St Barnabas Hospice has had to cancel its charity collection of Christmas trees to recycle this year due to the country being put back into lockdown.
The charity had originally planned to drive across the county to collect and recycle any Christmas trees in an environmentally conscious way in January, for a small donation.
The announcement of a third national lockdown has caused these plans to be cancelled, though.
The ‘Treecycle’ scheme had been planned as a fundraiser for the hospice, with hopes of reaching a £30,000 target to backfill the deficit lost from having to cancel other fundraisers in 2020.
It is hoped that the collections will return next year, starting on January 8, 2022, but those who had arranged collections for this year are being contacted about a refund if needed.
Fundraising officer for the hospice, Louise Cotton, with last year’s recycled trees. | Photo: St Barnabas Hospice
Chris Wheway, St Barnabas CEO, said: “Following the government’s tier 4 COVID restrictions announced on December 30, we put a halt to new registrations for our Treecycle scheme.
“After further discussion and exploring every possible option, we have decided to cancel all collections due to safety concerns.
“We are very disappointed to have to announce this, but safety is paramount – the hospice is about caring for people, and we would never want to put people in danger.
“We have looked at all options, but due to the nature of the collections, we cannot facilitate this safely without the risk of spreading the virus.”
Chris also apologised to supporters of the hospice, and thanked those who have donated during the pandemic.
“We are so sorry to let our kind supporters down. We have invested a huge amount of planning time and effort into the fundraising event, but we are confident that we can provide this service next year, once it is safe to do so.
“A huge thank you to each and every supporter who has donated, this money is so vital to support the hospice and the care it provides to thousands of people each year.”
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Marc Jones, the re-elected Conservative Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner, said that his work is not done, as he’s looking forward to a further three years in the role.
Mr Jones won with a 57.9% majority of the poll from the first round of counting, with 102,813 votes from a 31% turnout. A total of 177,528 votes were placed county-wide.
The nearest candidate was Labour’s Rosanne Kirk, with a 19% share of the votes, with Lincolnshire Independent David Williams securing the third spot with 10%.
The breakdown of the votes cast on Thursday, May 6, and counted on Saturday, may 8, was:
Marc Jones (Conservative) – 102,813
Rosanne Kirk (Labour) – 34,310
David Williams (Lincolnshire Independent) – 18,375
Ross Pepper (Liberal Democrats) – 10,172
Peter Escreet (Reform UK) – 6,101
Marc Jones: “More work to do”
“It’s very gratifying to have concluded today on the first count, that was a really positive thing for what I’ve delivered so far,” said Mr Jones.
“But I’m under no illusions having spoken to many around the county there’s an awful lot more work to do.”
He said he wanted to assure the public that “nothing was taken for granted”.
Rosie Kirk – Labour – 2nd place
Labour’s candidate Rosie Kirk said she was “thrilled for her party” across all three elections that had taken place in Lincolnshire this week.
“The votes that we got was incredible. Our message got through and to actually come second in a Conservative county is really great,” she said.
However, she added that there were “lots of questions that still need to be asked” and promised to keep up her scrutiny of Marc in his role.
Ross Pepper – Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrat candidate Ross Pepper said the result was not “entirely unexpected”.
However, he said he was proud of the three Liberal Democrat councillors that had won seats in the local elections at Lincolnshire County and City of Lincoln Councils.
“I’m ready to work with them for a better Lincolnshire and a better Lincoln,” he said.
“In a Conservative heavy county we did a really good job of getting the Liberal Democrat message out there… and we continue pushing that message through local campaigning in the future.”
David Williams – Lincolnshire Independents
David Williams, the Lincolnshire Independents PCC candidate congratulated Marc Jones on his victory but said it is “not a surprising outcome”.
“I’m really pleased to have run for the post, because if I hadn’t have had a go to do a job that I really would have relished then I would have looked back and regretted not having taking the opportunity.”
Peter Escreet – Reform UK
Peter Escreet, the Reform UK candidate also said the result “was as expected” but actually he was “pleasantly surprised,” saying that this is “just the start”.
“The real campaign is in three years’ time” where Mr Escreet wants to grow a majority.
Conservative Marc Jones has been re-elected to the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner role.
He won from the first round of counting with 102,813 votes from a 31% turnout.
The PCC oversees the strategy and finances of the force, and also hires and fires chief constables, who are responsible for the daily policing operations.
Mr Jones will be in the position for three years.
The breakdown of the results is:
Marc Jones (Conservative) – 102,813
Rosanne Kirk (Labour) – 34,310
Ross Pepper (Liberal Democrats) – 10,172
David Williams (Lincolnshire Independent) – 18,375
Peter Escreet (Reform UK) – 6,101
Here’s the live result announcement, the reactions and acceptance speech:
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