Exeter’s Christmas Trees raise over £5,000 for Hospiscare

Hospiscare vans and volunteers were out in force last weekend collecting over 500 Christmas Trees across the city.

Exeter residents were able to have their tree collected in exchange for a donation and the initiative raised over £5,000 for the local charity that cares for people who have been given a terminal diagnosis.

Louise Beeken, Head of Fundraising said: “It costs £21,000 a day to run Hospiscare services, caring for people at the end of their life in their homes or at the hospice. We raise this through the generous donations and gifts in wills of the local community. With rising costs we are always looking for new ideas to raise the money needed to keep our services going.

“There’s so much excitement about putting up Christmas trees and it’s always rather depressing when you have to take all the decorations down and get your car full of pine needles taking it to the tip. So we thought this would be a great service to the local people and a more positive ending to the disposal of the tree!”

A fantastic team of volunteers gave up their weekend to drive around Exeter’s streets, collecting the trees and taking them back to the charity’s Warehouse Shop at Marsh Barton. Local recycling company, Coastal Organics, supported the initiative by generously providing the containers needed and taking the trees to their site at Hill Barton, where within thirty minutes the trees had been chipped, ready to turn into compost.

Richard Marsh, Coastal Organics’ Business Development Director said: “We were delighted to support this initiative. The need for Hospiscare’s services in the local community is vital, anyone who has sadly had family with a terminal illness will know how important their care is at the end of life, not just for the patient but the whole family. At Coastal Organics we’re experts at turning the City’s green waste into rich compost, so it was an easy choice for us to get involved as everyone in the community benefits and their gardens will too.”

Hospiscare is a local adult hospice charity, providing high quality care and support to people with any type of terminal illness, and those close to them, in Exeter, Mid and East Devon.  A gift to Hospiscare in your Will helps ensure the future of the charity in Devon for generations to come.