National healthcare charity, Sue Ryder, is thanking people in Bedfordshire for supporting its Christmas Treecycle initiative, helping them to raise a total of more than £87,000 for families needing their care.
The green scheme which took place earlier this month saw the palliative, neurological and bereavement support charity, Sue Ryder, which operates Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice in Moggerhanger and their treely amazing volunteers, collect real Christmas trees direct from people’s front garden or driveway in return for a donation.
The collected trees were then chipped and recycled, with the mulch from the chippings being spread across the Bedfordshire-based hospice gardens to help the trees and flowers flourish. This meant that residents who chose to Treecycle were not only helping to raise vital funds for Sue Ryder, but also helping to reduce landfill.
Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice were kindly supported by eight Sue Ryder volunteers and 18 volunteers from big-hearted corporate partners including JST Highways Group, Next Level Scaffolding, Gilmartins, Bartlett Tree Experts, Gary’s Garden Services and Henlow Building Supplies to collect and recycle trees from postcodes in their area.
The 671 trees collected from across Bedfordshire were a huge part of 5822 trees gathered right across the country by Sue Ryder. Overall the scheme has raised a fir-tastic £87,391 for the charity so far with more donations coming in, which will go towards helping continue its expert and compassionate palliative care and bereavement support.
Nick Burr, Senior Community Fundraiser at Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice, said: “We want to say a huge thank you to the local community for supporting our Christmas Treecycle scheme this year. It can be difficult to know what to do with your real tree once the festivities are over, but by recycling with us and making kind donations, you have helped to reduce landfill and raise vital funds so that we can continue to be there for families when it matters.
“We also want to show our appreciation to all of our volunteers for donating their time and for their incredible efforts and hard work.”
Sign up to get your own daily update of Bedfordshire News — It’s free.
