Volunteers supporting the charity’s Tree-cycle fundraising scheme, sponsored by Tree & Lawn Company, collected the pre-booked trees from homes and businesses across north east Essex between Friday 10th and Monday 13th January, in return for a donation to St Helena Hospice to help local people face incurable illness and bereavement.

Some of the collected trees were taken to local animal sanctuaries for food and bedding, some were processed and recycled by Colchester and Tendring councils, and some were taken directly to a composting site where they can be used in Essex agriculture.

Jo Clarke, public fundraising manager at St Helena Hospice, said:

“We are so grateful to our fantastic volunteers who braved the cold to collect more trees than ever this year from towns and villages across Colchester and Tendring district. Many of the volunteers helped us over two days and some volunteered to help collect trees on all four collection days.

“This means we raised a record amount of money for St Helena Hospice, helping to make sure we can be there for people when they need us, and that’s a great way to kick off our 40th anniversary year!