Everyone who made a dedication also made a donation of their choice towards the care services that Alice House provides to the local community; raising a fantastic £6,200.  Two of the trees were also dedicated to Peggy Evans and Norma Hume who were regular volunteers and very sadly died last year.

Middleton Grange Shopping Centre management kindly accommodated the Trees and the campaign was sponsored by regular supporters Specsavers.  Further support came in the form of companies who sponsored an individual tree each; these were Dignity, Clarks, Shottons, Sureplan, Thea’s Wardrobe and W.A. Smith.  Other local businesses also had their own Tree of Remembrance in support of the campaign. These were TSB (Horden), Sainsbury’s (Powlett Road), Spar (Powlett Road) as well as the Rehabilitation Centre in the Hospital.

Specsavers Retail Director Ian Walker said: “It is always a pleasure to support Alice House. They do such a wonderful job, day in and day out making a difference to people’s lives. We are always proud to help them.”

Alice House Community Fundraiser Janice Forbes added: “It has been another successful year for our Trees of Remembrance and we are so grateful to the hundreds of people who make this project so special.  Specsavers have provided wonderful support with sponsorship and assistance throughout the campaign. All of the other businesses who supported provided a very much appreciated boost. Huge thanks also go to the team at Middleton Grange for being so accommodating.

Finally, I would like to say a very special thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers who give so much of their time to help and the many visitors to the Trees for their kind donations and dedications.  All the money raised will be used to care for local families who need our support.”