The meeting discussed many points concerning the structure and finance of Equals.
Main Points of General Interest
- The Men's Friendship Group was formally shut down. Open Friendship Group activities will be organised to complement the activities of the Womens Friendship Group whose meetings and communication will remain closed.
- Age Concern, a Health Associate, Remploy and others are offering support for Equals IW activities.
- Fund raising events being considered are
- Tea and Coffee Testing with Cakes Event that can include Bingo, Bunny Drive
- Sponsored Family Walk ending with a Barbeque
- Supermarkets Local Community Funding
- A Theatre Production brought to the Island
- Dance lessons.
The committee listed the following open events that took place in 2019
- January 2019 Lunar Party
- February 2019 Learning Together Community Festival
- May 2019 International Nurses Day
- June 2019 Philippines Independence Day
- August 2019 Indonesia Independence Day Celebration
- Newport Illuminated Carnival
- Ryde Illuminated Carnival - October 2019 Beauty Pageant Lakeside Park Hotel
The Equals IW AGM is to be held on Saturday 14th March 2020.
The next meeting is scheduled Committee meeting is to take place in September 2020.
This is a very brief abstract from the minutes of the meeting.
A copy of the minutes is available on
The New Carnival Company has announced the cancellation of the 2020 Mardi Gras which was to be held in Ryde, Isle of Wight.
More information from the NCC website.
The AGM will be held as follows
- 11.00 to 13.00 Saturday 14th March 2020
- Riverside Centre Newport IW
We are using the Little London Room.
All committee members are required to attend this meeting. If for some reason you cannot attend please inform the Mark by this coming Sunday 8th March. If you do not wish to remain on the committee please inform Mark by this coming Sunday.
If anyone has travelled back from abroad since the 1st March 2020 and plans to attend this meeting, please contact Mark to discuss attendance.
Do please share with all friends as anybody is welcome to attend and we need more team members on the committee to help move Equals IW forward into the next phase of many new developing projects.
The agenda and minutes of the 2019 AGM are available as pdf files (<100k each).
Equals IW Friendship Group first open event of the new year on Saturday 25th January was held in the Breeze at the Island Harbour. Group members shared in a meal to celebrate the Lunar New Year with wider family members. Great food, laughter and happiness made the evening very enjoyable for all.
The 2020 Lunar New Year fell on January 25th and ended on February 11th 2021 with a public holiday lasting from January 24th to 30th. The peak times for celebration were the New Year's Eve on January 24th and New Year's Day on January 25th. The New Year Calendar, as it is commonly known, started on New Year's Eve to the Lantern Festival on February 8th 2020.
The next Equals IW committee meeting is to take place
- Tuesday 11th February, 18.30 to 20.30
- Hare Hounds Pub (Robin Hill)
Agenda on request to the Equals IW Secretary.
The Equals AGM will be held on Saturday 14th March 2020.
Planning for the 2020 Mardi Gras Carnival event held in Ryde has started. Equals IW has been looking at the options being considered for the carnival theme.
First Choice
A theme based on the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival has been selected as the Equals IW first choice as it fits well with our organisation. The team enjoys the dance and music associated with this theme. Equals IW is exploring an idea with a Steel Pan Band through group members' London connections.
We would develop multi-coloured costumes that symbolise Trinidad and Tobago. Glittery, colourful and decorated with feathers and sequins including the colours of the National Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.
As part of the costumes we would create shoulder head-wear backpacks. Each backpack would have an interchangeable face disk to enable future use with a different theme. The interchangeable discs could show the wildlife of rain-forests, oceans, Caribbean wildlife and birds.
Recruitment of Team Members will open in January 2020.
The next Equals IW committee meeting is no longer planned for December 2019 due to the unavailability of persons able to attend.
Equals IW Committee Meeting
Due to lack of persons available at the time the meeting planned for
- Saturday 26th October 2019.
is now planned to take place in December
The Isle of Wight Beauty Pageant multicultural charity event took place recently in the lovely setting of the Lakeside Park Hotel in Wootton Bridge.
This yearly event was created by the Asian Group IW and the evening commenced with National Customs before showcasing an amazing range of National Costumes.
The evening continued with a lovely buffet meal, speeches, judging and the crowning of the winners.
Read more: Beauty Pageant Comes to IOW and Raises Money for Equals IW
Due to concerns regarding privacy copies of the Equals IW Annual General Meeting are not kept on-line but are available on request.