Isle of Wight News on Ventnor Blog

It’s amazing to hear that the annual Speed Dating Walk, which is part of the Isle of Wight Walking Festival, is now in its fifth year.

The previous walks have been hugely successful in bringing together like minded people and have even resulted in three marriages as well as long lasting friendships.

This year the walk starts from the Fisherman’s Cottage on Shanklin Esplanade at the foot of Shanklin Chine.

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Looks like the Island Line service is going to be affected for the next couple of hours.

Due to electrical supply problems, there will be a reduced service of:

* 15 minutes past the hour from Shanklin
* 45 minutes past the hour from Ryde Pier Head

They say it’ll last until around 3pm.

Did you know that it’s National Nest Box week?

The campaign, which has been running for ten years, is organised by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).

Its purpose is to encourage the wider public to ‘give a bird a home’, by building or providing nest boxes in their gardens.

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As was reported on VB recently, the YMCA at Winchester House in Shanklin is hosting a ‘Make-over for all Pamper Social’ next week.

The charity ‘make-over’ event encourages women (and possibly men) to go along to get their nails, make-up and hair style recreated in a relaxed social environment. The Isle of Wight College is supporting this event with a number of students going along to do hair and beauty.

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As part of National Student Volunteering Week, which takes place between 22 to 28 February this year, students from Isle of Wight College will be joining forces with YMCA Isle of Wight to help raise cash and awareness for Help2Grieve.

The hair and beauty students will be putting their new skills to good use at the ‘Make-over for All’ charity fundraiser.

YMCA Isle of Wight Volunteer Project Coordinator Kelly Matthews said “this event will give the college students a chance to show off their creative skills and bring members of society together in a common purpose.”

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There are just two more days to take advantage of the Grand Rotary Sale in Shanklin.

The annual event, which acts as a great fundraiser for the Rotary, takes place at Lower Hyde until 4pm on Friday, there are masses of items that may be useful to many: furniture, vinyl and DVDs, electricals, clothes, lighting, tools, electronics, paintings, mirrors, toys, you name it, they’ve probably got it in one form or another.

As always, the prices are very reasonable.

A big cheer to all involved, including those manning the stalls and those collecting and delivering the items for sale.

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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Members of the Isle of Wight Cabinet tonight voted to dispose of Ryde and Shanklin Theatres from their property portfolio.

The Cabinet heard from members of the public concerned about the closures and discussed at length the viability of the Council continuing to run the theatres.

It was agreed to dispose of the buildings, with a newly formed community group intending to take over Shanklin Theatre as a multi-use arts centre and Platform One Music College to take over Ryde Theatre.

Read full details of the Cabinet discussion as reported live.

Following our recent report about the fate of Shanklin Theatre, we received an email from Isle of Wight Council Leader, David Pugh.

The Leader was keen for us to see a letter that he’d written in response to residents opposing the closure of the theatre. In his letter he states very clearly that “due to limited financial resources … it is unlikely that funding for theatres can ever again be a financial priority for the Council.”

However, he goes on to say that he has been working very closely with the local community to develop a proposal for the future management of the theatre.

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Following our article yesterday regarding the future of Ryde and Shanklin Theatres, we received this letter to the editor from Stephen Rolph – Ed

Dear VentnorBlog – I am sad to read about the wishes of IWCC to dispose of their two flagship theatres and the community involvement scheme sounds good with hopefully some commercial realism in there from somewhere.

My wife and go to two theatres, one in Brighton and the Yvonne Arnaud at Guildford.

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Had you noticed that it snowed last week?

What do you do if you’re a snowboard fan and nature comes along and dumps a load of snow in the place that you live?

You do what Islanders Mike Forrest and Loui Soteriou did – grab your boards and head to the nearest, biggest hill.

Watch it after the jump
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The future of two of the three theatres that the Isle of Wight council looks after for the Island have once again come up for discussion (original discussions of closure first floated in 2007).

A cabinet meeting on 19 January 2010 will decide the future of both Ryde and Shanklin Theatres.

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Those showing their support for Shanklin Theatre continues to grow with the Friends of Shanklin Theatre telling us that over 500 letters of support have been received so far.

As the gallery shows below, the Isle of Wight Society for the Blind, The IW Steam Railway, Cockernuts Family Fun and the Fire Service all took time out to be photographed with the Save Shanklin Theatre Banner as the theatre counts down to the council decision on whether the historic venue will be kept open.

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YMCA at Winchester House are hoping that VentnorBlog readers might be able to help with an appeal they have running at the moment.

They tell us that they’ll be taking on an unemployed artist to paint a series of pictures which will enhance the environment for the children who stay at the residence.

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We love good news stories and this just in from the Isle of Wight Council should send a warm glow around your hearts.

Last Tuesday after more than a year of planning and preparations over 60 young people in care, their carers and foster carers took part in a one off special performance of Jack and the Beanstalk.

Shanklin Theatre was the venue where 150 lucky members of the audience watched on as the adaptation of the old classic saw ‘Jack trying to obtain new qualifications and find work with help from characters from other well known pantos including Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast’.

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The campaign to help save Shanklin Theatre from closure has seen support from many quarters.

We hear from the Friends of Shanklin Theatre today that adding to the long list of supporters are the Sandown and Shanklin Lifeboat team.

The Friends tell us that hundreds of people have already written to the Isle of Wight Council expressing their support for the theatre prior to the meeting in January where the theatre’s future will be decided.

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Anyone who has driven through Shanklin recently will be aware of the work taking place to create a new public square.

The public space will be officially opened next Friday morning at 10am with the event organised to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Lord Palmerston becoming Prime Minister.

What has that to do with Shanklin you might ask? Well Lord Palmerston was an Island MP for the pocket Borough of Newport and Shanklin has a road named after him.

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We went along to the opening of a new Indian restaurant – the Purple Mango – in Shanklin last night.

It’s a good-sized upmarket venue with quality finish and includes features like a waterfall built into one of the walls.

To celebrate the opening, those there were treated to a free, two course meal.

We were really impressed with the flavour and freshness of the food, as were others who were there.

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It’s contentious for some, but works are underway to pedestrianise part of Shanklin in order to create a new ‘public square’.

Once work is complete, the area between High Street and Western Road will be closed to traffic and a new ‘public square’ created.

The scheme which the council tell us received ‘wide public support’ at the consultation held back in July comes at a cost of £80,000.

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We chatted to Barrie James, Chairman of the Friends of Shanklin Theatre, today about the possible closure of Shanklin Theatre, as proposed by the Isle of Wight Council.

The IWC originally floated the idea of closing both Ryde and Shanklin theatres back in 2007, drawing much criticism at a meeting in Bembridge (our live coverage of the meeting).

The decision on the fate of both buildings was due this week, but the IWC have postponed the decision until the 19 January next year.

FoST asks for Shanklin’s support
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Anyone concerned with the future of Shanklin Theatre are being invited to take part in a photoshoot happening this lunchtime, as well as a public meeting taking place on Thursday this week.

At noon today, Friends of Shanklin Theatre along with the town mayor and others will be posing for photos outside the theatre in an attempt to raise the profile of the issues surrounding the possible closure of the theatre.

If you’d like to show your support, head to Shanklin to take part in the photo shoot at noon today.

More to follow on the Thursday meeting and future of Shanklin Theatre.

Later today, three Islanders who have just returned from Palestine will be giving a talk in Shanklin. Wendy Cooper, one of the three tells us more. Ed

Alongside Rachel Nassif (ecumenical accompanier), myself and Nick will be at Sacred Heart Church in Atherley Rd, Shanklin (just up from the station) at 7.30.

We are recently back from the Olive Harvest in Palestine and will be giving a two-part talk with slides on ‘Palestine, living with occupation’

Myself and Nick, being part of the Island group Friends of Palestine, received an email asking us if we would like to attend the olive harvest.

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Wight Satin Ladies’ Barbershop Chorus is holding a Sing For Fun Day at Landguard Manor, Shanklin on 28th November, and we’d like loads of people to come along and join in.

Winners of the 2009 Isle of Wight Music Festival, the Wight Satin Ladies’ Barbershop Chorus tell us that barbershop singing is a brilliant hobby and they’re are keen to recruit new members.

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The 1st to the 7th November is National Youth Work Week. The initiative is headed by the National Youth Agency and aims to celebrate Youth Work across the UK. Will Green from the Shanklin YMCA tells us more about the work that they do with young people on the Island. Ed

The staff at YMCA Isle of Wight work with hundreds of young people throughout the year on a variety of programmes including Daycamps, School visits, Young Carers Project, and volunteering projects.

This year’s Youth Work Week key words are ‘resilience and resourcefulness’, two key traits for developing individuals.

At YMCA Isle of Wight, Resilience and Resourcefulness is instilled by providing experiences that relate to the kind of difficulties that a young person may encounter in their everyday lives.

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This morning, a ten year anniversary will be celebrated at Butler Gardens Hostel in Shanklin.

Town Crier Shirley Ballard will be marking the event by planting a 10th Anniversary tree and remembering the post-Oscar launch 10 years ago by the late Anthony Minghella.

She’ll be joined by IW Councillors, current and previous staff and residents, as well as trustees of the Real World Trust who pioneered the facility.

A whopping 1,500 residents have been through the hostel over the last ten years people during this time, receiving support, training and employment advice, during and after their stay.

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