PUB bosses from Oxfordshire will be leaving their hostelries for a week to plant 20,000 trees in Africa’s Maasai Mara Reserve.

Owain Llywd Jones, general manager of the Fishes Pub, North Hinksey Village, and Evelin Rae, manager of The Thatch in Thame, are setting off to Kenya this morning along with eight other volunteers, to plant a forest in a week on the northern boundary of the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem.

Mr Jones, said: “I have got all my jabs. I’m really excited to be part of it.

“I’ve never been to Africa before. It’s going to be a huge shock for me.

“I’m really excited about the trip. We’ve got some amazing people coming.”

Evelin Rae, 32, of The Thatch, Thame, said: “I actually can’t wait. It’s one of those opportunities you can’t miss.

“We’ll be planting trees, all sorts of different things, helping out in any way we can.”

The volunteers, who help run the Peach Pub Company, are part of The Peach Foundation which fundraises for conservation projects.

Peach co-founder Hamish Stoddart said: “This project is something very personal to me as I have been helping my Kenya relations for 15 years, while as a business we have also been planting trees in Africa for over a decade, to help offset our carbon footprint.

“Africa and the Maasai Mara are both passions of mine, and we do lots closer to home to support good causes, through healthy eating for kids, education and sports sponsorship.”

The volunteers have arranged different activities for the week alongside the tree planting, which include a football match, the building of a viewing platform and teaching an English class.

The company has also raised more than one million Kenyan Shillings (around £7,000) for the reserve.

  • You can sponsor the tree-planting and support the foundation’s fundraising effort by visiting peachfoundation.co.uk