STYLE | Community


CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME


The famous proverb ‘charity begins at home’ is never truer than when applied to the Isle of Wight. For here there is a thriving voluntary sector of around 1,500 organisations, each driven by a specific calling to support the Island and those who live here


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ften these small charities or community interest companies survive on grants, bequests and fundraising donations


and - while the generosity of Islanders keeps them going - it’s often a challenge to survive.


For High Sheriff and CEO of IFPL Geoff Underwood, this was the drive behind establishing the WightAid Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, to channel support to a host of charities improving the lives of people on the Island.


“As a businessman, I knew how easy it was to become inundated with requests from small charities and good causes. I wanted to find a way to help more organisations while at the same time providing a mechanism that made it easier for businesses to offer support.”


Three years on and the WightAid


Foundation has granted nearly £300,000 to 106 different Island charities, thanks to the kind generosity of its donors.


Among the first beneficiaries was the West Wight Sports and Community Centre Trust. Formed in the early 1970s by parents who identified a need to teach local children to swim, today that humble swimming club is a thriving independent sports centre and community hub, boasting unique facilities and supporting around 160,000 users annually.


Besides two swimming pools, including the Island’s deepest at three metres and the only one with two diving boards , the centre also offers a sports hall, indoor tennis court, gym, café, hairdresser, physiotherapy and chiropractor clinic as well as community rooms for regular classes, events and a playing field. It also has the Island’s only indoor seven-metre-


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