Awards and Grants
Wight Aid Donation to support Park Volunteers
Wight Aid has provided Northwood House with a cheque for £358 to fund eco friendly cordless garden equipment for the park volunteers.
Cowes Picnic in the Park provides a donation to Tennis in the Park
Tennis in the Park was awarded £500 from the proceeds of Cowes Picnic in the Park, an annual community event held in the grounds of Northwood House.
Grant from the National Lottery has funded improvements to The Stables
The Stables – known locally as the Community Hall – has been refurbished thanks to a grant of £4250 from the National Lottery.
Beaverbrook Foundation grant of £80,000 funds refurbishment of community tennis courts
Long-awaited surface refurbishment has been made possible thanks to a grant of £80,000 from the Beaverbrook Foundation, which has saved the courts from the imminent threat of closure, as the playing surface degraded.
The six courts are the largest public courts on the Isle of Wight. Located above Cowes, players and spectators enjoy fabulous views across the Solent with the Grade II* listed Georgian Manor House in the background. The courts are a unique community facility for residents and visitors alike.
Laura Levi, trustee of Beaverbrook Foundation said, “These courts represent an opportunity to give local children the chance to play sport for free. It continues my late father Sir Max Aitken’s tradition of charitable giving to small groups that can make a big difference”.
Coastal Revival Fund grant helped fund restoration of the Rotunda
On Monday 12th August the Rotunda at Northwood House was officially re-opened during the world-famous Cowes Week Regatta.
The project to restore and protect this iconic Georgian building built in 1838 was made possible by a grant from the Coastal Revival Fund.
Local MP Bob Seeley said: “It was lovely to attend the reopening of the Northwood House rotunda which has in part been funded by the Government’s Coastal Revival Fund. Well done to the Northwood House Trust and its fabulous volunteers for restoring this Island treasure. The rotunda has welcomed Prime Minister’s, royalty and Islanders for around 200 years. It’s looking fantastic and I’m really pleased people will be able to enjoy it for years to come.”
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service
We were delighted and honoured to announce at the Cowes Big Lunch on 3rd June 2018 that Northwood House Charitable Trust Co Ltd has been awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Service, the MBE for volunteer groups.
We wanted to take this opportunity to thank all our Volunteers and Trustees, both past and present, for all their hard work and effort in helping to secure the future of Northwood House and Park for future generations of Islanders to enjoy.
We are forever indebted for the many thousands of hours of service over the last eight years by so many people. It’s humbling for all of us that this huge effort has been recognised.
2017 Isle of Wight Society Conservation Awards
The Charity is delighted to be awarded with the Isle of Wight Society 2017 Conservation Award.
The award was given for refurbishment of the ornate ceiling in the House Bar. This major project was completed in just six weeks. It involved inserting steel beams into the existing collapsing structure and suspending a new wooden frame to support the dome. New floor beams were then put in place. Finally the paintwork was restored to its original condition. Distortion in the building had broken the curved corridor roof glass, and an exact copy was made in modern Lexan based material.
Today the main corridor and the original gentlemen’s billard and smoking room has ceilings to be proud of that should stand for many years to come.
2015 Coastal Revival Fund grant
In December 2015 the Charity was awarded £50,000 from the Coastal Revival Fund. The grant was deployed on much needed work to the centre of the house. Work was carried out during the winter months when the main building could be closed with no events booked. The bar ceiling, redecoration of the main corridor and refurbishment of the main staircase took place, and resulted in the Isle of Wight Society Conservation Award 2017 (above).
2015 Community Action Isle of Wight
In 2015 the Charity was the winner in the Arts and Heritage category. Community Action Awards are an annual competition to encourage and reward the dedication of the Island’s voluntary sector. With the cash prize we purchased an autograph album, which belonged to a Nurse stationed at Northwood House during the First World War. It has been added to the Northwood House Archive.
