A row over the name of a well-known and well-loved skateboarding brand that blew up on the Isle of Wight yesterday has led to a ‘humble apology’ from Cllr Karl Love.
A funding award for John Cattle‘s Skateclub to run free skateboarding sessions for children in East Cowes came from the Town Council with a demand for:
“Written reassurances from you that the name Wight Trash would not be used in any way, shape or form in connection with any grant given by the Town Council or at any event held here in East Cowes or in any publicity or reports to the press.”
Objection to name
As OnTheWight revealed on Wednesday, the councillor for East Cowes, Karl Love, had raised objected to the name Wight Trash being used in connection with the sessions. He said,
“I’m not against the service provided to young people but the organisational name interpretation is not acceptable to me on so many equality fronts.
“I object to the negative connotations of the organisational name and because there are other providers who might like to deliver this service though a transparent tendering process.”
The news resulted in a flood of support on social media for Wight Trash, who saw a rise in people ordering merchandise from their shop (59 High Street, Ryde) and Website.
Humble apology
Today (Thursday), Cllr Love told OnTheWight,
“I humbly apologise for misjudging this situation to Island residents and those of East Cowes and members of Wight Trash.
“I totally agreed at the meeting of East Cowes Town Council that the education services of Wight Trash were totally agreeable for our young people to participate in and my only issues at the meeting of the organisation was its name.
“The full funding was agreed by the East Cowes Council to enable the activity to progress and I will support a rescinding of the motion at the next meeting. I had not realised the Town Council Vote would effectively block the activity and for this I also apologise for my part.
“It was never my intention to cause harm to young people or our community which I deeply care for and work for the better good.
“We all make mistakes and I did in this occasion.”
Wight Trash: Humbled by support
Zoe Thompson from Wight Trash shares this response,
“We welcome the statement from Cllr Love today and look forward to delivering this project in East Cowes.
“We believe this has highlighted some issues that East Cowes Town Councillors may want to address between themselves.
“We have been totally overwhelmed, by the incredible support of islanders and people across the country. Those that know us get it, and that’s all that matters.
“We would like to thank the hundreds of people who made their opinion known in the last 24hrs, the many businesses and individuals who offered to contribute financially to this project to ensure it would go ahead, and every single person who has sent us a message of support.
“We really are very humbled”.
Image: © With kind permission of Allan Marsh
