Treecycling

January 3, 2023January 3, 2023

NEWS: “Every donation, big or small, makes a huge difference,” thanks from John Taylor Hospice as Treecycling initiative gets closer to target

Words by Ed King / Pics supplied by The Hospice Charity Partnership

Erdington’s John Taylor Hospice (JTH) are sending out a New Year thank you to everyone who has supported their Treecycling initiative so far.

With more than 4000 people already signed up, the local hospice has currently raised over of £70,000 in donations – getting closer to last year’s fundraising total of £110,000.

With around 200 people across Birmingham and Solihull joining the Treecycling initiative every day, the Grange Road hospice is hopeful to beat last year’s target – helping them support more people and their families with expert end of life and palliative care.

The deadline to register for the Treecycling initiative is Monday 9 January, to get involved or for more information visit: www.birminghamhospice.org.uk/Treecycling

Jess Bolton, Community Campaigns and Digital Fundraising Manager at The Hospice Charity Partnership said: “We want to say a big thank you to everyone who has booked their Christmas tree into our Treecycling service so far.

“We’re thrilled to be closer towards our target of 5,500 trees to collect on 14-15 January.

“If you have had a real tree this Christmas and haven’t arranged your collection yet, you have until Monday 9 January at midday to book.

“We currently have an army of 150 amazing volunteers ready to hop in their vans and collect your trees, so you won’t need to lift a finger or worry about getting needles in your car!

“Every donation, big or small, makes a huge difference, enabling someone in our community to receive the care and support they desperately need.”

Having run for over ten years, the Treecycling initiative is an important part of JTH’s yearly revenue – the Grange Road hospice relies on charity fundraising and donations to generate 40% of the money needed to stay open.

In exchange for an affordable donation, the Treecyling volunteers will collect your old Christmas tree from your home on Saturday 14 or Sunday 15 of January ’23 – helping clear away the Christmas clutter whilst raising much needed funds for the local hospice.

John Taylor Hospice is now part of The Hospice Charity Partnership (THCP), which also includes Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice.

It costs £15,055,467 to run both sites per year – £1,254,622 per month, £289,528 per week, £41,361 per day, and £1,723 per hour.

Projects such as the annual Treecycling initiative are crucial in keeping John Taylor Hospice operational, which first opened in 1910 and has been providing free end of life and palliative care for over a century.

All the money raised through the Treecycling initiative will go towards the core costs of running the Birmingham hospices and supporting those who are cared for by The Hospice Charity Partnership and their families.

Detailing how the money raised from the Treecycling initiative could be used, Jess Bolton added: “Over 600 people each year get the specialist care they need at our Selly Park (St Maty’s Hospice) and Erdington (John Taylor Hospice) Inpatient Units.

“Almost 3,000 people each year are cared for by our Community Palliative Care Teams in the comfort of their own home.

“Each year over 1,600 people are supported emotionally, practically, and spiritually by our charity’s Social Care and Wellbeing Teams.

“Our Child Bereavement Service has over 800 support sessions with bereaved children each year; supporting them through the most difficult of times and helping children on their journey of grief.”

To take part in the Treecycling initiative, simply sign up before Monday 9 January via an online registration form and make an affordable donation, with all proceeds going directly to the hospice charity: www.birminghamhospice.org.uk/Treecycling

To sign up for the ‘Treecycling’ charity fundraiser and support John Taylor Hospice visit: www.birminghamhospice.org.uk/Treecycling

For more on John Taylor Hospice visit www.johntaylorhospice.org.uk

December 23, 2022December 24, 2022

NEWS: Help John Taylor Hospice help others through their Treecycling initiative this Christmas

Words by Ed King / Pics supplied by The Hospice Charity Partnership

Help Erdington’s John Taylor Hospice (JTH) raise the money they need to help others this Christmas by signing up for their Treecycling initiative.

John Taylor Hospice is now part of The Hospice Charity Partnership, which also includes Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice.

It costs £15,055,467 to run both sites per year – which equates to: £1,254,622 per month, £289,528 per week, £41,361 per day, and £1,723 per hour.

All the money raised through the Treecycling initiative will go towards supporting those who are cared for by The Hospice Charity Partnership and their families.

Here are a few ways your donations can help.

£10 will provide tasty home-cooked meals and refreshments for a day for someone staying on the in-patient unit on one of the hospice sites.

£15 can buy a teddy bear with a recording of a loved one’s voice for a bereaved child to treasure as a keepsake.

£19 will pay for one hour of Day Hospice service, supporting people to live well, manage their symptoms and take part in therapeutic activities.

£27 pays for a bereavement support session to help a family member cope with the loss of a loved one.

£42 pays for a specialist bereavement support session to help a child coping with the loss of a loved one.

£69 pays for a community nurse to visit someone at home, helping them manage their symptoms and coordinating their care.

£83 covers the cost of a home visit from an occupational therapist. This helps people become as independent as possible so they can keep doing everyday things – whether that’s simply getting around the house, cooking a family meal, going to the shops, or seeing mates down the pub.

£237 could pay for a whole day of a community nurses care, giving patients and families the support they need in the comfort of their own homes.

£492 could pay for 24 hours of nursing support for a person being cared for on one of our inpatient units.

£1,035 could pay for someone to have round-the-clock expert palliative and end of life care on one of the hospice’s inpatient units.

Jess Bolton, Community Campaigns and Digital Fundraising Manager at The Hospice Charity Partnership said:

“We are so excited to welcome back Treecycling, our flagship campaign. Not only is it a great service, it’s also a hugely important fundraiser for us, having raised over £500,000 since 2011 for palliative and end of life care.

“By booking your collection and making a donation, you will make a difference to local people living with life-limiting illness, whilst making your life easier and being kinder to the environment – what’s not to love?

“A huge thank you to all of our wonderful supporters that have or will make their Treecycling booking in 2023 – we couldn’t do what we do without you!”

To sign up for the ‘Treecycling’ charity fundraiser and support John Taylor Hospice visit: www.birminghamhospice.org.uk/Treecycling

For more on John Taylor Hospice visit www.johntaylorhospice.org.uk

December 16, 2022December 17, 2022

NEWS: John’s 12 days of Christmas – sign up for ‘Treecycling’ and make Christmas extra special at John Taylor Hospice

Words by Ed King / Pics supplied by The Hospice Charity Partnership

Erdington’s John Taylor Hospice are bringing back their Christmas ‘Treecycling’ initiative this winter, to help make the festive season extra special for the patients in their care.

As many of us rush around looking for Christmas presents and Cranberry sauce, staff at the Grange Road hospice are busy granting wishes for their patients – made possible by the money raised through projects such as the Treecycling initiative.

In exchange for an affordable donation, the Treecyling volunteers will collect your old Christmas tree from your home on Saturday 14 or Sunday 15 of January ’23.

Having run for over ten years, the Treecycling initiative has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to help support John Taylor Hospice – which relies on charity fundraising and donations to generate 40% of the money needed to stay open.

To sign up for the Treecycling initiative visit: www.birminghamhospice.org.uk/Treecycling

John Rastall, a patient cared for by John Taylor Hospice’s Inpatient Unit (IPU), wanted nothing more than to celebrate Christmas in style this year.

To make sure John was able to celebrate his favourite time of year, staff at the Erdington-based hospice decided to make Christmas come early and kicked off 12 days of festivities from 14 September.

The wonderful Inpatient Unit (IPU) Team decorated John’s room top to bottom in Christmas spirit – with a Christmas tree, his own advent calendar, and wall to wall Christmas decorations.

For the next 12 days, staff helped John celebrate Christmas with special gifts and festive treats – until ‘Christmas Day’ arrived on Monday 26 September.

After waking up in his festive duvet covers, covered in pictures of Santa and his reindeer, John was treated to his very own Christmas dinner – made specially by the hospice catering team.

After a second helping of turkey, John headed outside for another Christmas surprise – where the hospice staff had dressed up as Santa, an elf, a snowman, and Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

There was even ‘snow’ on the ground, courtesy of a snow making machine, that helped decorate the autumn lawn at John Taylor hospice in Christmas cheer.

John spent the rest of his ‘Christmas Day’ relaxing in his newly bought Christmas onesie and opening presents from people from across the hospice.

As an artist, John was especially excited with the beautiful art sets – with pencils, pens and drawing equipment – and wants to design his own Christmas cards for John Taylor Hospice to sell and raise money to help others.

John told staff: “I feel really lucky, everyone has been really kind. All my presents are amazing, thank you.”

John’s ‘12 days of Christmas’ was just one of the special activities and events that staff at John Taylor Hospice have organised for patients in their care, made possible by the funds raised by projects such as the Treecycling initiative.

While the care provided by John Taylor Hospice is free for all, to cover this, 40% of its costs need to be covered through fundraised income. This is why the hospice relies on donations and money raised through charity fundraising initiatives, delivered by a team of supporters and volunteers.

Mary Moorehouse, Discharge Coordinator at John Taylor Hospice, said the staff just wanted to make John’s time at the hospice as special as possible.

“John mentioned it to someone that he wanted to make sure he celebrated Christmas this year,” told Mary. “So, we discussed it as a team and decided to bring his Christmas forward.

“Our whole team have gotten really involved and we have had gifts donated from our IPU colleagues, their partners, and families and from teams across the hospice.

“John is a fantastic artist and will even be designing some Christmas cards for us which is wonderful.

“Thank you to everyone who got involved and helped us pull it off. We love to make dreams come true here.

“It has all been worth it to see John’s face and see him enjoying himself.”

John Taylor Hospice is located at 76 Grange Road, Erdington.

Now part of The Hospice Charity Partnership, alongside Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice, John Taylor Hospice first opened in 1910 and has been providing free end of life and palliative care for over a century.

To sign up for the ‘Treecycling’ charity fundraiser and support John Taylor Hospice visit: www.birminghamhospice.org.uk/Treecycling

For more on John Taylor Hospice visit www.johntaylorhospice.org.uk

December 9, 2022December 10, 2022

NEWS: Sign up for Christmas ‘Treecycling’ and support Erdington’s John Taylor Hospice this winter

Words by Ed King / Pics supplied by The Hospice Charity Partnership

In exchange for an affordable donation, the Treecyling volunteers will collect your old Christmas tree from your home on Saturday 14 or Sunday 15 of January ’23 – taking the hassle out of getting rid of your tree once Christmas is over, whilst at the same time supporting the local hospice.

Situated on Grange Road in Erdington, John Taylor Hospice first opened in 1910 and has been providing free end of life and palliative care for over a century.

Now part of The Hospice Charity Partnership, John Taylor Hospice was awarded an ‘Outstanding’ rating by the Care Quality Commission following its last inspection in 2022.

Plus, all the Treecycling trees will be turned into biomass fuel – a renewable energy source generated from burning wood, plants, and other organic matter that is much better for the environment.

Jess Bolton, Community Campaigns and Digital Fundraising Manager at The Hospice Charity Partnership said:

According to the British Christmas Tree Growers Association (BCTGA), between 6-8 million Christmas tress are sold in the UK every year.

A citywide initiative organised by The Hospice Charity partnership, who run both John Taylor Hospice and St Mary’s Hospice in Birmingham, the Treecycling initiative has become a vital part of the charity’s annual fundraising.

Whilst the end of life and palliative care given at John Taylor Hospice and St Mary’s Hospice is free, hospices across the UK receive only 33% of the money they need to operate from the Government – relying on donations and money raised through charity fundraising initiatives, delivered by a team of supporters and volunteers.

Jess Bolton added: “Volunteers are vital in making Treecycling happen. The charity is on the lookout for incredible people to volunteer on the collection weekend (14 or 15 January 2023) picking up trees and dropping them at disposal sites.

“If you have your own van or flat-bed truck, fantastic! If not, the charity can provide vehicles for you to drive. Please contact [email protected] if you are interested in volunteering.

“A huge thank you to all of our wonderful supporters that have or will make their Treecycling booking in 2023 – we couldn’t do what we do without you!”

To sign up for the ‘Treecycling’ charity fundraiser and support John Taylor Hospice visit: www.birminghamhospice.org.uk/Treecycling

For more on John Taylor Hospice visit www.johntaylorhospice.org.uk