We are four amazing and talented young ice hockey teams from the Isle of Wight that take on the most fearsome competitors from across the South of England. Now we are fighting for our very survival. In early October, with no notice, our home rink was closed down and may never re-open as an ice rink. Right now we are skating on thin ice. Actually, we are skating on NO ICE.

Despite losing our rink to weather damage for most of last year we have a had a great start to the season with our teams winning 5 of 10 games so far.

So how are we going to do this? Well it requires an ingenuity and dedication that surpasses that of the legendary 1988 Jamaican Olympic bobsleigh team.

The kids are now practicing off the ice – we’re hoping to buy or borrow rollerblades to make this a bit more realistic. We are also doing gym work and sports hall training

Our competing clubs have been supportive and are generously helping us by arranging ice time at their rinks to train and continuing to play games against the ‘homeless’ Raiders teams.

But the ice time that we’re getting is, understandably, very early in the morning or late at night. This means the children will be getting up at 3.00am to skate in early morning sessions at Guilford or getting home at 1.00am after a late evening skate in Basingstoke.

Our team members come from all backgrounds and almost every school on the Isle of Wight. The players’ mums, dads and guardians and our coaches already do a lot to meet the cost, but we can’t make this work by ourselves. The money we raise will go towards additional travel costs and off-Island skating practice.

If you can help out with donating just £10.00 you will put us on a more secure footing.

We are immensely grateful to Wightlink who continue to provide us with free ferry travel and to CLC have sponsored us for several years.

Ann Tavener

Isle of Wight Junior Ice Hockey Club ('The Wightlink Junior Raiders’)