ChariTREE Takeaway

According to tradition, you should have your Christmas tree down by the end of today. But a local hospice is making the process easier by offering a removal service this weekend - to raise vital funds for its patients. It's the first year St Gemma's hospice has done it, Tracey Dick's from there and says it'll hopefully become an annual thing, "Everybody's thinking about taking their tree down. And dreading the thought of having to put that tree in their car and take it somewhere or cut it up in the garden in the cold. "We receive about a third of our running costs from the NHS, so we have to raise about two thirds of the money ourselves, that's nearly £6m a year - so this seemed a really great idea of proving a service to our supporters and asking them for a donation in return. "So we're always looking for new ideas like this, new ways to involve people. "We're hoping that if people in other areas are interested they'll let us know so that we can perhaps expand next year."