Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice has thanked the local community for going green and supporting its Christmas Treecycling service, which raised thousands of pounds for families needing its compassionate care.
The hospice’s scheme, which took place last month, saw 662 real Christmas trees collected from people’s homes in and around Bedford and Biggleswade after the festivities had ended.
Residents made donations in return for their trees being collected, chipped into mulch and recycled.
In total, £8,864 was raised to help Sue Ryder continue to offer its expert care and bereavement support to local families.
Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice worked in partnership with Just Helping. A whole host of local people and organisations rallied round to support the festive initiative.
The trees were collected from residents’ homes by big-hearted businesses and volunteers who donated their time and vehicles. This included Brightman Brothers Tree Care, Green Thumb Lawn Care, Cople Tree Care, J & R Tree Services and volunteer Stefan Herceg.
The trees were then chipped down into mulch by the teams at Brightman Brothers Tree Care, Cople Tree Care, Shire Trees Ltd and J & R Tree Services.
The mulch will be reused on land locally, for example by being spread over the gardens of Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice to help plants and flowers thrive.
Nick Burr at Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice, said: “Christmas Treecycling is a green and practical solution to the problem of what to do with a real tree once the festivities are over. We want to say a very special thank you to the local community for supporting our scheme.
“By recycling your no-longer needed trees and making kind donations, you have helped to reduce landfill and raised a tree-mendous £8,864 for our hospice. This will help us to continue providing our expert care and filling families’ final days with love.
“We also want to say a big thank you to Just Helping, Brightman Brothers Tree Care, J & R Tree Services, Cople Tree Care, Shire Trees Ltd, Green Thumb Lawn Care, The Blakemore Foundation and our wonderful volunteers for donating their time and for their incredible efforts and hard work – we really appreciate it.”
The team at Shire Trees Ltd added: “The Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice Christmas Treecycling is a great idea and we would happily support the event again next year.”
Sue Ryder organises a wide range of regional and national events throughout the year to raise crucial funds and provide more care for more people. To see the full event calendar and find your next challenge, visit: sueryder.org/events
