Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2015 | Page 32

THE HIGH SHERIFF

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

Welcoming new citizens
S
everal really wonderful carol
concerts were on my schedule in
the festive season, ranging from a
colourful and intimate one at Brighstone
which was part of their Christmas
Tree Festival to a magnificent one at
Portsmouth Cathedral by candlelight.
But the one I found most touching was
in the Albany Wing of IW Prison, where
the inmates played the organ and piano,
and sang both solos and in a choir. The
standard of their choral work was very
high, and afterwards I enjoyed talking to
them about their interest in music.

Recently I attended my first Citizenship
ceremony in the IW Council Chambers,
where eight people from around the
world who have lived on the Island for
some time went through the final stage of
becoming British citizens.
They have to pass a number of exams,
and the final part of the process is to
attend the ceremony where they swear
an oath to the Queen, in the presence
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of dignitaries from the IW Council,
Lieutenancy and and the High Sheriff.
Part of the wording stresses that
when they take British citizenship how
important it is to respect our British
traditions of accommodating our diverse
religions and political views. I made a
short speech saying how lucky we are
to live in a largely peaceful, stable and
law abiding society, and how important
it is to support the fundamental values
which underpin. All those who attended
were very keen to have their photograph
taken with us, along with the Union Jack
and picture of the Queen, to show their
loyalty.

Lady members of The Royal London
Yacht Club, Cowes, invited me to give
a talk about my time as High Sheriff,
and were particularly interested in my
official uniform, and the history behind
it. I took the opportunity to promote the
High Sheriff’s Trust and all the worthy
community causes we have supported,

and the ladies were very generous with
donations to the Trust.

I was thrilled to be awarded the
President’s Cup at the Chamber of
Commerce Business awards. The trophy
is presented to an individual who has
supported the Island’s business community
and assisted in enhancing the economic
wellbeing of the Isle of Wight. It was
awarded to me in my role of High Sheriff,
for focussing some of my time in office on
small business growth and development.
One of the schemes I supported was
‘Start Your Own Business Week’ where
the Chamber of Commerce ran a number
of courses for people who wanted to
start their own business, and we spoke to
students at schools and college about the
benefits of having their own business. I
wanted to give out the message to young
people that the choices are not just to be
employed or unemployed; they should
also consider being self employed or start
their own business.