoms and, despite the challenges she faced, the youngster was always smiling.

She was also a huge Peppa Pig fan, and anyone who visits her resting place will see the numerous Peppa Pig toys laid there by her friends and family.

As well as the illuminations on Christmas Eve, on December 31, family and friends joined Elly and Dave at the cemetery to light sparklers and celebrate the arrival of the new year.

In recent months, Elly and Dave have run several fundraising events to donate money to The Ridgeway School, where Harley-Rose attended.

Dave also plans to create a notice board of all the positive messages he has received since displaying the lights. He hopes to make the gravestone light-up an annual event each Christmas, both to remember Harley-Rose and to encourage people to visit the cemetery.