Coventry and Warwickshire charity's Christmas tree collection has record year - raising more than £45k

The organisers of an annual charity Christmas tree collection said they have had a record year – raising more than £45,000.

Those in charge of the Coventry and Warwickshire’s annual Charity Christmas Tree Collection have been stunned by the generosity of donors and volunteers, with the 2023 collection raising a staggering £45,750.

The Coventry and Warwickshire’s charity Christmas tree collection took place over the weekend of January 13 to 15.

The organisation collects real Christmas trees in return for a charitable donation and this year 3,308 trees were collected with 71 vans on the road.

205 volunteers also joined the collection over the weekend, starting at Warwick Castle on January 13, gathering more than 100 of the trees used in their light trail.

Many organisations took part this year including Amazon and DPD vans and drivers, vans from KBTS and commercial partners like Coventry Building Society, Bear Cleaning, Tudor Environmental and others.

BBC CWR’s morning show presenter Vic Minett also joined the team at Russells Garden Centre to check in the vans and trees on the Saturday.

The 2022 collection raised £34,000 for local charities, The Myton Hospices and Pass The Smile.

Total donations across the four years of the campaign have now exceeded £100,000.

Scott Crowther from Pass The Smile, who leads the endeavour, was delighted by the achievement.

He said: “Every year we’ve managed to grow in terms of trees, donations and the vast team of kind people who help us do this. It never fails to surprise me that we have this level of support, folks who’ll come out in the wind and rain in freezing temperatures to raise money.

“We obviously couldn’t do it without them.”

Charlotte Ingram, director of income generation at The Myton Hospices said: “We are absolutely blown away by the amount raised this year from the Charity Christmas Tree Collection.

"This will make a big difference for our patients and their families across Coventry and Warwickshire.

"On behalf of everyone at Myton I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who makes the collections possible and to all those who support by making a donation.”

For those wanting to help in December 2023 and January 2024, can register an interest at: https://bit.ly/XV-2024