Christmas tree collection campaign raises over £43,000 for Hospice

A January Christmas ‘tree-cycling’ campaign by the Hospice of the Good Shepherd in Chester and sponsored by local glass manufacturer and bottle filler Encirc, has raised over £43,000.

This incredible amount will pay for the valued Hospice to be open for three days.

The Hospice of the Good Shepherd has, for over three decades, been ensuring patients in Cheshire West, Chester, Ellesmere Port and Deeside receive access to excellent care and support.

A team of 84 volunteers collected Christmas trees across Cheshire from Thursday, January 11 to Sunday, January 14, amassing 3,338 trees which were prevented from going to landfill.

Funds were raised by donations from the public who benefited by having their trees collected and recycled in an environmentally friendly way. In turn, they were also able to support a great community facility with an amazing £43,344.82 donated.

The trees were chipped and turned into biofuel or paving flags for community gardens.

Alan Knell, Philanthropy and Relationship Manager at the Hospice of the Good Shepherd enthused: “We are over the moon with the result of the tree collections. We are indebted to all the volunteers for giving up their time to participate and help out. The funds raised are such a boost for the Hospice. Thanks also to Encirc for their sponsorship.”

Alan added: “Just in terms of the environmental impact this partnership has made, we estimate that on the basis that a tree in landfill releases 16kg of carbon, and recycled trees releases 3kg, the environmental impact is that we have saved 43,394kg of carbon being emitted into the local area. So this is a really important initiative for all our community.”

Becky Dilworth, Stakeholder Engagement Manager at Encirc, said: “Encirc was delighted to be able to help this initiative which has a tremendous impact on the local community across the board. Well done to all those volunteers who made this possible and the Hospice for having the foresight to organise.”

Pictured above: Volunteers collecting the Christmas trees in the Cheshire area.