IF you are dreading the task of hauling your tired old Christmas tree out the door in the new year, and bundling it into your car to get rid of it, then you have no need to worry as volunteers will be taking the the task off your hands while raising money for a hospice.

Teams of volunteers for St Richards Hospice will get to work from Friday, January 11 to Sunday, January 13, collecting and recycling trees from homes across Worcestershire.

In return for the service, the hospice is asking people to make a donation to support its free care to patients and loved ones.

Last year, around 850 trees were collected, raising £10,000 for the hospice. Jayne Sargeant, fundraiser at St Richard’s, said: “We are thrilled to bring this service to our community again, following the success of the last campaign.”

“What’s more, this campaign will raise funds to allow us to continue our care to patients and their loved ones when they most need our support.”

Trees will be collected from the WR1, WR2, WR3, WR4, WR5, WR7, WR8, WR9, WR10, WR11, WR12, WR13 and WR14 postcode areas.

There is no set fee for a donation but, for example, £15 could pay for a specialist Day Hospice nurse for an hour while £30 could pay for three patients’ meals on the hospice’s In-patient Unit for a day.

The trees will be taken to a number of locations where they will be chipped and recycled responsibly either to be used as fuel, or made into mulch for gardens.

After costs, 90 per cent of the money raised will go St Richard’s – with the remaining 10 per cent donated to other local charities.

Organisations across Worcestershire supporting the campaign include: Rock Power Connections, Walsh Construction, Fortis Living, Cotswold Drainage, Nationwide Building Society, ACW Trees, AJM Carpentry and Joinery, Henson Plant Hire, Open GI.

Other organisations involved are Instant Scenery, Leigh Sinton Christmas Trees, Gwilliams Farmshop and the St Richard’s Hospice maintenance technician Ed Whiteman and volunteer Richard Curzon, Evesham-based Karndean Designflooring, White Logistics and Storage Ltd, Pershore College, Parallel Lines and Air Torque Ltd are also among the businesses boosting the bid.

This campaign is sponsored by The Christmas Decorators and is run in association with the charity JustHelping.

The deadline to register trees for collection is Tuesday, January 8.

Visit strichards.org.uk/christmas-tree-collection to register.