Island Treasure celebrated their official opening at Oasis in Ryde with Chamber Of Commerce Chief Executive Kevin Smith cutting the ribbon, along with Wayne Whittle from Ryde Business Association.
“We’ve already had a great response,” says Island Treasure’s CEO Tony Philipson. “We’ve got people from Australia, Germany and the United States joining our online hunt. On the Island, people are also joining the physical hunt. The Chamber Of Commerce is supporting the hunt for Goldie, the jeweled golden red squirrel.”
The Isle Of Wight Lottery has helped fund Island Treasure with a £5,000 loan. “The Chamber Of Commerce has supported us from the beginning,” says Tony. “Kevin Smith knew about the treasure hunt we ran back in 2000 and together we drew up a treasure hunt for Island businesses. Goldie the Golden Squirrel hunt has been integrated into our own story. The Chamber Of Commerce’s Isle Of Wight Lottery has been really helpful. The panel committee was very interested in what we are doing and I had lots of help to fill in the forms. It really helped us set up our business.”
“I’m very passionate about Island businesses joining Island Treasure and getting foot-fall because of it. This is completely unique and the Island is at the centre of it. Over the next few months it’s going to go ballistic.”
