MORE than 150,000 Christmas cards have been donated to a Solihull Funeral Directors for recycling, raising funds for a West Midlands hospice.
For every 10,000 cards collected by Thomas Bragg & Sons Funeral Directors, a new tree will be planted at Temple Fields Natural Burial Ground. With 167,254 cards counted so far, that means 15 new trees, while recycling company Smurfit Kappa will donate to St Giles Hospice based on the total weight of the cards.
Funeral arranger Kayleigh Hughes said: “Some people get an unbelievable number of Christmas cards around the festive season and 2019 was no exception.
“Thomas Bragg & Sons joined St Giles Hospice’s appeal for people to recycle their cards and help the environment and the response has been overwhelming.”
St Giles Hospice has appealed for Christmas card donations for several years, raising nearly £50,000 to aid their work in supporting patients with incurable illnesses.
A number of Solihull organisations including the Knowle Society, Dorridge Primary School, Greswold Primary School and Shirley Lions Club have helped deliver, count and raise awareness for Thomas Bragg & Sons’ collection, which saw cards donated from as far as Newcastle.
Kayleigh said: “With the ability to protect the environment and support St Giles Hospice’s invaluable work at the same time, residents have been more than willing to get hands-on with the initiative.”
Sally Insley, Corporate and Community Fundraising Manager at St Giles Hospice, said: “We’d like to thank everybody who has donated cards – and all of our friends at Thomas Bragg for collecting them for us.
“Recycling your Christmas cards for St Giles is a great way to raise funds for the hospice, and by cutting paper waste it’s environmentally friendly at the same time.”
This year marks Thomas Bragg & Sons’ second annual collection for St Giles Hospice, having gathered 33,000 cards in 2019 and tripled its 50,000 goal for 2020.
Kayleigh concluded: “The interest in this initiative grows massively every year, so our sights will be set even higher for 2021.”
