Yarmouth on Ice – a synthetic ice rink that popped up in Yarmouth Square back in December – has raised £26,000 for Island charities and volunteer groups.
The all weather Christmas synthetic ice rink arrived for 12 days. This was the first time the town had held such an event, and the rink became a go-to destination for adults and children alike.
Whilst the rink was operational, Mother and Father Christmas visited Yarmouth Town Hall for 2 days: all the children received a Christmas stocking and a book as a gift from the big man himself.
The event was made possible by the huge support of sponsors from across the Island which meant that 100% of all ticket sales were directed straight to charities and voluntary groups on the Island. Over 5,000 tickets were sold: an incredible figure for Yarmouth’s inaugural skating event.
The £26,000 raised has now been distributed and the recipients are:
| RNLI Yarmouth | 1st Yarmouth Sea Scouts |
| Freshwater & Totland Scouts | Alzheimers Cafes – Island wide |
| St Marys Hospital – Children’s Ward | Motor Neurone Disease Assoc Isle of Wight |
| The Wave Project | West Wight Schools |
| Isle of Wight Foodbank | Wight DASH |
| The Soup Kitchen | West Wight Youth Football Club |
| Yarmouth Carnival Committee | SWAY |
| IoW Wild Bird Rehabilitation | Isle of Wight Ice Skating Team |
| West Wight Sports Centre | Saturday Deaf Club |
| Isle of Wight Radio Xmas Toy Appeal |
Work is now underway to investigate the viability of a real ice rink in Yarmouth in 2022. However, this is a much bigger project to tackle and will cost almost 4 times that of the synthetic one.
Yarmouth on Ice are looking for additional sponsors to help with some of the capital costs and say that the more sponsorship they get, the more money they will be able to raise for Island charities.
