Red Funnel continues planting trees around the Island in celebration of their 160th birthday

As part of their ongoing 160th birthday celebration, Red Funnel is gifting 160 trees to 11 different partners around the Isle of Wight.

This May, Red Funnel continues with this project by planting 13 trees at Northwood Recreation Ground. The area the trees have been planted will be used as community orchard.

Sandra Whatley, Customer Experience Specialist at Red Funnel, said: “We are extremely proud to partner with the community to contribute to such an important aspect of what makes the Island so unique: its scenic spaces and biodiversity.

“We wanted to thank local businesses and residents, like the team at Cowes Town Council, for the amazing work they undertake on a daily basis, by donating trees to help create green spaces where they can relax and reflect.”

The Northwood Recreation Ground tree planting team, from Cowes Town Council, said: “'Special Branch' was the name Cllr Michael Paler had given to Red Funnel's plan to plant 160 trees to mark their anniversary around the Island. Thanks to Red Funnel’s generosity Northwood Recreation Ground in Cowes can now boast a mini Community Orchard and four additional ornamental trees. We’d also like to share a special thanks to the Isle of Wight Council for granting permission and the endless support from Tony Gillingham whose hard work made the project possible. Other volunteers giving their time were volunteer tree wardens Karen Graves, Paul Taylor and Councillors Michael Paler, Phil Sanders and Linda Brown.”

The next tree planting event will take place with East Cowes Town Hall in early June. The project brings together Island partners and residents to look back on Red Funnel’s history and to plant the seed for the next 160 years.

To find out more about Red Funnel’s rich history, visit https://redfunnel.co.uk/about-us/history
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For further information, please contact [email protected] / 02380 382 970

Notes to editors

About Red Funnel
Red Funnel is the original Isle of Wight ferry company with roots tracing back to 1820. Based in the UK port of Southampton, Red Funnel carries 2.3m passengers and over 800,000 vehicles on its ferry route between the UK port of Southampton and East Cowes and 1.1m passengers between Southampton and West Cowes on its Red Jet Hi-Speed service.  

In addition to ferry travel, Red Funnel is the only cross-Solent operator to offer ferry inclusive bonded holiday accommodation, attraction tickets, festival and event tickets and activity packages. Sub-brands include ‘Red Jet’ (the Hi-Speed passenger only ferry service serving West Cowes) and its on board café, ‘ReFuel’.  

The Company is a founder member of Visit Isle of Wight Ltd, the Island’s not for profit destination management organisation and Red Funnel sponsors or supports most of the Island’s premier events including the IW Festival, Cowes Week, Rhythm Tree, The Great Wonderfest, Wight Proms, Cowes Classics, and Walk the Wight as well as a range of community and niche interest events. Red Funnel’s Charity of the Year, 2022 is Young Lives Vs Cancer.

For more information, visit www.redfunnel.co.uk.