A charity helping children with life-limiting and other serious conditions, as well as support for an improved safe space for women who are in challenging situations in their lives, were the big winners in the final round of giving from WightAID this year.
As well as these large gifts, five other smaller donations went to other IW good causes in a round of grants totalling £16,335.
This took the total given by WightAID this year to £71,106 to 41 organisations. In total, over its 9-year lifetime WightAID has granted £812,822 to 281 different charity groups.
Supporters Paul Thorley and Dan Carley presented the latest charity cheque.
Businessman and private chef Paul has raised money for WightAID through the Charity Supper Club held at Ventnor Botanical Gardens, as well as taking part in the Budapest Marathon with Dan. In total they have raised almost £5,000 for WightAID.
The largest donations this time went to Daisy Chains IW, which was founded in 2012 by a group of Island parents who have children that have been affected by long term/life-limiting illness or disability.
After years of travelling to the mainland for hospital appointments with their own children, the founders strongly felt there was a need for support for other parents in similar positions.
The £7,055 grant will enable Daisy Chains to support the 80 families on their books this Christmas. Coffee chain Costa also supplied £500 worth of vouchers to WightAID to be passed on to Daisy Chains IW.
It will pay for:
- Support for 50 of the most vulnerable families we work with by providing a Christmas food hamper.
- Top up Costa Vouchers that we supply to IOW NICU and to Portsmouth and Southampton NICU for the parents who have babies there.
- Provide the families with treats at Christmas and this year we would like to offer them 3 options to cover all age ranges.
a. To enable 80 people to ride the Santa Special train at Havenstreet and meet Santa
b. To allow 40 people to go to the cinema and watch a film
c. To let 30 people attend the Elf Workshop at Landguard Manor
The other major donation was for £6,800 to Men Only CIC.
This Ryde-based charity supports both men and women facing challenging times in their lives. It offers peer-support groups as well as one-to-one support in a calm, private setting, working closely with local NHS services and community partners.
In the past 12 months, it has been visited by more than 500 men and its growing Women Only sector has supported 70 women facing domestic abuse, housing issues and other challenging circumstances. The grant will be used to create a welcoming women-only safe space at Rodger and Steve’s Place in Ryde, creating a safer, more private and accessible environment.
This work includes refurbishing the toilets, improving lighting and ventilation, and upgrading seating and furnishings. Shell, from the CIC, said the third grant it had received from WightAID would make a real difference to Island women. Five other groups received smaller grants
Sensory space CIC, £500 – This group provides sensory opportunities and experiences for babies, young children and children with additional needs, as well as their families.
To create and provide a lending library of sensory story sacks for children to enjoy. The grant will enable Sensory Spaces to make stories more engaging and accessible through tactile and interactive books and toys.
Embracing Age, £500 – Embracing Age mobilises volunteers to bring hope, joy and companionship to care home residents without family and friends.
242 care home residents will receive a Christmas gift box. WightAID have granted £500 to purchase toiletries.
Girl Guiding, £500 – 2026 marks the 100th year of World Thinking Day – a day of international friendship, speaking out on issues that affect girls and young women, and fundraising for 10 million Girl Guides and Girl Scouts around the world.
On the Island it is the organisation’s goal to get all the 500-plus members together for a large-scale event and the donation will help with the hire of a large venue and advertising of the celebration.
John Cattle’s Skateclub CIC, £500 – The skate club runs groups across the Island and is looking to increase school session activity by taking on additional clubs. The grant will be used for replacement safety gear of pads and helmets.
Ryde Rowing Club, £500 – With a growing number of young members (both boys and girls) the recommendation is for these youngsters to scull rather than row. Sculling involves one oar in each hand, The grant will pay for four second hand pairs of sculling oars.
Geoff Underwood, WightAID founder, said:
“This latest round of giving shows that if people support us, we can support those less fortunate in our Island community.
“We would particularly like to thank Paul Thorley and Dan Carley for their amazing generosity to our cause.”
