St Catherine's Hospice is urgently seeking more than 30 volunteer drivers with access to a van to help collect and recycle hundreds of Christmas trees across Surrey and West Sussex this January, helping raise vital funds for local hospice care.

Last year's appeal raised more than £24,000 for St Catherine's, and the charity hopes to exceed that total in 2026 with the help of volunteer drivers and collectors.

Collections will take place on 9, 11 and 12 January, with volunteers able to choose from a range of shifts.

Volunteer drivers will be given a planned route for their van and will typically collect around 40 trees from local households each shift. Volunteers can sign up for one shift, one day or multiple collection days.

If you don’t have a van but want to get involved, you can! St Catherine’s is also keen to hear from people who can volunteer as assistants to help van drivers collect Christmas trees, or at one of the drop off sites across Surrey and Sussex.

Emma Collins, Events and Campaigns Fundraiser at St Catherine's, said: 

"We're looking for more than 30 volunteer drivers who can bring along their van, and another 30 volunteer assistants, to make our Christmas Tree Collection a success. Every tree collected helps raise vital funds that helps us deliver our specialist palliative and end of live care to our local community.

"Last year the appeal raised more than £24,000, and with the support of our volunteers we hope to raise even more this January. Whether you can spare a morning, a day, or all three collection days, we'd love to hear from you."

Andy Little, a volunteer driver who collected Christmas trees earlier this year, said:

"St Catherine’s Hospice is very close to my heart after the care they provided for my late mother. So when I was asked to help with the Christmas tree collection, it was a pleasure to get involved. It was a great day, and I really enjoyed working alongside everyone while helping to raise vital funds for such an important charity.”

Anyone with access to a van or keen to help with the collections to support St Catherine’s this January is encouraged to sign up at www.stch.org.uk/tree-collections