Not Goodbye, Just See You Soon…

Gather round, humans. Gef the Mongoose here.

I have an announcement about the Gef 30 Under 30 awards. And before anyone panics – no, we’re not launching a crowdfunder to help cover Percy’ What’s the Skeet’ Hampton’s bar tab from last year’s ceremony.

However… the Gef 30 Under 30 awards will be taking a little breather in 2026.

Think of it as a fallow year. And if Glastonbury can have a fallow year from time to time – so can we.

When we launched the Gef 30 Under 30 list three years ago on Gef.im (the home of all my musings), the aim was simple – celebrate young people under 30 doing brilliant things across the Isle of Man.

Business, sport, culture, community work, innovation – if you were making the island better, the mongoose wanted to know about it.

Each year we picked 30 outstanding individuals from nominations sent in by the public.

And since the programme began, nearly 90 young people have been named in the Gef 30 Under 30 list.

Now I don’t like to complain, but that’s a lot of work for one lone mongoose.

More importantly, those 90 people are now something much bigger than a list. They’re a network – a group of emerging leaders, innovators, creators and changemakers who are already shaping the island in interesting ways.

So instead of adding another 30 names in 2026, we’re going to spend the next year doing something different: supporting the ones we’ve already found.

Behind the scenes, the overlords at Media Isle of Man (they publish the Isle of Man Examiner, Manx Independent, Isle of Man Courier and Isle of Man Today – I merely provide comic relief) have been chatting with businesses, partners and various sensible people.

The message coming back has been clear – past winners deserve more than a photo and a handshake.They deserve opportunities.

So over the next 12 months we’ll be working on events, content and discussions that bring the Gef 30 Under 30 alumni together with leaders from industry, government and the wider island community.

And the timing couldn’t be better.

The Isle of Man has some big conversations coming up – the next general election (is it too early to say ‘election’?), the renewal of our UNESCO Biosphere status and debates about the island’s long-term economic strategy.

It seems only fair that the next generation gets a seat at the table.

So no – this isn’t goodbye to Gef 30 Under 30. Not even close. Think of it more as a mini mongoose holiday while we build the next chapter.

The awards will return in the future. I’m far too nosy to stop celebrating talented young islanders forever.

But for now, the focus is on the 90 remarkable people we’ve already discovered – and what happens when you put them in the same room.

Further details about the next phase will be revealed after Easter.

In the meantime, keep doing interesting things.

I’m watching.