This coming Sunday March 6th from 1:30 - 4:30pm the Friends of Frank James will be holding a gathering to celebrate their Four Year Anniversary of dedicated work since they first entered the site.

The Friends started four years ago in response to the failure to halt and reverse a decade of decay and with the aim to return the Frank James Memorial Hospital to use, at a time when we were being told that nothing more could be done.

Until 'The Guerrilla Gardeners' were formed the site was so overgrown you couldn't see the front door! Since that very wet first gathering in March 2012 the Friends have continuously worked to clear away vegetation from the site as well as open up communication between the Council and the owners.

In the past four years, we have achieved results very few would have imagined to be possible. From a new Planning Application being handed in to having the building secured and weatherproofed, the future of this outstanding building looks tentatively brighter.

In addition to our practical work, we were able to trace and contact multiple absentee owners to work with them and with the authorities to improve the situation.

Our campaign has received local and national TV, Radio, and Print coverage and valuable help from Heritage organisations and other professionals - as well as concerned individuals.

Our gardening-averse MP helped by becoming a guerrilla gardener, and he continues to support us. Since the start of the campaign, the Friends have been the property key holders. We intend to continue our work, on behalf of owners and islanders, until work starts to return the building to use.

Youngest member of the group, Joshua Aitken-Dunkeld, 18, of East Cowes, has over the past 2 years been compiling an Application for the upgrading of the Listing Status to Grade II*. It has taken many hours of dedication and research but has finally now been completed and is set to be sent off to Historic England at the end of the month.

Frank James Memorial Hospital currently holds the listing of Grade II, but if the Grade II* Status is achieved it will open new doorways for funding and further protection of the building's interior/exterior which is at threat of being lost.

Josh Aitken goes on to say,

"It is my passion and determination which drives me to see this building saved. The application is one of many projects I have done throughout the years and if not successful as an Application I intend to turn it into a book: The Book of Frank James! Four years ago I made a pledge not to give up on Frank James Hospital until it has been restored. I am incredibly proud of the group for what we have achieved - and still are achieving! The future definitely looks brighter than it did.... "Still, we are waiting for that final push! It would be truly wonderful if someone with money and a heart bought the building and made it flourish again."

If you think you can help in any way, you are welcome to Frank James on the 6th of March.