Birmingham Hospice is celebrating after its annual Christmas Treecycling campaign raised £1 million since its inception in 2012. Since 2012, 51,624 trees have been collected and converted into biofuel, diverting them from landfill and raising a milestone amount for the city’s local hospice.
The initiative sees Christmas trees being collected from across the city, in exchange for a donation. Volunteers are vital to the campaign, helping with promotion as well as donating their time to collect on average 6,000 trees annually.
Photo credit: Dave Warren/Picture Team
2026 has been their most successful year to date, with 6,200 Birmingham and Solihull residents signing up to the scheme – a huge 5000% increase since 2012. This year’s campaign also raised a fantastic £153,211.
Roisin Mooney, Treecycling Project Lead, said: “This year brought extra challenges due to Storm Goretti and snow and icy conditions, but thanks for the dedication of our 250 volunteers over 7,000 trees were collected.
“We’re truly grateful to all our volunteers – whether they’re individuals or corporate supporters giving up their time to help.”
Reflecting on reaching £1 million in income from Treecycling, Roisin said: “Raising this amount of money is absolutely incredible, this income has helped Birmingham Hospice to provide the best possible care for individuals living with a terminal diagnosis in our community, wherever and whenever it is needed.
“This was only made possible thanks to the generosity of our supporters and our army of volunteers who head out every January armed with vans, handsaws and a lot of festive spirit.”
Adding to this Lucy Watkins, Income Generation Director, said: “Reaching the £1 million mark for our annual Treecycling campaign is truly humbling, it shows the power that volunteering has on a local community and the amazing support we have from people across Birmingham and the surrounding areas.
“We are not fully funded by the NHS, and this year, we need to raise £7.2 million to cover the costs of running our charity. The money raised from Treecycling is equivalent to paying for 158 days of round-the-clock palliative care for patients in our Inpatient Units.”
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Lead photo: Roisin Mooney, Treecycling Project Lead, with Esme Lloyd-Kelly, Treecycling Corporate Lead, photographed with the £1 million board.
About Birmingham Hospice: Birmingham Hospice is the primary provider of adult hospice care in the city and its surrounding areas. Our patients are at the heart of everything the hospice do. For generations, Birmingham Hospice has been providing specialist care for people living with a terminal illness and for their families.
Birmingham Hospice is proud to deliver excellent care, with a high staff to patient ratio. This allows them to provide patients with the expert, specialist and personalised care they need.
An estimated 100,000 people in the UK who could benefit from palliative care die without receiving it each year. Demand for this expert care continues to rise as people live longer, and with increasingly complex needs.
About Treecycling: Treecycling is Birmingham Hospice’s annual fundraising initiative, offering residents an environmentally friendly way to recycle their real Christmas trees and make a donation that supports hospice care
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