Island Life Magazine Ltd December/January 2018 | Page 11

Charity News
Fund-raising across the Island
Asian Cultural Club
supports local charity
By Farzeen Khan
The Asian cultural club is a gathering
of friends, who celebrate indian
cultural events like Diwali and Holi.
The emphasis is on presenting and
enjoying cultural traditions, such as
classical dance, folk dance and popular
‘‘Bollywood’ music.
We aim to give everyone a glimpse
of the sights, sounds and tastes of the
rich heritage of a distant land ,while
maintaining authenticity.
Each year we support a local Island
based charity. Our chosen charity this
year was Wight Brainy B unch, which
supports people with brain tumours and
their families. We raised £300 for the
charity .
Authority nominates trust
as chosen charity
The Sophie Rolf Trust - KissyPuppy
has been BHA’s (Bembridge
Harbour Authority) 2017
nominated charity, with all
Harbour events raising funds for
this very special Island charity.
A total of £4,321 was raised
during the season and BHA have
announced that they will once
again be supporting KissyPuppy
throughout 2018.
2018 Harbour events:
• Jazz on the Quay - Saturday
16th June
• Bembridge Harbour Family Fun
Weekend - 27th - 29th July
• Oktoberfest - Saturday 22nd
September (part of Isle of
Wight Day and coinciding with
Bembridge Harbour Food
Festival)
They will be doing all they can next
year to help support KissyPuppy’s
latest joint project with the Earl
Mountbatten Hospice: to refurbish
a disused building on the hospice
site, Oak House, to create a £1.5
million bespoke children’s hospice,
offering respite day services,
relaxation and therapy rooms, areas
for socialising and new initiatives
for older patients.
Two islands, one aim
Ventnor Botanic Garden
was taking notice when
Kew Gardens shone its
spotlight on Madagascar
at the 2017 State of
the World’s Plants
Symposium.
For whilst Madagascar
is a world biodiversity
hotspot, the sad fact
is that many of its
species are at the
edge of extinction
due to ‘slash and burn’
farming. In fact, out of
approximately 4,200
native species, 1,676 are
judged to be at risk of extinction, and
of Madagascar’s 204 palm species,
170 are under threat.
With these stark facts in mind, VBG
– home to some of the oldest palms
in England and with a microclimate
mirroring that of some areas in
Madagascar - set out to find a way to
contribute.
In October the Director of the Kew
Madagascar Conservation Centre
visited VBG with two scientists from
the National Botanic Garden of
Madagascar, to discuss conserving
some of their threatened species at
Ventnor.
One threatened but vitally
important tree to the Madagascans
is the Tapia. Amongst its many
uses, it hosts the silk moth
caterpillar whose silk is
used for weaving burial
shrouds. To help offset the
need to clear more Tapia
forests, VBG will soon be
selling silk scarves woven
by Malagasy villagers. Then
in spring 2018 the venue
expects to be propagating
its first Malagasy plants in
a specially prepared area of
the garden.
Islanders are being invited
to support this initiative
by sending a cheque to
the VBG Society of Friends
(Charity # 1080835) at VBG with
the word Madagascar on it, or
alternatively, to visit the Ventnor gift
shop for a genuine Malagasy silk
scarf, which is coming soon. You can
also sign up to the VBG newsletter
to follow the development and
progress of its collaboration with the
Madagascar conservation project.
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