Heroes were everywhere in Macclesfield as volunteers braved wintry weather to collect trees on a famous day for the town.
While Macclesfield FC created history by knocking the holders Crystal Palace out of the FA Cup, scores of helpers raised around £160,000 for East Cheshire Hospice.
Some 7,000 trees were recycled, though organisers waited until Sunday to collect Christmas trees from properties near The Leasing.com Stadium, scene of the epic cup tie the day before.
Timings were changed to avoid collection vans getting caught up in match traffic.
From left, Gethin Williams and his father Jon with John Butler.
Another consideration was a protest in Poynton close to the proposed Adlington new town development, though the demonstration was postponed at the last minute due to the weather.
Trees were recycled for biomass fuel after mulching at the Ansa recycling depot at West Park – home of the makeshift canteen the Mulchers Arms – and Swift Tree Services in Adlington.
Ansa recycling staff (from left) Tom Bingham, Steve Greenaway, Dave Heapy and Mark Birtles.
Scheme co-founder Richard Raymond said: “Thank you to everyone for another brilliant effort on a memorable weekend for Macclesfield.
“Every penny raised goes directly towards patient care, thanks to our generous sponsors.
“We’re also indebted to Swift who collect trees, do a lot of chipping and facilitate the route to biomass. They’re vital to our whole operation.
Charlie Seddon with son Peter and wife Carol.
“The icy weather was a concern, so the priority was the safety of van crews.
“We were weather watching and feel sorry for those collections in the Midlands and south west which had bigger decisions than us deciding whether to go ahead because of storms.”