CHARITY supporters in Dorset made a 'tree-rific' effort to raise thousands of pounds for seriously ill children.
Julia’s House took part in a national Just Helping scheme which gave people the chance to have their real Christmas trees collected and recycled by a local charity, with an option to make a donation.
The scheme raised more than £9,000 for Julia’s House, with around 650 Christmas trees collected.
Julia’s House volunteers took to the streets around Dorset to make their collections with the support of volunteers from Rockley Watersports, Osprey, Harry J Palmer, Easy Storage, AA Property Services, Keen Fencing, Vinyl Solutions and NORCO.
Once collected, the trees were then chipped for free by APEX Tree Surgeons with the support of the team from Lead Forensics and Addo Food Group, who provided snacks for the hardworking volunteers.
The charity collected 434 trees in Dorset and a further 213 Christmas trees in Wiltshire, raising around £9,250 in total. That equates to approximately 15,000kg of recycled wood chippings to be used by local farmers and community groups.
Amanda Valentine, Public Fundraising Assistant for Julia’s House, said, “We’re delighted with the response we’ve had to our first Christmas tree collection.
“From our hardworking team of local and corporate volunteers to the people who chose to make a donation in return for collecting their tree – we’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part.
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“It wasn’t always easy finding the addresses on our list, and our amazing volunteers had to deal with some awful weather conditions. Despite all the challenges they powered through, and we’re thrilled to have raised so much to help provide our vital care for local families.
“This was our first year of doing these collections – but we’ll be back even stronger next year!”
Across the UK, the Just Helping scheme has raised more than £970,000 for local hospices and other charities, with around 61,500 Christmas trees collected.
Julia’s House is able to provide a lifeline of care for Dorset’s most seriously ill children and their families almost entirely due to the local community who provide donations.
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