Well done to the The Friends of The Gouldings for their excellent fundraising. This in from the council, in their own words. Ed
Users at Isle of Wight Council’s resource centre, The Gouldings, have received a gift to ensure they can continue to watch TV after the digital switchover.
With the Isle of Wight’s analogue TV signal being turned off in early March, those at Freshwater-based The Gouldings would not have been able to continue watching free-to-air channels.
Fundraising for Freeview
However, organisation The Friends of The Gouldings have been undertaking fundraising and have raised enough cash to buy 32 digital Freeview boxes. This will allow every TV at the centre to receive the digital TV signal.
Peter Smith, the manager at The Gouldings, said “Because our users are not residents, we therefore did not qualify for free digital boxes under the national help scheme.
“Small everyday things like TVs are very important to facilities such as The Gouldings and we are therefore very grateful to the Friends of the Gouldings for this wonderful gift.
“The users will now have access to many TV channels compared to before when they only received BBC, ITV and Channel 4. They’ll be spoilt for choice.”
Digital boxes would be an ideal investment
Janette Collins from Friends of the Gouldings, who has been volunteering at the centre for over 11 years, said “Every time we raise a good amount of money, we work with the management of The Gouldings to see how the centre can benefit from the funds.
“In the past we have provided garden furniture and TVs for each room, all of which have been very popular and well received. With the digital switchover happening shortly, we felt that the digital boxes would be an ideal investment and are only too happy to be able to provide the equipment for the enjoyment of users.”
The digital Freeview boxes are being presented to the centre next Monday and will be installed soon after.
