OVER £40,000 has gone into the coffers of Dorothy House Hospice Care, based in Winsley, after it ran its biggest annual Christmas Tree Collection fundraiser.

Local people booked their used Christmas trees in for a charitable donation and supporters and volunteers picked up over 3,500 trees in just three days in January 2020. The collection ran in 13 local postcodes including four new ones.

Last year the Christmas Tree Collection raised £26,000 so Dorothy House is delighted to raise over £40,000 this year - and that’s before Gift Aid is added. The hospice has to raise £5 for every £1 it gets from the NHS to fund its palliative and end-of-life care for local people living with a life-limiting illness, their families and carers.

The scheme is supported by businesses providing volunteers and vehicles including Rygor in Westbury, Bath ASU in Corsham, Brett Hardy Landscapes, Go Self Drive, Islington Motors and Corsham patio and fencing, Autoguide and Geoghegan Builders. Students from Lackham helped with the tree chipping.

Greenhill Tree Care also helped chip trees from the Bradford on Avon area to be used in the Hospice grounds.

Other supporters include paving company, Shaun May and White Horse Disposal in Westbury, SureSet in Warminster, Pearns Tree Services and Inspired Joinery both from Frome and the Bradford on Avon Rotary Club.

While 90 per cent of the money raised, after costs, will go to Dorothy House, 10 per cent of funds raised will go to other local charities.

Jennifer Staton, community engagement co-ordinator at Wessex Water, said: “Dorothy House is a local cause that means a great deal to our staff and we were so pleased to be able to support their Christmas tree collection again with our seven vehicles and 21 volunteers.

“I’d like to thank everyone who volunteered from Wessex Water – they were all fantastic and collected the trees in record time!”

Steph Cox, community fundraiser for Dorothy House Hospice Care, said: “This is our fourth Christmas tree collection and we are thrilled to have raised £40,000 in vital funds to support local hospice care and to have collected a staggering 3,500 trees in total including 1,100 trees in Bath alone.

“I’d like to say a huge thank you to all our volunteers and supporters for their generous help and to Bath and North East Somerset Council for their support in letting us use their recycling centre.”

Councillor Sarah Warren, joint cabinet member for Climate Emergency and Neighbourhood Services at Bath and North East Somerset Council, said: “We’re so pleased to have supported the Dorothy House Christmas Tree Collection again this year by making our Bath recycling centre available and providing staff to run the centre during the collection weekend.

“It’s wonderful the collection raised so much money this year and that all the chipped trees from Bath will be turned into compost for local farmers.

“We wish the Hospice good luck for the year ahead and look forward to supporting them again next January.”

Kate Ruberry-Shoemack, head of people and communications at Rygor, Mercedes-Benz dealer group in Westbury, said: “Dorothy House is a charity very close to the heart of our team and we were delighted to get involved again with the 2020 Christmas tree collection by providing volunteers, drivers and vehicles.

“It was a great day out and our team really enjoyed being part of this event to help raise money for such a worthy cause.”

Mark Knapton, designer at Inspired Joinery in Frome said: “We greatly enjoyed getting involved in the Christmas tree collection again this year and are delighted that Dorothy House managed to raise such fantastic funds to help people in the local community affected by a life-limiting illness.”

Dorothy House plans to expand the Christmas Tree Collection into more postcodes in January 2021 and information will be available from late November at www.dorothyhouse.org.uk.