ALMOST 550 real Christmas trees have been collected across County Durham since the start of January, which has paved the way for £8000 to be raised for a vital charity hospice in the region.
After Christmas, St Cuthbert’s Hospice Durham realised that numerous households in their local area would be throwing their festive trees out – and wanted to turn the unwanted items into donations to allow themselves to continue helping those that need it most.
Through an army of 30 volunteers supporting the Hospice, they took to the streets of Durham and set about making a difference – all in the name of charity.
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This is the second year the local charity has offered the scheme, after needing to look for new opportunities to raise much needed funds when large fundraising events were unable to go ahead, and its charity shops were closed during the pandemic.
The tree collections were supported by local businesses Poplar Tree Garden Centre and Hilltop Hire Durham who supplied vehicles. Sage Group and Tilbury Douglas provided teams of volunteers, as well as willing members of the public who signed up to get involved.
Jade McArdle, senior community and events fundraiser for St Cuthbert’s Hospice Durham, said: “The generosity from our local community never ceases to amaze us. We owe huge thanks to the team of volunteers who were out collecting the trees in the chilly weather.
“We’re very grateful to the many households who so kindly donated to have their tree recycled with us.
“The scheme has raised over £8,000 which is a huge sum that will make a huge difference to those we care for at St Cuthbert’s.
“It has set us off to a good start for the year after facing such challenging times over the past two years.”
Now that they’ve been collected, some of the trees will be used to create renewable energy and mulch by local business Charleton Chips Tree Services, with the remainder recycled by Durham County Council.
This year, Susan Donkin, from Chester-le-Street, volunteered her time to help the Hospice collect the trees.
She said: “It was great to be out collecting trees again this year. It really made our day to see people wave to us from their windows and some people even popped out to say thank you, which they couldn’t really do last year not only because of covid but as there was so much snow last January!
“It was lovely to meet all of the other volunteers and there was a real sense of camaraderie between us. It’s certainly a fun way to get out for the day while supporting such a good cause right here in our local community.”
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