Island Life Magazine Ltd April/May 2018 | Page 39

Charity News Fundraising across the Island NFU proud to support High Sheriff award local guide dog Stevie for Task Force It was a proud moment for staff at the Newport branch of NFU Mutual when they heard that their sponsored guide dog ‘Stevie’ had completed his training and been placed to be a guide on the Isle of Wight for local man Brett Lamplough. Stevie is one of 27 guide dog puppies that the leading rural insurance business worked hard to fundraise for since 2015. In total, staff across NFU Mutual’s UK-wide network raised more than £280,000 for the charity and undertook all sorts of activities to gather the money together. Guide dog Stevie was born on 19th January 2016 and is a Golden Retriever cross German Shepherd. Colleagues at NFU Mutual in Newport have been following his progress since he was just six weeks old, and the news that he was matched with Brett locally on the Isle of Wight has brought about a real sense of pride. The Isle of Wight Youth Trust’s Mental Health Task Force were recently the worthy recipients of a High Sheriff’s Award for their work to reduce the stigma around mental health and improve youth mental health services within the Island Community. The Task Force, which comprises of two groups of 10 young Ambassadors, aged 12 -18 years and 18-24 years, meets monthly and has achieved excellent results since it was formed last year. In addition to speaking in the media about their work, they have been involved in designing exciting new areas of work supporting young people, which the Youth Trust has been developing, and are currently working on a youth mental health roadshow which will take place during mental health awareness week in May 2018. Youth Trust Director, Mairead Healy, said “We are so proud of all the young people in our Task Force and having their work recognised in this way, shows them that the Island community is proud of them too.” Walking challenge boosts brain tumour support In April a group of determined walkers took on a two day, 50- mile trek around the Isle of Wight as part of a unique challenge to help 60,000 people across the UK living with a brain tumour. At the same time, two more groups of walkers set off in Yorkshire and Scotland as part of the Follow the Seagulls challenge, which has been organised by national brain tumour support charity brainstrust. Each with their own very personal reasons for taking part, every single one of these walkers attempted to walk a challenging 50 miles over two days around some the UK’s most beautiful coastlines. Every year approximately 11,000 people are diagnosed with a primary brain tumour, including 500 children and young people. More than 5,000 people die from a brain tumour every year. Brainstrust was established to support people on their journey following diagnosis. For more information visit the website at www.brainstrust.org.uk www.visitilife.com 39