Over 800 trees collected

Over eight hundred real Christmas trees were registered and collected as part of Teesside Hospice’s Christmas tree recycling scheme.  

The charity is thrilled to announce that over £7,500 has now been raised by the scheme thanks to support from the local community.

The initiative supported by Northgate Vehicle Hire, Askham Bryan College and organised in partnership with Just Helping, saw 6 vans and a team of 31 volunteers covering Teesside postcodes from TS1 to TS23 collecting real Christmas trees during the 5^th – 7^th January, in return for a donation to the hospice.

Northgate Vehicle Hire Branch Manager, John Saint said: “We provided a total of 6 vans over 3 days to support the Teesside Hospice Christmas tree recycling scheme, which is a fantastic community initiative. It’s great to see that so many households have got behind the scheme and supported Teesside Hospice.”

The collected Christmas trees will now be chipped and recycled by Askham Bryan College and used within the paddocks, the walled gardens and kitchen gardens to create new paths in Stewart Park.

Askham Bryan College Director of Stewart Park, Nick Barnes said: “We are overwhelmed by the number of Christmas trees that have been collected and brought to the college for us to recycle. Thank you to everyone who supported the scheme, Stewart Park will directly benefit as a result of this and we can really enhance the park.”

Teesside Hospice Fundraising Manager, Debbie Coulson, said: “We are thrilled to have received such fantastic support from the local community for our Christmas tree recycling scheme.

“I would like to say thank you to everyone involved, including all those that registered their tree and made a donation to the hospice and thanks to Northgate Vehicle Hire and Askham Bryan College for their support, we couldn’t have done it without you. It was great to have support from Stockton Council, Middlesbrough Council and Redcar and Cleveland Council too.”

“A special thank you goes to our team of volunteers who worked tirelessly throughout the weekend to collect and load over 800 trees, your support is amazing. Our team of volunteers were provided with packed lunches from On a Roll Sandwich Company, this was a huge help thank you very much!”

“The funds raised through this scheme will make a huge difference to the lives of local people, we are extremely grateful.”

If you would like to get involved with volunteering at Teesside Hospice or take part in any upcoming events , please visit www.teessidehospice.org or call 01642 811145.