Pilgrims Christmas Tree Recycling becomes a tree-mendous success in Ashford

Pilgrims Hospices, east Kent’s hospice charity, tree recycling initiative has become a fir-tastic record breaking success. The environmentally-friendly fundraising initiative has reached a milestone 10 years!   

Doorstep collections took place over the weekend of 15^th – 16^th January 2022 and more than 1,315 trees were collected and recycled. Supporters have been helping Pilgrims to take care of the planet and hospice patients, one tree at a time, through generous donations given by members of the community.

The total raised from the Ashford area is once again a record breaker and has raised in excess of £26,000 which would pay for more than 1,000 hours of specialist nursing care in the Ashford hospice inpatient unit.

The full campaign has been operated with the support of Kent County Council and FCC Environment, Kent’s Household Waste and Recycling Centre (HWRC). Together the parties have helped Pilgrims with the scheme. This year the charity ‘branched out’ this long running Ashford campaign to two new areas which Pilgrims Hospices cover; Canterbury and Thanet for the first time.

Early estimations show that in total, the campaign has raised in excess of £41,000 with over 2,250 trees being collected in the three hospice areas. This tree-mendous amount brings the total raised from the initiative since its inception in Ashford 10 years ago to an incredible total of £165,000 over the years, which has helped to help deliver vital care for patients facing an incurable illness in east Kent.

Special thanks go to sponsors, Ashford Borough Council for their 10^th year of support for the project.

Givaudan crew volunteers in Ashford helping with the campaign

Cllr Andrew Buchanan, portfolio holder for environment and land management at Ashford Borough Council, said: “We’re delighted to be celebrating a decade of supporting this extremely popular and worthwhile cause. The Pilgrims Hospices provide tree-mendous support for our community and it is wonderful news to see it reach such a milestone of £165,000 raised for east Kent hospice care over the ten years.”

Louise Newman, Ashford Fundraising Manager said: “I would like to say a huge thank you to everybody who registered their tree for collection, each and every donation makes a difference to the £11 million we have to fundraise every year in order to keep our services running,”

 “We simply could not run the campaign without the many volunteers lending their time, vans, support or facilities, including the staff at the Recycling Centre, FFC Environment, Kent County Council, special thanks to Ashford Borough Council, Givaudan, Medash Signs, Countrystyle Recycling Ltd, Earles Landscapes Ltd, Tree and Grounds Maintenance Ltd, Old Dairy Brewery, Laing O’Rourke, Cordes Horticultural, Asda and Ashford Vineyard, Waitrose and MW Cave Ltd who helped us with the campaign for our 10^th year in Ashford. We thank each and every one of those involved.”