I got this message from the Bethany Trust, who help homeless people in Edinburgh.
The problem
– Bethany runs a Winter Care Shelter for rough sleepers in
Edinburgh. We don’t receive any kind of funding for this except
from kind individuals and last year we ran at a loss of
£28,000. We can’t afford to do this again but we know that
people die if they sleep rough over winter in Scotland. (610
people had nowhere to go over the winter months last year and
received shelter, warmth and love from Bethany)
The solution
– this year we’re going to sell Christmas Trees to raise money
to fund the shelter! The approx cost of a tree is the cost of
giving somebody a bed for the night, a hot meal and some help
getting off the streets. The trees are the same price as you
would pay elsewhere (£5 per foot) and good quality (non needle
drop, environmentally sourced Nordman Firs).
The deal
– We need people to order their trees in advance (before end of
Nov). You just place your order; pick your size, the date you
want to pick it up and the place you want to collect it from.
Then on the day, turn up, take your pick and take it home.
Where you come in
– We really need help to make this work. We need to sell lots
and deliver lots (£28K is a lot of trees!)..
Can you please do any combination of the
following-
· Send emails to everyone you know
(friends, colleagues anyone!) in Edinburgh to promote the
Caring Christmas Trees Campaign.
· Give leaflets to all and sundry –
neighbours, canteen, local sandwich shop….
· Donate 4 hours to promote the scheme at
a stall in the Gyle or Ocean Terminal for a 4 hour slot (10-2pm
or 2-6pm or 6-8pm) any Thurs, Fri or Saturday in November
· Donate 4 hours – we need 100 people to
donate 4 hours to help distribute the trees.
That’s either checking paperwork, netting trees or just
chatting to people. You can choose your slot from: Fri 9th Dec
4-8pm, Sat 10th 10-2 or 2-6pm, Fri 16th 4-8pm, Sat 17th 10-2 or 2-6pm.
Location choice: Liberton, Leith, Comely Bank, Corn Exchange,
Gyle. Groups of 4 would be ideal, so why not get a group of
your friends together and do it as a team..
The website (www.caringchristmastrees.com) is up and running
for people to place their orders.