AN INCREDIBLE 1,500 Christmas trees, and almost £11,000 were donated in Gloucestershire to a special cause supporting people with life-limiting illnesses.

Vans and volunteers spent the weekend driving around the county collecting old trees from people’s doorsteps by charity Longfield, with residents making a donation for the service which saves them a trip to the skip, raising £10,800.

Every year the Minchinhampton-based charity provides free support and care to more than 900 people living with life limiting illnesses across the county.

Julia Mundell, community and events manager at Longfield, said the idea, part of a national JustHelping project, had been a great success, with the hospice smashing their initial 1,000 tree target.

“Our loyal volunteers and staff worked their socks off to help with the big clean up after Christmas,” she said.

“This idea allowed people to get all the pleasure from having a real tree without the annoying bit of taking it to the recycling centre after Christmas and stuffing it in the back of the car when all the needles are dropping off.”

The old trees are being shredded, with chippings either being used in the Longfields garden, or sold, with proceeds going to the hospice.

The scheme was supported by Stroud District Council and saw collections made around Stroud, Gloucester, Dursley, Wotton-under-Edge, Cirencester and other areas.

Julia added: “We’re very grateful for all the support we’ve had, both from people who donated money to have their tree collected to the volunteers who worked so hard and were finding needles in their clothes for hours afterwards. 

“We’re really chuffed it’s gone so well. This much money makes a big difference to us, not to mention having the added bonus of burning off calories from some of those roast potatoes and mince pies we enjoyed over Christmas.”

A Stroud District Council spokesman said they were pleased to team up with the charity to recycle the trees.

“In previous years we’ve provided skips for Christmas trees, but many people found it was difficult to transport their trees there, not to mention the fact that they would be picking needles out of the car upholstery for weeks afterwards.”