A Leeds man dubbed Yorkshire's real-life Santa is hoping to raise £50,000 by selling wooden Christmas trees - so he can buy presents for vulnerable children.
Reese Fletcher, a landscape gardener from Kippax, crafts and sells wooden Christmas trees for £10. The funds raised by selling the trees are then used to buy presents for young children who live in and around Leeds.
Reese raised £10,000 through his fantastic festive fundraiser last year, but the dad wants to go even further this time around as the cost of living crisis hits families across the city hard. He has set an ambitious target of raising £50,000.
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Reese, 31, said: "We are targeting £50,000 in funds raised for the toys for Christmas 2022 which would equate to 5,000 trees. Over the last two years we have raised just short of £15,000 so why not set the bar high and go for it?
"We know it’s an ambitious target, but we want to do something big this year to make a real difference. As the cost-of-living crisis bites, our community partners have advised that the number of school children struggling has doubled in the last 12 months."
Reese and his five festive helpers have already crafted 800 trees this year, thanks partly to materials donated by BSW Group. Collection points for the £10 trees are currently in the process of being set up.
“We had such a huge interest last year that we have set up a donation page for 2022," said Reese. "This way, even if we can’t produce 5,000 trees through sales, people can donate to the cause and help us to buy as many toys for vulnerable children this Christmas."
He continued: "Last year we did about 60 to 70 per cent of the deliveries, and we even had people driving two to three hours to collect trees from my own house. This year I'm working on collection points and Christmas markets in Leeds and the surrounding areas, to get the trees out to the public."
The driving force behind Reese's festive fundraiser is to buy as many presents as possible for vulnerable children in the area. On his Just Giving page, the 31-year-old dad writes: "We're raising £50,000 to help buy Christmas presents for less fortunate children and give them a Christmas they may have never had."
He said: "We are working alongside a lady from the local community who looks after vulnerable families in between 15 and 20 schools in the local area, as well as a vulnerable children's charity in a village close to Kippax, where residents are in one of the highest poverty areas in the UK."
James Brennan, group marketing manager of BSW Group, said: "We were keen to support Reese’s efforts when he reached out to us and told us what he was aiming to do. This is our second year supporting the project and it’s going from strength to strength. This year, more and more families are visiting food banks, and as Christmas brings affordability into the spotlight, we hope that our donation, and Reese’s campaign, can ease some of those anxieties for families across the Yorkshire region."
Reese said his team will "react to demand and do as much as we can to make this our best year yet." To donate to his Just Giving page, click here.
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