2019 Charity of the Year Announced

Vectis Ventures are proud to announce the Isle of Wight Youth Trust as their nominated charity for 2019. The partnership ensures collection boxes for donations positioned at both Robin Hill, the home of adventure and entertainment, and Blackgang Chine, the Land of Imagination, throughout the 2019 season.  

The team at Vectis Ventures will be carrying out additional fundraising initiatives, events and fundraising activities to help more young people on the Isle of Wight access the crucial work of the Trust.  

James Crofts, Park Manager at Robin Hill said “We are proud to be supporting the Isle of Wight Youth Trust in 2019. We have lots of exciting plans across both Robin Hill and Blackgang Chine to raise vital funds needed to support our island’s young people. We are looking forward to making a real difference to the health and wellbeing of our young people on the Isle of Wight.”  

The Isle of Wight Youth Trust is the largest independent organisation providing youth mental health services on the Isle of Wight and committed to improving the wellbeing and mental health of children and young people on our island. 

“As an Island-based, Island–focused charity, the Youth Trust relies on the support of our community to deliver vital services to support young Islanders. Last year, we offered around 5,500 one-to-one counselling sessions to over 1,000 young people – we simply would not have been able to do this without the support of our community. Vectis Ventures has a long history of supporting local charities and we are thrilled to have been chosen as their Charity of the Year for 2019. We look forward to working together throughout the year to ensure that young people have access to support in their time of greatest need.” Mairead Healy, CEO, Isle of Wight Youth Trust. 

Whilst they offer a range of support for children, young people and their families, the majority of their work is concerned with providing a professional one-to-one counselling service. The problems that children and young people are experiencing when they visit are wide–ranging and there are many reasons why a young person may need counselling. Whatever the issues, the Isle of Wight Youth Trust are here to help. 

Please visit https://www.iowyouthtrust.co.uk/  or follow their social media channels for more information. 

The 2018 season at Blackgang Chine has officially come to a close!
As for 3rd November, the park is closed and won’t be re-opening until 2019.

There’s no denying that 2018 has been an epic year for us – celebrating a whopping 175 years since the park first opened, 2018 has been a year of special nostalgia alongside the creation of many more memories for years to come! Here’s a little look back at our year.

Opening weekend – full of snow!
The park officially opened for the 2018 season in March, following some adverse weather and actual snow (Can you believe it?)!

An Easter full of eggs
The Easter Eggsplorers event saw visitors hunting alongside our intrepid Victorian explorers, and of course the delightful Lady Penelope and Raphus too, for long lost and sneakily hidden treasures. Plenty were found and many happy, chocolate covered faces followed! Keep your eyes peeled for news of a very sweet and egg-citing (we couldn’t resist) new event arriving for Easter 2019!

Bank Holiday Breakouts
May Bank Holiday saw our resident dinos make a break for it as they roamed the park. From ride-on-dinos to our beloved Shadow & Sheila baby T-Rexes, visitors were even able to catch a glimpse of a few friendly old faces as Darwin & the Triasic Club joined in for a weekend of dino-tastic fun!

Yeeeeeehaws and Howdys
Dastardly Rattlesnake Jake, the meanest outlaw in the history of the west, came rumbling into town on the lookout for the Lost Gold of Rockola but with some help from our visitors, Buffalo Bob & Sheriff TWIT were able to keep the gold out of Rattlesnake’s hands! Plenty of rootin’ tootin’ good times were had over the Whitsun holiday!

EPIC Birthday Bash!
Over six weeks of summer, we held the most epic birthday bashes to commemorate our 175th year! So many of you visited and helped us celebrate with Dodos cheekily popping out of cakes, people hunting for limited edition coins, fairies spreading fairy dust and so much more! We’ve got plans to keep the party vibes going in 2019…this time with a bit of a twist!

Spooky goings on at the Sawmill
We battled paranormal goings-on throughout autumn and came face-to-face with some pretty spooky characters during Wicked Nights. Turns out the Monk’s Curse is a force not to be reckoned with and we’re pretty certain there’s worse things to come for Wicked Nights 2019….

The team here at Blackgang would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who visited in 2018 and helped make our 175th year an extra special one!