Hospice raises £119,000 via tree collection scheme

A hospice has raised £119,000 after collecting thousands of Christmas trees through its collection service.

Arthur Rank Hospice in Cambridge said its annual campaign had collected 4,000 trees to raise money for the site.

About 170 volunteers joined in the process of collecting them from different sites in Cambridgeshire, then taking them to drop off points where they would be turned into chipping.

Jodie Vaughan, communications and income and generation director at the hospice, said: "People taking part in events throughout our calendar year and making donations and joining us through various different ways, is so vitally important for us."

The recycling scheme allowed people to donate and then have their trees collected.

They were taken to drop‑off points such as Scotsdales in Great Shelford and Cambridge Rugby Club, before the chippings were distributed to country parks, farms and zoos.

Adam Burrows, 45, a gardener and volunteer driver, said: "Well I can't run a marathon let's be honest, but I can drive a van and collect a few Christmas trees."

Vaughan said the collection was a "brilliant sustainability project".

She said fundraising methods were "vitally important" for the hospice, adding that it had to raise £14m a year to keep it running, with £8m given by the NHS and the rest through fundraising and donations.

Jenny Norton, 61, who was volunteering for the first time, said she chose to help after her father passed away at the hospice six months ago.

"I have been looking for doing something to support the hospice going forward, and this was a good time," she said.

She said volunteering felt like a "natural thing to do" as it helped to raise money for a hospice that does "fantastic work caring for patients and families".

Sheila Pierre, 80, one of the volunteers, said: "I work on as many events as possible, and this is just good fun and who needs to go to a gym?"

Pierre, who has volunteered for 10 years, said "every single penny counts" when it came to raising funds.

"You're very aware that the people of Cambridgeshire are enormously generous and supportive of the hospice.

"People have come to the van drivers, and the crew, and said 'what are you doing', and they've told them, and they've given them money."

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