Funds raised for community projects in Hilsea thanks abseiled down Spinnaker Tower

Councillor Emily Strudwick, representing the Portsmouth Independent Party, reached her fundraising target to finance initiatives such as coffee mornings for elderly people experiencing loneliness. Cllr Strudwick, alongside her twin sister Stephanie, completed the abseil, which took 15 minutes. Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, she admitted the nerves didn’t hit her until she was standing on the 100-metre ledge.

“Everyone said once you do it you’ll want to do it again – never in my life will I do that again,” she said. She felt “amazing” after surpassing her £1,000 funding target and pledged to add another 25 per cent of her own money to the total. I think a lot of people might have been waiting to make sure that I actually did it. Because I got a lot of donations when I started. I was only on £800 and once everyone saw the pictures they thought ‘she’s done it, we’ll donate’.”

Cllr Strudwick initially aimed to fund a year’s worth of free coffee mornings, out-of-school activities, community outreach programmes, adult monthly activities, and four community cinema events. She previously highlighted the lack of community programmes in Hilsea, noting that many residents travel to Buckland or Baffins to engage in community activities.

“The coffee mornings are going to be my biggest focus because I met a lot of lonely elderly people,” Strudwick said. “We’re speaking to the Phoenix Pub, we’ve got the Christian Science Society, they’re brilliant with us – that’s the best staging in the ward.”

Regarding the community cinema, she mentioned plans to explore options with other community cinema schemes in Paulsgrove and Buckland. “I’d love to do it outside,” she added.

Residents can still view and donate on the Change.org fundraising page, which Cllr Strudwick will keep open until the end of the week.