Charity News
Fund-raising from across the Island
Heritage Centre upgrade
It’s now 30 years since Ventnor Heritage Centre was
founded, to collect and record the history of the area
and make it accessible to local people and visitors
through displays, exhibitions and publications.
The Centre covers the historic Undercliff, which runs
from Luccombe in the east to Chale in the west and,
as well as Ventnor, includes the villages of Bonchurch,
St Lawrence, Niton, Wroxall and Godshill.
Its fascinating archive includes a huge collection of
photographs, prints, documents and artefacts. The
Centre, which relies almost wholly on the services of
volunteers to keep it running, was awarded £31,800
from the Heritage Lottery Fund in January this year.
This is to fund extensive re-equipping, including
new glass display cases, new lighting, much-
needed replacement IT facilities, and a completely
redesigned website.
Meanwhile, as an extra piece of good news, it’s
been announced that the Co-op Community Fund
has provided a grant of £2,114 to upgrade the
Centre’s kitchen facilities.
Inspirational
Walk the Wight
Extraordinary and inspiring –
that’s the message from Walk
the Wight organisers who
have been overwhelmed with
the turn out and support for
the iconic Earl Mountbatten
Hospice fund-raiser.
Figures so far show that over 8,200
men, women, children and dogs took
part; numbers were boosted by just
under 1,000 people who registered on
the day itself.
Early morning drizzle gave way to
glorious blue skies to provide perfect
conditions for the five different walks
available to the participants and a
steady stream of walkers wearing yellow
Walk the Wight T-shirts marched across
the magnificent countryside.
Among those taking part were a
Snow White with her full complement
of dwarves, a hen party in full bridal
regalia, stilt walkers and a number
of superheroes! Many walkers had
very personal reasons for taking part,
remembering loved ones who had been
cared for by Earl Mountbatten Hospice.
People are now encouraged to send
in their sponsorship money as soon as
they can; the final fund-raising total
will be revealed towards the end of the
year, when all sponsorship has been
submitted.
Generous donation to buy new laser
Youth mental health census
Thousands of children and young people had
their voice heard in the Island Youth Mental Health
Census, a survey designed to provide a snapshot
of the mental health experiences of 5-24 year old’s
across the Island. The Isle of Wight Youth Trust
teamed up with schools and community groups to
directly ask young Islanders to share their views and
experiences of mental health.
Youth Trust Executive Director, Mairead Healy,
said “The Island Youth Mental Health Census has
been amazingly well received so far and young
people we have been speaking to have been eager
to take part. Altogether, 15 schools across the Island
are participating, which we think is a fantastic
endorsement.”
10
www.visitilife.com
People using the Isle of
Wight’s Lymphoedema
Service, based at Earl
Mountbatten Hospice, will
soon benefit from a new
piece of equipment thanks
to another charity’s fund-
raising efforts.
The Isle of Wight
Association for Spina
Bifida and Hydrocephalus
has presented a £500
cheque to the service, to
go towards a Thor laser.
The low-level light therapy
device encourages the
cells to regenerate oxygen and reduce
inflammation on swollen limbs.
Receiving the cheque, Heather Nelson,
Lymphoedema Specialist Nurse based
at the hospice, said: “I’d like to thank the
association for their generous donation
and support. We see patients with a
variety of conditions causing swollen
limbs, and this fund-raising means
that we can now provide another level
of treatment with light therapy, which
is already proving to work very well in
other parts of the country.”