A CREATIVE FUNDRAISING campaign has seen a tree in Wicklow mountains receive the full Christmas treatment.
The ‘Bikes and Baubles’ campaign, which was organised by friends Emily Archer and Charlotte Bishop, allowed individuals to donate €2 to have their name written on a Christmas bauble.
These baubles were then brought up into the Wicklow mountains by a group of volunteers and attached to what is now being called “the highest Christmas tree in Ireland”.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Charlotte Bishop, one of the organisers of the event said:
The baubles themselves were donated from charity shops and then we basically asked people if they wanted to have a day out in the Wicklow mountains. A lot of people were really keen to buy baubles and then a lot of people were interested in the cycle.
The money raised will go towards the ‘No Bucks Café’ – an umbrella initiative established by Tiglin Rehab Centre which reaches out to those suffering from homelessness and addiction.
On the day, a group of around 10 volunteers brought the baubles into the Wicklow mountains on bicycles – fitting around 150 of them to the tree. The effort so far has raised more than €750.
Bishop, who has been volunteering with the No Bucks Café for the past four months, said:
The money is going to go toward the bus. With the people coming to the a lot of them would be homeless and addicts. Especially in the winter people really are in need of warm cloths and hats and the basic things, like a toiletry pack.
The group are set to head back into the hills to take the baubles back down after January 6 – when the Christmas period comes to a close.
Donations can still be made on the event’s Facebook page here.
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