Island Magazines January 2023 Sandown and Shanklin Area

Baldwin

Tel: 07528 586683

Well, here we are at the start of a New Year and I have been given this great opportunity to write a regular article for Island Magazines.

As a nature nerd, I get equal enjoyment from watching the smallest insect to viewing our brilliant White-tailed Eagles. My hope is this monthly article will get you enthused enough to go out and experience and enjoy nature, perhaps even taking part in some of the projects I will be highlighting during the year.

Getting involved with nature has been proven to be beneficial for our mental health and as we found out during the Covid lockdowns, you can enjoy nature in your own garden or local green space, you don’t need to travel miles!

Among my various nature-based roles, I am the British Trust for Ornithology Regional Representative, County Moth & Dragonfly Recorder and Butterfly Conservation’s Isle of Wight Group Leader.

We start the year with the largest garden-based “citizen science” event in the UK – the RSPB Big Garden BirdWatch 2023. Big Garden Birdwatch is a great community event; it is fun, free and for everyone. And you don’t need a garden to take part! Counting birds from your balcony, or your local park will play a vital role in helping the RSPB understand how UK birds are doing. We have lost 38 million birds in the UK during the last 50 years; House Sparrow and Starling have suffered severe declines and are red listed.

Big Garden BirdWatch takes place on 27-29 January. Choose the date of your choice, watch the birds around you for one hour (you can invite your friends round and make it a social event!). Count how many of each species of bird lands on your patch. When you have finished, go online and enter your results. Not sure of the ID of the birds? The RSPB have produced an ID guide of the common garden birds which you can download. You can register for Big Garden BirdWatch and your free guide now at www.rspb. org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch

Don’t forget if you’re a teacher, your school can take part in the RSPB Big Schools’ Birdwatch which runs from 6 January to 20 February 2023. See www.rspb.org.uk/fun-and-learning/forteachers/schools-birdwatch

Good luck with the BirdWatch and, most of all, enjoy it.

House Sparrow

Photo: Jim Baldwin

Welcome to the first edition of 2023... I’ve got everything crossed that this year is going to be a great year for us all!

Here at Island Magazines HQ, we are going to continue bringing you a monthly community magazine packed with news, information, advertising, articles, puzzles and much more and I would like to personally thank everyone that picks up a copy to read, all contributors and to the many wonderful local businesses that advertise.

This year I have the pleasure of working with local nature and wildlife expert, Jim Baldwin. Jim is known by many for his outstanding contribution to this field and even calls himself a ‘Nature Nerd’ (his words not mine!), personally I think of him more as a local Isle of Wight David Attenborough!!

Jim will be writing fascinating articles each month which are both informative and are ways to get you involved in nature and projects throughout the year. You can read his first article on page 2.

January is a very quiet month especially after such a busy Christmas period. Our ‘Dates for your Diary’ section on page 18 has details of the few community events happening and if you are planning any future events please let me know and I can include them in the next issue.

In this cold weather we have been having please keep warm, keep safe and please check on others, especially if you have elderly neighbours.

As always, thank you for picking up a copy and I hope you have a great first month of the New Year and I look forward to catching up with you again soon.

STAMPS ARE CHANGING AFTER 31st JANUARY 2023

We’re adding barcodes to our regular stamps. After 31 January 2023, regular stamps without a barcode will no longer be valid. You can either use up these stamps before this deadline or swap them for the new barcoded ones.

The stamps that are changing are the stamps (pictured below) that will be very familiar to you. They feature the profile of Her Late Majesty The Queen on a plain coloured background. Your non-barcoded stamps can be exchanged for the new barcoded version through the Stamp Swap Out scheme. To swap out your stamps, simply complete one of our Stamp Swap Out forms and send it back to us along with your non-barcoded stamps. The step-by-step process for doing this is explained below.

How to get a ‘Stamp Swap Out’ form

• If you have a printer, you can swap out up to £200 worth of non-barcoded stamps by printing out and completing the online form. Go to www.royalmail.com and search for ‘Stamp Swap Out’ form. You can send this back to us free of charge, along with your stamps, by writing on the envelope Freepost SWAP OUT. No other address details or postcode are needed.

• If you don’t have access to a printer you can request a Stamp Swap Out form to be posted to you at www.royalmail.com or pick one up from the Customer Service Point at your local Delivery, or you can call our Customer Experience Team on 03457 740740.

Note: Special Stamps with pictures on and Christmas Stamps without a barcode will continue to be valid and don’t need to be swapped out.

Email: ian.ward@iow.gov.uk

WISHING ALL SANDOWN RESIDENTS A BETTER YEAR AHEAD.

As we say farewell to 2022 let’s hope that 2023 is better for us all. I believe life will remain difficult for us in the short term until the county’s finances return to something approaching normal. The IW Council is struggling to produce a viable budget for 2023/2024 and keep any rise in council tax within the government’s allowable limits. By far the biggest proportion of the IW Council’s budget goes to pay for adult social care. Residents often complain that they see very little for their Council Tax money, that may be because the social care expenditure is not visible to most residents.

OCEAN HOTEL UPDATE – A GLIMMER OF LIGHT TOWARDS A

RESOLUTION As you may remember the Owners of the Ocean wanted their Appeal court case heard in Durham. At the first Hearing the judge decreed that they had not prepared their case properly and delayed the Hearing for a few weeks; upon the second Hearing the judge refused to hear their Appeal and ordered it to be returned to the Island! The ownership of the Ocean has been confirmed and the owners have made suggestions about the way forward, but want the Enforcement Order stopped, which could be legally unwise. The Police have also engaged with the Owners, and they also report an improvement in discussions. So, while there has not been any significant breakthrough in negotiations yet, let’s hope the Owners realise that cooperation is the best way forward.

GOVERNMENT FUEL GRANTS – CARAVAN PARK RESIDENTS MAY MISS OUT

Unfortunately, some residents living in Caravan Parks do not qualify for the recent fuel grants from the Government. To qualify for a grant, you must be the person who pays for your power directly to the power company. If you live in a caravan park it’s generally the Park owners who pay the power company and the power is then sold on to their residents which means they don’t qualify. I have checked this, and I was told that this condition exists in all Parks. However, as the grants are only given to private customers, the Park, as a commercial customer, may not qualify the grant anyway.

HOW ABOUT MAKING A NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION TO HELP YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY? – VOLUNTEER TO DRIVE A COMMUNITY BUS.

I often get asked by residents why our Community Bus doesn’t run every weekday like it used to. Well, the simple reason is that we are short of drivers because some left because of lockdown and others finally retired. So, we are trying hard to get more volunteers to help us. If you can spare one day per week, or whatever you can spare and have a clean driving licence Southern Vectis will be able to train you to drive a bus if you have the aptitude. We have had ladies and retired residents as volunteers so don’t think we wouldn’t be interested in you.

Do you know someone over 50 who would like to get online?

Age UK Isle of Wight operates a loan scheme for older people lending out tablets and smartphones. We will teach them how to get online and provide enough data to browse the internet. It’s a FREE service and gives people the opportunity to try without needing to make a financial investment.

If you would like to find out more, please contact Age UK IW Digital Support Service on (01983) 301693 or email digital@ageukiw.org.uk

From joy’s humble crumble kitchen

A slight change from our usual recipe page this month but still staying with suggestions to make the most of our available resources and looking after our wellbeing. We are starting the year with some energy saving ideas and tips. Enormous respect to our forefathers who had even less than we have today – no central heating – bigger families – no financial help, probably wasn’t great but they just got on with it - AND so shall we!

HOW TO MAKE A DENIM DRAUGHT EXCLUDER.

* measure the width of your door (or window)

* turn the jeans inside out and cut the leg to required length

* laying the leg flat, you will need to mark, approx. 5 – 6 inches width from top to bottom and stitch along the ‘leg’ length, by hand or machine.

* If making window excluder, follow the same method but make it half the width of the door excluder. (You can also use the sleeves of unwanted garments.)

* turn the jean leg right side out. Stuff with shredded old T shirts, fibre fill from old cushions, tights, old towels etc. Finish off by sewing up the ends.

* You can use any ‘trouser’ leg, or a no longer used towel, old curtain – just roll up and sew to above method. Charity shops are an excellent place to look for these items.

* for the window excluders, add rice or lentils (uncooked) to give weight plus you can squish them into odd corners.

* for the more creative among us, try knitting one using left over balls of wool, or perhaps the excluder becomes a long sausage dog, a snake/crocodile or a ‘whatever you want it to be’!

• If you can’t heat all the rooms you use – try heating the living room for as much of the day as you can, (suggested temperature 18 degrees) and heat your bedroom just before you go to bed.

• wearing several layers of clothing will keep you warmer than one thick layer.

• don’t delay treating minor winter ailments – ask your pharmacist for advice or treatment.

• if bad weather is forecast, it may be harder to leave the house - check you have enough medication and food.

Report from Sandown Town & County Councillor Debbie Andre

T:- 400744/07948 757977 E:- debbieandre4sandown@gmail.com Facebook:- debbieandre4sandown

At the start of a New Year, many of us will be making New Year’s resolutions, wondering how long we’ll be able to keep them. Perhaps, in light of the last few years, the focus of those resolutions may have changed? I think we have all grown to have a greater appreciation for those individuals who touch our lives such as family, friends and work colleagues and maybe our resolutions will be shaped by a desire to help one another as a community, rather than as individuals? There are lots of ways to become involved so please get in touch or speak to our fabulous librarians at Sandown Library for details of the many organisations that exist both in and around Sandown.

This coming year, there are a couple of projects that I would like to progress. Discussions are continuing about how to develop the area including Dinosaur Isle. I know how much local people value the open space, Willow Walk, Brown’s and the Canoe Lake. I’m keen to bring these elements together in an offer that firmly establishes the beautiful environmental credentials of the area, the history of the area and developing our Cretaceous Coast brand. Also, we are developing a vision for our High Street, supported by the Government through a High Street Task Force consultant and I want your involvement in discussions as plans progress.

This year, we are planning to draw up a “Place Plan” for our town. One of the ideas that I would like to incorporate is to pedestrianise the upper section of our High Street. This needs to be carefully

considered as part of an overall plan and not in isolation. Use of car parks and on street parking in nearby residential streets will form part of the thinking. There will be full public consultation and I want to hear your views and those of our business community. I am championing accessibility of our town and I will ensure that this features highly in any proposed place plan. Local community groups such as Sandown Green Town Volunteers will play a central role in scoping out any such plans.

I’m aware that the roads around the Yaverland Estate are poor in places and there is a distinct lack of dropped kerbs. I’m disappointed that the review of Island Roads District 4, the district that Sandown falls within, keeps slipping. I will continue to raise the issues, including the plan for Meadow Way and the first part of Culver Way, until they are completed. I will also progress the siting of a noticeboard on the estate as I’m aware that not everyone has access to the internet and communication of certain events doesn’t always reach everyone.

I’ll be continuing with my monthly Councillor surgeries in the café at the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary on the first Saturday of the month from 11 until 12. Please come and see me and perhaps pay a visit to the animals at the same time? Cllr Heather Humby continues to hold her weekly surgery every Thursday at 11am at Sandown Library and is available on 402024 or heatherhumby@ sandowntowncouncil.gov.uk

Happy New Year, Everyone.

Never miss out on reading a copy of Island Magazines.

If you can’t get out to pick up a copy from local distributors you can subscribe to either our ‘DIGITAL’ or ‘PRINTED’ edition each month.

For PRINTED subscriptions there will be a small charge of £1.20 per month payable 6 months in advance. Email islandmagazines@gmail.com with your name, address and which area you would like or call us on 07880 587 931.

For DIGITAL subscriptions just email shanklinmagazine@gmail.com and include the words ‘subscribe digital’ in the email, then sit back, relax and wait for the next issue to drop into your email inbox.

Word

Some Slimming World Firsts

Slimming World is the first weight-loss organisation to recognise the importance of psychological and emotional support in weight management and address the emotional barriers to change through compassion and understanding using unique strategies such as IMAGE (Individual Motivation And Group Experience) Therapy to boost self-esteem, and Free Foods to relieve the burdens of hunger and guilt.

Slimming World is the first weight loss organisation to recognise how the nature and composition of the foods we eat impact on our sense of satisfaction and fullness (satiety) and have been actively involved in funding research in this area for over 25 years. Slimming World’s Food Optimising eating plan is based on these principles.

Slimming World is the first to encourage members to set their own target weight. When a member reaches their Personal Achievement Target, they can attend a Slimming World group for free. Members can alter their target at any time. Slimming World has lowest acceptable target weights, below which a target weight cannot be set so members don’t risk falling into the ‘underweight’ BMI category.

Slimming World is the first to offer a money-back guarantee to members as a sign of total confidence in the fact that members who follow Food Optimising 100% are guaranteed to lose weight. We have never had to pay out.

In 2015 Slimming World developed and launched a frozen meal range with Iceland to support members to be able to continue to make healthy choices when they don’t have the time to cook from scratch. It quickly became the market leader in frozen ready meals.

Call Julie on 07813 635202 for information about groups in Shanklin and East Cowes.

News report from Michael Beston & Chris Quirk

IOW & Shanklin Town Councillors. michael.beston@iow.gov.uk or christopher.quirk@iow.gov.uk Michael 07885 644426 |Chris 07802 705831

Shanklin Coastal Defence Schemes Update

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey work has now been completed and ground investigations will begin in January 2023, running concurrently with those in Yaverland. Temporary footpath diversions and parking bay suspensions will be in place. As previously reported, the Environment Agency (EA) received a total of 44 responses to the Shanklin public realm questionnaire, including some valuable comments and suggestions. If you would like to find out more about the responses received, the EA have published a summary report on their website consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/solent-andsouth-downs/isle-of-wight-coastal-defence-schemes-information and if you missed the opportunity to share your views, the EA will be carrying out further engagement in the Summer 2023. Shanklin Town Councillors met with the EA & IW Council defence team back in October 2022 for them to introduce the scheme and share their aspirations for achieving environmental improvements through the project. The EA team has also been busy meeting with key stakeholders in advance of the ground investigation work. We will of course keep you updated as the work progresses.

Shanklin Performing Arts Centre – Co-op Causes Update

On the 24th November, we both met with Donna Newham, the Co-op Member Pioneer for Ryde and Sandown and the Shanklin Men-in-Sheds to help promote the Co-op Landguard Road, Shanklin store and the Shanklin Performing Arts Centre in the next round of the Co-op Local Causes initiative. Our aim is to raise funding to help purchase clothes lockers, a music sound system, dance lighting, and an upright compact digital piano for our students, as well as our dance and user groups.

If you wish to contribute to our cause, please visit the link below. Our thanks also go to Samantha Pidgeon and Simon Thompson at the Co-op for their continued help and support. membership.coop. co.uk/causes/66101 and www.shanklinperformingartscentre.co.uk

Island Housing Update

Island MP – Bob Seely has been in negotiation with Michael Gove - Secretary of State for

Levelling Up, Housing and Communities regarding Island housing targets, that will fundamentally become less binding. As a result, the Planning Inspectorate’s power will become weakened, the five-year land supply rule has been removed and the Government will undertake a series of reviews into the greenfield levy, use of brownfield land and small urban sites. The Government will also undertake a legal study into how local councils can more effectively use the compulsory purchase powers available to them.

May we wish you a happy and prosperous New Year 2023. Best regards Chris and Michael.

News report from Michael Beston & Chris Quirk

When a New Year comes along, so does the urge to believe this is a fresh start in your life and by setting resolutions/goals you can start on the path to a new and improved version of yourself! But did you know you can set yourself goals anytime of the year… and to be honest you might be more likely to stick to it if it isn’t set for the start of the New Year.

I’ve been there myself on the 1st of January and like many of us the first goal is to lose weight but I won’t be making that mistake again this year because I have learnt from my previous ways. If you are anything like me, Christmas has just passed but there are still mince pies, Christmas cake, chocolate, biscuits, sweets… need I go on… still lurking in the house which inevitably need to be eaten. You can’t throw them out as that is just wasteful and wrong on every level.

My next point is with the constant rise in energy prices isn’t it better to keep that extra layer of fat around the midriff? It’s like an extra layer of clothing, a weighted blanket of warmth. I mean at least wait until Spring when it will be a bit warmer.

Research shows that on average, 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by the second week of February. The main reasons for failure include goals not being specific enough, goals are unreasonable and low accountability. While the intention behind the resolution is good, we need to train our “new actions” into habits so that it becomes an automatic action.

On average, it takes more than 2 months before a new behavior becomes automatic — 66 days to be exact. And how long it takes a new habit to form can vary widely depending on the behavior, the person, and the circumstances. In Lally’s study, it took anywhere from 18 days to 254 days for people to form a new habit.

Based on this information it’s no surprise that so many resolutions and goals fail, the stress we are putting on ourselves doesn’t help matters either, so this year I am not going to set myself up for a fall and instead I am going to wait until, these cold, miserable, uninspiring months have passed and then I will have a think about what I really want the end product to be and how can it be cut down into bite size chunks to become achievable and only then will I start to attempt to form a new habit. And on that note of bite size chunks, I’m off to get a bar of chocolate from my selection box.

Servicing, Replacements, Repairs and Maintenance

The cold weather is upon us and although many are experiencing the increase in energy prices the most important factor is that you are running your boiler and home heating efficiently and safely. Ensuring your boiler is serviced and maintained to keep it running at 100% is the best top tip you can benefit from this winter.

Primo Technical Services Ltd is a local trusted family business who have been in the industry for over 25 years and offer a range of services including all aspects of domestic gas services, safety checks and installations, power flushing, heating and ventilation, plumbing, unvented systems and electrical work. They are Gas Safe Registered, so you are safe in the knowledge that they are fully qualified.

They provide regular maintenance as well as emergency breakdowns and they always turn up when they say they will! Now more than ever it makes

working efficiently and all their new boiler

so that alone is something worth looking into to ensure you aren’t throwing money down the drain.

They offer free quotations on all installations and alteration work.

For more information, phone 520522 or 07795 363 534,

com and see their main advert.

dates for your diary

Every Monday – Warm Space at Christ Church, The Broadway, Sandown from 11am – 3pm. Warm spaces are heated, safe, friendly, neutral places totally free to use and provide a warm welcome to all, where you can comfortably spend time reading, studying or chatting with others or just enjoy a hot drink and some company.

Every Tuesday – Walk and Talk Sandown. Come rain or shine, join in for a gentle walk and talk along the seafront and back again. Meet outside Sandown Pier at 10.30am. Brought to you by Living Well and Early Help Service. Call 01983 240732 for more information.

First Thursday of every month – Teen Epilepsy Café at Richmonds, Bath Road, Cowes from 6.30pm. It’s an opportunity for teenagers with epilepsy to meet those in the same boat, to chat and listen to music in a safe and supportive space.

Sunday 1st January – New Year’s Day Dip in Sandown raising funds for Sandown & Shanklin Independent Lifeboat. Meet at the Royal Pier Hotel at 11am then head down to the beach next to the pier for the dip.

Sunday 1st January – Sandown New Year’s Day Firework Celebrations – This spectacular fireworks display will be from Sandown Pier at 6pm. FREE ENTRY! Donations are gratefully appreciated. Friendly volunteers will be positioned around the esplanade with collection buckets. Road closures will be in place before, during and after the display for

crowd safety. This event maybe subject to last minute changes or cancellation due to weather conditions.

Monday 2nd January - Sandown New Year’s Litter Pick. Meeting at Sandown Pier between 10am-10.15am for a special litter pick of the beach and Esplanade following the Sandown New Year’s Day Celebrations on the 1st Jan. We will be starting at Sandown Pier and will concentrate on the beach, seafront and the surrounding area. Please bring your own gloves and litter pickers if you have them, although we do have a limited number of litter pickers we can loan out?

Thursday 12th January – Dementia Afternoon Club at Bembridge Methodist Hall, 73 Forelands Road, Bembridge from 2pm – 4pm. £5 per person, this includes a selection of sandwiches, cakes, and tea and coffee. Music from Uke ‘n’ Sing, Ukulele Group. To confirm your attendance please call on 01983 218318 or email: iow@ rightathome.co.uk (so we can ensure we order plenty of cake!)

If you are organising a community event either for February or the coming months please feel free to email us the information at islandmagazines@gmail.com or call us on 07880587931 and we can share the details in the next issue.

All event information was correct at time of print but could be subject to change at any time.

A lz he im e r C a fé IOW

Tel: 01983 220200

Email: info@alzheimercafeiow. org. uk Website: www. alzheimercafeiow. org. uk

East Cowes Alzheimer Café

East Cowes Town Hall

York Avenue, East Cowes, PO32 6RU

Ryde Alzheimer Café

All Saints’ Church Hall

Queens’s Road, Ryde, PO33 3AF

First Tuesday of the month

2pm 4pm

Cowes Alzheimer Café

Football Club, Reynolds Close off Park Road, Cowes PO31 7NT

Second Wednesday of the month

Sandown Alzheimer Café

The Broadway Centre

1 Broadway, Sandown PO36 9GG

Fourth Wednesday of the month

First Friday of the month 11am 1pm 2pm 4pm An Alzheimer Café

Totland Alzheimer Café

St Saviours Holy Family Centre

Weston Lane, Totland PO39 0HE

Third Wednesday of the month

If you are worried or concerned about memory loss, please come along to an Alzheimers Café for information and informal education about memory loss and dementia. You do not need to have a diagnosis to attend, everyone with an interest in dementia or memory loss is welcome. 2pm 4pm

Newport Methodist Church Quay Street, Newport, PO30 5BA

Last Wednesday of the month

Newport Alzheimer Café 6pm 8pm