A treemensous weekend has raised vital funds for a Stourbridge based Hospice.

In exchange for a donation to Mary Stevens Hospice, real Christmas trees were collected and recycled from all over the Black Country during the first weekend in January to raise £38,500 for patient care at the Hospice. 

The Hospice relies on fundraising events such as this one as just 17% of their £3.5 million annual running costs are provided by the government.

The services that the Hospice provides to it’s patients are absolutely vital to those living with a terminal and life-limiting illness and this event has kickstarted their annual fundraising activities to help them ensure they can continue to provide this care. 

This year, the hospice covered 15 postcodes across the Dudley Borough, collecting trees over four days and chipping well over 1,000 real Christmas Trees. These Christmas trees are then recycled on site at the Hospice or at Hagley Christmas Trees in Broome. Amanda Bowen, Head of Fundraising and Lottery at Mary Stevens Hospice said: 

“We are blown away by the response to our Treecycle campaign this year. The support that has been shown by all of our dedicated volunteers, corporate sponsors and members of our community is truly outstanding and is something we are incredibly grateful for. 

"Our volunteer collectors and tree surgeons worked tirelessly over the four days to collect and recycle all of the Christmas trees that had been booked in to the initiative.

"This hard work combined with the incredibly generous donations from all of our supporters means that this is our most successful Treecycle to date. 

"We would like to extend our most heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported the campaign this year. Your support means that we can continue to provide our free, end of life care to our patients and their families when they need us the most.”

To find out more about how Mary Stevens Hospice support the local area, you can visit marystevenshospice.co.uk.