Christmas tree recycling raises £100k for hospice

A hospice has raised more than £100,000 through its annual Christmas tree recycling scheme, declaring it the most successful year yet.

St Giles Hospice, Lichfield, said 5,425 real trees were collected from people's doorsteps between 10 and13 January as part of its TreeCycle service.

Volunteers, hospice staff and local businesses braved the winter weather to pick up trees across Staffordshire, north Birmingham and surrounding areas, stated the charity.

The Christmas trees, which lined up would measure nearly seven miles, were being turned into compost by a Lichfield company for agricultural purposes, it added.

"This fantastic response shows just how much our community cares about supporting local people at the end of their lives," said Sam Colclough, senior events officer at the hospice.

"Every tree collected represents a family choosing to support St Giles, and we're incredibly grateful."

The hospice costs £10m a year to run, and is heavily reliant on donations and income generation from the local community, as less than a quarter of the costs are funded by the government, it said.

St Giles said that in 2024 it had to reduce capacity from 23 to 15 beds and make 23 staff redundant because of financial pressures across the hospice sector nationally.

The government announced what it called "the biggest investment in hospices in a generation to improve hospice facilities" in 2024, and said it was working on a new hospice funding model.

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