Leeds man buys over £3,000 worth of toys for children for Christmas from tree-making fundraiser

A Leeds man has bought over £3,000 worth of toys for children for Christmas after raising money by making wooden Christmas trees.
Reese Fletcher spent £3,400 on toys for children for Christmas (photo: Reese Fletcher)Reese Fletcher spent £3,400 on toys for children for Christmas (photo: Reese Fletcher)
Reese Fletcher spent £3,400 on toys for children for Christmas (photo: Reese Fletcher)

Reese Fletcher watched an emotional video from the Forward Leeds alcohol and drug service charity and wanted to do something to help those struggling this Christmas.

The Kippax resident started by donating £50 of his own money to the charity, and then realised that he could do something more with the masses of leftover scrap wood he gets faced with from his fencing and decking business.

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His emotional attachment to those struggling with alcoholism made him even more determined to make sure children were not left without presents this year if families couldn’t afford them.

The money was made by making wooden Christmas treesThe money was made by making wooden Christmas trees
The money was made by making wooden Christmas trees

The father-of-two said: “I realised I could make trees out of the wood so I begged and borrowed a few materials and started making 3ft high wooden Christmas trees.

“I sold them on my business’ Facebook page and within 12 hours I’d sold 100 trees, after another hour another 50 trees and within 48 hours I’d sold 250 trees.

People generally gave about £10 per tree but some people paid more and some people just gave larger donations.”

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Reese said that it was important to him to give something back to those who need it, having always wanted to do something for charity that was more than just donating money.

He added: “In the end we ended up with £3,400 and I went to Smyths Toys on Tuesday and spent the whole lot to give to the Forward Leeds charity to then distribute to the children.

“We basically went from my donation of £50 to a donation of over £3,000 and it was amazing.”

Reese made the trees with two men who work for him and a couple of friends in their spare time after a day’s work.

He hopes to do the same fundraiser again next year but on a larger scale.

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