MORE than 1,250 real Christmas trees were collected as part of a charity fundraising effort – helping raise more than £12,500.

The trees were collected across Dorset as part of Weldmar Hospicecare’s Treecycle initiative.

Weldmar ran the scheme in partnership with the team at Trinity Street Christmas Trees, who coordinate the collections and logistics, help to recruit volunteers, and arrange for the trees to be chipped and recycled.

Fiona Hansford, Weldmar fundraising lead, said: “This year Treecycle has continued to grow and yet again we have collected more trees and raised more money than ever before – over £65,000 in total since the initiative began.

“This all goes directly towards the specialist care that we provide to adults in Dorset with a life limiting illness, and the support we give to their loved ones.

“We are extremely grateful to everyone who makes Treecycle a success; Tamzin and the team at Trinity Street Christmas Trees who do a brilliant job at arranging the collections and the support they have from their partners in sorting the logistics; the dedicated team of volunteers who travelled all across Dorset collecting trees, and of course everyone who made a booking to help us reach this total.”

In line with Weldmar Hospicecare’s commitment to sustainability, she said the tree chippings will be turned into biomass fuel – a renewable energy source.

The charity also thanked Knighton Countryside Management for chipping the trees free of charge, Cokers Frome Farm for letting them use the grounds as a location to store the trees and the tree chipping, Dorset Vehicle Rentals for providing trucks for the weekend without charge and who supplied volunteers who joined us on the collections this year.

READ MORE: Hospice charity’s tree collections will boost funds for care

Magna Housing, Pipefix Ltd, Wessex Grounds Services and Dorchester Plumbing Supplies all supplied volunteers and vehicles to be part of the collection team, and Beaminster Motors allowed use of their premises for storage.

Tamzin Hyde, from Trinity Street Christmas Trees, said: “It’s been a pleasure working with Weldmar on Treecycle again this year, there is a lot of work that goes into coordinating the collections, but it is all worth it to know the difference we will be making for both the charity and our local community.

“I have had the privilege of bringing our donkeys into the Inpatient Unit and have been able to see the work Weldmar do first-hand, and the incredible care and support they give to patients and their loved ones.

“It has also been lovely to meet and work with all the amazing volunteers who have helped us with the collections, some of them having helped in multiple years, it is really a great team effort and they all came back with a smile on their face.”