TY students at local secondary school selling Christmas trees

Students at Wilson's Hospital School are selling Christmas trees grown in Westmeath

The Christmas tree enterprise at Wilson's Hospital School is one of the projects organised by its Transition Year mini company.

“The initial purpose of this project is to raise some cash to fund some of the preparations for their musical 'Grease', which is planned to take place in the summer term. Any money left after the sale of the Christmas trees and the production of the musical it will be used to fund a day away for the TY students at the end of their year,” a spokesperson told the Westmeath Examiner

The trees have been sourced locally from the Ashmore family here in Westmeath which has kept transport costs low. The students have been learning marketing techniques including traditional posters and announcements, but also via social media to reach a larger audience outside the immediate school community. They have been organising cashless payments and also forming rotas to facilitate the collection of the trees. They can be contacted at christmastrees24@whs.ie. A 6-7ft tree is €45 and a 7-8ft tree is €50

A second project is being organised by the Student Council. They are selling Christmas cards. There are two festive designs to choose from one is red with a Christmas tree (5 for €3). The other is the charming 'Wilson’s at Christmas' card (5 for €5). This one is a picture a beautiful painting by past pupil Nicole Forster. All proceeds raised from these cards will to go to Student Council events and the school's Silver Class.