Isle of Wight Foundation considers grant applications from local good causes

Posted on: June 23, 2019 at 3:49 pm
The Common Space receiving a cheque from the Isle of Wight Foundation

Around a dozen local good causes have applied for grants of between £3,000 and £16,000 from the Isle of Wight Foundation this year.

 

Established by Island Roads in 2014, the foundation supports charities, community groups and local good causes that help to tackle social exclusion on the Isle of Wight.

 

So far, more than £400,000 has been given to Island groups, ranging from projects providing transport for the elderly to helping people with disabilities to access watersports activities.

 

“Each year we have the difficult task of selecting the applicants which meet the foundation’s criteria for support,” said Philip Horton, Chair of the Isle of Wight Foundation.

 

“After drawing up a shortlist of projects with the help of a community representative, we feel it is really important to visit each organisation to get a better understanding of how support from our foundation could help to build better communities or improve access to employment for those living on the Isle of Wight.”

 

Since its launch, the Isle of Wight Foundation has supported more than 40 projects, the most recent being First Act 2011, West Wight Community Access (FYT Bus), RAF 1024 Squadron Air Training Corps, Brading Community Partnership, Care in the Garden, The Phoenix Project, The Way Forward Programme, Isle Access, Waterside Community Trust, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and The Common Space.

 

Ian Boyd from The Common Space, which received funding buy equipment to make science more accessible to people of all ages and those with disabilities, said: “We are very grateful for the Isle of Wight Foundation’s support, it has enabled us to equip our Discovery Bay programme of free science events with a world-class microscope. The Micro-Eye came all the way from New Zealand and is a very tough bit of kit, designed to be safe and easy for any age and so will be accessible to our thousands of visitors. With the help of the Isle of Wight Foundation, we can now do even more to reveal the Island’s extraordinary natural world.”

 

The latest report on the Isle of Wight Foundation’s activities can be found on Island Roads’ website or collected from Island Roads at St Christopher House, Daish Way in Newport.