The annual Jersey Hospice Care Christmas Tree Collection and Recycling Scheme is midway through its festive campaign. The initiative currently has 1,260 registrations and raised over £20,000 for the charity, which is slightly ahead last year’s results. The Hospice and the charity team behind the scheme are hoping for a last minute rush in registrations and volunteers to generate the much needed funds which help the Hospice and its team service the community, and break the previous record of £33,000.
The Christmas Tree Collection Scheme, sponsored by the Aztec Group, provides an easy and environmentally friendly way to dispose of the Christmas trees. In return for a donation to Jersey Hospice Care, the scheme’s volunteers collect Christmas trees across the island from residential and business addresses and deliver them to the green waste recycling centre to be turned into soil improver for local land and gardens. Approximately 5,500 Christmas trees were sold in Jersey this year, however at 1,260 registrations currently, there are many households and businesses that have not yet signed up for the scheme.
Jersey Hospice Care is a specialist palliative care charity, which cares for approximately 450 people with life-limiting conditions each year, as well as supporting their families. It costs £14,600 a day to run the hospice and Christmas tree collection donations provide vital funding. To put this in context, a £12 donation pays for petrol for one community nurse for one week; £26 pays for a set of books to support one child through bereavement and £45 pays for one physiotherapy session, helping patients to remain independent and relieve symptoms.
Emelita Robbins, Jersey Hospice Care’s Chief Executive, commented:
“The annual Christmas Tree Collection and Recycling scheme is a wonderful fundraiser for Jersey Hospice Care. Last year’s scheme raised over £33,000, that covered the cost of our Day Hospice services for a month. The scheme allows everyone who makes a donation to recycle their Christmas tree in a way that is environmentally sound. It is anticipated that over 3,000 trees will be collected from households and businesses over a busy four days in January and turned into soil improver to benefit gardens across Jersey.”
Emelita continued:
“We couldn’t do this without the help of an army of volunteers who collect the Christmas trees. In addition, the scheme receives fantastic support from our generous sponsors the Aztec Group, with additional support from Jersey Post, Jersey Evening Post and Webreality and a range of other local businesses.”
Joanna Hewlett, Head of Human resources at the Aztec Group, said:
“The annual Christmas Tree Collection and Recycling Scheme is an amazing opportunity to give back to our local community in Jersey. We’ve been sponsoring the initiative since 2014 and being able to do it again this year means so much to us. The services provided by Jersey Hospice Care are astounding and we’re proud to be able to support them with this fundraising campaign and witness the generosity of islanders.”
You can register now for this year’s Jersey Hospice Care Tree Collection and Recycling scheme. To register your tree, please visit www.jerseyhospicecare.com or call 510 349 during normal office hours. To register as a volunteer, please call 510 349. Business collections will take place on 3 and 4 January, and residential collections will take place on 6 and 7 January 2018.
