• Swindon & Wiltshire Community champions
• Friday January 26 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Record haul of trees collected in aid of Julia’s House

Volunteers, local businesses and supporters have helped raise more than £17,000 for Julia’s House children’s hospice by collecting a record haul of 2,090 Christmas trees for the charity.

Hundreds of people living in the Pewsey, Devizes and Marlborough areas had their real trees collected and recycled from their doorstep by Julia’s House, and made donations to help provide the charity’s lifeline of care for local families.

In Wiltshire, the Julia’s House fundraising team was supported by volunteers from local businesses, including the law firm Wansbroughs, who sponsored the promotion of this year’s Christmas tree collection.

Once collected, the trees were then taken to The Old Potato Yard in Devizes and recycled as chippings for use on local farms and community spaces.

The charity collected 627 Christmas trees in Wiltshire and a further 1,463 trees in Dorset, raising £17,229 in total from donations.

The figure was a huge increase on last year’s collection of 230 trees in Wiltshire and 404 trees in Dorset.

Claudia Hickin, community fundraiser for Julia’s House, said, “We’ve been blown away by the response we’ve had to our tree collection – it’s been brilliant to see bookings almost triple in Wiltshire.

“We’d like to say a jolly big thank you to everyone who helped make this year’s event a fundraising success, from our dedicated team of helpers to the local people who made donations for their tree collection.”

She added, “We’re thrilled to have raised these vital funds to support our care for local families, and we hope to make our tree collection even bigger and better next year.”

Julia’s House is Wiltshire’s local children’s hospice charity.

The charity relies almost entirely on donations from the local community to fund its critical respite breaks and compassionate care for Wiltshire’s most seriously ill children and their families – in the Julia’s House hospice in Devizes and in families’ homes.