Businesses across North Staffordshire are being urged to support a hospice with its festive fundraising.
Dougie Mac, in Stoke-on-Trent, runs two major campaigns over the Christmas period and hopes to get more firms joining in this year.
Christmas Jumper Day – where employees are encouraged to wear a Christmas jumper and donate to the charity – is being held on Friday, December 12.
Money raised enables the cause to care for adults, young adults and children in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire with a life-limiting illness, whilst providing support for their families when they need it most.
Volunteers are also needed to help with Dougie Mac’s TreeCycle campaign, an annual initiative which sees volunteers collect Christmas trees for recycling helping the environment and generating funds.
The trees will be turned into compost by Brown Recycling, which has been supporting the annual Christmas tree collection since 2017.
Deborah Vickers, Head of Business and Events Fundraising at Dougie Mac, said: “Dougie Mac’s TreeCycle wouldn’t be possible without an army of volunteers so if you, or your business, has a big van and some willing volunteers who can help to collect trees, or maybe offer supplies or refreshments to the other volunteers, then we would love to hear from you.”
Volunteers are needed to collect trees from the following postcodes: ST1, ST2, ST3, ST4, ST5, ST6, ST7, ST8, ST9, ST10, ST11, ST12, ST13, TF9 and CW3.
The collections will take place between 9 and 12 January.
Deborah added: “As a hospice, we are committed to minimising the environmental impact of our work, recognising that building a sustainable, ESG focussed organisation is the foundation of a Centre of Excellence.
“We work alongside so many like-minded businesses, and never so much as when we run our annual TreeCycle campaign. A two-metre real Christmas tree has a carbon footprint of 16kg CO2 equivalent. However, by having the tree chipped this can be reduced by up to 80 per cent, all whilst raising valuable funds for Dougie Mac.
“It would be great to have as many businesses as possible sign up to volunteer and help us out.”
To find out more about volunteering for TreeCycle, or to register a tree and make a donation, visit this webpage.
Trees must be registered before 11.59pm on Monday, 5 January.
Business interested in volunteering can get in touch with the hospice’s fundraising team at christmas@dmhospice.org.uk or call 01782 344 359.
For more information about Dougie Mac’s Christmas Jumper Day, and to register, click here.
