Good causes on the Isle of Wight are invited to apply for Wightlink sponsorship

Isle of Wight charities, sports groups and arts organisations who regularly need to visit the mainland can now apply for travel support over the next year through the 2023 Wightlink in the Community: Sponsorship programme.

Applications open on 1 October 2022, and successful groups will receive 12 months support from 1 January 2023. Details of how to apply can be found at www.bookspot.sbs/sponsorship. The closing date is Monday 31 October 2022.

Wightlink in the Community currently supports around 40 Island groups with regular travel, helping Islanders to attend mainland training, events or matches and/or bring people or equipment to the Isle of Wight.

The ferry company is particularly looking to support applications with a focus on young people as well as environmental initiatives – complementing Wightlink’s Green Fund for Schools.

Aspire is one of a number of charities to receive help from Wightlink. Trevor Nicholas from the Ryde-based charity says: “We often need to travel to the mainland to pick up supplies for our community work and any money we can save, we can put towards helping people in need. We’ve developed a good relationship with Wightlink over the years which has gone beyond just sponsorship – the company takes a real interest in our work and helps us where it can.”

Platform One College of Music has been supported by Wightlink for more than two decades. This has helped the college bring music industry specialists to the Island and aids students embarking on mainland tours or attending concerts as part of their studies.

David Pontin, Platform One Director, says: “We’re really grateful for the support we receive from Wightlink, which helps us provide top quality music industry tuition to young people. From assisting us to bring music professionals to the Island to providing support for mainland tours, it makes such a big difference to us and our students.”

The Isle of Wight Triathlon Club, whose members are aged between 8 and 18, received sponsorship after successfully applying last year. Alison Jenkinson from the club says: “As there are no junior triathlon events on the Island our members need to travel across the water regularly in order to compete.”

Wightlink Chief Executive Keith Greenfield says: “We take great pride in our Wightlink in the Community scheme which helps a variety of good causes. They all play an important role in Island life and many create valuable opportunities for young Islanders.

“We look forward to receiving applications from groups in need of travel support in 2023.”

Notes for Editors 

Photos attached from sponsored groups

To find out more about the sponsorship scheme, see www.bookspot.sbs/sponsorship. 

Learn more about Wightlink in the Community by visiting its dedicated Facebook page: www.facebook.com/wightlinkinthecommunity

The deadline for applications is 31 October 2022.

For more information about Wightlink, please contact:

Duty Media Officer

• 07870906189

• [email protected]