Havering charities will benefit when Upminster Methodist Church holds its third annual Christmas Tree Festival from next week.

The festival will take place between Saturday, December 1 and Sunday, December 9, and will see about 30 trees displayed in the Hall Lane church.

The trees will be decorated by businesses and community groups to the theme of “2012: a special year”.

Gill Hare from the church said: “This year we are encouraging more Upminster businesses to take part in this festive celebration by sponsoring a tree.

“For the past two years many hundreds of visitors have expressed their delight and pleasure at the sight of so many trees all decorated very imaginatively.”

The festival opens on Saturday, December 1, at 10am. There will also be a Christmas market for crafts and charities.

Entry is free but visitors will be asked for donations to First Step, the Havering, Barking and Brentwood Bereavement Society, and the Whitechapel Mission.

There will also be a “commemoration tree” where visitors can celebrate personal events by hanging cards.