John Utaka Portsmouth FC Footballer, arrived on the Isle of Wight today by hovercraft ~ the fastest route across the Solent.

John took the Radar Operator's seat on Hovertravel's newest craft 'Solent Express' for the short journey to Ryde and was accompanied by a small entourage from the media.  

John arrived on the Island to visit St Catherine’s School – a Centre of Excellence for Language and Speech Therapy.

The visit follows a successful application by St Catherine’s for a Premier League Creating Chances Award in 2007. As well as a great charitable donation, the School was awarded with a visit from a Portsmouth Football Club player.

Suzanne Hudson, Director of Development at St Catherine’s said “St Catherine’s successfully applied for a Premier League Creating Chances Award last year. Not only did we receive a fantastic charitable donation of £2000 from the Premier League, but we were one of Portsmouth Football Club’s chosen charities for a player to visit. As you can imagine our children and young people are very excited about meeting John.”

St Catherine’s is a national charity working with children and young people with speech, language and communication impairments.

St Catherine's School website