To a soundtrack from Sting, Justin Timberlake and Stereophonics, at the Isle of Wight Festival 2025, Mountbatten Isle of Wight raised a staggering £85,939!

Fuelled by donations for our ‘sunbrellas’ (sunflower umbrellas which double as parasols in the heat), sunflower brooches and crocheted items, including hairbands, crop tops and ponchos, our roving teams collected record vital funds for our hospice charity.

For four days, at our stall in Penny Lane and across the site, festival-goers stopped to chat and take photos with our volunteers.

At times, the crowd of around 55,000 in front of the Main Stage was transformed into a sea of yellow.

Mountbatten Isle of Wight community fundraising lead, Charlotte Hornblow, said: "An enormous thank you to the Isle of Wight Festival team for their support. We cannot tell you how grateful we are.

"Hospices are facing a challenging time and these vital funds help us continue to deliver 24/7 services on our inpatient unit and in homes across the Island, to people who are facing death and dying. 

"Thank you to you, if you stopped to donate. We were uplifted by warmth and generosity."

Mountbatten Isle of Wight also thanks fellow Island-run festival favourites, Kashmir Cafe, Electro Love and the Platform One Music College, which lent their support over the weekend.

Celebrity spots added to the excitement, including with Busted star Matt Willis, singers Paul Heaton and Olly Murs, Texas frontwoman Sharleen Spiteri, and Sky presenters Edith Bowman and Shaun Keaveny, many of whom posed with sunflowers.

We have shared photos and updates on our website, with people we met who were wearing sunflowers or carrying brollies, and with the stars themselves.

CLICK HERE to see photos in our Isle of Wight Festival blog

Mountbatten Isle of Wight is facing a possible NHS funding cut from this Autumn and talks are currently underway with the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB, which allocates NHS funding across the two counties.

It costs £10.5 million per year to run Mountbatten Isle of Wight, and while just under one third of that has been provided by the NHS, two-thirds comes from fundraising, donations, gifts-in-wills, our charity shops and via supportive events like the Isle of Wight Festival.