Christmas Tree Recycling – Ashford 2024

Pilgrims Hospices Tree Recycling fundraising campaign offers Christmas tree collections from homes across the Ashford Borough Council area.

Back for our 12th year, Pilgrims supporters can register their real Christmas trees in return for a chosen donation and our friendly team of Pilgrims volunteers will collect them from outside your home.

We will be collecting in the following areas between Saturday 13th – Monday 15th January 2024:

• Ashford
• Tenterden
• Charing
• Wye
• Appledore
• Chilham
• Surrounding villages within the Ashford Borough Council area

Check whether your address in the Ashford Borough Council area here!

Register and donate by midnight on Monday 8 January 2024, and doorstep collections will take place between Saturday 13th and Monday 15th January 2024.

Registration for tree collections in the Ashford Borough Council area has now closed. No late registrations can be accepted.

There’s no need to mess up your car with pine needles, Pilgrims will do all the hard work for you and, in turn, you will be helping to support the vital end-of-life care of local people through your donation.

Once booked, the Pilgrims team will email you to confirm your registration, and also in the days prior to the collection with instructions for your tree.

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 across east Kent totalled over £57,000 and we hope even more people will register this time.

Louise Newman, Pilgrims Hospice Ashford Community Fundraising Manager

Registration

Registration for tree collections in the Ashford Borough Council area has now closed. No late registrations can be accepted.

You must register your tree for collection by midnight on Monday 8th January 2024. This is to allow our team to carefully plan the collection routes. No late bookings can be accepted.

Please note:

• Tree collections will take place between Saturday 13th and Monday 15th January 2024 from 7:30 – 16:00. We aim to collect most of the trees on Saturday and Sunday.
• All trees must be left in a clearly visible place at your property, and must be easily and safely accessible for our team. We cannot accept responsibility for collecting your tree without accurate instructions, and we cannot return to collect trees which could not be easily found by our crews.
• Our volunteer tree collectors will be working hard to collect more than 3,200 trees. When booking, please give an accurate description of the location where the tree will be left at your property, including a What3Words location.
• Any trees over 8ft tall or 4ft wide must be chopped ideally in half or into reasonably-sized pieces in advance of collection. Larger trees will not be collected due to vehicle capacity restrictions.
• Please let us know when booking if you have more than one tree (maximum of 2 trees 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 is left out for collection. Trees must be left at the exterior of the front of your property. Please do not block public access.

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

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

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 complementary therapy session to a patient, relieving anxiety.
• £20 could provide for a physiotherapy session to help a patient stay active and enjoy festive games with their family on Christmas day.
• £30 could enable our Community Team to hold a 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?

Now in its 12th year, the Christmas Tree Recycling campaign has raised an incredible £229,426 to support the vital care of patients facing incurable illness in east Kent. In January 2021, we expanded the campaign to the Canterbury and Thanet areas too. In total, in 2023 we collected more than 3,150 real Christmas trees and raising in excess of £57,000 thanks to your kind donations.

Once your tree has been collected, it is 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 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 helps us to 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!: Choose from a 3k, 5k, or (NEW) 10k challenge and dash your way along Herne Bay’s scenic seafront with hundreds of fellow Santas in aid of a good Claus.