Our Trees are from Scotland. They literally are grown in Scotland but also the idea of selling Christmas Trees for charity was birthed there too.
I visited Bethany Christian Trust in Edinburgh in 2008 to see their work which included a nightshelter, rehab, a home for single mums and a comprehensive programme of support for people in need. I was so impressed with everything they did. And it was there that I first heard about Caring Christmas Trees.
It had started in Edinburgh a few years earlier and they sold 3,500 trees and raised £45k for the nightshelter. I made sure that December I went back to Edinburgh to see the trees being distributed and to learn how they organised it. We decided to partner with Caring Christmas Trees the following year. I quickly discovered it is hard to sell Christmas Trees. Bethany had significant profile in Edinburgh whilst we were relatively unknown. Every tree sale in the first few years was significant. I think we made it to 180 sales.
The first years were tough to learn how to make it work. I think back on things that didn’t go so well – the year we tried a different farmer, storage facilities that were too small for the delivery pallets, bad weather but surprisingly at no point have I thought of stopping doing the trees.
I knew that it could become something that strengthened what we do.
We tried to improve the model every year and after four years being Caring Christmas Trees we branched out on our own – we became King’s Christmas Trees, got a new and in my opinion the best tree logo ever.
We introduced home delivery and now over 50% of our customers have their trees
delivered direct to their door. We still provide collection points where customers can choose their tree to take home. There is a great connection between buying a tree that you bring it into your home and helping people get into a home.
I have always been aware that our primary goal is that the trees serve the Jericho Road Project not the other way round. We try to keep the model as simple as possible – online customers rather than school fairs and market stalls. I want every pound profit going to making the lives of the poorest in our local community better. The more efficient we get the more we can benefit those who need the most help.
There are three main reasons for King’s Christmas Trees:
Tell the story of those who have no voice – we send out a weekly email to all our customers which tells stories of success but also highlights the challenges and the gaps.
Give unemployed people a chance to be involved in a proper business – this is such an exciting aspect of the project. We have unemployed people doing responsible roles that help build their own confidence and equip them to make progress.
Raise funds – this year we are raising money to do the following:
Relief: Food at the Feast and outreach to Rough Sleepers
Hope: to buy every resident a birthday present, pay for travel to training and subsidise days out.
Connection: support moved on residents with advice and equipment.
The idea came from Scotland and trees have taken us on a journey that has included the office of the Leader of the Opposition (Ed Milliband) and St Paul’s Cathedral (Breast Cancer Carol service). We have always had significant support from local politicians but this has always been about local people choosing to do things differently, kicking against the tide of commercialism and instead remember at Christmas to invest in people’s lives.