Join Mark for the first walk of the 2024 season.
You will have the opportunity on this walk to get up close to nature by feeding the wild bird life at Ryde Canoe Lake. You will take a gentle walk through Appley Park, view the magnificent Scots Pine trees, and explore the ancient woodland trail to find the Appley Park Picture Frame.
You will then walk along the seawall to appreciate the spectacular views of the Solent, Spinnaker Tower, Spitbank, Horse Sand and No Man’s Forts, and Paulsgrove Hill Cliffs. You may even see a cruise ship sailing down through the Solent. Walking on into Puckpool Park where you will learn about the history of this fort and barracks, and the role it played during wartime.
Everyone taking part on this walk can have a funded drink or ice-cream before walking back along the golden sands and shoreline of Appley Beach. This walk is child buggy, wheelchair and mobility scooter friendly. Mainly a flat walk with plenty of benches to take a rest on if need.
Open to children accompanied by parents, young people and adults, with no upper age limit. Dogs are also very welcome but must be kept on a lead at all times.
You can download our flyer (163kB) for the walk.
Green Time – enhancing friendship, positive emotional wellbeing and mental health, self-confidence and self-esteem.
If you are aged 19 and over and like to meet with other women in a safe environment join the Equals IW Ladies Group.
You can come along to our free sessions to just to talk over a cuppa and make friends, enjoy craft, art and other activities. You can also bring family members and friends.
We meet
To find out about dates and more please send an email to
We have a flyer for the Ladies Group (300kB)
Green Time — Green Skills - Multiply Spring Creative Crafts with a Splash of Fun Maths. Join Mark for this fun craft session
You can develop your creative skills by making and decorating to your own design a
Your flowerpot holder will be perfect for the window sill, on a table, balcony or in the garden. Use it for growing flowers, herbs, strawberries or any suitable plant.
You can also decorate your own porcelain Easter Bunny and Egg Cup.
All resources are provided.
Creative Crafts with a Splash of Fun Maths lets you to increase confidence with numbers through the use of crafts and arts. You will develop maths skills in a fun and informal way.
Good maths skills can help in everyday life, such as cooking, travelling on public transport and when budgeting your money.
This session will also promote and enhance your own positive emotional wellbeing, self-confidence, self-esteem and mental health.
Please text or call Mark to book a place on 0785 485 2518. Today or as soon as possible so that materials can be prepared in advance.
We have a flyer for the session.
We are delighted that Eden has taken up the role for a second year as the Equals IW Ladies Group Co-ordinator.
Eden has put her enthusiasm straight into action by organising a trip over the Solent to visit the shops in Southampton City Centre.
The Ladies Group invited sixteen friends, partners, husbands and family to the Cosmo All You Can Eat World Buffet in Southampton to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The group also took the opportunity to celebrate the birthday of Aireen, one of the group members.
We took photos
Lunar New Year in 2024 occured on 10th February and was celebrated by millions of people around the world. It is also known by other names, including the Chinese New Year, Spring Festival, Seollal and Tet Nguyen Dan.
Regardless of the name the Lunar New Year is one of the most important festivals for many people of Asian heritage. Red is the primary colour during the celebration and it is common to see many red decorations during this period. Red envelopes get passed around in a tradition used to send good luck and money to the receiver.
2024 is the year of the Wood Dragon Jiǎ Chén (甲 辰). It blends the heavenly stem of Jiǎ or Yang Wood and the earthly branch of Chén the Dragon. Wood is considered yang because it represents activity, growth, expansion, and outward movement. The Dragon is Yang Earth as its core with some Yin Wood and Yin Water. Earth is considered yang because it represents stability, nourishment, and solidity. The resulting combination means the Wood Dragon is powerful, endlessly energetic and full of vitality. A goal-oriented yet idealistic and romantic visionary leader. It knows exactly who they are and possesses the keenest sense of self among the 12 zodiac signs of Chinese astrology.
The Ladies Group rounded off another successful year of meetings and activities by welcoming all to a light lunch at GG’s Restaurant. Friends came together to have a lovely time sharing a very large pizza and celebrating a recent birthday.
During the light lunch a special thanks was given to Eden who has been the Ladies Group Co-ordinator for 2023.
As Chair of Equals IW, Mark paid tribute to Eden’s voluntary contribution as the Ladies Group Co-ordinator and her participation in the wider Equals IW Friends and Family Group.
Mark shared
"Throughout the year Eden provided excellent support to the Green Time Project by helping to organise and cheerfully motivate people on many occasions. She also organised group activities for the women including two types of bag making, teapot cover making and crocheting.
So a big “thank you” Eden. A really much appreciated “thank you” is also given to all that have taken part in a wonderful range of activities this year with Equals IW and helped make the year a success. It was enjoyable and on many occasion a great time was spent in laughter. Words often heard throughout the year were lovely, wonderful, amazing, such welcoming friendly people.”
We took photos
The year 2024 starts with the Equals IW AGM and Committee Meeting in early January 2024. This will give us the chance to put into place a further selection of different activities that will hopefully be well supported by all. If you would like to help expand any of the current Equals IW projects and develop further partnership working please feel welcome to get in contact via the website.
Equals IW consist of two groups
Equals IW Partnership Programmes at present are
The last Ladies Group session of 2023 took place at Utilita Energy Hub in Newport on the Isle of Wight with a good number of friends bringing homemade food to share.
The group plans to start meeting again on 9th January 2024 continuing each
The current group project activity is learning to make a crochet bag.
You can read more about the programmes that took place during 2023, including the Green Time Project, on this website.
A group of friends from Asian Global UK recently spent a weekend on the Isle of Wight. During their stay with Aireen who is an Equals IW Trustee they took a trip to the Isle of Wight Pearl.
The group viewed the Equals IW Christmas Tree created by the Ladies Group for our entry into this years Brighstone Christmas Tree Festival.
The group loved the theme created by the Ladies Group and voted for our entry in this years competition.
They enjoyed taking time out of their busy weekend to show support for Equals IW community engagement projects on the Isle of Wight.
Asian Global UK looks forward to having opportunities to work in partnership with Equals IW in 2024.
We took photos
Isle of Wight Pearl is a family-run business that offers classic and unique pearl jewellery with a pick-a-pearl design studio and a view of the sea.
The final session of this year’s Green Time Multiply activities recently took place at Torwood in Bonchurch. The group of ten learnt what a fraction is by completing four interactive worksheets.
Mark led the session teaching the group members how to recognise and add simple fractions. They learnt how to read, write and compare quantities including halves and quarters. They covered how to read and write common fractions. Group members were each given a packet of M&Ms and followed a worksheet to count how many they had in total. After recounting for individual colours they created fractions for each and added the fractions together.
The counting brought about a lot of laughter, fun and chaos. This result was many group members having to recount their M&Ms more than once. Group members even found themselves rescuing M&Ms from the floor before Aireen’s dog Peanuts found them. Luckily all were found and returned to the table for recounting.
The group enjoyed homemade soup, bread and cake while having fun being creative by colouring or painting their own
Alternatively the group had the opportunity to make a cross stitch card and select their own design of a robin, a Christmas tree or a Santa.
The Festive Crafts Workshop with a splash of fun maths let everyone taking part develop everyday useful maths skills. The time spent together was the perfect way to relax in friendship with other people. They all made a personalised festive item for use over the festive season.
We took photos
You are welcome to visit our online album of these images.
Green Time, Green Skills Multiply developing maths skills in a fun informal way through the use of crafts and arts to enhance positive emotional wellbeing, self-confidence, self-esteem and mental health returns with a spring crafts workshop in 2024.
There will also be a special workshop whereby maths skills will be developed by making a different cake or pudding of choice from around the world. It will be combined with an Easter Bunny Drive charity fund-raising evening. Fun for all with a slice of cake and tea.
More details on both workshops can be announced In January 2024.
A Christ the King College student recently approached Equals IW seeking to produce an article on the work of the charity. The County Press is signed up to the Young Reporter Scheme giving young people including Lianne the chance to write for their local newspaper.
Lianne met with Mark, Niviera, Cece and Lauren to ask a range of questions. She gathered information supporting her research from reading about Equals IW on this website.
Equals IW is delighted to have supported an Island student with her studies and the Young Reporter Scheme with the County Press.
You can read the article produced by Lianne on the County Press website.
Nine Friends and Family group members joined Mark on Sunday 1st October 2023 to take a trip around two miles of Firestone Copse. They explored attractive English Oak and Ash trees as well as coniferous Douglas, Cedar and Scots Pine trees that provide evergreen year round interest.
The group took part in an Orienteering Multiply Challenge exploring different trails and pathways into the heart of the trees and woodland. With lots of laughter they developed their maths skills by completing a fun, enjoyable maths task at each of the six orienteering posts.
The afternoon finished in the picnic area sharing food and drink amongst the trees and enjoying each other’s company in the warm autumn sunshine.
Everyone is looking forward to the next Green Time activity that will be taking place in November 2023.
We took photos
You are welcome to visit our online album of these images.
Green Time Multiply Magical 9 - Explore Firestone Copse with a Splash of Maths started the new partnership programme between MCEnhancement, Equals IW and the Isle of Wight Council Adult and Community Learning and is funded to run up to July 2024.
Green Time - Multiply is a way of developing maths skills in a fun, informal way by using nature, crafts and arts to enhance positive emotional wellbeing, self-confidence, self-esteem and mental health.
Our carnival entry welcomed a group of wonderful candidates from Asian Global UK.
They won a First and Second Prize at the Ryde Illuminated Carnival 2023.
The First Prize was the Jacob Challenge Cup for Best Floral Costume Entry for 2023 and the Second Prize was for the Ryde Carnival Spirit of the Carnival Award 2023 which came with a £50 prize.
Mark Cox who is the Green Time Project Lead said “Green Time – The Land of Carnival – Karnabal – Carnival – Karnaval, blends creativity, dance, the natural outdoors and friendship to enhance positive emotional wellbeing and mental health. This year was the first time 60 people from around the UK came together to create the carnival entry.”
As well as from Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight candidates were from
It was exciting to have Sinulog in this year’s carnival entry. They are a Filipino dance team consisting of dancers from around the UK. These amazing dancers performed beautiful, inspirational and fun dance moves from traditional Filipino to modern dances, dressed in stunning colourful cultural costumes.
It was a pleasure to have the Dinagyang Filipino Dance Tribe. These breath-taking tribal dancers are also made up of individuals from around the UK. They performed a spectacular, colourful and exciting-to-watch tribal dance as one of the best tribal teams from the Philippines in the carnival.
Ryde Carnival is the oldest carnival in the UK, dating back to the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. The very last Islands carnival of the summer, Ryde Carnival's Illuminated Procession is a fabulous spectacle of light and music that rounds the Isle of Wight Carnival season off in style. It is normally the Island’s largest carnival and packed with thousands of spectators around the entire route and this year was no exception. The spectacle of colour and music with fantastic floats and flamboyant costumes made sure this year Ryde did itself and the Island proud. No wonder many consider Ryde Illuminated Carnival the biggest and best of all the carnivals on the Island
The Spirit of the Carnival Award was created by these local family-owned Island pubs working together to help support the traditional Island Carnivals.
The pubs have jointly funded this initiative and enabled three cash prizes to be awarded for The Spirit of the Carnival Award 2023: 1st £125.00, 2nd £50.00 and 3rd £25.00.
Ben Matthews, judge for the award said “We are pleased to be able to support and encourage those participating in this much-loved tradition. I judged for the Spirit of Carnival, but I was looking for enthusiasm in participating in the carnival, costumes, and the way the group worked together and enjoyed being part of the carnivals."
Ben picked Green Time Land of Carnival for the group members’ enthusiasm and beautiful costumes, along with the impressive lighting and the way the group got so involved in the illuminated carnival. Ben hopes the Green Time – The Land of Carnival will come back bigger and better than this year.
You are welcome to visit our online album of these images.
Asian Group UK have a Facebook group and by taking part in the Ryde Carnival have fulfilled the requirements to take part in an Asian Queen Pageant in London during October 2023.