Regrettably, due to the new coronavirus restrictions, Wirral Hospice St John's has had to cancel its Christmas tree collections for this year.

After a rigorous risk assessment and in view of the rising infection rates in Wirral, the hospice has been left with no choice but to cancel.

Wirral Hospice St John's Chair, Mr Steve Schroeder, explained,

"It is with deep regret that we have taken the decision to cancel this year's Christmas tree recycling service.

"This decision has not been taken lightly by our senior leadership team and board of trustees, given the huge support for the hospice it represents from so many people across the Wirral who have made their kind donations.

"This annual campaign is a much-needed source of income for Wirral Hospice, even more so in these testing times.

"However, the logistics of making the collections require us to bring together many volunteers from different households in the confines of a vehicle giving rise to a significant risk to safety with the current high levels of COVID-19 infections in our community.

"After much careful consideration we decided that this was a risk that could not be justified and so regrettably we have to withdraw our service.

"We want to say a heartfelt thank you to all who registered with the scheme, and ask for your patience and understanding of the situation.

"Huge apologies to all of you that have booked to have your tree collected and thank you for your incredible support you've shown us with your donations. We will of course be offering and issuing refunds to people who have booked trees. We will be getting in touch with all bookings by email and phone with immediate effect and hope that if you are one of those people that you will understand our decision and appreciate the difficult position we face.

"Numerous other hospices have also cancelled their campaigns and feedback they have been getting is overwhelming support from their local community. The world is still far from normal but none of us expected perhaps that the severity would be felt to this magnitude this far down the line. We clearly have some way to go before we can comfortably feel safe again.

"Thank you also to all local businesses, organisations, families and volunteers who offered their time to help us collect; we are very appreciative of your willingness and muscle-power and hope that you will be raring to hop on board a tree van next year (when the world is hopefully far more 'normal'!).

"Safety is our number one priority so it's with a sad heart we say goodbye to this fun fundraising campaign until next year.

"Keep safe out there and thank you for all that you've been doing to support us through these turbulent times when you and others will be facing your own challenges."