Tree-mendous effort raising over £90,000 for local hospice

Volunteers are celebrating after completing the 18th annual Christmas Tree Collection over the weekend.

An army of volunteers braved the cold and were out and about collecting pre-booked on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th January.

So far this year's collection has raised over £90,000 for East Cheshire Hospice, to help meet its fundraising need for £7,500 per day to cover running costs. Almost 7000 trees were collected across the two days for recycling.

The East Cheshire Hospice Christmas Tree Collection, which was awarded a Queen's Award for Voluntary Service last year, is believed to be the world's largest, volunteer led, Christmas Tree Collection and Recycling Scheme. Since 2001 over £800,000 has been donated to East Cheshire Hospice by supporters of the Christmas Tree Collection.

One of the organisers, said "A huge thank you to our helper heroes who did a stellar job this weekend and an even bigger thank you for your incredible generosity! Final figures coming soon..."

New for this year, members of the public were able to donate online when registering their tree, which organisers say has been a big help for their administration.

If you wish to support the collection in this the Hospice's 30th anniversary year, click here.

Volunteers were joined by Tatton MP and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Esther McVey on Saturday morning.

Esther McVey said "I had a fantastic day with volunteers for the East Cheshire Hospice Christmas Tree collection, and seeing how the community comes together to make this happen is incredible. From those providing mulching machines, route optimisation software for the vans or the catering for all the volunteers, it is clear the support this event has from all and how much everyone enjoyed being a part of it. It is the biggest fundraising event of the year for the hospice and as a result of its success, 42 other hospices around the country have adopted the ECH model of tree collection.

"It is the perfect fundraiser, providing a service people need, raising money for this vital local charity with an environmentally friendly outcome. It was a pleasure to be able to spend time with the ECH volunteers and I look forward to our 19th collection next year."

Tags:
East Cheshire Hospice, East Cheshire Hospice Christmas Tree Collection
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Duncan Herald
Thursday 18th January 2018 at 1:13 pm
very, very, very, very, well done by all involved!
Charlie Gaughan
Tuesday 23rd January 2018 at 4:50 pm
Well done