WightAID Grant Helps Families Enjoy Well-Earned Holidays

A charity that helps Island families in poverty to have a much-needed holiday is the biggest beneficiary of the latest round of giving by WightAID.

The Getaway Foundation was granted £5,760 to support 18 respite breaks in 2025.

Many of the families involved have never had a holiday.

The families are all supported by social services and school welfare teams.

The Getaway grant was by far the largest in September’s WightAID round of giving, with a total of £8.854 being donated to eight charities and organisations.

Peter Tebbutt, CEO of The Getaway Foundation, said:

“The support WightAid has given us over the last few years is amazing.

"Our aim is to help families impacted by poverty create happy family memories that supports them in their day to day lives.

“WightAid has been a key partner in supporting this and we have now supported MORE THAN 75 families from the IOW and look forward to creating many more happy family memories next year. Without the support of partners like WightAid this would not be possible.”

James Daws, from Gurit, who are WightAID supporters, presented the overall cheque.

The other grants, all under £500, went to:

• Dementia Afternoon Tea Club — £500 towards their afternoon tea club, which is held at 2pm every second Thursday of the month at The Bembridge Methodist Hall.
   
• Bodster CIC — £300 towards new equipment for their children’s visit. Bodster Equine Learning Centre offers Equine assisted learning where people develop a range of skills, improving their self-esteem, understanding their own behaviour and increasing their emotional intelligence in a supervised equine environment.
   
• Memorial Hall Arts and Leisure Company — This Freshwater-based community centre received £500 towards a new laptop as their
• current one was very dated.
   
• Corf Scout Camp — £455 towards a new full-body climbing harness. Currently the smaller Scouts, Squirrels and Beavers are unable to use the larger harnesses on site.
   
• Brighstone Christmas Tree Festival — £339 to purchase a second hand PA system with cordless microphones to use at the Christmas Tree Festival and other fundraising events.
   
• Sandown Family Events — This annual December free, fun event, which this year will be on Saturday December 14, received £500 towards activities for the children. They will have a quiet hour from 9.30-10.30 for those with sensory sensitivities.
   
• Isorropia Foundation CIC — £500 towards purchasing ten refurbished tablet computers, which will be used to demonstrate how to use the BookWhen System for their services. Isorropia’s members are adults with mental health issues and people experiencing anxiety or depression. They are likely to need extra time and support to become familiar and comfortable with the new booking system.

 
Geoff Underwood, WightAID founder, said:

“It is wonderful to support these diverse good causes.

“We are grateful to Gurit for being one of our key supporters and are always looking to Island businesses, organisations and individuals to follow their lead in backing WightAID.”