Brading Down Walk

The second walk took place on Saturday 21st May 2022 with a three and a half mile round trip with 7,960 steps achieved and 341 K calories burnt.

The group enjoyed a gentle walk across Brading Down to view Sandown and Shanklin Bay and the Arreton Valley. They crossed over the main road to walk along Nunwell Down and view the Solent. Heading through a copse group members were able to stop and watch a red squirrel in the trees.

The Seek Nature App was used throughout the walk to identify and learn about the plants and flowers discovered along the route.

Brading Down is one of the Island’s most popular sites for recreation, picnicking and wildlife watching. It offers panoramic views, a wealth of habitats to explore and opportunities for everyone to enjoy the countryside. It lies at the eastern end of the Island’s iconic central chalk ridge and is within the Isle of Wight Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Brading Down Local Nature Reserve extends both sides of the main road running along the ridge, and the views both ways are equally stunning. The reserve is worth a visit to see chalk downland flowers, butterflies and birds of prey. Bulleys Quarry is a peaceful retreat to have a barbecue away from the crowds.

We were joined by members of the Asian Group UK who were visiting the island from the mainland, as well as Rachael Ardley who is the IW Gift to Nature Engagement Officer.

Rachael is developing reasons for visiting the great outdoors including outdoor events, activities and trails at the Gift to Nature sites. She enjoyed meeting everyone and is keen to join future walks and to develop working with the Green Time programme.

Pictures from the day

Natural Enterprise

Natural Enterprise is an Island-based charity delivering a range of activities to support the local rural economy and natural environment. It includes the Gift to Nature initiative. Gift to Nature maintains about 30 green spaces around the Isle of Wight, caring for the Island’s wildlife while encouraging people to explore our wonderful countryside.

Green Time walks have visited Gift to Nature Sites and the walk next month also visits one of their sites. 

Useful Links

• Seek Nature App for Android and Apple phones by iNaturalist
• Gift to Nature 
• Brading Down Nature Reserve leaflet (pdf)
• Brading DownGift to Nature web page including leaflets
• Brading Down fauna and flora (pdf)
• Everyone taking part in the Green Time Walks is asked and encouraged to read the Safety Brief, Countryside Code and Dog Walking Code.

We want to help tell older people’s stories.

EqualsIW is encouraging older Isle of Wight residents from ethnic minority communities to join a project looking at their experiences on the island.

If you join you will be provided with a camera to take pictures that help tell your story about ageing on the Isle of Wight. You will meet with other residents in the spring and summer to identify important issues to address, to discuss your stories with others, and to help plan the communication of these stories.

If you or someone you know is 60 years of age or older, resides on the Isle of Wight, is a member of a minority community (for example: African, Polish, Chinese, Filipino, Arab, etc.), and is interested in taking part, please contact Dr Witcher This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Presentation

All are welcome to a presentation about the project at

• The Riverside Centre, Newport
• 5 May 2 - 4pm

Further Details

Can you help us learn more about your experiences as an older adult from an ethnic minority community on the Isle of Wight?

Study Details

Dr Chad Witcher from the University of Portsmouth and others want to learn more about ‘age-friendliness’ on the Isle of Wight.

The study is an opportunity to tell us your experiences by using a digital camera. You can discuss your views in a group with other older adults from ethnic minority communities. This follows work completed on the Isle of Wight by Age UK Isle of Wight.

What are we trying to do?

This is a small-scale study intended to reach older adults who may not have shared their experiences about an ‘age-friendly’ island. Often, members from ethnic minority communities are under-represented in research and we would like to encourage your participation to learn what may be missing from plans to support all older adults on the Isle of Wight.

Am I eligible to take part?

To participate in this study, you must meet the following criteria

• Age 60 years or older
• Identify yourself as a member of an ethnic minority community for example non-British which would include Polish, Filipino, African, Arab and so on
• Understand and communicate in English or be able to provide an interpreter.

What do I have to do?

If you decide to participate you will be asked to take part in several group discussions that will each last about two hours. You will be given a digital camera and asked to capture images that represent ‘age-friendliness.’

Your participation is entirely voluntary, and you have the right to withdraw at any time. Prior to providing your consent to participate, you will be given an information sheet which provides the full details of the study, and a consent form.

You will be able to discuss the study with the chief investigator Dr Chad Witcher .

To join the study please

• email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or
• telephone 023 9284 5194 asking for Chad Witcher.

A group of 12 people came together on Easter Saturday to take part in the first Green Time Walk Your Way to Health with the Equals IW Friendship Group for Friends and Family. A four mile round trip of 8,500 steps and 345 Kcalories.

The group started with a gentle walk from Quarr Abbey to visit Binstead Wood and Dame Anthony’s Common. Stopping to explore Play Lane Millennium Green and pond they found a fallen tree for a group picture. Some delicious homemade Spanish bread and cakes were enjoyed by all underneath the big oak tree in the centre of the Millennium Green.

The group headed back through Ladies Walk and Binstead Golf Course, stopping to learn about the Holy Cross Church in Binstead and to take photos under the blossom tree in full bloom. The group walked past Quarr Abbey and read the information board before returning back through the Abbey's Woodland Walk. The walk finished with refreshments in the garden of the Abbey Café. Mark talked with the group about chapels you can visit and the grave yard behind the main Monastery building.

The Abbey of Our Lady of Quarr is well worth a visit with a Visitors Centre, farm and book shop. You can tour the grounds and  step inside the Monastery admiring the art on display.

We hope you enjoy a small selection of the photos from the walk

Why not look at our Green Time flyer for the Saturday 21st May 2022 walk

Green Time Walk Your Way to Health The Natural Way to Good Emotional Well-being and Mental Health

Equals IW is awarded £4,885 to deliver a new community programme called Green Time - The Natural Way to Good Emotional Well-being and Mental Health.

Equals IW received funding from the Isle of Wight Council to run Green Time as a programme of engagement activities through the Equals IW Friendship Groups. It is open to ages from children to grandparents and to all abilities. Participants will enhance their emotional well-being and mental health through physical exercise, creative stimulation and by taking a closer look at how food and mood are related. It will explore the role of good gut health and the impact food has on our overall mental wellness It will cover specific mental illnesses like depression and anxiety.

Green Time comprises of three core activities

• Green Time Walk Your Way To Health Guided Walks
• Green Time Green Skills
• Green Time Food and Mood

Green Time Walk Your Way to Health

These comprise guided walk sessions.

They will combine either an outdoor craft activity or an outdoor cooking activity linking positive emotional well-being with healthy outdoor food cooking. Delivered through the Equals IW Friendship Group for Friends and Family, these sessions will be open to children with parents, young people and adults with no upper age limit. The walks will enable people of all ages to enjoy the natural outdoors, through gentle physical exercise to stimulate positive emotional well-being and mental health. Exploring the outdoor natural environment through a guided walk gives an opportunity to learn about the local history, wildlife in areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs) on the Isle of Wight. Whilst blending the use of technology (Apps) for Health, Fitness, Mindfulness and Nature.

Walking promotes brain activity and thinking time and will allow participants some mindfulness reflection. People who exercise regularly tend to do so because it gives them an enormous sense of well-being. They feel more energetic throughout the day, sleep better at night, have sharper memories, and feel more relaxed and positive about themselves and their lives. It is also a powerful medicine for many common mental health challenges. Regular exercise can have a profoundly positive impact on depression and anxiety. It also relieves stress, improves memory, helps you sleep better, and boosts your overall mood and you don’t have to be a fitness fanatic to reap the benefits. Research indicates that modest amounts of exercise can make a real difference. No matter your age or fitness level, Green Time will enable participants to use exercise as a powerful tool to deal with mental health problems, improve energy, outlook, and get more out of life.

Green Time Green Skills

These are three-hour craft sessions delivered through the Equals IW Friendship Group for women.

These sessions are open to women only and will enable them to come together through a range of craft activities that includes making costumes. Sessions will also focus on dance and music as way to physical exercise and to stimulate positive emotional well-being and mental health.

Green Time Green Skills allows participants to be creative through a range of art activities focused on recycling material. Creating art provides a distraction, giving your brain a break from your usual thoughts. The average person has roughly 70,000 thoughts per day and 90% of them are exactly the same, day in and day out. When you are totally immersed in a creative endeavour, you may find yourself in what is known as “the zone” or a state of “flow.” This meditative-like state focuses your mind and temporarily pushes aside all your worries. Creating art trains you to concentrate on details and pay more attention to your environment, in this way, it acts like meditation. Creative activities can also really help people deal with different kinds of trauma and negative feelings, by having a calming effect on the brain and body.

Green Time Food and Mood

Three-hour sessions delivered through the Equals IW Friendship Group for women. These sessions are open to women only and will enable them to come together with a professional dietitian and see how eating well can help you feel better. Sessions will focus on the importance of eating regularly, staying hydrated and eating a balanced diet. It covers the role of carbohydrates and the right balance of proteins and fats and the importance of vitamins, minerals and looking after your gut health. There are psychological, social and biological benefits of eating meals with other people. Participants will together have an opportunity to learn how to make a selection of healthy foods from different cultures.

>Read More: Green Time Community Programme Funded

Equals IW is awarded £4,885 to deliver a new community programme called Green Time - The Natural Way to Good Emotional Well-being and Mental Health.

Green Time Key Elements

Green Time has five key elements running through the entire programme

• Connect with people around you to support and enrich your everyday life
• Be active as exercising makes you feel good, step outside.
• Take notice to be aware of the world around you and what you are feeling.
• Keep Learning new things will make you more confident as well as being fun.
• Give or do something nice for someone. Volunteer or join a community group.

Green Time Will

• Promote social renewal by bringing local communities together to experience the joy of engaging with other people to promote positive emotional well-being and mental health through fun and enjoyable engagement activities.
• Improved and maintained health and social well-being.
• Bringing together people from all backgrounds, cultures and income groups, embracing cultural enrichment.
• Promotion of equality, diversity and understanding of own culture and those of others
• Using effective local partnerships to bring together key providers and relevant local agencies and services.
• Supporting the wide use of online information and learning resources.
• Enhanced personal development and social skills, enhancing own self-confidence, self-belief and self-esteem, motivation.
• Enable participants to have the ability to feel safe in a group.
• Enable participants to make new friends and to have a healthy sense of self-worth and confidence to independently contribute to local community and wider society.

Green Time - The Natural Way to Good Emotional Well-being and Mental Health

The committee met on Thursday 19th August 2021. As well as items of internal matters the following items were discussed

• Committee Member Recruitment - EqualsIW is to contact the Isle of Wight College and Six Form Colleges offering an opportunity in future projects for students to develop their careers by gaining practical experience within a charity.
• Iwight.com - EqualsIW to open an account for advertising events such as Asian Day, Diversity Day and Friendship Groups Activities.
• EqualsIW is to consider formalising membership with a personal declaration and a nominal fee of £1.
• EqualsIW Secretary - The position will become vacant in November. A replacement is needed for EqualsIW to continue as a charity.
• The Friendship Group's WhatsApp Page is to be the preferred communication channel for internal EqualsIW. The website will continue
  to publish events, case studies and activities.
• Remote attendance at meetings is to be supported by using a WhatsApp group linked to a nominee attending the meeting.
• Indoor activities remain suspended due to Covid-19 concerns. The November meeting is to consider re-starting in Jaanuary 2022. 
• EqualsIW is planning a group mainland visit for 2022.

A copy of the minutes is available on request to the secretary.

Equals IW has taken part in the annual Isle of Wight Mardi Gras event held in Ryde for many years. Sadly this was cancelled in 2020. The New Carnival Company use carnival and celebratory arts to engage people and communities and although the Mardi Gras cannot take place as normal this summer they are planning for some form of event to happen in 2021.

Equals IW took part in a special digital re-launch Zoom held on Wednesday 10 February 2021. The theme for 2021 is 'The Story of Carnival'.

More details from are on the New Carnival Company website.

The minutes of the Equals IW AGM held on Saturday 23rd March 2020 are available on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..