A ROYAL visitor will present two Isle of Wight organisations with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service and visit a major heritage project next week.
The Duke of Gloucester is to visit the Island next Tuesday, when he will tour the Royal Victoria Arcade in Ryde, opened in 1836 and recently restored.
The duke will visit Ryde District Heritage Centre in the arcade’s cellar and be shown artefacts dating from the
Victorian era.
He will meet those behind the project, be shown the restored rotunda and unveil a plaque to commemorate his visit.
In the afternoon he will travel to Osborne House where he will meet staff and present Queen’s Awards for Voluntary Service to two Island organisations.
Representatives from the Friends of Shanklin Theatre and the IW Steam Railway will accept the awards, which recognised their work within the community.
The Island’s Lord Lieutenant Maj Gen Martin White, said: "I am looking forward to welcoming the Duke of Gloucester to the Island and showing him some outstanding examples of community work — something for which the people of the Island should be very proud."