By Tilly Walder
Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting Island-based charity OSEL with the organisation’s CEO, Tracey Hill. Truth be told, before my visit, I was unaware of OSEL (which stands for Outstanding Support, Education and Learning), or what they do.
Spending the day with two of their enterprises, Wight Crystal and The Way Forward Programme, really opened my eyes to the incredible work they do on our Island.
Behind the scenes with Wight Crystal
My day started with a visit to Wight Crystal’s bottling plant and learning about operations. Wight Crystal is an Island-based drinks company, whose products include still water, fizzy (carbonated) water, and flavoured drinks such as traditional lemonade and red apple and elderflower (made with stevia, a natural sweetener). This all provides training and employment for Islanders with learning disabilities and autism.
All about the water
The water is sourced from a protected well in Knighton. Tracey explained that Wight Crystal has had a “gentleman’s agreement” with Southern Water since 1988; it is the only charity allowed to bottle the well water for the benefit of the Island. Their tanker collects 20,000 litres at a time, which is delivered to the bottling plant into two chilled, stainless-steel tanks. It is fed through two fine filter-like membranes, to remove any impurities and then through a UV light filter to eradicate any bad bacteria. Despite being fresh spring water, it must go through these procedures to ensure it’s safe for human consumption.
The water then flows to the machine it’s needed for. One is the £250,000 ‘nine-header’ machine, which fills, caps and seals nine bottles of water or flavoured drinks at a time. It fills up to 2,000 bottles an hour, which are then sent through a laser which applies a best-before date and batch number for traceability, an automatic labeller and is then ready for wrapping.
I was also introduced to Wight Crystal’s new hand-filled glass bottle machine. It fills four bottles at a time with either spring or spring-carbonated water. Once filled they are sealed with an aluminium cap and sold to exclusive establishments, such as the Hambrough in Ventnor and Haven Hall Hotel in Shanklin.
Protecting the planet
All plastic bottles are made of 100% recycled plastic (rPET) and are fully recyclable. Tracey explained that Wight Crystal “doesn’t believe in single-use”, and, despite being relatively small, was one of the first organisations in the south to make this move.
Wight Crystal also supplies water coolers, with around 850 across the Island at different locations. All cooler bottles are returned, emptied and put through a disinfection process, making them reusable up to 52 times. “We were green before Blue Planet arrived,” Tracy said. “We felt that introducing glass was a need, we want to do the right thing in protecting the environment and giving our customers a choice.”
When you purchase water from Wight Crystal you are supporting The Way Forward Programme and all proceeds are reinvested for the charity to provide opportunities for service users.
Another OSEL enterprise
The Way Forward Centre is just a short walk away. Tracey gave me an overview: “The Way Forward Programme is for those with learning and physical disabilities or autism and provides activities to encourage independence and give self-worth. Having a routine of work really helps your mental health. When our customers come to us, we provide education and learning opportunities, but they also have fun, so there is a combination of everything.” She went on to say that because of their learning disabilities, many of their customers will not be able to find paid work but some volunteer in charity shops and cafés. Quite a few are what Tracey described as “fiercely independent”.
Meeting the team
Tracey told me the group was unusually quiet today because it was ‘Chippy Friday’ and they were busy eating. However, I was soon greeted by lots of smiles and hellos, and a handshake from one client, a true gentleman named Josh. I also got to meet one of the programme’s oldest residents, Joan, who despite being over 80, went to Paultons Park with the group and walked over 10,000 steps!
I had the pleasure of speaking to customer buddy and ambassador, Lucy. Despite her learning disability and deteriorating eyesight, Lucy has always really wanted to work. She approached a business called No Barriers, but they couldn’t find anything for her. So Tracey worked with Lucy and found government funding called Access to Work (DWP) for half of her employment costs at The Way Forward.
Lucy’s job is to help the customers, providing them with friendly advice or just a listening ear. She also helps with activity sessions and organising fund-raising.
Opportunities for all
The Way Forward building has spaces to teach everyday independent skills, including a kitchen and utility area with a washing machine and tumble dryer. They are also renovating their IT suite and creating a new sensory room.
In their upstairs creative area, different focus groups run, and customers are encouraged to take part in different sessions throughout the week. The one I saw was “Show up and glow up”, focused on teaching beauty skills.
As part of their incredible work, Way Forward are performing a show on December 6 at Medina Theatre called “The Journey to the Lamp”. I was lucky enough to sit in for one of their rehearsals, and have never seen so much excitement and enthusiasm! The whole group got involved and had such a laugh. To see the show and support The Way Forward, buy your tickets via iow.life/journeytothelamp.
I had a great day with Tracey and her staff and finding out all they do to support Islanders who need a little extra help was a real eye-opener. Meeting the customers was great fun as well.
Tilly is the IW Observer’s trainee journalist. If you’d like to be the focus of a future ‘Tilly’s insight’ column drop her a line at tilly@iwobserver.co.uk.
Isle of Wight Observer