School age children and older people living with dementia are among the good causes supported in the latest round of grant giving by WightAid.
The January grant round saw almost £9,000 given to eight Island groups.
WightAid trustee Brian Marriott presented the charily cheque at the IFPL headquarters.
Alzheimer Café Isle of Wight
The biggest award went to Alzheimer Café Isle of Wight to help it develop a dementia-friendly garden at its Parklands centre in Cowes.
The café charity helps 200-plus people per month at cafés across the Island and the garden they are planning would offer a therapeutic and inclusive environment for individuals with dementia, as well as fostering intergenerational connections through collaboration with local schools and youth groups.
Its aim is to offer gardening activities and to develop educational materials and workshops to support carers using garden-based activities in their care routines.
Footprint Trust – £930
The second biggest grant was for the Footprint Trust, which received £930 to pay for printing and distribution of 1,000 temperature gauges.
The gauges will be used alongside personalised energy guidance. Each recipient will work with the trust to create an Energy Action Plan to reduce energy costs and make their home more energy efficient.
Six other groups received grants of £500 or less.
Brighstone CE Primary School – £500
Towards the costs of a three–day residential trip to London for Year 6, to help them experience life beyond the Island in a large multi-cultural city.
Yes! Creative Beats – £478
Towards a speaker and battery for their drumming, rhythm and movement workshops. which support disabled adults and children and their families, to support mental health, to combat loneliness and social isolation, to support families and young people, to support employability skills, to support older people and people with Parkinsons with their physical and mental health.
Brighstone Youth FC – £500
Towards a ride-on mower for Brighstone Rec to facilitate their move up to 11 a side football. They are buying full-size goals for the pitch and although the team will be the main beneficiaries they hope the goals and pitch can have wider use.
Revive – Newport Youth Café (NYC) – £500
This cafe is attended annually by more than 200 young people and it wants to be able to let the young people be proactive in helping improve NYC through a Youth Task Force which will give feedback to the wider group members, The grant will give a budget to the Youth Task Force for projects in the town.
IW Venue Campaign/ Operation Geranium – £500
Operation Geranium provides community engagement, opportunities, and events all year round to enhance the delivery of up to 500 brightly coloured geraniums annually via care navigators, to support the health and wellbeing of vulnerable elderly residents.
A spokesperson for Operation Geranium said,
“Without WightAid there would never have been an Operation Geranium, words cannot express how grateful we should all be to them.”
Better Days Café – £500
The café and Inclusion Hub is a safe, warm space where people can eat, have a hot drink, play games and chat. The funding was needed to cover the costs and will be used to provide food and free drinks for participants at some of our clubs for six weeks. This will benefit approximately 60 adults and 20 children.
Brian Marriott said,
“These presentations are always wonderful and it was great for new connections to be made and for donors to meet first-hand the charities who they are helping.
“I hope that Islanders continue to support WightAid so we can make even more donations to such amazing causes during 2025 and beyond.”
Join WightAID via their website.
News shared by Alan on behalf of WightAid. Ed
