Isle of Wight News on Ventnor Blog

Back at the end of last year (seems so long ago now) you might remember VB reported of four islanders who were named on the Queen’s Honours list.

Last week Chief Executive of the Riverside Centre, Richard Priest, was joined by his wife Jane and their son Adam for a trip to Buckingham Palace.

Their jaunt to London wasn’t to see the sights, but for Richard to collect his OBE, for services to the Island, from none other than HRHHM The Queen.

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It’s only Tuesday, so normally way too early to start thinking about VB Picture of the Week, but we spotted this shot today and couldn’t resist handing out an award.

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The time has come again for our weekly trawl through the VB Flickr Group Pool for our favourite picture of the week.

No sooner had we started looking, when this spectacular shot by Julian Winslow of the gorgeous Keri Highland, singer songwriter from the US, jumped out of the page at us.

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Once again we struggled to choose our favourite new shots from the VB Flickr Group Pool this week.

There are some absolute crackers in there.

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There have been some cracking images added to the VB Flickr Group Pool this week.

As we cast our weekly eye over the pool, this shot by Ian Boyd brought a very welcome smile to our faces.

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Congrats to The Ellen MacArthur Trust Website who picked up two aeards at today’s HantsWeb Awards by winning ‘best charity’ and best ‘life changing’ site. The site was designed by Wez Maynard and built by @Goffik from the OC Group.

Also making their way to the podium today were the ladies from The Real Island Food Company who picked up ‘Best Business Innovation’ award. The site was designed by Matrix e-Business.

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Whilst we’re on the subject of funding, we also hear that the Isle of Wight Community Renaissance Festival taking place on the Island this spring has just been awarded financial support from the Big Lottery Awards for All scheme.

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Ah, it’s that time of the week again, when we can sit down and admire the wonderful shots on the VB Flickr Group Pool.

They say that a photo can tell a thousand words and this shot below by Island photographer Patrick Eden probably speaks ten times that.

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Brilliant news arrives for local Island band, Goodbye Stereo, who have just found out that they’ve been nominated for an Emerging Talent Award.

And rightly so!

We’re big fans of the four piece who, since emerging onto the Island music scene, have gone from strength to strength.

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Those of you who can’t eat anything without chips being part of the meal, will be pleased to hear that it’s National Chip Week this week.

That means you can eat chips every day to celebrate.

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Last night saw the Riverside Centre bursting at the seams with homegrown sporting talent for the 2009 Annual Sports Achievement Awards.

Organised by the Isle of Wight Sports and Recreation Council (IWSRC), the event, now in it’s 36th year, honoured those young and old who have made an outstanding contribution to sports on the Island.

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Outstanding Island sportsmen and women will tonight be rewarded at a special presentation ceremony.

Organised by the IW Sports and Recreation Council, the Sports Achievement Awards for 2009 will be the 36th annual presentation honouring Island sportsmen and women for their outstanding contribution to sports.

Look out for details on VB tomorrow.

Image: AdamKR under CC BY-SA 2.0

It’s hard not to choose VB Flickr Group member Oblivion Head every week for Picture of the Week award, we’re always so impressed with his shots.

It’s been a while since he received the award, so time to heap some praise on him for this gorgeous shot (see below) taken in Newport just last week.

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As you will have seen yesterday, we’ll be awarding a few Picture of the Week awards this week.

Next up is this gorgeous shot by Ventnor photographer, The Good Fairy.

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Some superb shots have been added to the VB Flickr Group Pool over the last week.

The quality of shots continues to amaze us, so this week we’ll be giving out more than one award.

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Did anyone spot the amazing red sky earlier in the week?

It was absolutely incredible and we’re not sure why we didn’t go outside with our camera. Luckily for us, VB Flickr Group member Garth of Wight did and managed to capture this spectacular shot of a heron perched on a roof top in Newport.

We’re sure you’ll agree it’s a fabulous shot, like many of the others in the VB Flickr Pool.

Do check out the VB Flickr Pool, there are some brilliant shots from around the Island.

VB readers who have been paying attention this week, will have already spotted our Picture of the Week Award on Wednesday.

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Congratulations go to two Island schools today who we read in the County Press have made it into the latest edition of the Good Schools Guide.

If you haven’t previously heard of the Good Schools Guide, it does what it says in the title.

It’s a prestigious guide to what are considered the best schools across the UK, so for the two Island schools to be named is quite an accolade for not only themselves, but also the Island.

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We don’t normally choose our Picture of the Week until Friday, but having just spotted this beautiful shot on the VB Flickr Group Pool, we had to give it an instant award (with maybe another award coming up later in the week).

Well known Island artist and photographer, Tim Johnson, is the man behind the camera. We’re highly recommend checking out the slideshow as it tells a lovely story and left us craving for hot summer’s days.

Amazing what fun you can have with a bunch of elastic bands and willing participants!

Do check out the VB Flickr Pool, there are some brilliant shots from around the Island over the last week.

During the heavy snow and ice over the last week, we’ve all heard many stories of people going above and beyond the call of duty to help others.

One area where is was dominant was in the provision of health services on the Island.

Although many GP surgeries, hospital appointments and operations were cancelled, inpatients continued to be cared for and outreach services such as the district nurse, carried on throughout the difficulties.

The Island NHS are keen to recognise those who went the extra mile (excuse the pun) and are inviting Islanders to nominate their NHS snow heroes.

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There have been some spectacular shots added to the VB Flickr Group Pool this week, but this one really caught our eye.

It’s a wonderful landscape shot by Nathan Dallimore (aka Big-Papa Nate) and was taken just outside Godshill yesterday afternoon.

Do check out the VB Flickr Pool, there are some brilliant shots from around the Island over the last week.

Do you have a local councillor, be it parish, town or county that you feel deserves some recognition for their hard work?

If so, then why not take 10 minutes out to nominate them for a prestigious award.

The C’llr 10 Achievement Awards aims to acknowledge the tireless work than councillors do on our behalf.

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Thanks for Graeme for this news update from the Ventnor Cricket Club, including the great news that chairman John Hilsum received an ECB/Sky Sports award for services to grass roots cricket. Ed

Ventnor Cricket Club celebrated a season of great success at their annual dinner and awards evening at the Eversley Hotel recently.

Chairman John Hilsum paid tribute to the players whose efforts had secured a hat-trick of promotions and provided some great Southern Electric Twenty20 Cup memories, including the final under the Rose Bowl floodlights. He also congratulated Danny Briggs on his success with Hampshire and the England Under 19 side and Chris Russell in clinching a first class contract with Worcestershire.

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Keeping with the Christmas theme, we love this cool image by Flickr Group member, Ian Boyd.

Don’t forget to visit the VB Flickr Group Pool and feel free to join so you can add yours to the gallery.

You never know you might even be awarded Picture of the Week!

What with all the snow we’ve had on the Island this week, VB Flickr Group member, Oblivion Head’s superb shot of Father Christmas in the snow had to be our pic of the week.

Don’t forget to visit the VB Flickr Group Pool and feel free to join so you can add yours to the gallery.

You never know you might even be awarded Picture of the Week!