The 2022 Tree of Remembrance
Mahatma Ghandi wrote ‘You don’t know who is important in life until you actually lose them’, and we’ve lost many dear loved ones in recent years.
This year's Rotary President Richard Lees said "I do hope that the People of Pershore will be able to rise above everything that seems to have hit us during 2021. Pershore did just that when we responded to the appeal to help Ukraine and raised over £5,000. This Christmas, we still face all kinds of difficulties, but there are many who are even worse off. Our 2022 appeal will raise funds for Acorns Children's Hospice, Alzheimer's Society and St. Richard's Hospice. Please use this opportunity to remember your loved ones and to help these truly worthy causes."
In last year’s Pershore Rotary Tree of Remembrance Appeal (2021), the community showed its resilience and generosity by increasing the funds received by 40% over 2020.
As a result, Pershore Rotary donated £1,400 to St Richard’s Hospice, £1,400 to Acorns Children’s Hospice and a further £1,400 to our own Pershore Rotary Grants Scheme (PRoGS) to help individuals and local community groups.
As well as the donation forms in local village magazines, the Pershore Times and the Evesham Journal we will again be able to collect outside Asda and the Co-op. As always, we are very grateful to Asda and the Co-op for allowing us to collect on the Fridays and Saturdays running up to Christmas.
We had an excellent response to our Appeal notices in the Pershore Times and we are very grateful for the support the paper gives us every year.”
Sponsorship is always a big contributor to our appeal, and we look forward to Corporate Sponsors once again having their names in out listings and on our Facebook Page.
The History
The Pershore Rotary Tree has been an annual event since the start of the millenium. Since 2000 it has raised well over £50,000 due to the generosity of the people of Pershore, who have given in memory of loved ones.
Formerly called the "Tree of Lights" it was renamed the "Pershore Rotary Tree of Remembrance" in 2020, when so many livs were lost to Covid 19.
From October up until Christmas, Pershore Rotary Club collect the donations and publish the list of names remembered. Initially it started with cash street collections, but then we started collecting through newspaper forms as well. In 2014 we started collecting online as well. The newspaper forms and online also allowed us to collect Gift Aid to boost the amount.
Each year we nominate charities to receive the collections, and Acorns Childrens Hospice, St. Richard's Hospice and Midland Air Ambulance are regular beneficiaries of the collections.
