LOCAL charities on the Island are once again being asked to apply for free tickets to the Isle of Wight Festival which they can then use to raise funds.
Twenty pairs of tickets are available to the 2017 festival which features stars such as veteran rocker, Rod Stewart, via a ballot system on the official website www.isleofwightfestival.com.
Organisations will be able to apply for the tickets until March 31 with a brief explanation of what they intend to do with the tickets for the benefit of their charity or a good cause.
Festival owner, John Giddings, said: "We try to give as much as possible back to the Island and bring the community closer to the festival each year.
"We hope this will continue the great success we’ve had working with charities and good causes and I look forward to hearing about their fundraising endeavours."
Last year, the initiative helped to promote girlguiding across the Isle of Wight.
Lesley Clifford, Island Commissioner for Girlguiding Isle of Wight, said: "There were great benefits in receiving the IW Festival tickets. After our raffle, which raised over £1,000, it enabled lots of girls to travel to the mainland and go to camps.
"We can now also buy some camping equipment and the money also covered some of the costs for safeguarding training for our leaders so that all members know they are meeting in a safe place."
Last year’s initiative also helped the Martin Poynter Trust raise money for stroke victims, Wolverton Folk and Blues Fair raise money for Leukaemia Research and Challenge and Adventure for Young People.
For the last three years, St Catherine’s School has been a lead charity cause of the festival with £5,000 raised to date. Last year, the festival joined forces with Stand Up to Cancer. A staggering £64,000 was raised.