Christmas treecycling raises thousands for Sue Ryder hospice in Peterborough

Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice has thanked the local community for going green and supporting its Christmas Treecycling service, which raised thousands of pounds for families needing its compassionate care.

The hospice’s scheme, which took place earlier this month, saw more than 520 real Christmas trees collected from people’s homes in and around Peterborough after the festivities had ended.

Residents made donations in return for their trees being collected, chipped into mulch and recycled.

In total, £7,141 was raised to help Sue Ryder continue to offer its expert care and bereavement support to local families.

The trees were collected from residents’ homes by big-hearted businesses and volunteers who donated their time and vehicles. This included members of Peterborough-based Safe Local Trades, a team of eight colleagues from Whirlpool UK, Alastair Peat from Alfresco Landscaping, the Barn Garden Centre, Phil Wren Hart from Hart Vehicle Logistics, Jon Ket Howe from J.H. Roofing, and Bill, Tom and Jenny Martin from Fotheringhay Christmas Trees.

Paul Wilson, the owner of The Barn Garden Centre in Oundle, also lent support by providing space to store and chip the trees.

The mulch will be reused on land locally, for example by being spread over the gardens of Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice to help plants and flowers thrive.

Joely Garner, Community Fundraising Manager at Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice said: “Christmas Treecycling is a green and practical solution to the problem of what to do with a real tree once the festivities are over. We want to say a very special thank you to the local community for supporting our scheme. By recycling your no-longer needed trees and making kind donations, you have helped to reduce landfill and raised a tree-mendous £7,141 for our hospice. This will help us to continue providing our expert care and filling families’ final days with love. We also want to say a big thank you to everyone who was involved with the Christmas Treecycling campaign for donating their time and for their incredible efforts and hard work – we really appreciate it.”

The trees were then chipped down into mulch by the team at Nene Valley Tree Services, who have supported the hospice’s Christmas Treecycling since 2018.

Lucy and Andrew Stone from Nene Valley Tree Services Ltd, said: “Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice is a cause close to ours, and so many hearts, we are so thrilled to have raised such a large amount for them this year! We really hope our Tree-cycling campaign will continue to grow and grow now as it’s proven to be such a valuable service for people. We are so grateful for local businesses and traders chipping in their time this year to help.”