A SOUTH West children’s charity has received £3,662 from a family-run Christmas tree farm on the outskirts of Wellington.

The funds were raised for Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW) by staff and customers at Langford Lakes Christmas Tree Farm during November and December last year.

Nick Hendy, from Langford Lakes Christmas Tree Farm, which is based at Middle Hill Farm in Langford Budville, said: “We’re delighted that, with the help of our customers, we managed to collect a fantastic amount of money for CHSW. In 2017, we raised £2,955 for the charity, so we’re delighted we were able to exceed that figure in 2018. 

“The £3,662 was raised by providing visitors to our Christmas tree farm, who came to collect their trees and to buy decorations, with teas, coffees and mince pies in return for a donation to the charity. We were assisted with these efforts by members of the Wellington Friends Group of CHSW who were a great help.

“We have been raising money for CHSW since 2006 and in total we have donated £23,892.80 to the charity. We’re elated to have raised so much money for them in 12 years. Without our customers’ support, this would not have been possible, so a huge ‘thank you’ goes to them.” 

CHSW is currently the only provider of specialist hospice care for children in the region. It offers much needed support for youngsters with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition and their families at its three hospices: Charlton Farm in North Somerset, Little Bridge House in North Devon and Little Harbour in Cornwall.

Wendy Pollard, Chair of the Wellington Friends Group of CHSW, said: “On behalf of everyone at CHSW, I’d like to thank the Hendy family for enabling us to raise this amazing amount of money.

“We’re so very grateful for their incredible generosity in donating all the refreshments, which the Wellington Friends Group helped to serve to customers in the Christmas shop in the weeks leading up to Christmas. We would also like to thank the kind customers who donated so generously.

“The money will be used to support the vital work of caring for the life-limited children and their families in the South West.”

Langford Lakes Christmas Tree Farm, which is well-known for its home grown, freshly cut Christmas trees, is a family run 40-acre farm that is located close to the nature reserve Langford Heathfield, a mile outside of Langford Mudville..

It is a family-run farm, owned and run by Reg and his wife Ann and their two sons, Shaun and Nick. The family has been growing and selling Christmas trees for more than 20 years.

Nick added: “We also donated, free of charge, three large freshly cut Christmas trees to Wiveliscombe, Wellington and Taunton town centres to help them celebrate the yuletide. As a business in the area, we understand how important it is to give something back to the people in the local area who support us.

“We have supplied a tree to Wellington for the past 12 years and trees to Taunton and Wiveliscombe for the past six years. We love to see our trees standing tall in each town centre and the joy they bring to families who are out and about doing their Christmas shopping.

“We would also like to thank our customers for their continued loyalty and wish them all well for 2019.”

For further details about Langford Lakes Christmas Tree Farm, which is based at Middle Hill Farm in Langford Budville near Wellington, please call 01823 400476, visitwww.langfordlakes.co.uk, follow the company on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LangfordLakes or log on to www.facebook.com/LangfordLakesChristmasTreeFarm/.