Congratulations are in order for Graham Middleton, the recently appointed Chairman of the Ventnor Enhancement Fund (what is this?).
Graham has been on a bit of crusade over the last couple of years and all his hard work has now paid off. Ventnor is now rocking a newly-painted and refurbished BT phone box.
Telephone box in an “horrendous state”
It all started back in November 2019, when Graham got in touch with BT to report the “horrendous state” of this telephone box.
Isle of Wight Council were very helpful, by confirming its ‘listed’ status, and once Graham had supplied a bunch of photographs showing the poor state of the telephone box, as well as as a full list of the defects, BT agreed that urgent action was needed.
Painted, new signs and glazing
The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in unavoidable delays, but last October the box was painted, and it has now received its new ‘Telephone’ signs and glazing.
The VEF say,
“We would be very grateful if all Ventorians would respect and look after this wonderful historic little building!”
They also thank Paul McDonald at BT, and Paula Debenham at Isle of Wight council, for their dedication to the cause.
Ventnor Enhancement Fund
The Ventnor Enhancement Fund was created as a charity in 2006 to add those small enhancements to the town that official bodies did not provide.
Generous donations from Ventnor residents and businesses, together with grants from the Big Lottery have enabled Ventnor Enhancement Fund to complete at least one major project per year.
In this period of austerity, the activities of the VEF have become even more important.
The work is carried out by a band of volunteers, who have gained immense satisfaction from the experience of beautifying the town and adding extra facilities.
Visit them on Facebook to stay up to date with developments.
