Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2014/January 2015 | Page 44

THE HIGH SHERIFF

High Sheriff's
Diary
by Claire Locke
Keep posted on what our
High Sheriff has been up to
recently...

The High Sheriff with Ruth OsbornSmith. Picture by Steve Thearle

Overwhelmed by support
O

ne of my objectives for this year was
to revive the High Sheriff’s Trust
charity, which was initially set up around
15 years ago. Its aim is to help grass
roots community projects on the Island
with grants of around £500. We have a
particular focus on the young, the elderly,
and any projects that help to prevent crime.
One thing we needed to do was look at the
way the charity was financed, and to raise
more funds. So we set up a ‘Just Giving’
page and I made an appeal at the High
Sheriff’s Reception in the summer.
I was overwhelmed by the support we
received with funds raised of around
£5,000, meaning we have been able to
support some great projects on the Island.
These include the Island Women’s Refuge
to improve the safety and wellbeing of
young women on the Island; the IW Street
Pastors; a project for Mental Health of
young people and the West Wight Sports
Centre. We would welcome further grant
applications from Island community
groups, (email contact highsheriff.iow@
44

www.visitilife.com

gmail.com) and anyone wishing to
donate, can do so on www.justgiving/HST.

I

was among the hundreds who gathered
in St Thomas Square, Newport on
Remembrance Sunday for the wreath
laying, and then attended the service
in the Minster afterwards. It was a very
moving occasion, with virtually every
section of the community represented.

I

visited the IW Zoo in Sandown to meet
Helen Butler MBE, who has recently
made a film about red squirrels, which
is being given to schools and education
establishments.
It portrays how grey squirrels are taking
over the habitat of red squirrels and
endangering them. Thankfully the Island
is one of the few places where there
are no grey squirrels, and that is very
important, making it one of the most
successful areas in the country for red
squirrels. Helen was awarded the MBE for
her 20 years of work on the conservation

of red squirrels, and I was very interested
to watch the film, and see the wonderful
work she does.

I

t was a privilege to present the Arctic
Star to Ruth Osborn-Smith, the widow of
Graham Osborn-Smith, who was awarded
it posthumously for his services during
the Second World War. The medal was
introduced only recently to remember
those who saw action with Arctic convoys
carrying supplies to Murmansk.
They were very brave, battling extremely
harsh conditions, and Graham, the
founder the of IW Wax Museum in
Brading, was commissioned in 1942,
serving on destroyer HMS Fury, before
joining HMS Sapper as a junior officer on
North Atlantic convoys. He died in 2005,
aged 83. After the presentation I enjoyed
a very nice tea at Ruth’s home with her
family, and it was very interesting hearing
about Graham’s service during the war.