Here's how your discarded Christmas trees can help charity and nature

Trinity Hospice will carry out its annual doorstep collection of real trees this weekend, while a host of deposit points are now open across Fylde for householders to drop off the tree themselves.

All the trees will then be planted at St Annes beach next month to help with dunes preservation and soft sea defence.

Trinity volunteers will be picking up trees from postcodes FY1. FY2, FY3, FY4, FY5, FY6, FY8 and PR4 on Saturday and Sunday – 12 months on from the trees collection raising a record £23,000 for the hospice via donations from the householders involved.

More than 1,800 trees were collected then and Janet Atkins, corporate partnership manager at the Bispham-based hospice, said: “The tree collection is the perfect way to begin 2022 by helping to support local hospice care while doing something amazing for the environment.

“Last year was incredible for us. We had nearly 70 wonderful volunteers working hard over the weekend to collect more than 1,800 trees from across Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre.

“They all said they had a great time, knowing they had done something special to support their local hospice.

“We’ve increased our locations for this year’s collection, so we hope this collection will be our best yet!”

Emma Lonican and Mark Robinson volunteered for last January’s collection and said they would be looking to help out again this year.

“Helping with the tree collection was such a lovely feeling,” said Emma. “It was our way of giving something back to our community by supporting our local hospice, as well as helping the environment.

“It really was a great way to start the year with such a wonderful act of kindness, not just for charity and our home, but also to all those people who had booked their collection.”

Fylde Council leader Coun Karen Buckley was among the volunteers last year and said at the time: “I was delighted to join the volunteers to fill our trailer with trees from addresses around Ansdell.

“The residents were thrilled to be part of the scheme, knowing their donations were helping Trinity and their used trees were being recycled.”

Fylde Council’s temporary collection points and now open up to next Thursday, January 13 at various site around the borough.

They are at: HM Coastguard Station, North Beach car park, St Annes; Lytham Rail Station car park; Rawstorne Sport Centre car park, Freckleton; William Segar Hodgson car park, Coronation Road, Kirkham and Elswick Village Hall car park, Roseacre Road, Elswick.

Householders dropping off their own trees are reminded that tree skirts, bases and all decorations need to be removed and the trees should be left inside the barriered area.

All the trees will be planted on St Annes beach as part of the sand dunes restoration project.

It’s a campaign to help nature which started 10 years ago and last year, almost 2,000 trees were planted in the dunes inside four days, despite only a small number of socially distanced staff and no volunteers being allowed to participate in tne ‘big dig’ because of the pandemic restrictions.

Amy Pennington, Fylde Sand Dunes Project Community Engagement Officer for the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside, who works with Fylde Council on the project, said: “The buried trees are important to catch the sand blowing in from the strong onshore winds.”

Details of the Trinity collection at www.trinityhospice.co.uk/tree-collection

It is thanks to our loyal readers that we can continue to provide the trusted news, analysis and insight that matters to you. For unlimited access to our unrivalled local reporting, you can take out a subscription here and help support the work of our dedicated team of reporters.

Support us and become a subscriber today. Enjoy unlimited access to local news, the latest football stories and new puzzles every day. With a digital subscription, you can see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click here to subscribe