HARDWORKING volunteers have been collecting Christmas trees from homes across the borough to help raise record funds for Bury Hospice.

Families arranged for their used and tired trees to be picked up and recycled in return for a donation to the charity, which provides end of life care and support for patients and their loved ones.

A team of 23 dedicated volunteers, which included many ex-firefighters and a fleet of vehicles, spent three days collecting 901 real trees from people's doorsteps between Friday and Sunday.

This year's tree-cycling service brought in record donations of £10,600 for Bury Hospice.

The old spruces and fir trees were taken to Bury's Gigg Lane ground, where they were chipped and turned into mulch — a much more eco-friendly solution then sending trees to landfill.

Dale Mulgrew, Bury Hospice's events fundraiser, who took part in the collections at the weekend, said: "Thank you to everyone who has supported the hospice by using the service and a special thank you to all the volunteers who gave up their time and put in so much hard work to make it happen. Without them, we could not do it.

“The hospice is all about the community and this provides a service and also helps us get out and meet the people who support us.

“It was hard work, but it was good fun and there was a great team spirit.

“Hopefully next year we can collect even more trees and make it another record fundraising event for the hospice."

Tree-cycling is a business-supported initiative, with local firms getting behind the campaign by donating vans, people and resources.

The hospice gave a special thanks to Ashley Edge Tree & Garden Services Ltd, ParcelFast, Lostock Installations, Timothy's NW Ltd, Senior Waste Removals, L. Feriday Motor Body Repairs and Bespoke Landscapes, who donated their time and equipment for the collection.