Newsletter July 2025
Tuesday 22nd July 2025
Chairman’s Newsletter July 2025
Dear Members,
As I write this, it is the beginning of another heatwave!
The lovely warm weather was just ideal for our two most recent fundraising events that took place in June and the beginning of July.
The Hidden Osborne tour led by Christopher on June 18th was very successful and enjoyed by all. We have 10 members on the waiting list for next year’s event! The weather meant that both tours were able to go onto the roof and have a wonderful view of Osborne, the grounds and the Solent.
Please click here for a summary and pictures Friends of Osborne | Hidden Tour 2025
The Walled Garden Party was just perfect. Over sixty members and guests attended, where they were treated to a beautiful tranquil atmosphere and enjoyed drinks and canapés while listening to the harpist play. This year, Theresa was able to play inside the walled garden, which added to everyone’s enjoyment.
Please click here for a summary and pictures Friends of Osborne | The Walled Garden Drinks Party 2025
Victoria Stone, the new Osborne Manager, came to our committee meeting earlier this week. She is very enthusiastic about supporting Friends of Osborne and wants to work very closely with us.
She has kindly offered Friends of Osborne members a 10% discount all year round in the shop and on food and drinks in all the catering outlets. Just show your membership card and ID when paying.
I was invited as an EH volunteer to visit the library last week. This is just off the Equerry’s Corridor and is a wonderful resource. Friends of Osborne donated about one thousand books to Osborne and these have been incorporated into their library. Staff and volunteers have been busy updating the catalogue and removing duplicate books. Hopefully, next month I will be able to give details of times when the library is open and how members can borrow a book. The library contains a table and some comfy armchairs so members can browse and do research as well as borrow books.
As Friends only have access to the House on a Friday, which would limit our ability to visit the library, Victoria has kindly offered all Friends free access to the House on a Monday as well as a Friday.
During August, Osborne will be hosting Taskmaster. This event is being held at 17 Heritage sites across the country, including Osborne and Carisbrooke. It will run from 19th July to 31st August. Punch and Judy will also be appearing at the beach as in previous years.
Please click here for details. Come Play ft. TV’s Taskmaster at Osborne | English Heritage
Victoria was also able to explain why the venue for The Proms was moved from Osborne to Robin Hill. I know many Friends had booked and were very disappointed to see it had changed. The relevant risk assessments of holding an event at Osborne were not carried out thoroughly enough by the organisers.
Our next fundraising events take place in September.
The Quiz Night will be on September 12th. The format will change slightly, in that we will not offer food, but there will be a bar.
Sarah Burdett’s talk on the Naval College is on September 18th.
The Buckingham Palace trip on 21st September.
Most members have paid the balance, but there are a few payments outstanding. If you have not paid, could you please do so, as we need to pay Opal by August 10th. As some members who had booked are unable to come, there are now eight places available on this trip.
Please click here to find information and booking forms for the visit to Buckingham Palace. Friends of Osborne | Visit to Buckingham Palace
In October we have Toby’s Autumn Walk on 8th October.
Also, in October we have our popular Workshops for Christmas Crafts and decorations. These will be on Friday mornings on October 17th, 24th and 31st.
In November we will host more Christmas Decoration workshops, including wreath making on Thursday mornings, November 6th, 20th and 27th.
Our AGM will be held on Monday 24th November at 11.00. We are hoping that holding this in the morning will enable more people to come.
In December we plan to hold a Christmas event, where we will join together to sing carols. This will take place on Friday 12th December.
Details for events in September, October, November and December will follow nearer the time, but you may wish to put the dates in your diary.
Friends of Osborne has become so popular, that we had to stop accepting new members in May and we set up a waiting list. However, with requests arriving every day to join, our waiting list was nearing 200! Therefore, we have had to close our waiting list!
Once numbers on the waiting list are down to about 25, we will reopen it again. It is wonderful that so many people want to be part of Friends of Osborne and we have been taken by surprise at the explosion of applications to join this year. However, we appreciate that some people will be very disappointed at having to wait to become members.
Wishing you all a wonderful summer with your friends and families and that you manage to stay cool.
Best wishes
Allison Rogers