With Christmas fast approaching nobody likes to think of the dark days of January when all the decorations come down but families and businesses will be able to give one last gift this year by supporting the St Giles Hospice Treecycle campaign.
The fairy lights and baubles may have been packed away for another year but families and businesses can create one last flicker of Christmas cheer by supporting the St Giles Hospice Treecycle campaign which covers Lichfield, Tamworth, Burton-on-Trent, Sutton Coldfield, Walsall, Burntwood, Cannock, Rugeley and surrounding areas.
People are being urged to start 2018 by making a New Year’s resolution to dispose of Christmas trees in an environmentally friendly fashion – while helping to fund local hospice services at the same time.
St Giles Hospice Fundraising Events Manager Zoe Westwood said: “Treecycle is a brilliant fundraising event which raises money to support our work and really helps people out after Christmas when they’re left with a dead tree.
“Why get needles all over your car when you can make a small donation to St Giles and have your old tree taken away for you? It is so convenient – you don’t have to be in when we call round and you don’t have to cut up your tree. Just leave it outside your home and we’ll do the rest.”
Between 8-12 January volunteers will collect and chip your Christmas tree from your home or workplace in Lichfield, Burton, Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth, Walsall and surrounding areas in return for a donation to St Giles. If you would like to volunteer with us please get in touch with the fundraising team by emailing fundraising@stgileshospice.com or calling 01543 432538.
Minimum donations are £5 for trees up to 8ft tall, £10 for trees between 8-10ft tall and £15 for trees 15ft tall and over.
You can book a Treecycle collection online anytime between now and 12pm on Friday, January 5 by visiting the St Giles Hospice website at
https://www.stgileshospice.com/how-you-can-help-us/fundraise-with-us/our-events/christmas-treecycle/
St Giles Hospice is advising people to book early to avoid disappointment and calling on people who used the service last year to spread the word among friends and neighbours.
Zoe added: “This is the third year we’re running Treecycle and last year we managed to double the number of collections, raising £9,500 for the hospice. This year we’d like to double that again so we’re asking people to tell any neighbours who have real Christmas trees this year about our service.”
Organisers are also reminding donors that the Treecycle service – supported by local company Lichfield Treeworks Ltd – is unable to chip fake trees. The chippings from real trees can be recycled and will be used by Greener Composting in Wall, Lichfield.
You can also help raise funds for St Giles Hospice in the New Year by donating your old Christmas cards to one of our charity shops.
Throughout January we will be collecting your cards – which will be turned into reusable material by our recycling partner Smurfit Kappa – with St Giles being paid the full value for the weight of the paper products.
For further details of our Christmas cards recycling contact our fundraising team at fundraising@stgileshospice.com or call 01543 432538.