Mourners invited to wear bright clothes and bring teddy bears to funeral of inspirational Padiham youngster Tia

Mourners have been asked to bring a teddy bear to Tia Taggart's funeral and these will be handed out to her classmates as a keepsake of her.

The funeral of Tia Taggart will be held on Friday, April 26th, and mourners have been asked to wear her favourite colours, pink and purple, or any other bright shades, as her family want the day to be a celebration of her life.

A mass will be held at St John the Baptist RC Church in Padiham at noon, which the public are invited to attend.

A horse drawn carriage will lead the funeral cortege.

The mass will be followed by private cremation and a wake at Rosegrove Unity Club in Burnley for family and friends only.

As a tribute for Tia, her family have asked that instead of bringing flowers to the church, people bring a small teddy bear as that was her favourite toy.

These will then be handed out to the children at St John the Baptist RC Primary School where Tia was a pupil.

There will be a collection box in church for Derian House children's hospice who helped Tia's family to look after her. Any donations can also be made through the funeral directors, Alderson and Horan in Rossendale Road, Burnley.

Hundreds of tributes have been paid to Tia who died just a couple of weeks after her 10th birthday.

Her wish to receive as a many cards as possible came true and she was sent 3,000 from well wishers around the world along with dozens of presents and gifts.

Tia, underwent treatment at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital since she was first diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer called Ewing Sarcoma.

The brave youngster underwent chemotherapy for tumours in her pelvis and legs as well as rounds of radiotherapy to treat her bone and lung cancers.

Despite everything Tia went through she was always determined to help others and was a loyal fundraiser for the hospital’s charity raising thousands through her unique Jet Set Angels scheme.

This was a project that started off as a classroom challenge by Tia’s teacher Mrs Carol Carlile.

Children and staff started off making the tiny angels which ended up being sent around the world and championed by dozens of celebrities and even members of the Royal family.