THE weekend of January 6 and 7 saw Phyllis Tuckwell trial a new Christmas tree recycling scheme, raising a total of £955 and helping many residents to dispose of their Christmas trees after the festive season.

The trial ran across the four postcode areas of GU11, GU14, GU51 and GU52, which cover Aldershot, Farnborough, Fleet and Church Crookham.

Residents in these locations could book their collection on Phyllis Tuckwell’s website and make a donation to help fund the care which the charity provides for local patients and families who are living with an advanced or terminal illness, such as cancer.

Supporting Phyllis Tuckwell were Redfields Garden Centre, which gave out a flyer promoting the campaign with every Christmas tree they sold, and Hart Council, whose recycling points the trees were taken to, to be chipped and used in local parks and recreation areas.

Four Phyllis Tuckwell volunteers offered their time over the weekend, driving to collect the trees and taking them to the recycling points – and a total of 73 trees were recycled, raising £955.

This money could pay for over a week’s care from a nurse on the hospice’s in-patient unit, looking after patients who have chosen to spend their last days at the hospice and supporting their families at this difficult time.

“We are really pleased that the trial was such a success and was so warmly received by the communities we collected trees from,” said Vanessa Beech, corporate fundraiser at Phyllis Tuckwell. “We hope to run the campaign again in 2018/19 and to increase the number of trees collected and the level of donations.”

Alan Oliver, cabinet member for contracts at Hart District Council, said: “We were pleased to support Phyllis Tuckwell in their new Christmas collection service to raise funds to provide vital care for patients across the district.

“The trees collected by Phyllis Tuckwell will be chipped by the council and used on local parks and gardens. We look forward to working with them next year to try and raise even more funds for this deserving charity.”

Jo Dickinson, department head for hardy plants at Redfields Garden Centre added: “We are delighted to have been able to support this campaign as part of our ongoing partnership with Phyllis Tuckwell, and look forward to even better results next year.”