Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2013/January 2014 | Page 32

THE HIGH SHERIFF

coffee
break
reading

High Sheriff's Diary
by Mary Case

...

5mins

Keep posted
on what our
High Sheriff
has been up
to recently...
When I became High Sheriff earlier this year
I anticipated it would be an interesting and
varied year as I visited the Island’s sites and
community members.
But I don’t think anything could have
prepared me for the quite scary experience of
abseiling down St Mary’s Church in Carisbrooke
for charity. It was something I shall remember
for a very long time, but definitely something I
shall never volunteer for again!
It all began when I was working at the
Farmers’ Market one day and a lady named
Mary Blake came by and casually said ‘you look
up for a challenge’. When she explained what
I willingly agreed, but as the day came nearer I
began to wonder what I had let myself in for.
I think my worst fears were realised when on
the day of the abseil more than 20 of us made
our way from inside the church to the top of
the tower. It was very windy, and the higher you
went the windier it became. I am sure I could
feel the whole structure swaying a bit as we went
through a small door to get out on to the roof.
I am not one for heights, so I found myself at
the top of the 80ft high tower crawling along
on my hands and knees. What I wasn’t prepared for was that there were pigeon droppings
everywhere , and the occasional skeleton of a

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dead pigeon!
Peter Sutton, the Archdeacon, agreed to
abseil down first – because he had a meeting
to go to afterwards. As he went down you could
hear people clapping, and the encouragement
made us all feel a little better.
Then it was my turn and I had to swing one
leg over the wall and onto a ledge that was
extremely small. Then the other foot had to
go over the edge, and that was what I perhaps
realised there was only one way down. It was
very windy at the top, and as you descended
you had to make sure you kept very close to
the church wall, otherwise you started to spin
round.
I have never been so relieved to finally
have both feet back on the ground, and I am
delighted to say that my efforts raised more
than £800 for Christian Aid, and overall we
raised over £4,000 for the charity. So a big
‘thank you’ to all the people who supported us
and made donations.
The one thing that really kept me going and
made me so determined to do it was that I
was thinking about all the people I knew who
were up against it health-wise, and would have
loved the opportunity to be out there doing
what I was doing.

The Rock Challenge
I am delighted to announce that The
High Sheriff ’s Trust will be support
be
will
that
ols
scho
ing the 14 Island
taking part in the Rock Challenge
event against many other schools
from the south coast, at the Portsmouth Guild Hall next April.
Rock Challenge gives pupils the
opportunity to present their own
musical/dance production on stage,
to promote no alcohol, smoking or
drugs. A lot of hard work goes into
the productions , from not only the
pupils but also members of staff.
The Trust will be donating £100
to each of the participating Island
schools to help with entry feels and
travel costs, and I would like to
wish all those taking part every
success in what is a demanding
competition .