Arthur Rank Hospice Charity is delighted to share that thanks to the support of the local community, over 2900 trees were collected at the start of January – more than ever before! As well as helping people dispose of their trees safely, easily and in an environmentally friendly way, the remarkable scheme raised an incredible £54,000!
The ‘treasure hunt for trees’ sponsored by Cooke, Curtis & Co (Trumpington) and Cyber Business Growth (Royston) is in its sixth year. Between Thursday 7 to Sunday 10 January, 160 Team Arthur volunteers each in their separate vans and/or household or social bubbles, collected pre-registered trees from CB1, CB2, CB3, CB4, CB5, CB21, CB22, CB23 and CB24.
Trees were collected and taken to drop off points, where they were chipped by Greenwood Tree Surgery (Isleham) and Michael Downs from Parsonage Farm, to be used as mulch on location or at the Hospice. In addition, a few trees were dropped off for the animals at Shepreth Wildlife Park and even a local goat farm!
Jodie Vaughan, Head of Fundraising at Arthur Rank Hospice Charity, comments: “We are delighted with how well our Christmas Tree Recycling Scheme went this year, thanks to our extremely generous community and incredible volunteers. We were able to safely collect more tress than ever before and never could it be more important to help fund the care that we provide. A huge thank you to everyone that donated, volunteered, helped us raise awareness and sponsored the event this year.”
After costs, 90% of the money raised will go to the Hospice and the remaining 10% will be donated to Rotary Club of Cambridge, to distribute among local charities.
The Hospice extends its grateful thanks all those involved in making the scheme a success including: those who registered their trees and made a donation; each and every volunteer who assisted with leafleting, drop off points, driving and picking up (often prickly and awkward!) trees; headline sponsors Cooke, Curtis & Co and Cyber Business Growth; Springboard who made a valuable donation as well as supplying vehicles and volunteers; Cambridge City Council and South Cambs District Council for their support of the scheme; Greenwood Tree Surgery (Isleham) and Michael Downs from Parsonage Farm for their invaluable assistance with chipping the collected trees; JustHelping who processed the registrations and mapped the routes; the Rapid Relief Team for their assistance with providing packed lunches for all the volunteers; Cambridge Vehicle Rentals who loaned vans, and a whole host of other very generous companies who lent both van and man power - full list at arhc.org.uk/tree-recycling.