We were shocked last week to hear that Ventnor community volunteer, Mark Compton-Hall, had been found dead in his flat in Ventnor. It’s understood that he died of natural causes at the age of just 58.
Mark had worked with many voluntary organisations on the Island over the last ten years since moving to Ventnor from the mainland.
In the early days of VB, he reported from several Ventnor Town Council meetings for us (13 in fact) and later went on to be the force behind securing volunteer lifeguards for Ventnor beach.
Involved in a variety of community work
He became heavily involved in a scheme to rid Ventnor of plastic bags and in 2007 he secured a £10,000 grant for the RLSS to train 23 unemployed people in beach and pool life-guarding qualifications.
Later that year, Mark stood in the Ventnor town council elections, but missed out on gaining a seat on the town council.
Reunited through VB
We were pleased that VB was able to play a part in Mark being reunited with his estranged son a few years ago. Having used his full name when commenting on the forum, Mark was easily traceable by his son and after passing on contact details we understand that they met some time afterwards, having not seen each other for years.
As has been said on the forum, Mark may not have been some people’s ‘cup of tea’, but there are plenty who will miss him.
Those who wish to say goodbye are invited to his funeral which takes place at 2.30pm on 2nd November at St Catherine’s Church in Ventnor.
