6 December 2021

A tree-mendous fundraising scheme from Katharine House looks set to take away the stress of disposing of real Christmas trees this year and raise money for people affected by life-limiting illnesses at the same time.

For the first time, the hospice is running a Christmas Tree-cycle scheme, which asks for people to make a donation to Katharine House. In return, the hospice will arrange for the trees to be collected on 7 or 8 January. Acreman’s Arboriculture Ltd in Wigginton will then chip the trees for free.

The environmentally friendly initiative is being run in partnership with Just Helping, a national charity that partners with hospices and community groups across the UK to manage Christmas tree collections throughout the country.

As this is the pilot year, the hospice is only picking up trees from a limited number of postcodes in the OX7 and OX15 areas.

Donations from tree sales

In a separate scheme, local Christmas tree sellers will be donating a portion of their tree sales to Katharine House.

Warwickshire Christmas Tree Farm on Kestrel Ridge, Shenington and Saltway Farm Shop on Broughton Road have agreed to donate 10% of the sale of their trees when buyers reference Katharine House.

Cherida Plumb, Community Engagement Manager at Katharine House, said: "Christmas is a time of year for family and friends and, of course, the all-important Christmas tree! These two initiatives help make the buying and disposing of trees easier this year and will also raise money for the people we support, helping them to create lasting memories at this special time of year.

"We are hugely grateful for everyone’s support; for Acreman’s Arboriculture Ltd and Just Helping for donating their time to help with the Christmas Tree-cycle scheme and for the amazingly generous offer from Warwickshire Christmas Tree Farm and Saltway Farm Shop."

Ollie Simpkins from Warwickshire Christmas Trees said: "We are supporting Katharine House Hospice this year because they provide such an amazing set of services that are invaluable to their customers. The support that they provide not only to the patients but also the families of those affected is second to none.

“Funding is always difficult to find whoever you are, so to be able to help a well-loved local charity in securing the monies they need to keep providing and improving their essential services is a pleasure in itself.”

Katharine House Hospice

• Find out if your postcode is a part of the Christmas Tree-cycle.
• To find out more about the work we do, read What we do or explore our For Patients and Families pages.
• To explore other fundraising events, visit Fundraising events, Challenge events and Supporter events.
• To receive regular news about development at the hospice and fundraising events, please sign up to our digital newsletter.