We have raised just short of £100,000 through our annual ‘Christmas Tree-cycle’ campaign – our most successful year to date.
Throughout January, staff and volunteers braved snow, sleet, and rain to collect a record-breaking 5,000 Christmas trees from across the North East. Their efforts helped surpass last year’s total by more than £15,000.
Tree‑cycle not only supports the Hospice, but also benefits the environment, as the collected trees are recycled by Greenleaf Recycling Ltd and Newcastle Council’s Sandhills Garden Waste Recycling Centre, where they are turned into chippings and mulch.
Raising £100,000 is no easy task and Richard Houghton, House Clearance and Transport Team Leader at St Oswald’s Hospice, attributes the campaigns success to our brilliant staff and volunteers.
“These numbers really show the commitment from the whole team involved in Tree-cycle.
“Seeing the Hospice come together for this campaign, which raises vital funds to provide free care for local patients and their families, is so encouraging and heart‑warming.”
A special delivery of helping hands
Staff from Royal Mail volunteered their time one weekend in January to help collect all Christmas trees on time.
The trees collected by the Royal Mail volunteers were then recycled and used onsite at the Hospice, Win Scott, our Maintenance Manager, explained:
“I thought it would be ideal if we could chip the trees collected by Royal Mail volunteer team at the Hospice and then use them in our gardens. Green Eagle Tree Surgery very kindly offered their time and a chipper to make this happen.
“It allowed us to dispose of the trees sustainably while saving the Hospice money, as we no longer needed to buy chippings ourselves.
“The chippings are now in the Children and Young Adult’s Memory Garden and at the entrance to our Outpatients Unit. These areas now look even better than they did before!”
We’re over the moon with another “tree-mendous fundraising result” adds Anita Ball, Director of Income and Marketing at St Oswald’s Hospice:
“Christmas Tree-cycle grows year on year, and since we launched the campaign back in 2019, we’ve collected and recycled 25,000 trees, raising over £430,000 for St Oswald’s Hospice.
“To all our supporters who booked a collection with us – thank you for helping to raise vital funds that help us to care for local people and their families. We’ll see you all again next year!”
If you would like to be notified about St Oswald’s Hospice’s Christmas Tree‑cycle campaign for 2026/27, you can sign up to their newsletter here: www.stoswaldsuk.org/newsletter-signup/
