Gef’s Good News – March 2019

In our latest edition of Gef’s Good News, as usual, the people of the Isle of Man have been kicking some metaphorical a$$… From Olympians to breweries, and bake off (oh my!); we celebrate everything Isle of Man!!

Newfield sponsor Isle of Man Athletics’ five Manx Track and Field Leagues

Newfield are the new sponsors of Isle of Man Athletics’ Michael Haslett and Hannah Riley’s brand new collaboration of the five manx track and field leagues! This new initiative will see the Northern, Western, Veterans, Manx Fell Runners and Manx Harriers compete against each other across six meetings on the NSC track, culminating in the big one; the Isle of Man Track and Field Championships in August.

Special Olympians to return home

Huge congratulations to the Manx Athletes that recently returned from the World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi. The Special Olympians won a total of 17 medals with gold medals for Duncan Watterson in the shot putt, Zoe Lambie in badminton and Edgar Denyer in the 100m freestyle. Harvey Shimmin also had the great pleasure of winning two silver medals in cycling, during which he had the opportunity to ride round the prestigious F1 circuit, Yas Marina.

Credit: Manx Radio

Little Bears Nursery: The Spirit of Community Lives On

Ramsey’s historic Lezayre Church Hall has undergone many transformations over the years. From dog training to table tennis tournaments; kid’s parties to Marie Curie coffee mornings, the historic relic has seen and hosted it all. Now, it has undergone its most dramatic change yet – morphing into Little Bears Nursery… Gef caught up with owner Samantha Lund to discuss the revamp… (link to article)

Debut season success for Manxman

Manxman and professional pool player David Addinall won two awards at the International Pool Players Association awards. He was crowned IPA Most Improved Player of the Year and IPA Fans Player of the Year, as a result of climbing to number 34 in the world. Addinall defeated the current world number one and reigning world champion Ben Davies 7-3, in the last 32 of the British Open.

Credit: Manx Radio

Selasi Gbormittah celebrity guest this September

Selasi Gbormittah, semi-finalist of the Great British Bake-off 2016 is set to be a guest at the Isle of Man Food and Drink Festival 2019. He will be judging the Student Chef of the Year and Chef of the Year competitions and attendees will also have the pleasure of attending his two cooking demonstrations.

Credit: Radio Times

Douglas Red Arrows display on 4 June

The world famous Red Arrows will return for their 40th consecutive visit to the Isle of Man to give a display over Douglas Bay the TT week. They will be displaying at 7:30pm on Tuesday 4th June. The full programme of TT entertainment, with timings and venues, is expected to be released soon, so keep an eye on the TT website! (www.iomttraces.com)

Credit: ITV

Commissioners apply for Nano-Brewery in Castletown Fire Station

The Castletown Commissioners have teamed up with Chris Griffiths – of Bottle Monkey fame – to submit plans for a community craft brewery. They are seeking permission to redevelop the former Castletown Fire Station into a multi-use event venue and nano-brewery which if approved would give them the capability to produce 200 litres of craft beer per brew! Yummy…

‘Super Agriculturalistic Eastern Annual Concert’ Win Annual Young Farmers Concert

Southern Young Farmers were pipped to first place in the annual Young Farmers concert by Eastern Young Farmers. With a Mary Poppins theme appropriately titled Super Agriculturalistic Easter Annual Concert.

Credit: Manx Radio

Victim Support Given £130,000 To Help Domestic Abuse Victims

The Manx National Lottery Trust is awarding almost £130,000 to Victim Support. With over 50% of the charity’s work dedicated to victims of domestic abuse, the newly available funds will be used to help tackle this ever growing issue. The grant is set to be used over three years. What a wonderful month it has been! var bannersnack_embed = {“hash”:”bv1cituzy”,”width”:672,”height”:280,”t”:1548757254,”userId”:38193901,”responsive”:true,”type”:”html5″};//cdn.bannersnack.com/iframe/embed.js