From turnips to Ginny the Witch, Chess Bradley spells out why we love Hop-tu-Naa
Read Time : 6 Minutes
Food For Thought
If you are struggling with an eating disorder, please read with caution as this article contains details that could be triggering.
Read Time : 5 Minutes
Gef’s Love For Pets
In celebration of National Pets day, some of Gef’s nearest and dearest explain their love for their pets.
Read Time : 5 Minutes
A Love Letter To Daytime TV
Chess Bradley shares her new love for daytime TV and how it’s got her through Lockdown 3.0
Read Time : 28 Minutes
Removing The Stigma: Autism
As part of our Removing The Stigma series and Autism Awareness Month, here, Jade Boylan discusses autism and shares her own experiences.
Read Time : 5 Minutes
Summerland Series: The Cave
The pubs are shut. You’ve probably noticed. The extra time at home has given me more of a chance to study social media. So that’s just peachy. I know, I know – I should be using the time to read inspiring novels, repoint the brickwork and knit my own yogurt. […]
Read Time : 5 Minutes
Look for the small wonders on your walk and feel better for it
Are you struggling to find a healthy way to mentally escape the strains of coronavirus during lockdown? An ‘awe-walk’ might just do the trick. Unlike regular walking, the purpose of an ‘awe-walk’ is to stray away from personal worries and inner thoughts of ‘what’s for lunch’ by focusing on the […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
Deal Done to Fix Laxey Wheel
Manx National Heritage has agreed a deal with the Treasury which will see the Great Laxey Wheel repaired in time for the 2022 visitor season. The agreement provides funding for the emergency repairs to the mechanism of the wheel which will allow it to turn again and also brings forward […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
IWD 2021: Manx Gals Club
This International Women’s Day, we asked you to share some love, and by God, you all came out in FORCE! Specifically, we asked you to nominate your favourite lady drinking partner who you thought deserved a whole MAGNUM of Whispering Angel, kindly gifted by our mates at The Wine Cellar. […]
Read Time : 28 Minutes
Removing The Stigma: Periods
I was watching an episode of Line of Duty and in it Thandi Newton steals some evidence to hide a murder she has committed. She looks over her shoulder nervously, scanning to make sure no one is in sight. She moves quickly, the atmosphere is tense. Again, she checks over […]
Read Time : 2 Minutes
A Love Letter to the Isle of Man Ladies Lock Down
Imagine Facebook, but instead of being full of really weird Wish ads (just me?) and baby pics, it’s just full of your really sweet aunties that are relentlessly supportive and love a meme. That’s exactly what Isle of Man Ladies Lock down is. Created by Karen Hannah in the first […]
Read Time : 2 Minutes
Mystic Chess -7th March
Here is your weekly dose of Horoscopes curated by Chess Bradley AKA Mystic Chess. Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb 18) It is possible you’ll meet someone who could change your life this week. Unlikely though, unless it is in the aisles of Tesco, or at the test centre… Pisces (Feb 19-Mar 20) […]
Read Time : 2 Minutes
Put a Spring in Your Little One’s Step
Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation IOM are introducing their IOM Spring Trail – designed to keep kids active both mentally and physically in the house or garden this circuit break. The charity have launched a fun, home based activity pack which is aimed at primary school children. But with fun […]
Read Time : 2 Minutes
World Book Day – Lockdown Edition
Chess Bradley, World Book Day throwback pic Today is the day before World Book Day, i.e. the day I would warn my Mum that World Book Day was in less than 24 hours and that I expected to win the competition, and she would stay up to the early hours, […]
Read Time : 7 Minutes
How to cope with the Manx Covid rollercoaster
I think it goes without saying that these are unique times. Approx 72 emotions per day at least, and that’s even before scrolling through other people’s vortex of emotions on Facebook and Twitter. In the words of Mr Keating, ‘Life is a Rollercoaster” – inspiring, I know. In amongst the […]
Read Time : 3 Minutes
Setting Our Own Trends
We’re all tired of hearing that word, you know the one I’m talking about, the one that begins with a C. It’s affected our lives for almost 12 months now. Even on the Isle of Man, where we’ve been free from lockdown on and off for a while, it’s still […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
Meet The Alpaca Who’s Helping Manx Kids Understand Anxiety
A new picture book written by a Manx mental health professional is reassuring children that it’s perfectly normal to feel anxious at times. ‘Arlen the Anxious Alpaca’ follows the story of a shy, young alpaca who experiences feelings of terror when humans come to visit his farm. The brightly-coloured book, […]
Read Time : 6 Minutes
Removing The Stigma: Miscarriage
As I sit here writing this, I’m currently experiencing what I think is our third miscarriage. My partner on the sofa next to me, crazy tired after a day full of meetings but not leaving my side. I look at him and feel so incredibly lucky while simultaneously trying to […]
Read Time : 3 Minutes
Viking Treasure Found on Island
Finder Kath Giles pictured with Allison Fox, MNH Curator for Archaeology holding the newly discovered silver “thistle brooch” A stunning collection of Viking Age artefacts discovered on the Isle of Man has been declared Treasure by Coroner of Inquests Jayne Hughes. The internationally significant find consists of a gold arm-ring, […]
Read Time : 3 Minutes
Whizz Wizard, A Truly Manx Invention
The Peel P50, the bimetal thermostat, the RNLI and the Panama Canal, all of which were dreamed up either by the Manx or on the Isle of Man. Now a father from Union Mills has added to our island’s great history of invention and overcoming problems. Dave Lowe, a former […]
Read Time : 2 Minutes
Make Strand Street Great Again
With Strand Street looking a tad sparse these days thanks to Arcadia going bust, we asked you what you’d like to see on our high street. More local shops A LOT of you were big on supporting local. To aide this, many of you wanted to see reduced rates and […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
A Love Letter to Strand Street
There are some things we do on the island that are the biggest and/or best. Cheese? Best in the world. Chess Bradley, writer? Best in the world. Great Laxey Wheel? Biggest and best in the world. While our high street may not be the biggest (nor best) in the world, […]
Read Time : 3 Minutes
Children’s Mental Health Week
As the island’s children return to school today after the circuit break lockdown children at Manor Park and Anagh Coar primary schools will be learning about the importance of looking after their mental health as part of Children’s Mental Health Week. Place2Be is a children’s mental health charity and the […]
Read Time : 5 Minutes
Mending a Broken Heart in Lockdown
Breakups are painful and lockdown is tough. Blend both together and you’ve got yourself a monster cocktail of mentally draining TURMOIL. Heartbreak comes in all kinds of intensities and that’s down to a plethora of variables; how long you were dating, how messy it ended, who dumped who, how the […]
Read Time : 2 Minutes
Royal Show Is Back!
After taking an enforced break last year, the organisers of the island’s biggest agricultural show are fully intending to run the event this year. The Royal Manx Agricultural Society says the show will take place on Friday 13 and Saturday 14 August at its usual home, Knockaloe, in Patrick. A […]
Read Time : 3 Minutes
Most Memorable CCG Moments
Just over four years ago, a young creative in the Gef office, Natasha Parry, gifted the nation ‘National Chips Cheese Gravy Day. She decreed that the last Monday of every January would be a day dedicated to celebrating our much loved unofficial national dish. Over the years, it’s brought a […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
5-5-5 Challenge Returns
Sean Doyle, image credit: Vannin Photos/ Gary Weightman A lockdown movement is taking shape as this week a new, but familiar, challenge has taken to social media when Sean Doyle announced on facebook the return of the “5-5-5” challenge. Now cast your mind back to the first lockdown and everybody […]
Read Time : 5 Minutes
Mending a Broken Heart in Lockdown
Breakups are painful and lockdown is tough. Blend both together and you’ve got yourself a monster cocktail of mentally draining TURMOIL. Heartbreak comes in all kinds of intensities and that’s down to a plethora of variables; how long you were dating, how messy it ended, who dumped who, how the […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
Blue Monday
Why is Blue Monday known as the ‘most depressing day of the year? Well, someone once did a calculation that suggested today is the one day of the year when a range of factors collide to make us feel pretty awful. Bad weather, post-Christmas debt, disappointment from failing at New […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
Control and Change
In the face of sudden or large-scale change, it can be very easy to fall into the trap of worrying excessively about things that are beyond our control. Dealing with any new situation or environment is often going to be uncomfortable or stressful, however the ongoing situation with regards to […]
Read Time : 2 Minutes
Lockdown Trends
Weird how much things can change in a week. One week, you’re bringing in the new year with a load of drunk strangers, and the next you’re in lockdown (or, as HQ likes to put it, a ‘circuit breaker’). We are lucky that since it’s been a little while since […]
Read Time : 2 Minutes
Will you take the Pledge?
Plastic Busters We started this year with the world on fire, and it’s not got much better. While a more pressing threat has been demanding our attention since March, it’s important that we keep the environment in our mind. Helping us keep the environment at the forefront of our actions […]
Read Time : 7 Minutes
IVF During a Pandemic
The Covid pandemic brought nearly all other medicine to a standstill, including fertility treatments. Gef has talked to an expecting mother about her and her partner’s experience of IVF in 2020 including masking up and why pineapples were so important. What restrictions were in place when you were undergoing treatment? […]
Read Time : 7 Minutes
Feeling Connected this Christmas and Beyond
I am someone who’s family, because of Covid-19, won’t all be together this Christmas. I haven’t seen some of my friends who live off island for a long time. Many of you will be in the same boat. If you’d have told me this back in March, I’d have laughed […]
Read Time : 5 Minutes
December’s Foodie Roundup
Who doesn’t love a Christmas night-out? If your calendar isn’t already jam-packed with festive goodness, we’ve got some events for you. NEW RESTAURANTS ALERT Pizza Napoli One of the island’s best wood-fired pizza takeaways have opened their sit in restaurant on Prospect Terrace. While we love a Pizza Napoli in […]
Read Time : 5 Minutes
Eat, Drink And Be Merry?
Eat, Drink And Be Merry? The reality of living with an eating disorder during the “most wonderful time of the year”. Christmas is often thought of as a relaxing time of year – time spent with family and friends, eating good food and drinking one too many (mulled) wines – […]
Read Time : 5 Minutes
Encouraging Men To Talk About How They Feel
The focus on the 19th November is often on men’s wellbeing as part of International Men’s Day, and with the month of November being used to draw attention to Men’s Mental Health, there really is a big emphasis on encouraging men to talk more openly about how they’re feeling. With […]
Read Time : 3 Minutes
The Mental Health of Black Men
Jonathan Padi As a Black man, psychologist and former resident of the island, I have been given this platform to speak candidly on the mental health of Black men. Firstly, let’s have a look at how Black men are treated in society. Young Black men are more likely to be […]
Read Time : 10 Minutes
Take that cold-water plunge – it’s good for you
Cold showers. Two words that are enough to send shivers down your spine without having to experience it. It’s rare that you’d find someone who actually favours an icy cold shower in the morning (freaks), let alone someone who gets up early for a wintery sea dip. And yet, we […]