Clifton-based A.W. Jenkinson Forest Products has helped raise vital funds for a children’s hospital charity thanks to an innovative Christmas tree pick-up service.
The initiative was launched last year by tree surgeons and landscape gardeners Mitchel Ingham of JM Groundcare and Joel Berry of Berry’s Tree and Gardens from Sheffield. They managed to raise £7,300 for the city’s Children’s Hospital Charity and were aiming for £10,000 this winter, however the duo was delighted with the final total of £13,460.
The charity is close to the pair’s heart. At the age of 13, Joel broke his hip joint badly and spent months receiving support from the hospital, while Mitchel’s son was treated there.
The fundraisers collected thousands of discarded trees from all over Sheffield, asking people for a £10 donation in return. The trees were then chipped for free by A.W. Jenkinson Forest Products directly into one of their walking floor artic trailers. The material was hauled to A.W. Jenkinson’s processing facility at Clifton near Penrith, where it will be turned into biomass fuel for power generation.
Mitchel and Joe are hoping to continue the initiative next year, raising even more money in the process. See www.christmastreecollections.uk for more details.
