Category: News

In 2022, Her Majesty The Queen will become the first British Monarch to celebrate a  Platinum Jubilee, seventy years of service, having acceded to the throne on 6th February  1952 when Her Majesty was 25 years old.

There will be year-long Platinum Jubilee celebrations throughout the United Kingdom, the  Commonwealth and around the world as communities and people come together to  celebrate The Queen’s historic reign.

Buckingham Palace have issued information relating to The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend in 2022 and can be found by clicking here.

On Monday 21st June 2021, The Isle of Wight Lord-Lieutenant, Mrs Susie Sheldon joined civic leaders and councillors including the Isle of Wight Council’s chairman, Councillor Geoff Brodie, council leader, Councillor Lora Peacey-Wilcox, and High Sheriff, James Attrill, for a socially distanced ceremony in St Thomas’ Square, Newport, to mark the start of Armed Forces Week with a flag-raising ceremony.

The Lord-Lieutenant’s Cadet, Cadet Sergeant Dan Williams, who is a Royal Marines Cadet of Ryde Sea Cadet Corps, raised the flag.

Armed Forces Day is an annual event celebrated in June to commemorate the service, past and present, of men and women serving in the British Armed Forces.

Whilst the on-going challenges of covid have far from gone away, the efforts of the Island’s voluntary and community sector have hugely helped us get over what we hope is the worst of it.

Mrs Susie Sheldon, Lord-Lieutenant for the Isle of Wight is delighted to introduce this short paper designed to both highlight some of the crisis efforts of the last year, as well as the contribution they make to the quality of life on the island year in and year out. As you will see the voluntary and
community sector is in many ways the glue that holds our communities together.

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Jigsaw Family Support was recently visited by Graham Biss, Deputy Lord Lieutenant as part of a series of visits being undertaken by the Lord Lieutenant and her Deputies to community groups to thank them for their ongoing work.

Jigsaw offers help and support to families that are going through the process of separation and divorce, and afterwards if needed. The main aim of the charity is to bring the best outcome possible for all children involved, whilst assisting parents in building a respect- based, co-operative relationship.

During the visit Graham was shown around the centre by Tina Maretic, who started Jigsaw in 2012.
Tina Maretic, Chief Executive Officer said “We were thrilled that Graham Biss, Deputy Lord Lieutenant visited Jigsaw Family Support centre to see just how vital our services are to the many families who are struggling on the Isle of Wight

Jigsaw Family Support child contact centre are the only registered and accredited Children’s Contact Centre on the Isle of Wight. Therefore, it is imperative to continue providing all the services that Jigsaw offer to parents and their families when separating; which is very often a very traumatic time for the whole family.

Our services include reunifying children with their parents, many of them who have had no contact at all with them for months, even years.

JFS services for families include:

Supervised/Supported Child Contact Arrangements; handovers, Mediation, Counselling (children/adults/as a family), Parent support groups, Family Courts -we assist with all the complicated forms needed for the process, free food/toiletries packs for families struggling, sensory sessions for children with additional needs, drug/alcohol testing, workshops (Managing Family Separation), reunification and early intervention sessions”.

Graham Biss, Deputy Lord Lieutenant said “It was a privilege to visit Jigsaw and see the fantastic work they are doing. The Coronavirus pandemic has brought many challenges and the Island is so fortunate to have such a service.”

Jigsaw relies on donations and obtaining grants to continue their important work.

Three people from the Isle of Wight were recognised with honours from HM The Queen, in the Birthday Honours announced over the weekend:

Graham Biss DL – has been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for Services to the Community.

Jeremy Dale – has been made an OBE for Services to Maritime Safety.

Steve Apter – has been awarded The Queen’s Fire Service Medal for Distinguished Service

On June 2nd it was announced that the Isle of Wight Community Bus Partnership had won the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. Only approximately 250 of these Awards are made nationally each year so this is great recognition of an outstanding organisation.

The Isle of Wight Community Bus Partnership is a voluntary transport initiative serving the residents of Cowes, Gurnard and Northwood (No. 32); Newchurch, Lake, and Shanklin (No 22); and Lake, Sandown, Yaverland and Shanklin (No 24). Working in partnership with Southern Vectis, the project has been serving rural communities for over 10 years, with volunteers trained to national standards and receiving ongoing training. The service operates over 6 days a week, and provides a much needed service to up to 100 passengers a day on each route.

On Saturday 1st May 2021, Mrs Susie Sheldon attended the Network Ryde’s Official Opening of the Young People’s Allotment.

Further information on the work of Network Ryde and the Young People’s Allotment can be found here.

This year, two companies have been awarded The Queen’s Award for Enterprise:

IFPL, based in Calbourne
Innovation category for outstanding performance improvements over the past 2 years.

Wight Shipyard, based in East Cowes 
Outstanding growth over the past 3 years in International Trade.

These awards will be presented to both companies throughout 2021 by the Isle of Wight’s Lord-Lieutenant, Mrs Susie Sheldon.

For further information on the Queen’s Awards, click here