A Christmas tree with a twist has rounded off a year of fundraising thanks to a church community in Greater Manchester.
The tree was one of 15 to be displayed at All Saints Church in Cheadle Hulme, but the only one not in the style of a traditional Evergreen.
Instead, the tree consisted of small branches which were decorated with festive touches, as well as merchandise from national sight loss charity, the Macular Society, all to raise awareness of macular disease – the biggest cause of sight loss in the UK.
All Saints Church committee member Jenny Rothwell, who is registered severely sight impaired, had put the Macular Society forward to be the church’s Charity of the Year for 2025.
Her condition, dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is untreatable, and has affected her central vision.
Jenny, 87, said: “I was absolutely over the moon to hear the Macular Society had been chosen this year.
“We’ve done things like a harvest lunch, beetle drives, coffee mornings and so for our Christmas Tree Festival, I wanted this one to stand out and I think people liked the tree because it was different.”
The church’s efforts have helped to raise hundreds of pounds for the sight loss charity over the course of 2025, which supports people with macular disease and funds vital research.
Volunteer Jenny was diagnosed with dry AMD in 2022.
She said: “It started in my left eye slowly and when I was told I had lost vision I actually hadn’t even realised. It wasn’t really until I had problems with my other eye that it made a difference. I curse myself sometimes now, I can get frustrated because of my AMD but then I consider myself lucky because there is still some sight.”
Retired midwife Jenny has been fundraising and volunteering since she was a teenager, and with the church itself for the last 30 years.
She also spent 10 years as a British volunteer in Guatemala, for which she was made an MBE in 1981, for nursing and welfare services to the community.
“After all I had done in my life, to be told I had this condition was absolutely shattering, I was in shock,” she recalled.
“What I realised I had to do was find ways to keep my independence and I have got good friends to help with that. I think where there’s a will, there is that way you can adapt.”
Jenny also became a Macular Society member shortly after her diagnosis, when she received information from the hospital about how the charity helps people like her.
The Macular Society has helped provide Jenny with key information about her condition, research updates and helped show her she is not alone.
Jenny said: “I receive the Member magazine and I get to read and listen to how other people are coping, it keeps me updated.
“I love to read people’s stories because they help me at the same time. You know you’re not the only person suffering, even if it’s a different symptom at the time.”
Nearly 1.5 million people are currently affected by the disease and many are at risk. The disease can have a devastating effect on people’s lives leaving them unable to drive, read or see faces. Many people compare losing their sight to a bereavement. There is still no cure and most types of the disease are not treatable.
AMD is the most common form of the disease affecting more than 700,00 people usually over the age of 50.
For more information about other services available from the Macular Society, for advice or support with your condition , call the Macular Society helpline on 0300 3030111, email help@macularsociety.org or visit www.macularsociety.org.
