A local charity is set to collect and recycle thousands of Christmas trees this January – and it’s asking big-hearted businesses to get on board.
Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice – which is celebrating 40 years of care this year – is asking corporates to support its ‘Treecycling’ initiative on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 January.
Using a fleet of vans, Treecycling will see hundreds of volunteers collect used trees from a range of postcodes across Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull in return for a donation to the charity. The trees will then get recycled into compost and biomass fuel, making it a really simple way for residents to get rid of their festive firs in an eco-friendly way.
This year, Birmingham St Mary’s is aiming to collect over 3,500 trees to help raise over £70,000 for the charity – but it needs the support of local businesses to make this happen.
Charlotte Dowling, community fundraising manager at Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice, explained: “It’s never too early to be talking about Christmas and here at the Hospice, we’re already planning our hugely popular Treecycling campaign. The campaign is great because it makes recycling your Christmas tree so simple but we can only do this with the generous support of our brilliant volunteers and their vans – and this is where we need corporates to get involved.
“This year, we’re hoping to make Treecycling our biggest and greenest yet so we need more volunteers and vans to help the campaign. We’re calling on local businesses to see if they can donate vehicles during the weekend, as well encourage employees to volunteer and collect trees.
“Not only will their generous support help local people to live well with life-limiting illness, but it’s also an opportunity for businesses to encourage team building, boost wellbeing amongst their staff, and connect with other companies.”
To inform businesses about how they can get involved with Treecycling this year, Birmingham St Mary’s is hosting a launch event on Tuesday 24 September, 5-7pm at the Hospice in Selly Park.
Charlotte added: “The launch event will be a great opportunity for businesses to meet the Treecycling team and get to know how their business can make a difference this year. I’m really looking to welcome different corporates to the Hospice and sharing the exciting plans for our Treecycling 2020 campaign.”
To book your place at the Treecycling launch event, please RSVP to the Hospice’s Eventbrite page.
