A SMALL army of Wirral Hospice St John's volunteers will be collecting used real Christmas trees from outside people's homes and businesses to raise vital funds for the charity next week.

Now in its seventh year, the Christmas tree collection campaign - taking place from Friday, January 10 for what promises to be a busy few days - is raising more and more essential funds for the hospice.

For a suggested donation relating to the size of each tree, £6 under 5ft, £8 under 6ft, £10 under 7ft, £15 over 7ft, people can leave their pine/fir/spruce tree in an accessible spot outside their house or business and, within the week, their tree will magically disappear.

Thirty large vans, many of which have been lent to the hospice for the week, are sent everywhere around Wirral.

One person takes the wheel and navigates a pre-planned postcode route while passengers take it in turns to pick up a tree from each address and load it onto the back of the van.

Once each van is fully loaded it’s driven to various pre-arranged temporary 'drop-sites' around Wirral, to offload for chipping, then it's back on the road heading out for the next load.

The chipped trees have further recycled uses, maybe in biofuel or even spread around at community farms and paddocks.

Other small local charities also receive around ten per cent of the monies raised.

All the people who give their valuable time are well fed and watered while fuel is covered for everyone who volunteers the use of their van(s).

Every Wirral postcode area is eligible to register and people can book from now until 5pm on Tuesday (January 7), to secure the hassle-free collection of their REAL Christmas trees.

Elaine Connell, Wirral Hospice St John’s fundraising officer, said: "People from all over Wirral really get behind our Christmas tree collection campaign.

"We know it's a lot of fun for our hardy volunteers who come back year after year.

"We're extremely grateful to everyone who supports Wirral Hospice St John's, including all those who give up their valuable time and the use of their vehicles to help with the collections and, of course, all those people who make their generous donations for us to pick up their used real Christmas trees.

"We're also very grateful to those organisations who lend a hand, equipment or space; including, B&M, Firtrees, Willaston Community Farm, Ness Village Hall, BVH, Don’t be Stumped, Wirral Country Park, W K Arboriculture, HJA Fencing & Landscaping, S2S Gardening Services, Carsons Tree Services, Hoist UK Ltd, EMS, SP Energy, Allan Morris Transport, Continental Landscapes, Karl D Williams, Claremont Farm, Oldershaw Rugby Club, West Wallasey Van Hire, North West Construction, Aaron Garden Services, Wirral Lions and Phoenix Masonic Lodge."