Staff and Councillors have continued to work hard to develop and realise a range of projects, and to support other organisations to do so. In particular, the staff team continue to work incredibly hard in preparing and delivering a summer programme packed with activities, both run directly by the Town Council – Ryde Marina and the beachfront operation, amongst other things – or supported by us. All of these will help to bring the town alive over the coming months. I’ve continued to meet with key stakeholders, all of whom are very positive about the future of Ryde – and all expressed a wish to work together to realise the potential of the town to better support its residents and businesses – and to offer visitors a memorable experience. The word ‘boosterism’ has been used repeatedly to describe the optimism and positivity heard and felt about Ryde’s future. I would say that we’re boosting what is already growing.
Amongst the usual activities in the life of a Councillor, since my last report/our last full council meeting I’ve been involved in supporting and attending the following meetings and events
The Police and Crime Commissioner, Donna Jones, visited Network Ryde on June 30th to celebrate the success of the joint Police/NWR outreach programme and to discuss this with Bex, her team and the young people supported. This was a really positive visit and has led to further ideas and discussions about how to best support young people, particularly over the holiday period and at times of the day when there is less to do. I’d like to thank Bex and her team – and the young people who attended – for their time, enthusiasm and pizza.
It was a positive pleasure to attend the Ryde Business Association social gathering at the Montage (formerly The Depozitory) on Sunday, July 2nd. It was very good to see people from so many businesses talking together about the challenges and opportunities that working in Ryde brings. The recently elected committee, led by Rob Madigan are full of ideas and I’m keen to support them.
The ‘Meet the Funders’ event on July 6th was an enormous success and gave local organisations an opportunity to talk directly to those that might be able to help through grant funding. It was a really well attended, positive event, with presentations and 1:1 sessions with funders. The highlight for me was to see so many individuals and groups talking to each other and sharing ideas over lunch and in between sessions. My thanks to Alison Pearce,
RTC’s Community Development Officer and the staff team for putting on this event, and to Aspire for being such accommodating and brilliant hosts.
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Cllr Elliott attended the launch of Out on an Island 2 on Friday, May 7th, which follows on from the work of Out on an Island over the last two years. A very positive event celebrating the great news that this project has been extended and enhanced.
The annual Mardi Gras parade took to the streets on Saturday, July 8th, lighting up the town with more than twenty schools and groups taking part. Based around the theme of The Year of the Coast, it was a vibrant and thought-provoking spectacle, and signaled the beginning of the summer season in Ryde.
Along with many other Councillors and staff members, I attended the IW Chamber of Commerce Expo at its new home at Ryde School on Wednesday 12th July. A very busy and rewarding event, and again really good to see so many businesses and charitable organisations with so much to offer the local and wider community – including Ryde Town Council, of course!
Unfortunately, the organisers of this year’s Isle of Wight Pride have taken the difficult decision to postpone both the parade and seafront event in light of a yellow weather warning. The hope is that this can be rescheduled for the weekend of August 19th and 20th 2023. RTC and Network Ryde had worked hard to be ready for this event – my thanks to Jo Johnson and the team at Network Ryde for her perseverance and enthusiasm in pulling this together, to Cllr Elliott for her great choreography and to the young people for improving the moves further! Let’s hope we can still take part in the parade later in the summer.
Before we meet on July 24th, the South Island Sevens event will have taken place on July 22nd and 23rd, bringing nine sporting events to the town/seafront with an athletes’ village on the Harbour Beach – see https://southislandsevens.co.uk for event details.
The Party on the Green, jointly organised by the Carnival Association and the Rotary Club will also take place at Eastern Gardens on Saturday, July 22nd.
Between now and our next meeting on September 4th, the following events will have taken place;
A series of Love Monday events at Eastern Gardens throughout the summer, beginning on Monday 24th July
WightWave Beach Festival at Appley Beach over the weekend of 29th and 30th July
A Caribbean Day with sports will be hosted by Derek Sandy on Saturday August 12th at Eastern Gardens/Harbour Beach
The annual Ticket to Ryde event returns to Eastern Gardens over the weekend of August 26th and 27th
Saturday 26th August is also The Carnival Association’s Children’s Carnival
This is followed by the Main Parade on Thursday, August 31st and the
Ryde in Bloom will take place at Eastern Gardens on Sunday, September 3rd.
All the above have been either developed or supported by the Town Council and organisers have worked with us to bring the best opportunities to Ryde, supporting the whole, diverse community with this rich variety of events. We both hope to see you at many of them.
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