Red Leaves and Messages of Hope @ Chester Cathedral

By Jo and Nick Greer

Every year, Chester Cathedral transforms into a twinkling wonderland for its Christmas Tree Festival. With more than 80 beautifully decorated trees lining the historic cloisters, the festival has become a much-loved tradition for families, visitors, and community groups. The theme for this year is “Christmas around the World”. We are really excited to share that, among the many sparkling displays, is a very special installation from The Red Tree and ME, complete with messages of hope from around the world.

The Red Tree and ME is an interdisciplinary creative advocacy initiative inspired by Shaun Tan’s book, The Red Tree. This project brings together creativity, advocacy, arts and messages of hope from scientists to raise awareness of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), a condition that remains profoundly under-recognised and underfunded, despite its devastating impact. Our tree is not only a festive display but also a symbol of resilience, unity, solidarity and the importance of amplifying voices and the lived experience of people with ME from across the globe.

Visitors to Chester Cathedral in the run up to Christmas and into the New Year will notice that every detail of our red tree has been lovingly crafted including:

• Messages of hope contributed by leading ME scientists and clinicians, reminding festival-goers that international collaboration is crucial to driving progress and that people with ME are not alone.

• Handmade ornaments created and donated by members of the ME community and the Red Leaf Creative Collaborative, with each decoration carrying a story of perseverance and creativity.

• Free information cards available for visitors to take home. Chris Duffett kindly painted ‘Circle Me’ earlier this year and has very kindly granted permission for this to be used on the free cards for visitors to the Cathedral. Inside the card is information about how to donate to our One Red Leaf at a Time fundraiser for the continued ME/CFS research at the University of Edinburgh, led by Professor Chris Ponting.

The Red Tree and ME’s presence at the festival ensures that awareness of ME reaches new audiences. Festival-goers are warmly encouraged to enjoy the tree, read the messages of hope, take an information card and take photos to share on social media to carry its message forward. We also hope that our presence at the festival will raise awareness and increase donations for ME/CFS research at The University of Edinburgh.

Our red tree stands as a testament to creativity, collaboration, collective action and compassion, embodying the spirit of the season along with our best hopes for a brighter future for people with ME and other Infection Associated Chronic Conditions (IACCs).

Special thanks to Amina Hussain for her vision and for very kindly sponsoring the tree. Many thanks also to Amina and to Clare Rayner for decorating the tree so beautifully. Thanks also to the artists for creating such beautiful ‘red leaf’ pieces at very short notice: Jo Baxter, Caroline Fricker, Helen Guy-Roberts, Germaine Hypher, Shirley Kay Mosaics and Louise Kenward. We are also very grateful to Rachael at Kingdom Print for such a quick turnaround on the information cards and, of course, to the team at Chester Cathedral for hosting the Christmas Tree Festival, which is open until Sunday 4 January 2026.

For those able to visit the festival, please share your photos online of our tree and tag us @theredtreeandme #TheRedTreeandME #OneRedLeafataTime. For those who are unable to visit, we hope you can enjoy the photos and are encouraged by the messages of hope being read by so many.