A TREE collection service has taken root in the community raising thousands of pounds for hospice funds.
Members of Darlington Rotary Club have been busy at work tagging 4,000 Croft Christmas trees in an annual initiative that so far has raised £73,000 for St Teresa’s Hospice.
The 11th Christmas Tree Collection Service will take place on January 8 and 9 with all the discarded Christmas trees being recycled.
The project started with just two vans collecting a few hundred trees. But this year the service will see around 70 volunteers from Darlington Rotary Club collect thousands of trees from across Darlington and surrounding villages, in a fleet of 23 vans, raising more than £13,000 in the process.
Vans are being provided free of charge by Darlington Borough Council, plus rental companies Enterprise and Charter.
The venture will be hosted by Drive Vauxhall and is supported by John Wade Recycling, operator of the town’s waste recycling centre, and The Log Man, Piercebridge.
Anyone wishing to have their tree recycled should visit www.darlingtonhospice.org.uk/christmas-tree-collection/.
A suggested minimum donation is £8 for a tree up to 6ft tall and £12 for a tree over 6ft.
Bookings will close at 5pm on Tuesday, January 4, to allow time for routes to be planned.
Rotary Club organiser David Hayward said: “Everyone wins from this venture. Residents throughout the town avoid mess in their cars and the hospice gains much needed extra funds.”
St Teresa’s Hospice chief executive Jane Bradshaw added: “The idea is that people buy their tree, enjoy it and by completing the online booking form have us take it away in the New Year. It’s a way of helping the hospice and being green at the same time, while keeping your car free from pine needles.”
The hospice needs to raise £3m a year to provide free in-patient and community care for people living with life-limiting illnesses and their families in Darlington, South Durham and North Yorkshire.