A local hospice recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Christmas tree recycling campaign by collecting a record number of trees.
Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice collected over 5,000 real Christmas trees raising an incredible £106,000 over the course of a weekend during January.
The campaign, which is the charities largest fundraising campaign, sees volunteers collect Christmas trees from postcodes across Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull, before they’re recycled into compost and bio mass fuel, stopping thousands of trees from going to landfill.
Charlotte Dowling, Community and Corporate Fundraising Manager at Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice said of the campaign “With all of us being in our 3rd lockdown, the future of this year’s Treecycling campaign was uncertain, however, we worked really hard behind the scenes to ensure that we could continue in a way that was safe for everyone involved.
“This campaign relies heavily on the support of volunteers who donate their time, vans and resources to ensure that every pound donated by our supporters goes directly towards providing care and support to our patients and their families.”
It is a difficult time for the Hospice with the postponement and cancellation of events and the closure of its 17 charity shops, the Hospice relies on the generosity of the local community in order to continue offering its services free of charge. £106,000 could fund the Hospices’ care services for 4 full days, ensuring those living with life-limiting illnesses, and their families, receive the vital care and support that they need.
Charlotte added “We’re so pleased with how this year’s campaign has gone and want to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved for their support at a really difficult time.
“To local businesses and volunteers, thank you for giving up your weekend to collect Christmas trees, and to our supporters, thank you for donating and for booking your tree in with us again. £106,000 really is such an incredible amount and it will make a real difference to those who need our help!”
