Your real Christmas tree can make a ‘real’ difference to two Huddersfield charities – through ‘treecycling’!

Kirklees Council has again teamed up with The Kirkwood and the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice to take away and recycle Christmas trees when the festivities are over.

Not only will it save you a trip to the tip, or the cost of a bulky household waste collections, each tree collected will be recycled and go on to benefit the local community.

As always, the charities are offering hassle-free collection, so you can sit back and relax, safe in the knowledge that you’re doing something good.

The council will be providing two vans with staff members for each charity to help with the collections, as well as chipping the trees so they’re ready for re-use. They are also encouraging their staff to volunteer to help support the collections, as all council staff can take two days of paid leave to volunteer in the local community.

Mayor of Kirklees Clr Masood Ahmed, who has chosen the Forget Me Children’s Hospice as his charity of the year, said: “Money raised from this campaign will go a long way in helping the hospice. It plays a vital role in helping families with the loss of a child and those children with life-shortening illnesses.

“Knowing that we are also helping The Kirkwood is fantastic and I encourage everyone to support the treecycling campaigns.

“They will make a difference in helping our environment and in the process raise vital funds that will support people in our borough.”

Amazing night as The Kirkwood’s Snowdogs auction raises almost £80k and makes one little boy’s Christmas

Clr Naheed Mather, Cabinet member for the environment, said: “We’re proud to be supporting these two great campaigns again for the fifth year running. Not only does it benefit these vital charities but it also has such a positive impact on the local community and, of course, the environment.

“Last Christmas almost 3,000 trees were recycled in Kirklees, raising around £38,500 for these fantastic charities. The trees collected then went on to be turned into wood chippings to be used as top dressings on soil in local parks, sports fields and farms, while some got turned into biomass for green heating.

“We are hoping to collect and recycle even more this time. As a result, fewer trees will be inappropriately disposed of, valuable nutrients will be put back into the earth and substantial funds will be raised for two very important local hospices.”

Each charity is slightly different but for a donation of around £10 you’ll not only have your tree collected but you will also help to fund their vital work.

The Kirkwood will be collecting in; HD1, HD2, HD3, HD4, HD5, HD8, HD9 (excluding HD9 2), WF14, WF15, WF17 & BD19

If you wish to support The Kirkwood with your tree collection, click here to arrange your collection on their website.

Registrations close at midnight on Sunday January 8 2023, collections will be between Thursday and Sunday January 12-15.

Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice will be collecting trees across all of Kirklees and selected additional postcodes.

If you wish to support Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice with your tree collection, click here to arrange your collection on their website. Registrations close at midnight on Sunday January 8 2023, collections will be between Saturday January 7 and Sunday January 15.