With less than a week to go, final preparations are underway for what could well be the world's biggest volunteer Christmas tree recycling service.
The house-to-house operation which covers over 200 square miles is run entirely by helpers who raise money for our local East Cheshire Hospice.
So far the number of trees registered for collection is 4,434, which means this could well be a record year for the volunteers.
A fleet of 30 vehicles will collect pre-booked trees on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th January and take them away for recycling.
Co-organiser Pete Chapman said "We can't find a similar collection anywhere that's bigger than the collection we established many years ago. We were the first to carry out such a scheme and have shared our experience and resources with at least twelve other hospices. Over the past 13 years we have raised over £350,000 for our local hospice."
The team collected more than 4,500 trees last year and ground them into mulch before it was mixed into compost for recycling back into the soil. Last year more than 48 tonnes of recycled mulch was treated in this environmentally-friendly way.
Richard Raymond said "We have a marvellous team of volunteers who work tirelessly to convert used Christmas trees into money for our local hospice by responsibly recycling them. We look to the community once again to support our efforts and we thank them for doing so.
"With the support of households throughout the post code areas of SK9, SK10, SK11, SK12 and WA16, and with the full backing of Cheshire East Council, the Collection continues to be the route of choice for the disposal of unwanted Christmas trees after the festive season so please book your trees in now."
Anyone who would like their tree collected and help make this a bumper year for the volunteers, needs to book it in by logging on to www.echtrees.org.uk or by telephoning co-organiser Richard Raymond on 01625 612025.
The suggested minimum donation is £4 but many people generously donate more knowing that every pound on their trees goes directly to the Hospice.
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