By Press Release
The Island’s first Heritage Fair was celebrated at the Department, Ryde, on Saturday.
More than 30 heritage groups and museums, and their volunteers, worked in collaboration with the IW Volunteer Centre and Community Action IW to showcase keeping the Island’s heritage alive.
The event was organised by Sandy Ciccognani, IW volunteer centre manager at Community Action IW, and her team to offer free participation for community groups who have volunteers at the heart of their work.
Sandy said: “In my role, I have had the pleasure to go and visit some of these museums and heritage centres and I am always blown away by the extent of knowledge being preserved and the passion shared for our heritage by a relatively small group of people. This event helped showcase some of them and build connections with the wider community.”
Organisations attending included Friends of Ryde Town Hall, Wight Coast Fossils, IW Steam Railway, East Cowes, Bembridge, Ryde and West Wight Heritage centres, Shademakers, Ryde Carnival, Wight Aviation Museum, English Heritage, Brading Roman Villa, Scouting Heritage, IW Classic Boat Museum, IW Bus Museum, IW Museum of Glass, IW Garden Trust, Donald McGill Archives and Museum, IW Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum and the National Poo Museum.
The groups were offered free participation, thanks to funding from Community Action IW and the Heritage Action Zones.
Pictured: Friends of Ryde Town Hall at the Heritage Fair – by Michael Paler
