Gef’s Good News – July

Life is good.

The Ben might be broken, Tesco’s shelves might be empty, you can’t water your plants BUT lest we forget all the magical happenings of the past month.School’s out for the summer, the rain Gods have provided and the opportunity of a whole, new, summer month lies ahead. August Bank Holiday, is dat you?Here we’ve rounded up some of the highlights from around the island over the last month, to leave you feeling as warm as the recent Manx weather and all that is left to do, is let the good times roll.

1.’The Kneen Machine’

‘When life gives you lemons – make lemonade’. After the tragic loss of much-loved, local rider Dan Kneen in the TT, the legends down at The Secret Pizza Co. did just that. They whipped up a mouth-watering ‘Dan Kneen Special’ pizza to serve up to locals & fans over the period of the Southern 100 races and contributing their own hard earned tips, these legends raised a whopping amount of £2239.44 to go towards a number of good causes in Dan’s memory.Thanks for the memories and for the pizza Dan – we will miss you #onthepipeboy

2. 13 women – 1 mission. Waging a war on plastic out in the great Pacific.

Local mega babe & Marine Scientist Rowan Henthorn has been making waves with her latest eXXpedition to the North Pacific!Rowan set sail in June as part of an all-women crew, joining 13 other inspirational women from around the world, all with one mission; to investigate the scale of plastic pollution out in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.What these gals found was nothing short of shocking. Fueled by the fire of her devastating findings, Rowan has been making some serious waves back on the rock. Teaming up with the Isle of Man Government to implement a ban on single-use plastic within government and delivering a heartfelt, emotive presentation to Dark Horse festival revelers, this is a girl on a mission.Rowan, we salute you!To find out how you can support the war on plastic head to the Manx Museum this Saturday, 2-4pm for the launch of a ‘A Life Less Plastic’, and a free screening of BBC Blue Planet II episode.

3. Catherine Reid raises £8.5k in 24 hrs to fund crucial operation

Local athlete and gold medalist Catherine Reid is all set to go under the knife after her GoFundMe campaign raised enough money to fund crucial surgery on her knee in just over 24 hours.Hampered by injury over the past 3 years, following her 2015 breakthrough, Catherine is finally able to receive treatment that we hope will see her return to track.We wish Catherine all the best for her operation & look forward her speedy return back to the track! #proudtobeManxhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbaPp5xE-8Y

4. The Gaiety Theatre celebrated it 118th birthday!

The Gaiety Theatre, the only surviving theatre of its type in the whole world, is 118 years young! The Gaiety took this opportunity to offer its deepest, heartfelt thanks to those who fought so hard for its survival and its rejuvenation from the 1970’s onwards and for those who continue to support her and maintain her today.Long live the GLORIOUS Gaiety!

5. Charlie, the Manx penguin

The Curraghs WildLife Park welcomed the arrival of newborn penguin, Charlie.Charlie is the first penguin to be born at the Park in 8 years! Congratulations guys, we look forward to watching Charlie grow in to a young gun over the years to come.

6. Cervical screening on island is improved

The Island’s cervical cancer screening programme will offer better outcomes for women, with the introduction of a new test which will find more of those who are at greater risk of cervical cancer.The Isle of Man is to be one of the early adopters of human papillomavirus (HPV) primary screening, a new way of examining routine cervical screening samples. The updated screening programme for women aged 25 – 64, which will be introduced across England next year.Full update here.

7. Local cyclist wins British championship on home soil

Brand ambassador for Cycle 360, Nick Corlett, won the British Marathon Championships (The Manx 100) and as a result, has become the British Marathon Champion on home soil!

8. Local band Penelope Isles snapped up by Indie label Bella Union

Jack and Lily Wolter who make up one half of Brighton-based band Penelope Isles have secured a recording contract with one of the UK’s major indie labels.The Wolter siblings, who grew up on the Isle of Man before relocating to Brighton to focus on all things music, are kicking of their european tour this weekend with a performance at Wilderness Festival!Congrats guys!

9. MannKind festival

MannKind festival took place last month at Silly Moos Campsite in Ramsey. Local hero Georgie Revill organised the one-day event for individuals with additional needs, learning differences or physical disabilities and their families/carers.So many local suppliers and vendors teamed up to help put on what was an exceptional day for all who attended.Full festival review here.

10. Local lady, Jane set to receive life changing transplant after plea goes viral

Thanks to the power of social media, local lady Jane Subachus is set to receive a life-changing, stem cell transplant for rare-blood disorder, myelofibrosis. Jane, who was completely overwhelmed by the response on social media, which saw a 300% increase in the number of people signing up for the donor register, says she was humbled by the response and kindness of strangers.Read Jane’s full story here.

11. It rained! halle-flippin-lul-jah!

After what felt like 84 years of summer, we finally got some rain. The golden fields that once crunched with sadness under our havaianas, now squelch (a little) under our boots and we are PUMPED. Who’d have thought it, eh?!//cdn.bannerflow.com/bf-placements/5b61cf276817395194a2937a?responsive=on&nid=1&targeturl=var bannersnack_embed = {“hash”:”bv1cituzy”,”width”:672,”height”:280,”t”:1548757254,”userId”:38193901,”responsive”:true,”type”:”html5″};//cdn.bannersnack.com/iframe/embed.js