A FISHERMAN has come out of retirement to row 100 miles to the Isle of Wight and back to fund-raise for his church’s efforts to commemorate the late Queen’s life of service.
Ross Fisher, 76, from Felpham, thought that he had laid down his oars after a series of charity fund-raisers in previous years, but he has now been persuaded to do one more for a new window in St Mary’s, Felpham.
Many of the church’s stained-glass windows were blown out during the war, and replaced with plain glass. Some were subsequently replaced with stained glass, but two plain-glass windows remain, one of which is by the choir. When the sun shines, choristers struggle to see through the glare, the Rector, the Revd John Challis, said.
Mr Fisher is waiting for a good-weather window to undertake his three-day trip, from Felpham to Ventnor on the Isle of Wight, and round the island, calling in at other ports to raise funds before returning home. Depending on tides, the distance is about 100 miles, and he plans to sleep in his boat, or on beaches for two nights. His wife, Alison, will track his progress for watching supporters.
Mr Fisher said that he had lived in Felpham almost all of his life, moving there when he was two, and that the good cause of raising money for the church to commemorate the Queen had encouraged him to dig out his oars and his 12-foot boat again. “The window will be there for hundreds of years, long after I’ve gone,” he said.
A former coastguard, he is also President of the Felpham Sailing Club, and, as a fisherman, has spent most of his life at sea, as did his grandfather, who was a fisherman from the Isle of Wight.
Mr Challis said that the church needed to raise £38,000 to pay for the new window, but hoped to get some grant funding to supplement Mr Fisher’s fund-raising efforts.
The new window will feature emblems commemorating the Queen’s life of service, including symbols of the Commonwealth, flowers from all parts of the UK, and the number 70 to mark her Platinum Jubilee.
To support the window appeal, visit justgiving.com/stmarysfelpham