Telford Tree of Light appeal hits record target
The annual Telford Tree of Light campaign has raised more than £40,000 for charity in just over a month of fundraising.
Delighted organisers said it took the sum of their total charitable donations to over the £500,000 mark since the tree was launched 20 years ago.
Peter Seaward, chairman of the Tree of Light committee and Wellington Rotary Club, said that they had beaten last year's record-breaking fundraising.
He said: "We're pretty well there. We estimate with gift aid we have reached our target. We are way above where we were last year.
"This is a considerable achievement by the many Rotarians and friends who work voluntarily in the processing of the applications and is of course only possible by the generosity of the people of Telford and beyond.
"Our corporate sponsors cover our operating expenses so we can truly claim that all the donations made by the public are distributed to our local good causes."
More than 5,000 names are currently displayed around the tree by 2,300 sponsors as a memorial to loved ones.
This year half of the amount raised will go to Severn Hospice.
The rest will be shared between The Coronary Care Unit at the Princess Royal Hospital, the Telford branch of the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Support Group, Transhouse, a charity for spinal injury rehabilitation, and The 2nd Wellington Scout Group.
The presentations to the charities will be made on February 11 next year.
This year the tree was switched on in Telford Shopping Centre on November 12, but volunteers have been working since well before that date to get names displayed around its base and will continue to add names up to Christmas Eve.
At the switch-on of the tree, Mr Seaward told the crowds that the tree had already raised £20,000.
The annual fundraising campaign first started in 1995 and has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for a number of charities, including more than £220,000 for the Severn Hospice.
Last year saw a record total of £38,200 raised during the campaign, with £19,100 presented to the Severn Hospice.
Names are displayed on lists around the Tree of Light in Telford Shopping Centre, at Wellington Market and in the windows of Tranter Lowe's offices in Oakengates and Dawley, and at Truffles Café in Ironbridge.
