A ‘treemendous’ haul of Christmas trees leads to thousands

A bumper crop of trees teamed with a whole heap of generosity means a our Christmas tree recycling service has managed to raise its biggest total, more than £7,000.

For the past few years, our  House Clearance Team have paused their usual activities at the start of January and instead focused their attention on the organisation’s Christmas tree recycling service.

With the ongoing pandemic and changing situation, it was uncertain if the service would be able to run in 2021. However, following all government guidelines and with the help of Urban Forestry (Bury St Edmunds) Ltd, the team were able to continue.

The take-up for the service this year was incredibly popular and resulted in 1,850 trees being collected, the biggest standing at an impressive 17ft. The generosity of those making donations to use the service means a total of £7,280 (some donations including Gift Aid) has been raised, more than ever before. Last year the team picked up 800 trees and raised £3,000.

Darren Devine, the Hospice’s house clearance and retail support manager, said: “We are so grateful to everyone who booked a tree collection with us and made a donation towards the charity’s work.

“The year 2020, and the start of 2021 have been extremely uncertain times for everyone, which made being able to run our Christmas Tree Recycling Service even more important for the team and the hospice. The response we had from the public was fantastic, and I am so pleased that so many people supported us.

“I would also like to say a big thank you to Urban Forestry (Bury St Edmunds) Ltd for their support. They helped to make this year’s collections possible, and their kindness means that all of the funds raised will go straight towards helping the hospice, and they will make a huge difference.”

The trees, which were collected from across Bury St Edmunds, its surrounding villages as well as parts of Haverhill and Thetford, were all taken to Urban Forestry (Bury St Edmunds) Ltd where they were recycled free of charge.

Reg Harris from Urban Forestry (Bury St Edmunds) Ltd said: “When the Hospice asked us if we could support this year’s Christmas tree collection service by recycling the trees we were happy to help.

“Not only have we been able to do something to help a local charity, we’ve also been able to recycle the trees, more than 1,800 of them which is great for the environment. To hear that we have helped the hospice raise more than £7,000 really is fantastic.

“Until recently my wife Mel worked for the charity as a Hospice nurse and a community nursing assistant for 13 years, so I know personally how important the work St Nic’s does is to those across the area.”

For more information on the Hospice and how its services have adapted during the Coronavirus pandemic, please visit www.stnicholashospice.org.uk.