From Friday 9th to Monday 12th January, Farleigh Hospice and 109 volunteers collected 3,754 Christmas trees from homes and businesses across mid Essex to be recycled.
This was the tenth year that Farleigh had organised its popular Christmas tree recycling campaign. Instead of going to waste or landfill, these trees were shredded into wood chippings to be used as biomass fuel and on pathways in local parks, which is better for the environment.
Chris Marriot from Marriott Property Services, Paul Reddiar, James Moughton, Brian Phillips from Fisk Group, Green Net Eco
Since January 2016, the charity has collected trees every year, except in 2021 when the service was suspended because of Covid.
Farleigh provides compassionate hospice care to adults with life-limiting illnesses and their families across mid Essex. The local charity also offers information and support to bereaved children and adults and makes no charge for any of its services.
In 2016, 613 trees were saved from going to waste or landfill, raising £5,274 in donations to Farleigh. This year, 3,754 trees were collected with record donations of nearly £74,300.
Marie Goldman, the Member of Parliament for Chelmsford, visited the recycling hub at Generals Farm in Boreham to meet Farleigh’s fundraisers and some of the volunteers that were kindly helping with the tree collection.
She said, “It’s lovely to be able to see first-hand the community coming together to support Farleigh Hospice’s wonderful work and, at the same time, doing something that’s environmentally conscious. One of the most impressive things is seeing the number of volunteers and organisations, some with no connection to Farleigh, who are here donating their time to help.”
Six-year-old Oscar was one of the youngest volunteers, helping his dad, Richard Butler, and mum, Rebecca, to collect the trees.
Richard said, “My dad passed away 12 years ago. He was cared for by Farleigh at the hospice and at home. They helped him and gave him a lot of support in his last few days, so we’ve been collecting Christmas trees for four years as it’s something we can do to give back to Farleigh.”
Trees were collected in Braintree, Chelmsford, Coggeshall, Danbury, Dunmow, the Four Colnes, Halstead, Kelvedon, Maldon, Southminster, South Woodham Ferrers, Stock, Witham and the surrounding villages with an additional collection run in the Dengie area by Burnham Rugby Club.
Elizabeth Newman-Earl has been using the Christmas tree collection service for many years. She said, “Farleigh does an amazing job and, as the local hospice, has helped lots of people that I know, so it is a cause I believe in supporting.”
Farleigh Hospice is very grateful to everyone who braved the cold and wet weather to make this year’s campaign so successful.
Debbie de Boltz, Farleigh’s Head of Fundraising, said, “A huge thank you to all of our fantastic volunteers who worked so tirelessly to collect the trees and the team at Green Net Eco Ltd who chipped them for us. Thanks also to all of the tree owners who generously donated to Farleigh Hospice, raising around £74,300.
“Farleigh Hospice is a charity that relies on the support of our local community so we can continue providing the specialist care that our patients and their families rely on. This is a fantastic start to our fundraising for 2026 and brings the total raised in donations for Christmas tree recycling over the past ten years to nearly £427,000 which is an amazing amount.”
For more information on the care and support provided by Farleigh Hospice and the charity’s upcoming fundraising events, visit www.farleighhospice.org .
