Despite the downfall of Christmas tree sales last December, a local charity still had the heart to give back to the community.

BermudaXmasTrees, an organisation that sells Christmas trees throughout the holiday season to raise funds for local charities, was able to contribute a total of $5,000 to this year’s chosen recipients — Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Bermuda, YouthNet and Outward Bound.

Peter Schindel, owner of Bermuda Brickyard Limited, established the charity seven years ago and continues to sponsor it annually. He expressed the importance of giving back to the community.

“We do this by asking the young people from the charities to get involved in the Christmas tree sales”, he said.

“This teaches children the valuable social skills, the need to think on their feet and increases their self-confidence — skills they can use as they grow into contributing members of Bermuda’s society and for their future career choices”.

With the conclusion of BermudaXmasTree’s seventh charitable year they had donated a total of $45,000.

Mr Schnidel added: “Funds raised this year were lower than previous years as it did appear that people cut back due to the economy.”