On Air Now Topping In The Morning Wake up with Paul, Hayley, Emily and Heather 6:00am - 10:00am Coldplay - Adventure Of A Lifetime Schedule

Red Funnel Breaks Ground As Anniversary Project Gets Underway

Left to right: Nigel Hartley, Fran Collins and Cllr Matthew Price at the Mountbatten tree planting.

Red Funnel has launched its tree planting initiative with a ground-breaking ceremony at Mountbatten Hospice in celebration of its 160th birthday.

To mark the anniversary, the ferry company is gifting 160 trees to 11 local businesses, charities, and community groups, to contribute to community outdoor spaces for Island residents to enjoy.

The first planting ceremony was held yesterday (Wednesday) at Mountbatten Hospice, with Nigel Hartley, chief executive of Mountbatten and Cllr Matthew Price, Cllr for Fairlee and Whippingham, supporting with breaking ground and planting the first tree.

Red Funnel is working with local nursery, Busy Bee, to supply the trees, as part of its commitment to support Island business owners.

Fran Collins, chief executive at Red Funnel, said:

“We are extremely proud to partner with the community to gift such an important aspect of what makes the Island unique — it’s scenic spaces and biodiversity.

“We wanted to thank local businesses and residents like the team at Mountbatten for the amazing work they undertake on a daily basis by gifting trees to help with creating spaces for them to relax and reflect.”

Nigel Harley, chief executive of Earl Mountbatten Hospice, added:

“We are grateful to Red Funnel for the gift of these trees, enhancing the look and feel of our hospice site is important to us and the planting of these trees will complement our wonderful garden and outdoor spaces, which are so well looked after by our volunteers.

More from Isle of Wight News