Clifton-based AW 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 in 2019 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 £13,460 for the city’s Children’s Hospital Charity last year, and are aiming for £19,000 this year.
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 almost 3,000 discarded trees from all over the city, asking people for a £10 to £20 donation depending on the size of the tree.
The trees will then be chipped for free by AW Jenkinson Forest Products at two sites around the Sheffield area directly into one of their walking floor artic trailers.
The material will be hauled to AW Jenkinson’s processing facility at Clifton near Penrith, where it will be turned into biomass fuel for power generation