Bristol Aid Box sells Christmas trees to help refugees

Volunteers help deliver the trees and the proceeds go to support refugees

A charity selling Christmas trees has said it hopes to raise thousands of pounds for refugees.

Bristol-based Aid Box Community said it had supported more than 1,900 displaced people in the city in the past year.

Director Imogen McIntosh said selling Christmas trees for the charity's Refutree scheme gave the charity a much-needed "boost" in the winter.

She founded Aid Box Community seven years ago after visiting refugee camps in France.

The organisation provides refugees in Bristol with practical help but also with a befriending service.

Ms McIntosh said: "I came back to Bristol [after being in France] and saw what was going on here, and the fact that when people reached the UK, their struggles continued and actually can be really quite awful."

The Refutrees scheme, which sources trees from local company Frenchay Forestry, is an established part of the charity's annual fundraising.

Some 140 volunteers help to deliver the trees around Bristol, and part-time staff man the charity's shop on Gloucester Road.

"I think the first year we took about £15,000 and then each year it increased," Ms McIntosh said.

"We have people who say they got their tree from you last year and I'll always buy them from you, and it's snowballed.

"It's become a Christmas tradition for some people, which is just lovely," she added

In the past year the charity has helped people from more than 40 countries, including many from Ukraine and Afghanistan.

"We'll keep going [with the trees] until we sell out," said Ms McIntosh.

The charity is also raising money by offering Christmas gift sessions with live online cook-along classes featuring recipes from eight different countries.