MannKind Festival: A review

It all started a year ago when Georgie Revill thought there was not enough being done either in education or socially for those with additional needs, learning differences or physical disabilities. “Raising a child with additional needs is tough enough never mind the battles you face throughout the school years and beyond, so I wanted to bring some joy to some faces and to those incredible parents who are just that. The silent warriors.”And in August 2018, at MannKind Festival, with a lot of help from many amazing volunteers, Georgie did just that. We caught up with after her whirlwind of a day at the festival;”I know the pure joy it brings to so many from holding cookery courses at The Cook Shack for members of the Manx Deaf Society, Manx Blind Welfare, Learning Support Units and next week we have Young Carers.In between running courses I have been organising the not-for-profit event. Stu & Annabel Gentry were instrumental in providing the Flo Festival Stage and organising the incredible line up of players – Marlene & Dilys, The Fecktones, Biskee Brisht, The Birds & the Beards, Han-FX, Lee Brooks & Matt Kelly”“We also had Nigel Thijs on karaoke, which was a huge hit”Activities at the one-day festival included kid goat petting thanks to Isle of Man Goats, Katherine from Glampervan giving out festival glitter and Shell’s Glitter Tattoos, Robinson’s fruit costumes and fruit giveaways, pilates with Swasti Behari, John Wood and his boom whackers, Susan Quilliam with bracelet making and Craft Works.“There was a huge input from The Community Farm, Lee, Llinos and Annie who give so much valuable time to others.  Don’t know as a family where we would be with that Farm. Disney characters were in attendance thanks to the Jagus’ family, and beautiful calming music in the Chill Out Zone performed by Chris. Jane, Glenn & Sarah Leece who always support these events, raising funds, erecting marquees and providing craft activities“We had a fantastic range of food outlets at the event, including The Alpine, Train Smokers, Ballakelly Farm, IOM Creamery, Manx Whippy Van, Flo the Coffee Van and Peggy + Lewis Mocktails.We also had information on hand – Sailing for the Disabled has a presence and Disability Networks, Pauline Allen from The Sound Learning Centre (who will start therapy sessions on the Island next week) came from London especially for the event and ARC Learning Ltd., who provide care, education and practical aids for those with disabilities. The atmosphere was one of pure joy, with Tim Baker MHK opening the day, he’s now the Children’s Champion” said Georgie.The MannKind Facebook page has already been flooded with messages of support and thanks for putting on the event, Georgie shared this message with us:

“I’m sure you are inundated with thanks, but Georgie, you pulled off such a fabulous event. From the bottom of my heart, I want to tell you that because of you my little family experienced an event today, normally out of their reach. Yes we struggled, even had a couple of meltdowns along the way. Yes, we found it busy and he was out of his comfort zone. However, you allowed our family to make a life long memory, sitting together nobody judging, enjoying food, amazing music, joining in with others doing group activities making music, everybody together, people laughing, smiling, able to chat amongst like-minded people. Everybody relaxed. My kids loved it, but Georgie so did my husband and I, we had an afternoon full of fun, we relaxed, no judging eyes. We sat and had a coffee, and felt at ease. Something we don’t ever do. So thank you, the effort by you and all your people is appreciated. Money may buy lots of shiny nice things, but time is what is worth more, so I thank you for your time, because we had the best family time, and have lovely memories.”

Georgie would like to thank all the generous sponsors involved in this years MannKind 2018:

• Greystone Trust Company for securing the field and facilities at Silly Moos
• Manx Lottery Trust for donation for the marquees
• Silly Moos for always going above and beyond. The field is one which is safe and secure and flat – perfect for this type of event.
• MAS Real Estate Inc. for sponsoring the disabled toilets
• Sure – for WiFi which gave us karaoke!
• Conister Bank – for providing sustainable cotton branded bags
• Susan & Gordon Walker – for sponsoring the Volunteer, First Aid and Organiser branded t-shirts
• St. John’s Ambulance for their presence
• CTH Insurance for kindly giving the insurance
• JACS Stores for providing 200 paper plates for painting
• Gef the Mongoose & Peggy + Lewis for being such a support, assisting with logos, marketing and ticket service
• 26 volunteers – this Island is the best…too many people to thank

“A special thanks must go to The Community Farm – who quietly do so much, and to Will Revill, my nephew, who was the best assistant ever” If you’d like to get involved in the 2019 MannKind Festival event as a volunteer or sponsor, head over to their Facebook page for more information. 

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