Recent Events

The Autumn Walk ended a third successful year of walks when the Equals IW Friends and Family Group recently came together to take part in the Rookley and Roslin Walk. Friends joined Mark who led this beautiful circular walk, leaving Rookley Village to walk down Bunkers Lane and on through Bunkers Copse.

We walked down the path passing a large field full of sheep and onto the marsh field that was very wet. We were faced with a challenge to work out a dry route to the stream bridge. Crossing the River Medina at the bottom of the valley we walked up hill to Loverstone Farm for a well-earned short break.

From there we climbed the short hill to view the surrounding countryside in the warm autumn sunshine and walked on to Ramsdown Farm. Here the walk re-joined the country lane to on to Rookley Farm to find an autumn coloured leafed wall for a fun photo opportunity.

We took the path back to Rookley Village to successfully complete the circular walk 

4.5 miles –7.2km, 473 Kcal being burnt and 10,215 steps taken.

Mark, who is the Green Time Co-ordinator is delighted to share the Green Time Walks will be returning in spring 2025 for a fourth season of walks. Next year walks will give an opportunity to explore even more different areas of the natural outstanding beautiful countryside of the Isle of Wight. 

Green Time a fun, informal way using the great outdoors to enhance positive emotional wellbeing, self-confidence, self-esteem and mental health. The Green Time Walks are a partnership programme between Equals IW, MCEnhancement, Isle of Wight Council Mental Health Alliance and Gift To Nature.

I am delighted to present the ‘Green Time Multiply Award’ to a truly outstanding winner, Cece Shaw. The Isle of Wight Council Adult and Community Learning Team recently celebrated the Skills For Life Multiply three year ‘Maths’ funded programme by holding a special Multiply Awards Evening to celebrate the final phase and closure of the programme.

Equals IW and MCEnhancement joined a number of other partner delivery organisations with their nominees and guest, along with distinguished guest, tutors and trainers for a buffet held at the Westridge Adult Learning and Community Centre, viewing of organisational displays including Green Time and networking.

Each partner organisation gave a presentation of their programme during the special awards ceremony. Mark of MCEnhancement presented the following:

“Cece was one of 10 learners who joined the first Green Time – Multiply creative crafts with a splash of fun maths workshops in December 2022. The workshop enabled Cece to learn about percentages and create her own wooden Christmas/seasonal festive plate decorated with her own personal design.

Cece has completed

• Four Green Time – Multiply Walks
• Seven Green Tine Multiply Activity Workshops

Cece has developed her maths skills in

• Percentages
• Measuring Scales and using a Tape Measure
• Recognise and add simple fractions using amounts and quantities
• Reading, writing and comparing halves and quarters of quantities
• Understanding how to read and write common fractions
• Working out the cost of ingredients by reading and extracting information from a table
• Followed the recipe instructions to use the kitchen scales in order to weigh out the ingredients and used a measuring jug to measure out the correct amount of liquid needed
• Perimeters Areas and Volume
• Probability
• Metric Units of Weight and Capacity

Cece really enjoys the learning aspect of Green Time, being outdoors with friends, exploring new and different places around the island and finds Green Time Multiply is not only good for her physical fitness but also emotional wellbeing, a sense of connection with others and opportunities in a fun way to use individual skills, knowledge and keep the brain active and has helped her manage her challenges with self-confidence.

Cece also finds each workshop is very suitable to her ADHD traits as they have taken part in different places for the walking, have different craft activities and have different everyday maths skills activities that Cece aims to complete without the use of a calculator.

Cece added “I love maths, the Green Time - Multiply Workshops are fabulous for refreshing your maths skills. I use many of the maths topics we have covered every day, especially in my cooking. The worksheets have also helped me with teaching my foster children maths. I have enjoyed Green Time – Multiply and see it as First Aid for Maths.”

Cece, over the last three years of the Green Time - Multiply Programme, has only missed one workshop. Cece’s enthusiasm and energy to encourage others to get involved and attend is truly inspirational. In addition, over the last three years, Cece has made a range of different homemade breads which she has brought to share with all the other learners at each of the workshops. It certainly would not have been the same without her during the period 1st September 2022 to 31st May 2024.

We are delighted to present the ‘Green Time Multiply Award’ to a truly outstanding winner, Cece Shaw.

You can read the full presentation report (pdf 40kB)

Green Time - Multiply enables those taking place to relax with others and increase their confidence with numbers developing maths skills in a fun informal way through the use of walks, create crafts and arts activities with a splash of fun maths, focused on enhancing positive emotional wellbeing, self-confidence, self-esteem and mental health.

Good maths skills can help you find more job opportunities and lead to higher wages, or they can help you prepare for further study. They also help in everyday life, such as helping children with homework and budgeting money. From these workshops learners can progress to other Multiply Maths Workshops and brush up their maths skills to support children with their homework or progress to maths skills units, building towards a City and Guilds Functional Maths Level 1 and 2 Qualification.

The Equals IW Friends and Family Group came together in the beautiful grand house and gardens of Torwood in tranquil Bonchurch.

The workshop was the successful end to a three year programme of “Activities with a Splash of Fun Maths” held in partnership with Mark from MCEnhancement.

The group joined Cece to pick fresh wild garlic from the garden and prepare the garlic for use.

They used kitchen scales to weigh out ingredients and followed instructions provided by Cece to make "Wild Garlic Butter and Bread".

The group enjoyed taking part in some fun maths learning how to

• Convert litres to millilitres and kilograms to grams
• Calculate the perimeter, area and volume of swimming pool at Torwood
• Calculate the amount of water needed to fill the swimming pool and the time it would take
• Calculate the cost of heating the pool at Torwood
• Use temperature and time to cook the ‘Wild Garlic Bread’.

The group ended the final Multiply Green Time Workshop in friendship with a celebratory meal while relaxing in the peaceful surroundings.

The Multiply programme is a government funded programme through the Isle of Wight Council Adult and Community Learning.

Green Time - Multiply is a way of developing maths skills in a fun, informal way by using the great outdoors to enhance positive emotional wellbeing, self-confidence, self-esteem and mental health.

The Equals IW Friends and Family Group visited Merstone Railway Station Community Orchard which is a Gift to Nature site.

The event was the successful culmination to a three year programme of "Walks with a Splash of Fun Maths" held in partnership with Mark from MCEnhancement.

Group members joined Mark to explore and learn all about the Community Orchard and heritage of the old railway station. The Community Orchard is home to a range of wildflowers and fruit trees with their blossom providing a great source of early nectar.

The group enjoyed taking part in some fun maths learning about "Areas" before joining Mark on a short walk along the old railway line, now known as the Red Squirrel Trail. They returned back to enjoy a picnic in the late afternoon warm sunshine at the Community Orchard.

The Multiply programme is a government funded programme through the Isle of Wight Council Adult and Community Learning.

Green Time - Multiply is a way of developing maths skills in a fun, informal way by using the great outdoors to enhance positive emotional wellbeing, self-confidence, self-esteem and mental health.

Equals IW Friends and Family and Ladies Groups recently came together to give something back to the local community. The Green Time – Multiply project evening involved a Fun Splash of Maths session where participants learnt about probability. They enjoyed playing the Bunny Drive game with lots of laughter and during the evening a cake raffle was held.

A Bunny Drive is a fun, social event used to raise funds for charity by having participants draw parts of a bunny based on dice rolls, aiming to complete their drawing first. It’s a light-hearted game that fosters community spirit and provides a platform for additional fundraising activities. (Quote from ChatGPT)

The evening was also themed on "Cakes from around the World" which resulted in a delicious selection of homemade cakes and bread donated by the Equals IW Ladies Group. The cakes included

• Indonesian marble cake
• Caramel cake
• Pandan cake
• English Victoria sponge cake
• Bara brith which is traditional Welsh tea bread
• Belgian buns
• Cinnamon buns made with sourdough
• Philippine pandesal bread with salt

Homemade baking entails everyday maths skills of reading and following a recipe, reading scales, weighing ingredients, metric or imperial measurements, amounts and quantities and the time associated with baking.

The charity Bunny Drive with a Splash of Fun Maths was co-ordinated by Mark Cox of MCEnhancement who said “We are all delighted at Equals IW to be able to give back to the community and raise £150 to support Mad-Aid in making a difference in getting medical aid delivered to those in need”.

Multiply

Multiply is a Government funded programme delivered through Isle of Wight Council Community Adult and Community Learning. It enables you to increase your confidence with numbers and to develop maths skills in a fun, informal way. Good maths skills can help in everyday life such as cooking, travelling on public transport and budgeting money.

Mad-Aid

Mad-aid is supporting a team of 38 on the ground in Moldova who deliver hospital beds, wheelchairs and other much-needed aid brought in from the UK.

Mad-Aid provides

• Phoenix Homes that set a new standard for care of the elderly in Moldova.
• Social services in the Phoenix Complex with care and support for hundreds of disabled children each year.
• Everyday equipment including household appliances, new and used clothes, new shoes, school stationery and bags, cleaning materials and hygiene products.
• Support for Ukrainian displaced people by offering shelter from war in Moldova and Ukraine while helping support those arriving in UK.

For more information please visit their website.

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

• Christmas Card
• Christmas Stick Character
• Christmas Bag
• Christmas Stocking.

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.

Coming Soon

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.

Nine Equals IW 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 Fir, 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.

They went hom looking forward to the next Green Time activity that will be taking place in November 2023.

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.

Green Time Walk

Fifteen people including two new friends took part in exploring Brading Down Nature Reserve and Kelly's Copse.

During the walk Rachel from Gift to Nature talked about the wildlife and plant life of the reserve.

With Rachel's and Mark's help the group correctly identified wild garlic while foraging for it in Kelly’s Copse.

They took the opportunity to admire the beautiful views of Sandown and Shanklin Bay.

Multiply Session

Mark lead the Multiply session to develop the group's maths skills in a fun informal way.

They learnt to make Damper Bread. This was flavoured to the individual’s taste from

• wild garlic
• cheese
• raisins
• sultanas
• currants
• chocolate buttons.

Toppings were chosen individually from

• red peppers
• cheese
• melted butter
• chocolate spread
• jam
• peanut butter

Group members worked in pairs following the recipe instructions. They used  kitchen scales to weigh out ingredients and a measuring jug to add the correct amount of water.

All the group successfully cooked their damper bread on a camping stove.

The walk was a lovely 2.5 miles round trip, took 5,600 steps, and burnt 234 Kcal.

Green Time - Multiply is a way of developing maths skills in a fun, informal way by using crafts and arts to enhance positive emotional wellbeing, self-confidence, self-esteem and mental health.

More Success for Green Time Walk – Multiply – With a Splash of Fun Maths

On Thursday 6th July 2023 ten participants from Green Time joined Rachel from Gift to Nature and Mark for the final ‘Multiply’ activity from the current funding.

The group explored Merstone Station and learnt about the community orchard and heritage of the old railway station. The community orchard is home to a range of wildflowers, fruit trees and blossom providing a source of early nectar. There will be another opportunity to visit the community orchard in August or September for apple and blackberry foraging.

As the group explored the orchard they developed maths skills with Mark through some fun measuring tasks.

Working in small groups members were able to

• Use a tape measure to read scales and record measurements
• Work out the perimeter of simple shapes
• Find the perimeter of a compound shape.

Group members completed a range of simple calculations with and without a calculator as they completed their worksheets. While sat at the orchard tables they enjoyed some tasty home cooked Indonesian and Filipino food. Birds were in full evening song in the beautiful sunshine.

The group then joined Mark and Rachel on the Rookley Ramble Walk to Rookley Village Green and back to Merstone Station. During the walk the group admired the wild flowers, plant and wildlife taking notice of the stunning views of the surrounding countryside. The group noticed Godshill Church in the distance and how it stood out in the evening sun against the backdrop of the lush green hills.

Mark has created a further year’s programme of activities and he will find out at the end of July if ‘Multiply’ will continue to build on two successful years of delivery.

Rookley Ramble Walk is a beautiful 4.13 miles, 6.65 kilometres, 9,000 steps 400 calories summer’s evening walk.

Green Time - Multiply is a way of developing maths skills in a fun, informal way by using crafts and arts to enhance positive emotional wellbeing, self-confidence, self-esteem and mental health.

A Second Year of Success for Green Time Walk – Multiply – With a Splash of Fun Maths

A smaller group took part in the Equals IW Green Time Multiply 1.7 mile walk visiting three Gift to Nature sites

• Pan Country Park
• Shide Chalk Pit
• Pan Mill Meadows

They found out about Newport’s industrial past and saw how the landscape had changed over time. This walk was self-guided and needed individuals to read, follow and share a set of directions.

It was good to see different group members taking the lead with them all working as a team to find the direction to take.

While on the walk they took part in a quiz identifying dates and finding numbers to later complete a maths worksheet connected to history learnt on the walk.

The evening included a picnic break at Shide Chalk Pit to chat, relax and listen to the birds singing in the sunlight. The group developed their maths skills by carrying out calculations with and without the calculator on their mobile phones.They had to to add, subtract, multiply and divide, read and compare distance and extract information from a table.

This walk was part of the Changing Landscapes Isle of Wight Spring Walking Festive held between 13 and 21 May 2023.

Green Time - Multiply is a way of developing maths skills in a fun, informal way by using crafts and arts to enhance positive emotional wellbeing, self-confidence, self-esteem and mental health.