From Saturday 27 December 2025 to Sunday 7 January 2026, you’re welcome to drop off your real Christmas trees at the Isle of Wight Donkey Sanctuary, St Johns Road, Wroxall, PO38 3AA.

Our donkeys love eating and playing with Christmas trees! In 2024, we hung trees up for them and they had a fantastic time interacting with them. Here's Roo inspecting a delivery of trees from Christmas 2024.

Why we use Christmas trees

Pine needles are a great source of vitamins and fibre.
They contain vitamin C, and donkeys also get extra fibre from the needles and bark. Trees encourage natural foraging behaviour and offer brilliant mental stimulation – they create perfect enrichment for wintery days spent in the barn.

If the donkeys can’t use all the trees, we’ll chip the extras to create wonderfully aromatic bedding for our barns. Nothing will go to waste.

Where to leave your Christmas tree

There’ll be a clearly marked drop-off area in our car park. And as we’re open all winter, don’t forget to pop into the café for a warm drink or a bite to eat once you’ve dropped your tree off.

A couple of things to note:

• Real fir trees only, please. Other trees can be toxic to donkeys.
• No trees heavily sprayed with room fragrance, as we won’t be able to use them.
• Please remove all your decorations before leaving your tree with us!

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions about our Christmas tree drop off.