Christmas Tree Recycling – Ashford

Our hospice elves are already getting our fabulous Christmas Tree Recycling scheme set for the busy season. Last year, the donations we received in return for collecting residents’ Christmas trees totalled over £21,000 and we hope even more people will register this time.

Louise Newman, Pilgrims Hospice Ashford Community Fundraising Manager

Registration

You must register your tree for collection by midnight on Thursday 6th January 2022. This is to allow our team to carefully plan the extensive dedicated collection routes, no late bookings can be accepted.

Collections will take place between Saturday 15th - Tuesday 18th January 2022 from 7:30am. All trees must be left in a clearly visible and safely accessible place at your property. Our volunteers will be working hard to collect over 1,350 trees, so when booking please give an accurate description of the location that you intend to leave your tree for our elves.

Please note:

• Any trees over 8ft tall or 4ft wide will need to be chopped up in advance of them being collected.
• Please let us know when booking if you have more than one tree (maximum 2 per household).
• Trees with decorations, in bases or pots will not be collected, as these cannot be recycled with the trees. Please make sure only the tree left for collection.

Tree recycling is operated as a free service by Pilgrims Hospices. Please show your appreciation by giving generously to support Pilgrims Hospices to be able to be there for the next family who needs our specialist care and support.

Check whether your address is in the Ashford Borough Area via this map

Please note: images were taken prior to the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-amendments for collections

You'll see some changes to our Christmas tree collections in order to keep both you and our team safe. The scheme has been extended over four days to allow for social distancing, with less volunteers working in family bubbles or work teams and wearing PPE.

These measures include:

• Reduced crew sizes to allow for social distancing and extended collections over 4 days to allow for fewer crew members.
• Our team will be working in family units, bubbles and safe team formats. All crew members will be encouraged to wear face coverings, using hand sanitiser regularly and following strict measures, including lateral flow testing prior to the collections.
• Trees must be left in an easy to collect location at the exterior of the front of your property and please do not block public access.

Pilgrims Hospices will continue to monitor government guidance regarding any potential impact to the event relating to restrictions. The event will be operated in a safe format throughout. We are working closely with KCC, local councils, recycling centres and private land owners regarding the safe operation. We will continue to update you should there be any changes to the proposed operation.

How your donation could help

This Christmas, your kind support could help local people who are living with a life-limiting illness.

• £12 could pay for a patient's Christmas dinner.
• £15 could give a complimentary therapy session to a patient, relieving anxiety.
• £20 could provide for a physiotherapy session to help patients stay active and enjoy festive games with their family on Christmas day.
• £30 could pay for our Community Team to hold a video consultation with a patient in their own home.
• £45 could pay for one-on-one counselling for someone struggling to cope with the loss of a loved one this festive season.
• £100 could allow our community nurses to continue making home visits, ensuring that patients can spend Christmas at home with family and friends.

How are the Christmas trees recycled and how is the money raised?

This campaign, celebrating its 10th year, has raised an incredible £125,000 to support the vital care of patients facing incurable illness in east Kent. Despite cancellation in January 2021 due to Tier 4 restrictions, over £11,000 was donated to the charity during this time for Christmas Tree Recycling. In January 2020, our last normal year, we collected over 1,350 real Christmas trees and raised in excess of £21,000 thanks to your kind donations. We are only able to raise this through our community giving generously when registering online.

The tale of the collected trees is that they are picked up on specially planned rounds by our volunteer elves and the trees are taken to Cobbs Wood Recycling Centre. From there, they are taken to an outlet at Blaise Farm in West Malling and they are composted within a covered building system. At Blaise Farm there are two grades of compost that are produced, these are a 20mm grade used for agricultural purposes and a 10mm grade used as a soil improver for general composting and landscaping uses. What’s even better is that, whilst helping to support the charity, you will be reducing your environmental impact too. Some of our trees are also chipped and used for composts locally, some are used for horse jumps at an equestrian centre and others are chipped and donated to an animal rescue centre. So, as you can see, your tree’s onward journey is far more valuable than just being put out after Christmas.

Companies pledge support

Several local companies have already pledged their support. Special thanks to our partners Ashford Borough Council, Kent County Council and FCC Environment.

Thank you so much for your support

Every generous donation from our amazing community of supporters helps to make sure we can be there for the next family who needs us.

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with a life limiting illness, find out about the full range of services Pilgrims can offer.

Why not embrace the spirit of Christmas even more with our other festive fundraising activities:

• Santas on the Run! Tri-Series: A 3k or 5k festive fun run for the whole family to enjoy in Herne Bay, Folkestone and Margate.
• Letters from Santa: Request a beautifully illustrated and personalised Letter from Santa for a loved one, in return for a donation.
• Christmas e-cards: View our fantastic range of festive e-card designs and donate the cost of cards and stamps this year.