Gibraltar Insight™ April 2019 by GBZ Media

APRIL 2019

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APRIL ISSUE 35

Contents

Business Insight 10

BUSINESS NEWS

BREXIT – THE KNOWN UNKNOWNS

WOMEN IN BUSINESS CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

Sports Insight 26 28 31

Culture Insight 51

GRIDLOCKED COLOURS

History Insight 44 SAIL HO! A HISTORY OF PIRATES IN GIBRALTAR

Features

THE GRAND NATIONAL AINTREE 2019

RONNIE TO ROCKET TO SIXTH SNOOKER WORLD TITLE

HERITAGE & HISTORY – ROLE MODEL WOMEN ARE KEY TO STRIKE BALANCE IN GENDER EQUALITY

THE OSCARS

GOLF NEWS

JEW WITH A DIFFERENCE – MOSHI HASSAN

ENCOURAGING AN INCLUSIVE SCHOOL COMMUNTY

AWARD FOR LOCAL RADIO HAMS!

Regular Features 6

COMMUNITY INSIGHT

40 CLUBHOUSE GIBRALTAR

HOROSCOPES

THE HERE AND THIS AND NOW

MAMA LOTTIES RECIPE

ANIMALS IN NEED FOUNDATION

ON THE SPOT: JOHN CARRERAS

GERRY MARTINEZ – CLOCKS!

HEALTH & WELLBEING INSIGHT

VET COLUMN - CANINE LEISHMANIASIS

PAUL COSQUIERI IS DANCING WITH HIS PAINTINGS

60 MUM ON THE ROCK – GENDER NEUTRAL PARENTING 70

WEDDING INSIGHT

SM SERUYA CROSSWORD

Gibraltar Insight Magazine July 2018. Editor: R Ford. Printed & published by GBZ Media Limited, Suite 1, 77 Main Street, Gibraltar GX11 1AA. +350 200 40913. hello@gibraltarinsight.com Copyright 2018. All rights reserved. The names Gibraltar Insight, Bermuda Insight & GBZ Media are marks of GBZ Media Limited. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Gibraltar Insight places great importance on the accuracy of the information contained within this publication, but cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. Views expressed by contributors and correspondents do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. Gibraltar Insight or GBZ Media Limited are not responsible for any claims made, or material used in advertisements. Deposito Legal CA-955/07

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COMMUNITY INSIGHT

BA young flyers Gibraltarians with young families who find themselves going to and from either Gatwick or Heathrow, could be in for a more relaxing journey than they envisaged. Both lounges at the London airports have been redesigned to include dedicated “My 1st Years Kids Zones”. As parents relax, the youngsters can play away on a number of items, including musical instruments and ridable mini aeroplanes.

Resilience Through Sport St Bernard’s First School has been pushing boundaries and breaking down barriers regarding mental health and building resilience in its pupils. In a number of training days, seminars and twilight sessions, the Department for Education has sought to bring together a number of best-in-class experts to spread knowledge and further awareness, in a child-friendly way. St Bernard’s First School teamed up with the Gibraltar Amateur Basketball Association and Gibraltar Gymnastics Association to run a six-week programme, which ran alongside PSHE lessons focusing on mental health and building a child’s resilience. A ‘fun day’ was held during the last week of the programme, during which competitive tournaments tied in all the key holistic approaches that the children had learnt. The winning team demonstrated positivity and teamwork - a legacy that Head Teacher Sonia Lopez hopes to continue in St Bernard’s First School.

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CLIMATE STRIKE

STEM SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, MATHS

Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo received a petition from the Gibraltar School Strike for Climate on the steps at No 6 Convent Place. The Chief Minister commented, ‘I am incredibly proud of both the initiative shown by these students and the exemplary way in which they have conducted themselves throughout the organisation of this protest. It is now up to my Government to consider their reasoned asks in detail. As Gibraltar’s students rightly told us today: there is no Planet B’.

GREEN CORRIDOR Gibraltar has gained 2.42 km2 of nature reserve in an area that will be known as Devil’s Tooth Green Corridor. The former footpath that linked the Naval Hospital to Camp Bay was previously under MOD control. It will create a green corridor from Europa Foreshore to Europa Point.

RAF Gibraltar’s engineers met up with year 2 students from St Paul’s First School recently to inspire the pupils with practical knowledge from the four pillars of STEM - science, technology, engineering and maths. They were given an exercise in which the objective was to design and build a fall arrest system - which would potentially save the life of legendary test pilot “Squadron Leader Egbert Yoke”, should they have to bail out of an aircraft. This involved a 20ft drop for poor Egbert, although luckily all 20 teams were successful in ensuring his eventual safety. RAF Gibraltar aims to build on this visit with other youth groups and organisations.

The land hosts a number of rare species, and nesting grounds for Kestrel and Peregrine Falcon. Announcing the news, the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Climate Change added, “There is much comment in some quarters about concrete jungles and loss of green areas. The step we’ve taken today shows the Government’s commitment to preserving important green areas and to environmental protection. And it goes further. These are areas that are part of our heritage and that were lost to us for years when they were under MOD control. We are giving them back to the community and we will soon be able to enjoy this long forgotten but stunningly beautiful and unique natural area.” GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM

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BUSINESS INSIGHT

DRIVING

in Spain

At the time of going to press, anything could have happened to alter the Brexit situation significantly. However, in the default position of “no deal”, HM Government of Gibraltar and HM Government in London sought clarification on the documentation required from the Kingdom of Spain for Gibraltar and UK motorists. It was confirmed that: 1. Spain will continue to accept existing driving licenses issued in the United Kingdom and in Gibraltar for a period of nine months from the United Kingdom and Gibraltar’s departure from the European Union.

2. There will be no need for an International Driving Permit in order to drive in Spain during that time for holders of UK and Gibraltar-issued licenses who live in Spain or who travel to Spain for leisure purposes. There is a nine month grace period, therefore, before Spain will revert to international rules on driving licences and permits. HMGoG has secured stock of 1949 and 1968 convention International Driving Permits allowing enough leeway to apply for this extra documentation in the intervening period. However, if the Withdrawal Agreement is ratified by Westminster, then the status quo will be in operation until 2020.

REAL ESTATE AGENTS’ NEW CODE OF CONDUCT The Hon. Albert Isola MP - minister with responsibility for Commercial Affairs - has issued a revised Code of Conduct for the Rock’s Real Estate Agents. It comes as a result of recommendations both from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and feedback from the stakeholders involved. It marks an evolution from the previous set of principles laid out in the last Code of Conduct from 2015 and aims to provide more clarity and best-practice guidance to those in the Real Estate Agency (REA) industry.

The Code’s objective is to ensure transparency and a level playing field for all REAs in Gibraltar and also to afford an optimise protections for their clients. Any breaches of the Code by REAs may be considered by the OFT when investigating matters which could be contravening consumer interests.

Office of Fair Trading Suite 975 Europort Gibraltar GX11 1AA consumer.protection@gibraltar.gov.gi

The full text of the Code can be found on the OFT’s website (oft. gov.gi) and any questions arising in relation to the Code should be addressed in writing to the OFT:

GFSB MEETS DCM The Board of the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses recently met with the Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Joseph Garcia, the Civil Contingencies Coordinator Ivor Lopez and Principal Secretary Caine Sanchez for a detailed briefing on Brexit Contingency Planninng.

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BREXIT THE KNOWN UNKNOWNS At the time of going to print, the Brexit date has changed. But, being Brexit, there are probably many more twists and turns for a number of possible, eventual outcomes. In order to make sure Gibraltar is prepared, whatever the end game may be, HM Government of Gibraltar has published a technical notice of what can be expected for the currently known eventualities when it comes to workplace rights. This is especially important as recent statistics suggest nearly 15,000 people live in Spain but work in Gibraltar. This amounts to approximately half the labour market on the Rock.

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The protections relevant in the technical notice cover the following: • the Working Time Act , which include provisions for annual leave, holiday pay and rest breaks

However, without a WA, most EU rights will be carried over into the provision of Gibraltar law. This was written into the domestic statute book by The EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018, which specifically sought to carry over EU Directives into enforceable local powers.

• family leave entitlements, including maternity and parental leave • certain requirements to protect the health and safety of workers • legislation to prevent and remedy discrimination and harassment based on sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, and race or ethnic origin in the workplace, and any resulting victimisation • theTUPE regulations, protecting workers’ rights in certain situations when there is a transfer of business or contracts from one organisation to another • legislation to cover employment protection of parttime, fixed- term and young workers; information and consultation rights for workers, including for collective redundancies • Legislation covering insolvency referred to in the Employment Act and Employment (Occupational Pensions) Regulation 2018 and, the Gibraltar Development Corporation (Employers Insolvency) Regulations, 1991 administering redundancy related payments to employees in case of insolvency.

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With a Withdrawal Agreement (WA) in place, all of these protections will remain in place until at least the end of 2020.

In the event of a “no deal” scenario, the EU has excluded Gibraltar from its contingency plans, but Spain has made provision for such an outcome. In short, this means that: • British frontier workers who work in Spain but live elsewhere will have their rights protected • there will be continued recognition of professional qualifications obtained in UK by British and Spanish nationals who are in Spain prior to the date of withdrawal • UK nationals will be exempt from nationality requirements in the field of public employment, provided that they are already practicing a profession in Spain at the date of withdrawal HMGoG has urged all Gibraltarians and businesses to stay up-to-date with the latest Brexit developments at gibraltar.gov.gi and make decisions accordingly.

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FEATURE

N I N E M O W S S E N I S U B

AL N O I T A TERN N I E T A Y R CELEB WOMEN’S DA

The focus of this year’s International Women’s Day (‘IWD’) was ‘Balance for Better’, the aim of which was to do everything possible to help forge a more gender balanced world.

have now become members of the GFSB Board. “We feel that by joining forces we can combine our joint skills and talents and offer our members a better service in the long term.”

Women in Business (WIB) hosted a Gala Dinner on the 7th March on the Sunborn Yacht Hotel in partnership with Denise Matthews of One Media Events and the Sunborn Hotel events team to make sure that this year the event was bigger and better than ever. It was the largest dinner that Women in Business, and previously to that the Gibraltar Business Network, have ever held for IWD.

Guest speaker, the Minister for Equality Samantha Sacramento, told the assembled guests that one area where women are typically under-represented are in the STEM fields - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, but she said that Gibraltar is gaining ground with the support of initiatives such as Girls in Tech.

Attended by nearly 250 people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, the event provided an opportunity to bring together like-minded people who share a passion for diversity, equality and progress in both Gibraltar’s professional environment and within the community. In her opening remarks, WIB ViceChair Brenda Cuby said that it was wonderful to see so many men in the room supporting IWD. “We have also been working with the Department of Equality on their wonderful mentoring project which sees many WIB members as mentors and mentees,” Brenda stated. She went on to announce that: “The WIB committee have spent much of the last year pondering our own sustainability and long term vision and have been in discussions with our members and the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses (GFSB) and we are looking at formalising the arrangement of a merger at our AGM in May.” 5 female members of WIB who are also members of GFSB 16

A forum of speakers consisting of Nyreen Llamas (Addison Global), Peter Mares (Playtech and Girls in Tech), Nuria Harjani (Intercash) and Ruth Massias Greenberg (Gamma Architects) shared constructive ideas and anecdotes based on their personal experiences and this was followed by round table dialogues over dinner which gave guests the opportunity to exchange ideas for change and to contribute their thoughts on how to build a more gender balanced society. WIB are proud to be helping to lead the way and acting as a ‘think tank’ over what they see as being not just a women’s issue, but a business issue. “Without balanced debate from all walks of life and backgrounds we cannot progress.”

WORDS BY JO WARD APRIL 2019

“The race is on for the gender-balanced boardroom, a gender-balanced government, gender-balanced media coverage, a gender-balance of employees, more gender-balance in wealth and gender-balanced sports coverage. Gender balance is essential for economies and communities to thrive.” GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM

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FEATURE A CALL FOR MAKING POSITIVE FEMALE ROLE MODELS MORE VISIBLE IN GIBRALTAR’S EVERYDAY LIFE WAS MADE AT A FORUM HELD AT THE MAYOR’S PARLOUR IN OCCASION OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY, UNDER THE THEME ‘BALANCE FOR BETTER’. Empowering girls and boys to gender equality and fair accessibility to all careers should start from an early age, participants suggested, and it can be visualised by naming schools, streets, public buildings, cultural events after women who made the difference in modern society, with their outstanding contribution in their field. This will serve the twofold purpose of paying tribute to them, and engraining in the youngsters’ mindset that all careers are accessible to all people, dismantling the unconscious bias that too often becomes a self-imposed limit within the gender and class divide. Professor Daniella Tilbury introduced the three-strong panel highlighting the notion that history has mostly been made by men so far. It actually is ‘his story’, she quipped, but women can and will change that, by making their presence felt in executive positions that have traditionally been an exclusive gentlemen’s club, like decision- and opinion-making.

idly, when they should gel around their common cause and make their opinion count relevantly. It still remains a fact, and an obstacle, that women are doomed to the clichéd wardrobe crisis before stepping in the boardroom, parliament or at any professional engagement, knowingly that appearance counts for half their performance: whereas men cannot go wrong with suit and tie, women risk to be judged by their conservative or self-expressing sartorial choices… everything and its opposite are a justified excuse for a below-the-belt attack to their credibility. However the Honourable Ms Sacramento expressed her satisfaction for the exponential growth of International Women’s Day awareness throughout the past few years: she was invited to attend ten celebration events during the first week of March, and envisions more next year. Despite not touching upon hot topics like reproductive rights, domestic abuse and sexual consent, raised separately around town by the relevant associations, the panel auspicated that all women support and learn from each other in their quest for a gender-balanced community and their efforts to smash the glass ceiling: camaraderie and healthy rivalry in the rat race is perhaps the one talent women are still behind men at mastering.

Panellists were entrepreneur Denise Matthews, and parliamentarians Samantha Sacramento and Marlene Hassan-Nahon, Minister for Equality the former and Together Gibraltar founder the latter. Despite sitting on opposite sides of the political divide, GSLP representative Samantha and independent MP Marlene share their ‘kindred spirit’ concern for the paucity of women in politics, and their drive to inspire more women to challenge the often self-imposed red tape in considering standing up for election, because they feel they will still naturally be expected to run their ROLE-MODEL WOMEN ARE household concurrently KEY TO STRIKE BALANCE to running the world.

HerITAGE & HisTORY IN GENDER EQUALITY

Because women are 50% of the electorate, the mandate to govern should be bestowed upon representatives who can mirror a cross-section of the community – and this is desirable not just for gender, but also for educational and ethnical backgrounds, and profession, defusing the almost-exclusive lawyerly culture that has characterised Gibraltar’s institutions since the House of Assembly, later Parliament, was established.

The debate kicked off with Denise Matthews, successful petitioner for Gibraltarians’ right to vote in the European Parliament elections, modestly describing herself as the mid-Nineties’ eighteen-year old fresh face chosen as the ‘poster girl’ for that campaign because she was a first-time voter denied her democratic right. De facto she spearheaded a pacific revolution that overthrew the blatant injustice and afforded her country to have a direct voice in Europe for twenty years.

The event was presented by Her Worship the Mayor Kaiane Aldorino Lopez, herself a role model for her gift of being a splendid ambassador for Gibraltarian identity. She spoke about her recent experiences with the schoolchildren she was supposed to inspire and ended up being inspired by. Attended by over fifty women and a couple of men, the event attracted significant media coverage and drew to a close with a lecture by Heritage Trust chief executive Claire Montado, who painted a bird’s eye picture of local female heritage.

Marlene noted how she and Samantha count for less than 12% female presence in parliament, the lowest in Europe and one of lowest in the world. Despite boasting an educated, forward-thinking and financially comfortable society, Gibraltar sits in the chart barely ahead of extra-European countries whose women’s rights path is still long and winding, and poorly compares to the Moroccan 17%, let alone the Spanish 40%, the perfectly balanced Andorran 50%, and the baffling 30% of the United Kingdom. Marlene, who on more than one occasion has voiced her strife for a political mandate overcoming the obsolete men-in-suits dominated status quo, told the audience how technology is her valid ally to keep tabs on current affairs, opponents and sustainers, as much as her four children, while Samantha, the first ever equality minister in Gibraltar and a lawyer by academic formation, noted how the courts are still pretty much the boys’ playground, and when women do go to court as defender or prosecutor, they are scrutinised not only for how they argue, but mostly for how they look, akin to the general bias in other walks of life. She went on with the anecdote of the female listener who rang up during a live interview broadcast on social issues to enquire about the lipstick brand Samantha was wearing: the point is that unfortunately women too enable the stereotype to be perpetuated

Notwithstanding minor technical difficulties, she introduced a gallery of notable portraits who stood out in the centuries, millennia actually, from the iconic Nana, the woman who lost the Calpensis world record to Neanderthalensis man, to more recent savoury and unsavoury characters, military wives as well as adventurers, mentioned in chronicles mostly for their criminal activities and following punishment, which was different from the one reserved to men - hanging - and somehow more brutal than their crime. To say it with a famous pop song, ‘sisters do it for themselves’, we can add that women put the ‘wow’ in men – but only working together, both can create a world of better balanced people.

WORDS BY ELENA SCIALTIEL 18

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This month, Paul Anderson looks back at this year’s Oscars. Paul is an Arts broadcaster, radio presenter, producer and journalist. He is known for work on BBC 6 Music, Xfm, Capital as well as hosting his own one-hour film show ‘At The Movies’ on Smooth Radio. Paul is also a member of the London Film Critic’s Circle. Host? Who needs a host? After all the shenanigans searching for a safe and squeaky-clean personality to introduce the 91st Academy Awards, it turns out the search was fruitless, and it didn’t matter anyway because Serena Williams. Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph and Helen Mirren were among the presenters and frankly that’s all you need. The last time the ceremony went without a host was 1989 and this time it must be said it was a success. The transition between awards was smoother and less laboured and without the need for the presenter to audition for the gig next year.

Following her triumph at the BAFTAs Olivia Colman bagged the Best Actress gong for her portrayal as Anne, a petulant, profane, closet lesbian Queen of England in The Favourite. As with the BAFTAs her thank you speech was a joy, blowing a raspberry at the director telling her to hurry up and promising anyone she had missed thanking that she would see them later for a snog. Colman is Queen of everything just now. Samuel L Jackson was deliriously happy to shout Spike Lee’s name as winner for Best Adapted Screenplay for BlacKkKlansman, this was Lee’s first Oscar at the fifth time of asking. Lee’s was the most political speech, encouraging people to mobilise for the 2020 American elections. He wasn’t happy about Green Book though. There has been adverse talk about Green Book, the winner for Best Film, being a traditional if inauthentic road trip movie, and that any racism shown

across America in the early 1960s comes from a white perspective. Nevertheless, the movie survives that criticism thanks to the performance of the never knowingly not brilliant Mahershala Ali. He picked up the Best Support prize just as he had last year for Moonlight. The Academy could have made history by awarding Alfonso Cuarón’s film Roma with Best Film making it the first foreign language film to win, Cuarón had his moment though taking home the Best Director award. Rami Malek became the first Arab/ American recipient of Best Actor for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody; Queen opened the show. Bradley Cooper walked off with Lady Ga Ga clutching the Best Original Song award for Shallow the theme from A Star Is Born. Same again next year please. A host free zone makes it diverse, different and fun.

WORDS BY PAUL ANDERSON GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM

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JEW WITH A DIFFERENCE

WORDS BY RICHARD CARTWRIGHT 22

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He certainly is his `own person’ no matter what. Moses Hayim Hassan – aka `Moshi’ – comes from truly Jewish heritage: Cuby, Benady, Serfaty and of course, Hassan: all of them Moshi’s ancestors, some of whom arrived on the Rock more than 300 years ago! These Hassans were related to the late Sir Joshua Hassan (Gibraltar’s 1st Chief Minister), “At a distance,” Moshi tells me, “but despite all that Jewish tradition - from first memory really - I never felt `conventional’ as far as I can remember.” Having said that, he produces a `kippa’ or skull cap from his pocket which he always carries with him regardless… “However, my dad always encouraged us to integrate with the rest of the community, coaching us to add Gibraltar spice and culture to our lives, whilst at the same time never forgetting our roots, which I don’t. We were urged to go the synagogue and follow traditions. And I do, although I slipped somewhat and keep to those traditions when I choose, but only when it suits and I feel inclined.” The `long established on the Rock’ Hassan family includes Moshi’s brother Isaac who’s in Israel, sisters Rebecca and Hannah Sarah, mum Esther Simy and head of the family – now deceased – Mito Hassan. Now, there’s a well known name: Taylor Woodrow (Gibraltar) CEO, high up in the Masonic institute and Vice President of the Jewish community, GBC Chairman, involved in the Scout movement, and a member of many other committees and associations on the Rock – a hard act to follow you may well say. “Well exactly, I was insecure about being a Jew, especially because of dad’s high profile. He was so well liked and I remember attendance at his funeral was massive.” So Moshi admits he became rebellious since he was about six years old and even expelled from the Hebrew School for a while. “I used to get one of the girls in my class to do my essays for me to the point I’d get higher marks than she did because she didn’t have enough time to concentrate on her own work!” Expectations for Moshi were to be like his dad, but it just wasn’t to be. “Discipline didn’t work with me, there were other ways of getting more out of me and that did work.” He felt he was more

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Moshi Hassan IT’S JUST THE WAY HE IS, IT’S HIS STYLE... THAT’S NOT TO SAY HE ISN’T RELIGIOUS, DOESN’T VISIT THE SYNAGOGUE OR ISN’T PROUD TO BE JEW. IT’S SIMPLY HIS APPROACH TO LIFE, WHICH MAY NOT ALWAYS, FOR SOME, BE SEEN AS `PROPER.’ HE LIVES HIS LIFE AS HE SEES FIT ON ANY PARTICULAR DAY OR OCCASION...

intelligent – not necessarily academic – than others and when that was realised by some teachers who applied other methods to deal with `Moshi the rebel,’ it worked... with kindness! Contrastingly at Bayside Comprehensive, Moshi was keen on dance and choreography under the tuition of Drama teacher Mario Arroyo and later, during a work experience stint, he opted to work in the fruit and vegetable business at Garbass importers helping the deliverymen, which opened up a further interest in the transport and construction industry. A number of Jews on the Rock have travelled to Israel to join the Kibbutz community and Moshi was one of them. “Well, that was a brilliant experience and I also went to a religious academy. I attended `Yeshiva’ where I studied religious history for one and a half years. Israel has two extremes with the ultra orthodox on the one hand and modern Israel which you might call `traditional modern’ - where I feel more at home – on the other. I find it hard living a duality and having to live up to certain expectations so that’s why I tend to live my life the way I feel is right for me at any given moment, never intending to upset or disrespect anything or anyone.” Moshi returned to the Rock and started up in the transport and construction business. His dad died and things began to go a little haywire, to say the least. “By then I’d really fallen into the drink and drug culture and other practices which, thinking back, went on for too many years to mention and I ended up in Bruce’s Farm rehabilitation unit up the Rock on two occasions. The frontier was our drugs supermarket where you could acquire pretty much anything you liked: kifi, pills, cocaine and everything else you can think of. Drugs do affect you in a number of ways including loss of short term memory and powers of retention to mention just two, and it takes about a year and a half to two years to really, finally adjust to normality.” Easy to like, pleasant and friendly, Moshi feels some in the Jewish community struggle to gauge him and have difficulty trying to suss him out, but most of the about 800 local, traditional Jews are endearing and pleasant towards him and

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even find him entertaining. “As far as I’m concerned being kind is what I value most. I think I have a knack of reading people fast and can pick up whether they `have it’ or not. I tend to think on my Dad’s terms where he understood the serenity of integration, so I feel we had a closer and more integrated Gibraltar community as a whole including Jews, Christians and others in the past than we have now. I even had a Spanish girlfriend. Sandrita was a Christian and that was OK, it didn’t bother me that she wasn’t Jewish. You see now we have a situation where there are local, Jewish kids around these days who not even I, being a Jew, know who they are! I would really like to see my community going back to the way it used to be and not become a community apart, which is what I feel we have these days.” But Moshi, who’s still single by the way, is a happy man. He tells me, ”I just keep on experiencing life as it comes whether my actions are expected of me or otherwise.

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Whatever comes is a bonus really and I’ve got to say, I’m very happy. I keep to at least a minimum of Jewish traditions and really enjoy going to the synagogue taking part in the singing and prayers. It all depends on how I feel on any particular day or situation. Today, I don’t feel insecure about being a Jew, which is how I felt for some time. At 48, I live my life to my standards, take it or leave it, that’s how I am, that’s me!”

MY DEALINGS WITH MOSES HAYIM HASSAN AS I GET TO KNOW HIM MORE AND MORE ARE VERY ACCEPTABLE. AFTER ALL, IT’S JUST THE WAY HE IS... A VERY NICE GUY!

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SPORTS INSIGHT

THE

GRAND NATIONAL AINTREE - 2019 HOT on the hooves of the greatest race meeting in the world, the fabulous Cheltenham Festival, comes the Grand National, when the global sports spotlight lights up Liverpool as this much loved epochal event is beamed live to a TV audience estimated to be in excess of 550 million spread over 140 countries. The Yanks like to boast about their Kentucky ‘Durby’, the French laud the l’Arc de Triomphe, the Aussie moniker for the Melbourne Cup is ‘The Race that Stops a Nation’, well, the Aintree National is the race that stops four nations as the entire populace of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales annually unite to witness, celebrate and enjoy this spectacular steeplechase, by some distance universally acclaimed as the greatest horse race in the world. It is quite impossible to over-estimate the intense interest the National generates in Ireland - an iconic annual event never to be missed. My earliest memory of the great race is as a young boy growing up on a remote farm deep in rural County Cavan, when two days before the race of 1962 my father’s stake money was entrusted to Brian ‘The Shopman’, the owner of the traveling shop that called to the house with provisions every Thursday afternoon, with instructions to place the bet with the only bookie in town on a beast called Kilmore, a tip he’d been given at a funeral the previous day. Come Saturday, we all gathered round the crackly radio and listened avidly as to how Dad’s ten shillings each-way wager would fare. Joy of joys, Kilmore won at the generous odds of 28/1 and when the Shopman called with the winnings the following Thursday, we kids were rewarded with the luxury of jam as well as butter on our bread!

At 6.15pm (CET) on Saturday 6th April, a great goose-bump inducing roar will erupt from the packed Aintree stands as the flag falls on the 172nd Grand National and a dazzling array of the racing colours of a maximum field of 40 runners thunders towards the first of the National’s 30 fearsome fences, every jockey intent on obtaining the best possible position for his mount as they start off in pursuit of victory and glory in the near 4-1/2 mile marathon. Not all the early fences will be successfully negotiated, a combination of nerves, equine exuberance and jockey inexperience traditionally ensure that there will be casualties early on - Blaklion, my selection for last year’s event, didn’t make it past the first obstacle, having jumped the fence fine himself he was brought down by a faller, ah well, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune are never far from being the punter’s constant companion!

The race, the ultimate test of beast and rider, continues with a double circuit of the track, famous fences and landmarks like The Chair, Becher’s Brook, Melling Road, Canal Turn etc need to be negotiated safely twice, as the spectacular show unfolds before the watching eyes of the world, and what memories the amphitheatre that is the Aintree National evokes. The drama, the glory, the thrills, even the spills, the household names: Red Rum, trained on nearby Southport Sands by legendary Ginger McCain to win three of the five Nationals he ran in and gallant runner-up in the other two; the mayhem of the 1967 race in which all of the field, bar the winner Foinavon, failed to negotiate the 23rd fence at the first attempt; further back in time to the year 1952 and that inexplicable Devon Loch collapse just yards from the winning post, with a royal victory for Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother seemingly assured; Aldaniti and Bob Champion, both horse and rider returning from knocking

WORDS BY LIAM BEGLAN, SPORTS WRITER 26

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on death’s door, combining to win the 1981 National, an event brought to the big screen by Hollywood in the hit film Champions, with that fine actor, the late John Hurt playing the part of the jockey. Hurt’s performance in the saddle during filming prompted one grizzled, unimpressed trainer to opine that ‘perhaps it might be easier to train Bob Champion how to act!’ And all this breathtaking theatre captured on commentary by peerless Peter O’Sullevan, the Voice of Racing for half a century. Wonderful, wonderful abiding memories that still on occasion succeed in bringing a tear to this correspondent’s eye. The Grand National Festival is spread over three days of high-quality racing, starting with Opening Day on Thursday 4th April through Ladies Day on the Friday and culminating on Saturday with the Grand National itself. Just as with Royal Ascot, Aintree hosts its own Ladies Day, when Liverpool’s lovely lasses flock to the course in great number, but there the comparison with Ascot ends - the Scouse beauties are not the mega-maintenance ice maidens with the ‘don’t touch me’ look that abound around the Royal enclosures down south, no, these are real flesh and blood, fun-seeking females determined to have a good time, swinging free, unfettered for the

most part by needless constraints, happy to show off Nature’s gifts so bounteously bestowed, no frosty knickers here, a few of the ladies perhaps swaying slightly, more to do with being precariously perched on impossible high heels rather than over-indulgence in the cocktail tents, I guess. Just as well, that in the background hover some suited and booted young bucks, eager to lend a helping hand to any tottering damsel in distress. Could the gleam in the lads’ eyes be explained solely by the prospect of backing the winner of the next race? Hmm, oh to be young again! But, I digress, enough of the frivolity, let’s concentrate on the main puzzle, who is going to win the National - which beast is going get his name on the roll of honour and win the lucky owner the first prize of £561,300, let’s take a look. Last year’s winner Tiger Roll, having won his last two contests with consummate ease - a hurdles race over a distance well short of his best and then the cross country marathon at the Cheltenham Festival - the pony-sized warrior with the heart of a lion, carrying just 2lbs extra this time round, currently available at odds of 11/2, will probably start favourite to become the first champion to retain his crown since the immortal Red Rum in 1974. However,

hoping that Lady Luck smiles on me rather than laughs at me for a second time, I shall be burdening BLAKLION, also my selection last year when unluckily brought down after jumping the first fence, with my tenner each way. Recently purchased for mega money and transferred to the stable of up and coming trainer Phil Kirby, Blaklion has been campaigned this season with the Grand National as its ultimate target and carrying 12lbs less than last year, I’m expecting a big run. Currently priced at 50/1, I expect those odds to shorten sharply as race day approaches. I’ll also be having a tenner saver on tiny TIGER ROLL. Come the day, I hope to be answering the call of the wild at the Sports Arena, where the Big Screen has already been erected outside, hoping to hear the Blaklion roar or see Tiger Roll. Good luck whatever you back!

ational: Grand N th April, 6 y a Saturd ET) 6.15pm (C rage: ITV TV Cove

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SPORTS INSIGHT

RONNIE TO ROCKET TO SIXTH SNOOKER

WORLD TITLE Without Support Of The Rock The Crucible in Sheffield is once again the venue for the Snooker World Championship with first-round action commencing on Saturday 20th April, with the final scheduled to be resolved on Bank Holiday Monday, 6th May. Thirty-two of the game’s top-ranked players will go head to head in pursuit of a share of total prize money in excess of £2.25 million, with the winner netting a first prize of £500,000. Defending champion Mark Williams, a thoroughly decent and likable Welshman, who beat Scotland’s John Higgins 18-16 in a thrilling final last year, will be hoping to add to his three titles and I wish Mark well, but as I look at the names of all 32 competitors my mind turns to yesteryear and I wonder, where have all the characters gone. Where is today’s Alex Hurricane Higgins, two-time world champion, the twitching troubled, hard drinking, chain smoking, wild gambling, explosive genius, whose antics on the green baize had spectators reacting not with silence of the library and the polite applause the game’s etiquette demands, but more akin to the frenzy of a Rangers-Celtic Old Firm football clash. Alex, who once threatened to have fellow Irishman, always chuckling Dennis Taylor, shot, was responsible for the demise of a pot plant at the Crucible when he relieved himself into the urn - legend has it the petunia perished overnight, alcohol poisoning said to have been the cause of death! Where is the Bill Werbeniuk of today, the huge 25-stone Canadian who, because of a medical condition, or so he claimed, was forced to drink 50 pints of lager daily and even convinced the tax authorities to offset the booze bill as a legitimate expense. Big Bill was famously captured on TV when, trying to raise his knee on to the table to take a difficult shot, his trousers dramatically ripped. Some speculated that the tear was caused not by suspect stitching but by an errant powerful blast of wind, something Bill was often accused of and many of his opponents took care not to stray downwind of the amiable giant.

Where is today’s Cliff ‘The Grinder’ Thorburn, another Canadian, the first man to achieve a maximum 147 on live TV, who looked and acted like a gunslinger who had just walked into the Arena straight out of a Wild West saloon. And then there was six-time champion Ray Reardon, immaculately coiffured and attired, missing only a tiny extension to his incisors to make him the perfect Dracula, sitting serenely, smiling benevolently at the antics of the aforementioned Mavericks and many others who so popularised snooker in those halcyon days for the sport. Even six-time champion, ‘Mr Boring’ Steve Davis brought his own brand of self-effacing dry wit to proceedings that made the theatre of stars of bygone years so much more entertaining than the current rather dull cast list, technically talented, disciplined, well behaved, some even rumoured to be teetotal, occasionally entertaining but mostly automatons, except for one monumental exception .... step forward five-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan.

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It’s tough to concede, given O’Sullivan’s outrageously offensive remarks about the recent Gibraltar Open, but Rocket Ronnie is the greatest player to have ever picked up a cue, and would have been a superstar no matter what era he was born into. O’Sullivan, apparently upset because of the event’s low prize money - Stuart Bingham, the winner, received a cheque for £25,000 - tweeted that he’d “rather sleep in a pig sty than go and play in the Gibraltar Open”, totally oblivious, or uncaring, of the fact he was insulting an entire nation. Well Ronnie, when the Father of Snooker, Joe Davis, won the first world title in 1927, he pocketed the princely sum of £6.50. What I found equally disgusting was how the story was covered by the British press, the downmarket Daily Star describing Renegade Ronnie’s insulting remarks as “hilarious”. However crass O’Sullivan’s comments, there can be no doubting the Rocket’s right to top the championship betting, having recently completed 1000 century breaks to go with his 15 maximum 147s. The main obstacles to winning his sixth title are likely to be two Englishmen, Mark Selby, whose form usually comes good at this time of year, Judd Trump, who has started the season in great style, and Australian Neil Robertson who also poses a potent threat. And wouldn’t it be a poetic payoff if the newly-crowned Gibraltar champion, Stuart Bingham, downed the Rocketman? Bingham is currently an attractive 33/1 shot for championship glory. I know I’m risking the wrath of the Rock falling about my head, but I will be having a pony (£25, for the uninitiated) on Ronnie at 3/1 to win the World title, my reasoning being that it’s a no-lose bet - the Rocket wins, I cop a hundred quid, the Rocket loses, I’ll have the serious satisfaction of seeing Ronnie’s big gob silenced. I’m on the horns of a dilemma as to which outcome I prefer!

The sport of snooker is said to have originated in India late in the 19th century when very popular among serving members of the British Army.

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The first World Championship took place in Birmingham in 1927 and was won by the ‘Father of Snooker’, the legendary Joe Davis.

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The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield has been the home of the World Championship since 1977.

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In the modern era, Scotland’s Stephen Hendry is the most successful player, having won the championship seven times.

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Total prize money for this year’s event is a tad over £2.3 million, of which the winner receives £500,000.

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2 0 T H A P R I L - 6 T H M AY

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TV coverage: BBC and Eurosport

FACTS AND STATS

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Good luck whoever you back

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GOLF

NEWS

THE BASSADONE MOTORS TROPHY Med Golf returned to one of its favourite courses at El Paraiso for the Bassadone Motors Trophy on Sunday 10th February 2019. Designed by the legendary South African Gary Player, one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best golfers of all time and opened in 1973, the course has undergone continuous development and improvement. Measuring 5912 metres off the yellow tees, the 18-hole course is very much like an English parkland course providing a fair challenge to golfers of all levels. The course was well presented and, after a very chilly start, the sun emerged and the whole field finished the round in warm sunshine with nothing but a gentle breeze.

The best senior was Carlo Nuvoletta with a score of 36 points. Carlo was also the Category 2 runner up as shown below. OUR HANDICAP CATEGORY PRIZES WERE WON AS FOLLOWS: Category 1 (handicaps 0 to 12): Kevin Jones was the winner with a score of 36 points and the runner up on handicap was Matthew Bruce-Smith with 34 points.. Category 2 (handicaps 13 to 22): Carlo Nuvoletta with 36 points was runner up and the winner with 38 points was Sam Broderick Category 3 (handicap 23 and above): Eddie Diaz took the runner up slot with 32 points and the winner, for the third consecutive week was Alex Ashmore with a score of 37 points. Nearest the pin winners were: Mike Cowburn, Steve Litchfield and Kevin Jones twice. Joe Sanchez was nearest to the pin in 2 on a par 4 and nearest to the pin in 3 on a par 5 was Steve Litchfield.. The Best Guest was was Svetlana Kripaytite with a fine score of 38 points and was awarded a one year free membership to Med Golf. The sponsor, Kevin Jones on behalf of Bassadone Motors, was thanked for his support and presented the prizes. The scorecard draw for a one litre bottle of Johnnie Walker red label whisky, courtesy of Saccone and Speed was won by Roger Griffiths.

The champion of the day, winner of the Bassadone Motors Trophy and a 60 Med Golf voucher was James Barr with a very fine score of 38 points. James and his playing partner Richard Atkinson also won the best pair with a combined score of 82 points. The best gross was Matthew Bruce-Smith with a 3 over par total of 74. Matthew was also runner up in Cat 1 as shown below. The best gross on the par 3s was Roger Griffiths with a score of 1 over par and the longest drive was won by Mark Henderson.

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FEATURE

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FEATURE

‘IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD’ esearch has shown that children who are happier at school perform better. Building and nurturing a supportive school community is essential to ensuring that every child grows up happy, healthy, and curious to learn. In this respect, St. Paul’s First School and Nursery is opening its doors and encouraging the wider community to come along and participate with the children. Headteacher Rosanna Hitchcock and Deputy Head Jerry Aguilera share their perspective on how to move education forward in alignment with some new initiatives from the Department of Education. In her third year at the helm of St. Paul’s, having been Head for one year and acting Head for two previously to that, Rosanna explains that they are moving away from the old style of teaching which was purely academic and opening their doors to the wider community. “I believe that the parents and the children together are a recipe for success,” she says. “As a school our ethos is that we look for the child as a whole from a holistic perspective, and the initiatives that are coming into place will enhance that dimension which was possibly lost in the past, and that is why the Department of Education is looking to implement more vocational pathways.” Jerry Aguilera adds that there is more of a social and emotional input at a first school level with a nurturing aspect which has possibly always happened, but which is now allowing them to take it to a new level under the Curriculum 2019 revamp. “That is why it is so important for us to have family on board to enhance a solid positive partnership,” Rosanna says, and this was demonstrated with Grandparents Day which this year was a massive success. “Sometimes we had three grandparents coming in for one child and they brought in toys that they used to have when they were younger, which enabled the children to have a better understanding of their heritage.”

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FEATURE More recently each child had the opportunity to invite a loved one, not necessarily a parent but an aunt or an older brother, to join them in school for the morning for an open ended task during ‘One Love’ week, an idea from newly appointed Deputy Head Jerry, who together with Rosanna have come up with their mission statement ‘Alone we are smart, but together we are brilliant’. “We provided tea and coffee to give it a community feel and although the loved ones came in feeling very apprehensive, by the end of the task they were really chuffed with what they had achieved and the children really valued it,” Rosanna states. Jerry went on to clarify that the idea is to move towards a more skills based curriculum where the children and their loved one are presented with a problem. “We have had two this year already and are going to have another in the third term,” he says. The first one was for each child to design their ideal bedroom in a shoe box - using recyclable materials - and the problem was “how are you going to do that?” Jerry tells me that: “It gives the teachers an insight into the child’s creative, imaginative world and entailed team work, critical thinking and collaborative skills.” Rosanna says that the task totally empowered the children. “What was lovely was that although we have three hundred and thirty three children here, each box was totally different.” Clearly passionate about her school, Rosanna says that they celebrated the task and the difference in the boxes in assembly. “We have a whole school assembly, and we like to reiterate that we are all unique and beautiful in our own way,” she states. For the second task, they took it to another level and asked the children to design a t-shirt for World Book Day. “This meant that parents benefitted from not having to provide a costume, but it was also a task that involved the whole school, including the teachers,” Rosanna says, adding that she and Jerry were Thing One and Thing Two from The Cat in the Hat book by Dr. Seuss. With the help of the English coordinator, Nichola Navas, each year group were asked to identify either a book or an author that they wanted to focus on. “The children were excited by it before we even got to World Book Day - and then instead of Project Runway - we did Project Bookway and the kids, even Nursery, paraded in their t-shirts designs.” Jerry tells me that the problem presented to the children was “how can you make your costume?” and in the letter to parents it explained to them that ‘it allows children to become resourceful’. “We need to prepare them to succeed later on in life.” This is all part of embodying 21st century skills that allow the children to become lifelong learners. Rosanna says that what they are trying to do is not necessarily to just teach them content, but to also give them the skills to thrive and become learners for life, not just when they are in the school environment. “The fact that they were able to wear their own costumes showed them the validity of what it is that we are trying to teach them and gives them the skills to become very successful citizens in our society - that is paramount.” Jerry agrees, saying that he thought it was an inclusive approach to World Book Day that enabled the children to feel that they are an important piece of the puzzle. “It also allowed them to fully immerse themselves in the text - they brought the text to life - so we had lots of different positive elements to it,” he adds. Taking learning out of school and into the community is another important part of 21st century skills. It is clear that Rosanna is fervent about the children and St. Paul’s as she gets emotional telling me about the Christmas plays they performed in a local care home. “The children appreciated the happiness that they brought 34

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FEATURE to other people and the residents were so grateful and happy to have youngsters around them, so we took away as much as we put in that day.” As part of a vision for a modern approach to Leadership, where everyone feels valued and their ideas celebrated, pupils and teachers alike, Rosanna is only too eager to praise what she calls her ‘brilliant members of staff’ throughout the school. “The idea for visiting the care home came from one of the younger staff members, Katrin Reyes, and was organised by Year 1 coordinator Michelle Quigley.” Technology is an important part of our modern day lives, so in line with the Department of Education initiative to aspire to embed a more skills based curriculum focusing on communication, curiosity and critical thinking, an iPad initiative was introduced. “This has been used as a tool to enhance teaching and learning opportunities at school,” Jerry explains, giving an example of the One Love task where children in nursery were recording themselves, taking selfies and talking about what they had created. “You have got communication skills going on - self-empowerment because they are taking selfies of what they have created – as well as self-assessment and peer-assessment opportunities because they are recording each other’s work.” Something else that has been introduced is time for positive thinking. “We live in a very stressful society and we have decided that every week at a given time within the day’s curriculum each year group has to identify a positive slant,” Rosanna states. “These are little life skills that they will benefit from as they become adults in a very hectic community.” Jerry tells me that research supports that having these often and frequent breaks supports learning because children need these short positive thinking interventions to regather. Exciting renovation plans for the school have been approved, and both Rosanna and Jerry are very happy that they can now turn their vision into reality. “The school has grown organically and we have always used any areas that we can to take learning outdoors - but now we are going to get an extension which will be a new purpose built dining hall with a kitchenette to allow for cooking opportunities for the children, and we are getting a state of the art library with glass walls, but most importantly, when they knock down the exterior for the dining hall, we are getting a green area for a forest school,” Rosanna says enthusiastically. “I am passionate about this school and now that we are going to have our imprint on a state of the art but very St. Paul’s defined school is amazing,” she exclaims. “This is moving towards that holistic approach - it is not just academic but it is tapping into the outdoor learning areas to promote other more important values like awe, wonder and self-esteem and we know that some children really thrive taking learning outside the classroom,” Jerry concurs. As Minister for Education, John Cortes, stated when he announced that there was going to be an education revolution in Gibraltar:

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FEATURE

90 year old John contacted hundreds of stations in just four months between April and July 2018 – no mean feat for John who’s now into his tenth decade. Radio Hams will appreciate Johns work as he was active on all high frequency (HF) bands including WARC. The local team used the special call sign, ZB2RAF as part of the RAF’s 100 year celebrations. The local society oldest member’s connection with the RAF goes back to 1946 when he was just 18. That was when he went off to the UK to train as a Telegraphist at RAF Compton Bassett in Wiltshire. After completing his Radio course he was bound for Hong Kong but never got there! A fellow course student received his posting for Gibraltar at about the same time but was apparently not keen on the idea of spending his tour of duty on the Rock and swapped with John who was delighted at the prospect of coming back home. Whilst here he was seconded to a local shipping company as a Ship’s Radio Officer on the company’s ocean going salvage tug, a job her kept for five years.

AWARD FOR LOCAL

RADIO HAMS!

’THE GIBRALTAR AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY (GARS) HAS BEEN AWARDED A TOP, ROYAL AIR FORCE AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY PRIZE FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS DURING THE RAF100 CELEBRATIONS. JOHN KING, KEVIN HEWITT, ERNEST STAGNETTO, DEREK AUSTIN AND VERY ESPECIALLY, JOHN BAUTISTA HELD HIGH THE, `RAFGARS G2LR TROPHY’

Clearly John had, and evidently still has, the `radio bug’ in his blood. Still today, with his RAF connection, he has contacted hundreds of countries since 1955! He’s managed to contact Radio Hams and stations in all of Europe and

no doubt many others all over the world too. However, what really caught him by surprise was a contact with faraway China... He was absolutely delighted when he heard the Chinese station come on air – again another one for the Radio Ham aficionados - `music to his ears,’ he claimed, as they were calling on the, `magic band of 6m on CW!’ The first ever contact made between China and Gibraltar through that medium. John felt it was an `ergo historical moment for ZB2RAF and the Society.’ John Bautista was licensed and became a member of the RAF’s ZB2EO activity band in 1978 but had joined RAFARS in the early 80s after having served at RAF Gibraltar for a number of years. So John and the other members of the Gibraltar Amateur Radio Society can be very proud of having contributed to the RAF100 celebrations via the Radio Ham airwaves – the RAF having a long tradition of service on the Rock of Gibraltar. `Tremendous enthusiasm and commitment’ it was suggested, led them to contacting a great many stations which won them the well deserved award as part of the 100 year, celebratory event...Accordingly, to John and the boys, `Congratulations and well done!’ If you would like to learn more about ham radio they have meetings every Wednesday at 20:30 at the GARS club house Coaling Island. All are welcome.

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FEATURE

CLUBHOUSE GIBRALTAR HELPING PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS TO GET THEIR LIVES BACK

Mental health concerns everyone - if it is not you directly, it will be somebody you know. One in four people suffer with mental health issues. There simply are not enough resources today for everyone with a mental illness who needs help, but luckily due to the passion and vision of one woman and the support, hard work and assistance of many others, Clubhouse Gibraltar can enable individuals to develop their full potential.

“I believe it, I have lived it, I continue to live it - it comes in many shapes and sizes, forms and guises people will express it or describe it in many different ways, but the bottom line is we all need support” … Emily Adamberry Olivero MBE Founded in New York in 1948, Clubhouse is now an international organisation with over three hundred Clubhouses around the world and training bases in Korea, Australia, Sweden, the USA and London. Emily Adamberry Olivero MBE, Chief Executive and Founder of Clubhouse Gibraltar, first came across the concept in 2009 at a conference. “Our early beginnings in Gibraltar were shortly after that and by 2011 we started meeting at Toc H,” she explains. “Initially when I studied it I wanted to see how a model that originated in New York could translate to little Gibraltar - because I felt or I imagined that it would be miles apart - but then to my delight I found that the model is fluid enough to address people recovering from mental health problems throughout the world.”

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It was Emily’s own experience of living with mental illness and the devastating effect that it had on her family that spurred her on to help others. “I am one of a family of eight children where four, including myself, were diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, so I have lived through all the turmoil, shocks and stigmas that you can imagine from as young as six years old,” she says. “That is when I discovered that if you were really ill you would get attention, if you were really well you could cope with life, and if you were somewhere in-between - good luck to you!” People with depression and Bipolar Disorder feel sadness differently and Emily illustrates how it affected her. “There are no books that can help you, there is nobody who understands, everybody is so unique and it just depends on how you can express yourself, but when you are feeling sad for no reason, you don’t understand it yourself let alone anybody else.” However, the scale of suffering is not linear but is full of lots of offshoots and snapshots, it is a whole journey. Emily’s own story demonstrates this: “For many years I did an ostrich effect, I got on with life and hoped that nobody would discover that part of my history.” Having been a civil servant since 1973 after she left school, even working in London with the Gibraltar Tourist Office, Emily had what she deemed to be a ‘normal’ life and was coping. “I hadn’t reached a crisis until I had my first child in 1983, and although I obviously have the genetic predisposition for mental illness, it didn’t manifest itself until then.” Initially invited along as a family member because of her three brothers’ mental health problems to join ‘The Group’, that later became the Psychological Support Group, Emily says that at that stage no one knew about her own spells of illness. “I managed to stay out of hospital because I had seen my brothers going through the various cycles and I had developed an insight into how to cope, how to bypass things, and how to alleviate things,” Emily states, going on to add that she was shocked to find that people were interested in what she had to say. “When I opened up and explained what had worked for me or what I had found really helpful, you could hear the silence of people listening - I was giving them ways of looking at things that they hadn’t thought of before.” The

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more she dared to explore her imagination the more people would listen and she realised that she had a natural gift for helping them. “The need was there before I discovered my ability to be part of addressing that need.” Once Clubhouse was started, it grew slowly over the years, progressing from evening meetings to fundraising and sometimes devoting time to advocacy. “As we explored the terrain we realised there was a need to have something in the daytime with some kind of professional structure,” Emily tells me. Now the structure of the Clubhouse model provides a work ordered day in a typical working scenario, and since 2013 it has been running from Monday to Friday with social activities taking place on Saturday. “We have a work ordered day – with meetings in the morning and afternoon in which the work of the Clubhouse is identified, including the delegation of tasks and any announcements to inform and to recruit people to be part of what is going on,” Emily explains. The work ordered day involves the training of people in social and workplace skills, to give them confidence. At the moment there are 163 registered members. “One of the basic criteria is to have had a history of mental illness, and hopefully we want it to remain a history.” Clubhouse runs on a psycho social model where people need to be participants in their own recovery process. “Everybody needs to work through their own pain - we can be there and be supportive and although we provide the structure and the expertise, ‘you can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink’.” People can self-refer but they do ask for a recommendation form so they know what back-up support there is and to make sure that people are genuine. “Because we specialise in mental health support, there is the element of health and safety for members,” Emily confirms. The Clubhouse leadership philosophy is ‘side by side’. When someone becomes a valued member of a community it can be enough to give them that feel-good factor that they need as a stepping stone to get into the world. “Every person is a universe - the worst thing you can say to somebody is ‘I know how you feel’. Have you ever had two identical toothaches? No, so how can there be two

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FEATURE identical depressions - they don’t exist, so everybody is different and we can all relate to certain aspects, but you can never be in that person’s shoes.” Having moved in to premises in Wellington Front temporarily, supposedly for one year, six years later Emily is keenly waiting to move into a desperately needed new site at 304A Main Street, opposite the Methodist Church. “It was allocated to us in December 2016 and the good news is that the building works finally commenced on 18th March 2019,” she says happily. Fundraising and sponsorship is hugely important to ensure that the charity can meet the running costs involved. In February they received the largest single donation in their history totalling £30,000 from local entrepreneur Jimmy Attias. “Apart from the monetary value of this it is really important that somebody has actually had the insight to see just how important the services are that we provide to the community.” Emily is hugely grateful to Jimmy Attias but wants to stress the special message that he imparted when he presented the cheque. “The amount he gave us represents the population of Gibraltar – but if everybody gave just £1 a month that would really make a difference and we would be able to increase the support we provide because it would be regular money that we can count on,” she clarifies. There has been several success stories where members trained at the Clubhouse have gone on to find permanent employment. “Because we have mental health professionals in Clubhouse - we don’t set our members up to fail - we train them until they are at a reasonable standard to be able to be acceptable to their employer and so we choose people appropriately - and it is a win-win situation.” Together with Emily, who has a masters degree in Psychology, there are four other full time mental health professionals working at Clubhouse Gibraltar, including a psychologist and a social worker. It is clear that Emily is the centre point around which Clubhouse Gibraltar runs, but what is very important is that going forward it doesn’t just revolve around her. “I am a bi-polar survivor, I have been all the way up and all the way down and all the nooks and crannies in between - just to discover what happens if… !”

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“I want to leave a structure that can be available for future generations - that can carry on without me - but there is also a fall-back position with help, support and information available from Clubhouse International.”

HOW YOU CAN HELP Consider becoming a Monthly Donor: your regular contribution helps Clubhouse Gibraltar ensure the sustainability of the Clubhouse £5 per month will enable us to offer regular phone calls to isolated members. £10 per month will assist us in providing a one hour weekly home visit to those unable to attend the Clubhouse. £15 per month will assist us in sending out our monthly newsletter to all of our members £20 per month will assist us in providing Health and Fitness sessions for our members. £25 per month will assist us in running a weekly Young Adults Program £30 per month will assist us in developing our Employment Program including training and support. www.clubhousegibraltar.com Facebook: @clubhousegibraltar

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FEATURE Taking a break from the Drama Festival after seven years of participation, director Daniel Strain-Webber is staging a two-act production in the intimate settings of the Ince’s Hall GADA Studios right after the Easter break, for four consecutive nights of entertainment – and possibly an added one, as it happened previously with ‘Tribes’ and ‘Stupid Effing Bird’ that were quickly sold out last year. Daniel is presenting Glenn Waldron’s recently published dark comedy ‘The Here and This and Now’, set partly in the present day and partly in a disturbing future. “It’s almost two plays in one, but featuring the same characters, and each act wouldn’t be fully understood without the other,” the director says.

SALES PITCH AND FUTURE ITCH TTG’s dark comedy at GADA Studio

The second half is set in the near future, and paints a chilling picture: “I don’t want to give much away now, but I can say there is more to the whole play than meets the eye initially. My cast is committed to making sure the script pops in its full potential, and my backstage crew to creating a stage space that is both practical and credible.” He continues: “I am pedantic in my directions, and I stop and restart the action until I see on stage what I had pictured in my mind, but it is a group collaboration and I am happy to take on board the actors’ suggestions in fleshing out their characters.” Surprises galore in the plot indeed – and in the four-strong cast featuring old and new faces of the local drama scene, seasoned actors back after a hiatus and… absolute beginners! “Sean Byrne is new to Gibraltar, and this is his first ever time on stage: he is a colleague of mine and when I mentioned my auditions, he expressed his interest in attending. He was perfect for the part of the experienced employee disillusioned with the system, so he got it,” Daniel says.

Stephanie Seed returns to treading the boards and plays the new employee, catapulted in this team-building exercise at a hotel’s conference room just days after being hired, struggling with her confidence in delivering her sales pitch, as much as with fitting in. Erica McGrail, a habitué of Daniel’s productions, is playing the nervous young mother, afraid of losing her job. The first act is pretty much about following the team’s efforts in elaborating their sales pitch in the most convincing way. Their trial and error is challenging for the cast, who need to keep the audience interested in listening to permutations of the same line over and over again, so they are working on highlighting the key differences and the true-to-life humour underlining it.

“I read some fifty scripts per year to scout the one that really jumps out at me when I can see it clearly with my mind’s eye,” Daniel explains how he selected this play, which he hasn’t watched being staged elsewhere, so his personal vision isn’t tainted by amateur or professional influences. “I was looking for a script which speaks to me, and with a different theme from my previous productions. This one appealed for being very topical, as it is centred on the current global fears of antibiotic resistance and its consequences, the influence of big pharmaceutical companies, as well as the pressure of business competition. It is thought-provoking, whilst entertaining, and raises worrying issues. I particularly liked it because it is skilfully written, with great dialogue and believable characters, relatable to anyone who works in an office.”

Daniel is directing experienced actor Charlie Bishop for the first time. Charlie plays the pharmaceutical company’s greasy boss who takes his employees on an office away day to work on perfecting their sales pitch for a topical treatment to treat age-focused keratinisation disorders.

‘The Here and This and Now’ by the Trafalgar Theatre Group is running from 23rd to 26th April at GADA Studios. Tickets from Buytickets.gi.

The next challenge lies in acting in such close contact with the audience, with no raised stage or curtains to delimit the theatrical space: the set will be kept minimalistic without however giving in to deconstructed, and make-up will have to be light-handed, while lighting and sound will cater for an auditorium that cannot be plunged in total darkness. So close to the action, the spectators will feel as they are no longer spectators, but participants in a real event, while the actors will have to focus on their story, without being distracted by the bemused expressions on the faces in front of them.

“Directors are always full of self-doubt, wondering whether the audience will share their vision,” Daniel admits. “Starting from a bunch of lines printed on paper and turning them into a three-dimensional experience that audiences can watch and listen to, directors create a work of art that becomes truly theirs, even if it was initially written by someone else. Of course, they couldn’t do it without the cast and crew, but it is the director’s vision that pulls it all together.” If the director is the painter and the actor the colours, Daniel, who started his academic career determined to become an actor, has now firmly got hold of the palette, and he isn’t at the moment musing about directing himself, let alone writing a play. But he admires the likes of Julian Felice and Christian Santos who can do that comfortably and successfully.

WORDS BY ELENA SCIALTIEL

GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM

APRIL 2019

FEATURE

When anyone mentions “Pirates” one immediately thinks of the Caribbean, however, long before this, there were attacks on shipping in the Mediterranean. The Beys on the coast of North Africa, especially in Tunis, Tripoli and Algiers were preying on merchant ships trading between Spain, Italy, Greece and Northern Europe. Most of the large trading vessels were square rigged and were unable to manoeuvre very well as they were limited by the strength and direction of the wind. The Moors, on the other hand, operating from ports along the coast, were able to use small, fast agile craft, employing lateen sails and oars, manned by slaves captured from foreign ships were able to sail much closer to the wind. These vessels could head in any direction, able to overtake the lumbering cargo ships with ease. Not all the pirates were North African, many were renegade captains, Europeans who for one reason or another had thrown in their lot with the Berbers. One of the most famous of these was Bararossa or Red beard. In fact this was not just one man but two brothers, Oruc (Aruje) and Hazir. (Kheir) They were born in Greece on the Island of Lesbos around 1470 from a Greek mother and a retired Turkish soldier, now a potter. They began their career by attacking ships in the Aegean Sea operation from their home base on Lesbos. Oruc was captured by the Knights of Rhodes (Crusaders) and served as a slave until ransomed by an Egyptian Prince in 1505, and reunited with his brother Hazir. They set up a base in Alexandria under the protection of the local Pasha. They then moved to Djerba, a port in Tunisia, south west of Sicily which enabled them to pillage ships coming through the gap between the North Africa coast and Sicily. This port became very rich as the result of this trade. The two brothers developed a hatred of the Spaniards and targeted their ships and raided their coastal ports. Oruc was hit by a cannon ball and lost an arm in one of his attacks on a Spanish stronghold in 1512. The Sultan of Algiers was very unpopular among his people.

In 1516 Aruj attacked the city and after killing the Sultan, took over the throne. Spain controlled part of the territory and for the next two years took on his hated enemy. During the siege of Tiemcan in 1518, he tried to escape but was captured, killed and put on display. His brother Hazir took over the throne and continued the struggle, this time with the support of and accord of Suliman I, the Turkish Emperor. Hacen Aga was made his Viceroy by the Turkish Sultan. Hazir was the seaman of the two brothers and spoke a number of languages as well as being a most accomplished engineer. He always admired his brother and in order to perpetuate his memory, he died his beard red like his brother. He continued to harass the Spanish coast. In 1538, there were some forty Barbary captives living as slaves, some working on the fortifications, others at the oars of Spanish craft. These latter, would often careen their master’s vessels at Los Dos Rios near Palmones where they would watch the coming and going of vessels into the port of Gibraltar and also get all the information they could about the fortifications and realised that the

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Spanish had let the walls and defences fall into disrepair also that the garrison was undermanned. Their hatred of the Spanish gave them the will to find a way to escape. One group of these oarsmen overcame their guards and made off in the ship that they had spent so much time rowing under the merciless whip of the slave master. Others pretended to convert to Catholicism in order to be liberated and eventually escape. A few climbed over the castle walls and descended by rope, eventually escaping to North Africa by boat. Bararosa made a visit to Constantinople. While he was discussing business with the Emperor, his viceroy was approached by Caramani, who was a renegade Italian that had been a galley slave of Don Alvaro Bazan, with the information on the state of the defences of Gibraltar, suggesting that it would be an easy place to attack, even if it was only for the booty and captives. The matter was passed to Barbarosa, now called Khier-ed-Din or Hayreddin, who was given the rank of Admiral of the Turkish Navy. A number of his advisors were gathered in Algiers, among them was a Sicilian named Azenaga. It was concluded that Gibraltar was an easy target for their vengeance and probably booty was to be had. Calamani had a number of sailors who, had been slaves in Gibraltar with him, and knew the place intimately. A plan was swiftly drawn up. A fleet of three galleys. Five galliots, six fustas and two brigantines, 900 oarsmen, most of them Christian captives, under Ali Hamat, a renegade Sardinian, and two thousand troops under General Caramani, Among the Captains, selected for their bravery and knowledge of the coast were, Mohamad and Mami both renegade Greeks, converted to Islam, Alicaur and Martin Juan and Daide all escapees from Don Alvaro’s ships at Palmones. Alisoja was a captain of one of the brigantines, also an ex slave, the remaining captains were Turks. At this time most of North Africa was under Turk domination but Morocco was the exception.

The fleet left Algiers on August 20th 1540. They stopped on route at Cape Entrefolcos where they sent a brigantine out to find the location of the Spanish fleet under Don Bernardo de Mendoza. The vessel soon returned to report that the Spanish fleet was still in Sicily. The invasion fleet was sighted

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by the Spaniards from Melilla who sent word across to Malaga and from there by messenger to Gibraltar warning them of the approach of the enemy. The messenger was received by Gomez Balboa in the castle and immediately called Alonso Moreno, the Mayor and the other councillors to a meeting in the Castle Tower. The Magistrate, Juan de Lujan was at this time in Grenada. The Council ordered guards to be put on alert and that a message be sent to Tarifa and Cadiz to warn them of the fleet approaching from the East. The defenders were now very worried about the state of the city’s defences. The confidence that the council had in the city defences was misplaced but Pedro de Piña laughed at the warnings. Now they would suffer the consequences, the city was undefendable. Cannons and powder that had been left by Bazan in 1538 were useless as they were dismounted. Utter confusion reigned. Nobody warned the surrounding countryside of the impending danger and the people in the town went about their business as if there was nothing to worry about.

look, you drunkard, we are the Turkish fleet” which nearly cost him his life. The renegades in the party were all talking in Spanish and this convinced the watchmen that they were Spaniards. They all slept in their ships and an hour before daybreak they disembarked. Two watchmen, seeing the approach of the Turks, fled to the city shouting that the city was being attacked. The warning arrived late at the Barcina as the guards were so exhausted that they could not run any more. Many of the citizens took no heed of the warnings, believing that no Turk would even try and put a foot on Spanish soil, others fled for the safety of the castle. Caramani took a number of men and headed for the castle whilst a second group, armed with axes other tools went to tear down the gates. A third group stayed outside the town to collect the spoils and load them on the ships. Some two hundred others remained in the Paso de los Tarfes. The group from Little Bay entered the Hermitage of Our Lady of Europa and defiled the place and after sacking it left it its interior in ruin. The Turks were already in the streets of the town when the alarm was sounded, sending women and children screaming into the streets trying to fight their way to the safety of the Castle. At this point it is essential to explain that Gibraltar had not been so vulnerable for many years. The majority of the garrison were away gathering their crops, others were away fishing. The Castle had virtually no garrison, little or no artillery that was operational, people, although warned, took no notice. The Barcina, although walled was sloppily guarded.

At about nine in the evening of the 8th of September, some of the invaders landed in Catalan Bay then called La Almadrabilla and from there sent a spy to survey the town. They returned to the fleet with the news that it was easy to enter the city. One of the brigantines was sent round the Rock and landed in Laudero, probably Little Bay. One of the shore parties heard a noise which came from the Torre de Genoveses which was on Europa flats and on being challenged as to who they were and they replied in Spanish that they were part of Don Bernardino de Mendoza’s fleet coming to careen the ships. They were asked why that had not paid homage to the Virgin of Europa, as is the custom, so as not to alarm the city, to which they replied that Don Bernardino was intending to have a ceremony there tomorrow. One of the Christian oarsmen said in a low voice to the watchmen, “take a good

APRIL 2019

The cries of the women and children energized the few men in the town to face the invaders. In the Barcina lived a nobleman called Andres Suazo de Sinabria. His house was walled and with a few archers at his disposal were able to defend his household. His twenty year old son, Juan de Sanabria joined his father on horseback, accompanied by his Squire and some of the servants, as he left to look for the Turks. He was joined by the councillor, Francisco de Mendoza and another five gentlemen in the Main Street and reached the church of San Francisco where the pirates were sacking the monastery. They roamed through the streets taking anything that took their fancy and collecting prisoners as they went, among them women, children and young girls. It was in the Barcina that the defenders confronted the Turks. Fired by their fear and hatred the Turks, charged and killed seven of the pillagers. The hail of bullets and arrows from the enemy was like a shower of rain. The young Juan de Sanabria was hit in the chest by a bullet and as he fell from his horse his leg got caught in the stirrup. The horse dragged him for some distance until it was stopped and carried to his father’s house mortally wounded. The ferocity of the defend-

FEATURE ers forced the infidels back to their base outside the walls. Many other defenders were dead, some had been on foot others mounted on horseback. Francisco de Mendoza had his horse shot from under him, and although wounded he sought shelter in a thatched shack on Red Sands where he continued to fight until it was set alight and was captured. Pedro de piña, a councillor who had previously refused to accept that the Turks were going to attack, took his wife and children into the castle and then was shot as he closed a window in his house.

uge was the wife of Antonio de Mendoza who resisted the man that was trying to capture her. She was badly beaten and fell to the ground where she pretended to be dead and thus saved herself from a fate worse than death. Another incident involved a black slave that took on four Turks with a sword to defend his mistress and her three children killing one, wounding two but the fourth run off taking the eighteen year old daughter. Two youths were able to rescue two of their sister’s children. Those that sought refuge in the castle were not totally safe, many died

landed in order to raid Spanish towns in the surrounding area. A ship belonging to Alvaro Balzan, thought to be under construction, was burned. During the raids into Spain the captives were imprisoned in Velez de la Gomera awaiting a ransom of 7000 Ducats and a ransom of 1000 ducats was demanded for the release of Francisco de Mendoza. Negotiations for the release of the prisoners fell through and the invaders set sail with the prisoners on the 12th of September for the island of Alboran with a fleet of sixteen ships. On the 14th of September. Malaga reported a Spanish fleet of forty sail off the coast. Don Bernardino de Mendoza was advised from Cartagena that the Turks were on the move and heading for the island and so anchored there to wait. On the morning of the 1st of October as the sun rose saw the enemy fleet approaching.

The horsemen then retreated to regroup while the footmen stood firm. By this time the enemy were close to the main church, where women and children had taken refuge. It is reported that five men including Sabastian de Fontalva, a priest, and Juan Gomez, set themselves up in a narrow street with four crossbows and a shield where they were able to infuriate the Turks by holding them off for a long period. A messenger had already been sent off on horseback to ask for assistance from the surrounding countryside, including Jimena and also to warn them of the landings. Unfortunately the key to the gates of Puerta de Tierra had been lost and many of those who responded were, at first, unable to enter the city. Finally Juan de Esquivel with another six riders and others from the neighbourhood were able to gain access and reinforced the defenders. Their resistance was so fierce that the Turks were force out of the town area and into the suburbs. At the same time, in the Castle, Captain Balboa set out to get men to garrison the fort, closed the gates behind him trapping the refugees that were on their way up. When they saw Turkish force coming towards them they tried to enter by a narrow postern or gate. In the rush to get through some twenty six women and children were crushed to death. Fortunately the infidels, fearing being shot from the Castle walls and not having ladders to scale the walls or shield to cover them from missiles from above, decided to take the easier and more profitable task of capturing the people trying to get to the Castle and sacking the houses in the area. Little did they know that the Castle’s defences were virtually useless. Among those that were trying to find ref-

from Turkish fire. Another case involved a woman who, seeing her husband confront a Turk that entered their house, took up a halberd and wounded the intruder and between them killed him. The leader of the invaders, Muzarred, seeing the situation, decided to take a flag and go up to the Castle gate where he would fix a parchment as he had promised the Bey in Algiers but a servant called Alonso el Suerto, having taken a crossbow from a dead soldier, who he realised was his father, shot the leader through the head and an inn keeper called Juan Mateos from Albalate finished him off. The flag was picked up my Rodriguez Nuñez but he was shot by the Turks as was the flag bearer. A third Turk, although wounded, picked up the flag and ran off. Following this, the Turks decided they had had enough. Regrouping in the Turba, they returned to their ships carrying the captives and all the booty they had collected. The captives amounted to six men, some women, any children and young ladies amounting to seventy three all told. They were carried away amid screaming, moaning, Children screaming for their parents, young girls who had lost consciousness, were dragged along the ground by their arms or legs but with little sympathy from the captives that drove them like sheep. The attack lasted some four hours. The fleet departed Catalan Bay heading round Europa Point, sailing along the walls of the town with their drums beating and playing their musical instruments as if to thumb their noses at the defenders. Forty vessels lying at anchor in the harbour were plundered before the ships headed for Punt Mayorga where they

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Mendoza engaged the Turks but despite their intense canon fire, he did not return the bombardment until they were nearly alongside the enemy. In order to protect the archers, Mendoza put all the crew on one side of the vessel so that she would list and provide a shield over which the archers could fire. Ali Hamat in which Calamani also sailed, seeing he outnumbered the Spanish fleet ordered his ships to get alongside and board the Spaniards Arrows and shot from arquebus, filled the air but the Spanish were able to board first. Mendoza himself shot Caramani in the chest with an arrow and was finally killed by two bullets. The vessel was captured and Hamat threw himself into the sea and was rescued by another Turkish vessel. This galeot was in turn captured and Ali Hamat was taken prisoner along with the Turkish crew. In total the Spanish captured two galleys, and seven other ships including brigantines, galeots and sunk another ship. The others flew from the scene of the battle. Ali Hamat was captured with four hundred and twenty seven of his men. The Spaniards lost one hundred and thirty seven among whom was Pedro Benitez one of the galley captains and a Gibraltarian and five hundred were wounded, including Bernardino de Mendoza who was hit in the head by a shot from an arquebus. Eight hundred and thirty Christians were freed in the action. A celebration took place in Malaga in which the crew and the released captives took part. This event made the Spanish authorities reassess the defences of Gibraltar and steps were taken to improve them. In 1552 an Italian Engineer was commissioned to improve the defences. As Sultan of Algiers, Hizir managed to consolidate large areas of North Africa for the Ottoman Empire. He died around 1546 of the plague or fever.

Article supplied by History Society Gibraltar. Email: historysocietygibraltar@hotmail.com

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APRIL 2019

FEATURE

ANIMALS IN NEED FOUNDATION

“Saving one dog will not change the world“ but surely for that dog the world will change forever“ There are some people who dedicate their lives to saving abandoned animals, opening their compassionate hearts to help in a selfless and special way. Eugenie Cottrell is one of those people. She founded Gibraltar registered charity Animals in Need Foundation three years ago and in that short time the charity has been involved in the successful adoption of around seven hundred dogs. It all started when Eugenie stumbled across the dog pound Prodean over the border in La Linea. “I was horrified to find out that of the six hundred dogs in the shelter, about a third of them are abandoned there by people from or associated to Gibraltar,” she explains. “Prodean is supported by a Dutch charity called Animals in Need and they are the ones who pay for the shelter, they get no government subsidy.” Eugenie, co-founder and Trustee Janine Benneworth and Eugenie’s partner and Trustee of the Foundation David Ledger have devoted their spare time to focus on rehoming the dogs together with their committed team consisting of; Colleen Devincenzi, Heather Lister, Alex Bear, Emily Thurman, William Cottrell, Shannon Robles, Ronnie Mesilio, Marie Meselio, Sally Butcher, Marayah Chang, Sara Fernandes, Tania Moreno, Natalia Robba and Hazel Macedo. David, who does the accounts for the charity, says that they are just a few people doing lots of different things. “We have a sponsorship sub-group, the re-homing team that works either with the German or Finnish adoption teams and we have an events team,” he says, adding “we also have to comply with the laws in different jurisdictions and we work with a number of vets as well, none of us are experts so we rely on the expertise of different bodies to help us.” Eugenie tells me that there is a feeling of responsibility when they go to the pound and see dogs that haven’t left a cage in eight years. It is the dogs that are hard to rehome that Eugenie and the team focus on. “We go round the shelter, or they bring to our attention, dogs that are in dire need. It is often the bigger dogs, dogs with Leishmania, the ones that people think are ugly or those with behavioural problems. So many factors come in to play but those are the ones that as a charity we tend to help.” In association with the Dutch and Germany animal charities, many of the dogs are adopted internationally. At the moment the bulk of adoptions are going to Germany. “We send information on the dogs to the rehoming team over there and they match the dogs to foster homes,” Eugenie states. “The beauty for us is that there is follow-up - there is monitoring of the adoptions and if anything goes wrong they find another foster home.”

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FEATURE “We keep in contact with the families adopting them so we know what happens with the dogs, and we also work with a number of foster families in Gibraltar and Spain, and the moment a dog goes to foster you are guaranteed that it will be adopted very quickly because the hard work, such as house training and dealing with separation anxiety, is reduced.” Funds raised by Animals in Need Foundation Gibraltar go towards paying for facilities they use at two local kennels - one is a training kennel in Los Barrios and the other is private kennels where they move dogs to. Some of the money comes from donations and fundraising events or from sponsorship by corporate companies, but the main source of money comes from crowdfunding online. Committee member Emily Thurman is responsible for putting the posts on Facebook and generating amazing responses from the public. “One Christmas the roof of the shelter collapsed and in just three weeks we raised about £25,000 to fix it and stop the debris falling on top of the dogs,” Eugenie confirms. But just a few hundred pounds can make a huge difference. David mentions the overflow drain system that they installed after the pound flooded. “Because it is concrete, the dogs got flooded and it killed all the food off, so something as little as installing that system will make a big difference.”

TAMBOR “Last year we rehomed the oldest resident of the pound. Tambor is a Labrador cross who arrived at the shelter when he was just 3 years old back in 2010. He had been there for eight years without leaving and we were thrilled to find him a home.”

ADORA Abandoned in a flat in La Linea by an English couple, this pit bull was physically rescued by a team member after a complaint from the neighbours because she had been crying for weeks. We took her to the training school and then we found a home for her. Adora is now a service dog in Finland where she lives with a wonderful family and goes to work with her owner in an old people’s home where she brings joy to the residents.

However, without sponsorship the charity would not survive, but as David tells me, they need more to be able to continue the work they are doing. “We are hugely grateful to some of our core sponsors, but we really need Government sponsorship to keep going at this level.”

NALLE This was a dog that had been used for dog fighting. We had to send a trainer to Granada to rescue him and bring him back because no one would go near him. We named him Nalle because it means teddy bear in Finnish and now he is amazing and so loving… he just needed a chance. He has been with us for a year now and we are looking for a home for him in Finland.

David cites as an example where Government sponsorship could help. “Recently I was approached about a working dog called Woody that has a problem with its hips. He has done his tour of duty, working firstly in the prison service and now in customs, and they have come to us to rehome him. If that dog needs a hip replacement it is going to be very expensive and we would like some sort of support in that.” If you would like to help but can’t adopt a dog, there are plenty of other ways to get involved. “We have a wonderful group of dog walkers who volunteer on Saturday or Sunday who go along to the private kennels in La Linea,” Eugenie says. “They post photos of the dogs on the online chat that we have and help by giving us information on the dogs that makes it easier to find a home that matches.” There are too many stories to mention about the horrendous conditions the dogs live in and the horrific treatment of some dogs by their owners, but what is certain is the work undertaken by this team of volunteers definitely changes lives for some of the dogs for the better. Eugenie makes a heartfelt plea for help: “We only have funding for another two months, so that will keep us going, but by month three we are going to have to shut down unless we get some urgent sponsorship.” “On average it costs approximately £175 per month per dog to keep them safe in private kennels and whilst we are grateful to everyone who donates to us and/or organises charity events such as Flag Days, Cake Stalls/Raffles we are seeking funds from corporate sponsorship on a regular basis which would allow us to plan into the future and help us to continue to change the lives of so many abandoned dogs. GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM

PODENCOS We are raising £2,000 for these five Podencos, four of which we found lying on top of each in a wooden kennel in a cage at the pound. They had been there for one year and were skeletal. The dogs have been taken to private kennels but we need to raise money to pay for blood tests, sterilization, and veterinary and kennel fees. are sponsorship, we any could offer us mp co s: ur ard yo l rew fee ip u If yo onsorsh lowing monthly sp looking at the fol me page ari ch ty website ho rate logo on our rpo co ur yo 0 £10 me page and charity website ho rate logo on our choose uld wo u yo g £175 - your corpo do dual page for the also ll wi o log y also on the indivi an mp rehomed. Your co to sponsor until ok page. bo ce Fa r ou on be clearly shown

Animals In Need

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.gi Website: www.ainf Facebook: Gibraltar) pt a Rescue Dog Foundation (Ado

FEATURE

ON FRIDAY 31ST MAY THIS YEAR, CANCER SURVIVORS WILL TAKE TO THE CATWALK ONCE AGAIN TO RAISE AWARENESS AND FUNDS FOR THE CAUSE. THIS IS THE 14TH ANNIVERSARY OF THIS MAGICAL ANNUAL EVENT, A MUST IN THE CALENDAR OF EVENTS LOCALLY. The Trust’s positive angle seems to have helped cancer survivors over the years, as it aims for a better quality of life after their illness. Getting together for the annual fashion show and rehearsals is an activity, that helps regain self esteem as the team of hairdressers, make up artists and designers, all volunteers, get together towards making this Show possible. The show itself can be an emotional experience, both for those taking part, and for the family and friends that support the event. This year the show will once again take part at the beautiful natural setting of the Alameda Open Air Theatre. Friday 31st May at 8.30 pm will see the stage set for a fashion blitz from the past, starting with the 1920’s all the way to the NOW. The participants all volunteer to help the cause by providing their expertise in a variety of entertainment. This year will see three dance groups, Show Dance Company, Dance Academy and Stylos Dance Studio with an added incentive as some Bosom Buddies cancer survivors, will be dancing together with these groups. We have also roped in two unique and stupendous singers, Megan Danino, a new comer to the world of singing on stage and a real delight to watch and Davinia (DIVI) Cano, the melodic metal vocalist from the band Angel wings, the VOICE of pop locally. Also a group of buddies have got together to sing and dance a song from the ever popular film Mama Mia, and are doing this under the expert eye of dancer/choreographer Dilip Taylor.

“Forensic Fashion” both allowed him to learn the craft so later he could complete a course in Fashion design at Epsom Creative Art University. Also Winner of 2014 Runway’s New Designer Award. Paul’s creative Collections are designed with a specific muse, a person with continuous interest in travel…at the Bosom Buddies show his latest Collection will be on display for all to enjoy! Gail Howard winner of the 2016 Runway Award has not only prepared a Collection to exhibit and parade at this year’s Bosom Buddies Show in May but has also created and designed the Bosom Buddies T- shirt that depicts ribbons of all the colours of our local cancer charities, as the slogan says: “We are in this together” a fashion paraded with local models that will take your breath away! Charlene Figueras, is the other well known

Buddies unite again on the catwalk for their annual Fashion Show

name in Gibraltar’s Youth fashion circles. Herself, a beautiful model and a model photographer and Coach, as well as a Bekini designer. She sources her inspiration by drawing on her myriad fashion experiences over the years. The Collection at this particular show will be providing a glimpse of the fashion world now as seen by Charlene, but also through the eyes of her fairy-loving daughter Alexa. Her brand, OWL means, “Only wear love!” what a superb name that is! Apart from the local fashion designers there will be parades with the wonderful Collections from Heart’s Boutique and Diamond Occasions. With 14 successful shows behind her Sonia Golt, producer of 5 Miss Gibraltar Pageants, 13 Bosom Buddies Fashion Shows and numerous other Fashion shows on TV and theatres during the 90’s, when she run Golt & Associates’ Model Agency, there is never a dull moment on stage. The experience of her backstage crew with Stage Manager Jacqueline Dalli at the front, plus assistants Pushpa Daswani and Miguel Pena, is bound to be another success.

A SHOW NOT TO BE MISSED!

The fashion shows this year are divided into different eras depicting the fashion from each decade, starting from the 1920’s till today! Fashion show Groups are being choreographed by Gina Victory, well known in a variety of fashion circles locally, William Gomez who has produced and directed a few Miss Gibraltar Pageants, and Alex Britto whose expertise and creativity comes from working alongside Eduardo Viotto (Local designer) years back. The public will have the opportunity to see the latest Collections designed by three local and upcoming new designers who have, and are, continuously making a name for themselves in this illustrious Fashion Scene. Paul Perez, a Gibraltarian, whose journey as a fashion designer began when his grandmother, who he was very close to, inspired him to take up sewing. His interest in design sparked from there and from a local project called 50

Tickets already on sale APRIL 2019

from Heart’s Boutique in Main Street, priced at £15 and £20. These include a welcoming drink on the night as well as chocolates. The money raised will be in aid of the Bosom Buddies GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM Cancer Trust Charity 215.

CULTURE INSIGHT THIS IS QUITE A NOVEL CONCEPT THAT SHE IS PROUD TO EXPLORE, AND PERHAPS SHE WILL SET A TREND, SWIMMING UPSTREAM THE USUAL MONTH-LONG DISPLAY FOCUSED ON ONE ARTIST’S NEW PRODUCTION IN A BUSY CIRCUIT WHERE EXHIBITING SPACE IS SO MUCH SOUGHT AFTER.

And she went all the way by making the grid an actual feature, sometimes the most prominent one, in the composition, by under or over-imposing angular shapes woven into the picture, in contrasting block colour that stands out and adds dynamism to the static nature of the subject matter, bringing to the fore detail that would otherwise go understated.

The opening night on 24th April - and everyone is welcome - will be fashioned as a multimedia experience, with fifteen medium-sized paintings on the walls, and videos about their making projected on a screen.

These grid lines are quite thick and sometimes mask part of the detail with their abstract feel, and are designed to contrast or complement the supporting picture: Bea confirms her fondness for Mediterranean brights, and Renaissance nuances like burgundy, ochre, blush pink, cobalt blue, without compromising on the contemporary appeal of striking black or demure white, which bestow a further sense of ephemeral incompletion.

Bea is already working with friend filmmaker Liz Figueras to produce this video that will definitely bring her artwork to life, along with a second video featuring live-recorded feedback from the public. Meanwhile, Bea is documenting her progress on Instagram with time-lapse segments.

The exhibition is titled ‘Inside Outside’, a multilayered description of a complex collection whose trait d’union is The exhibition is pretty much about enjoying the urgenthe ever-evolving architectural variety of Bea’s hometown, cy and transiency of the creative process, amplified by predominant, if not only, inspiration. her quick brush-stroke style, which is It remarks the sense of physical space visualised by the fleeting passage of the depicted in her artwork, as much as final product on the gallery walls, before Almost two years after her the emotional space in which she being returned to storage or hopefully debut exhibition at Sacarello’s, moves when turning into paintings delivered to its new home in private themed around the Old Town’s those photographs of buildings that collections. architectural decay, romanhave somehow attracted her atten-

ticised in some cityscapes echoing the influence of art gurus like Christian Hook, Leslie Gaduzo and Michele Stagnetto, Gibraltar’s fine arts young promise Beatrice Garcia is back with a ‘flash solo’ in the scenic settings of GEMA Gallery.

Gridlocked

This is a metaphor for mental health in real life too: while it is advisable to keep your eyes on the destination, you must always enjoy the journey, otherwise it stops being an achievement and turns into a chore: “There is a misconception about the creative process becoming easier and easier the more you paint, but for me it is quite the opposite: I get more anxious to excel and to outdo myself with new ideas.”

There is a reference to Brexit, too - and why not? Are we inside or outside? If the answer cannot be found in her work, the pride for the richness of her tiny country still shines through the sense of uncertainty marked by the ‘missing pieces’ covered by the geometric path of the grid over the canvas.

Colours

Bea has grown up stylistically from her debut exhibition in which she researched the nooks and crannies, and their crumbling corners, of picturesque Gibraltar. She is now expanding to modern architecture, because ‘beauty is hidden everywhere in this town, and you may pass it by daily without noticing, so it is the artist’s duty to spot it and make it visible and appreciated by all.’

She draws inspiration from American TV personality Bob Ross, who taught her to bask in the sensorial experience that painting is, as well as teaching her a trick or two about added depth, something she felt lacking in her early production.

She claims that the physical space in which an artist creates can also affect inspiration and creation: “I paint in my bedroom, and there are logistical limitations to it that reverberate in my artistic choices.”

The solution was inserting a grid into her drawings, so that she can build depth exploiting its optical illusion.

Light is very important in her work, as she values the play of light and shadow. However, the facilities of natural or artificial light must be factored in: “I much prefer natural light, but because I paint in the evening, often have to rely on light bulbs, and this affects the equilibrium of whites and yellows.”

Inside Outside opens on the evening of 24th April and closes at lunchtime on the 26th“ All artwork is in acrylics and for sale“ priced “£100 to £400“

“Painting is a hobby for me,” Bea concludes, “but it isn’t pure escapism, because I feel that as an artist I have the responsibility to use imagery to put across a message – and mine is to seize the moment, and feel good about it.”

WORDS BY ELENA SCIALTIEL GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM

tion for their style or detail, filtered through the conscious mind of uncertain times.

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Photo by Trish Cottrell

Bea says she was becoming anxious about the outcome, disowning the ‘here and now’ of the behind-the-scenes hard work that the parabola from blank canvas to finished product is for all artists. “After suffering from artistic doubts, I was finally able to refocus on enjoying my day-to-day sketching, drawing and painting, without being in a hurry to finish the painting just to see it done.”

FEATURE

GERRY MARTINEZ CLOCKS ! Apart from stamps and coins there are many individuals collecting all manner of items; some choose to gather rare objects, artefacts or other bits and pieces. This collector falls between two stools, for his passion is perhaps not so rare. He’s constantly on the look out for items of the `tik-tok’ variety… clocks!

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FEATURE

GERRY MARTINEZ, NOW RETIRED, WORKED AT THE GIBRALTAR BROADCASTING CORPORATION (GBC) FOR CLOSE ON HALF A CENTURY. HE MAY NOT RECOGNISE IT BUT BROADCASTING BEING THE ANIMAL IT IS, I’M SURE WE CAN ALL AGREE, HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH TIME KEEPING AND THEREFORE CLOCKS – YES, ALBEIT OF THE ‘SILENT’ TIK-TOK VARIETY! STICKING TO STRICT TIMINGS AND CLOCK WATCHING COMES WITH THE JOB AND SO BECOMES SECOND NATURE. “MAYBE SOMEWHERE IN MY MIND THAT WAS A FACTOR ALTHOUGH I NEVER REALISED THAT AT THE TIME. I WAS ABOUT 25 YEARS OLD WHEN I BECAME INTERESTED IN COLLECTING CLOCKS AND WATCHES AND THAT WAS CLOSE TO THE TIME I STARTED WORKING IN TELEVISION AND RADIO AT WELLINGTON FRONT,” GERRY MUSES. Walking into Gerry’s storeroom - at the top of the hour - where more than 50 clocks are neatly displayed along the four walls is a joy to see and… hear! You’re greeted to a pleasant, jingly jangly din and an eyeful of attractive, striking and unusual ‘timekeepers’ in all shapes, sizes and colours. The variety of wall clocks is wonderful; smart ones, clocks that date back to the 50s and 60s and contemporary pieces, advertising ones for Schweppes, Camel cigarettes, a number of whiskies and beers, for the kings of advertising – Coca Cola – the Titanic and even a homemade one with a pair of clock hands on the Queen’s face! All are keeping time and strike almost simultaneously. “Over here I have two that produce animal and bird sounds depending on what hour it is,” Gerry proudly points out. That’s twelve different bird tweets and animal noises on each one. As you would expect, no respectable collector of clocks would deserve to be so, without a number of cuckoo clocks amongst their collection. They too are on show. And his ‘clock walls’ would still not really be complete without these, in the limited

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space available. Yes, a few grandfather clocks and grandmother clocks stand proud – I’d never heard of the female version before. They are smaller! All of his ‘time tellers’ are different and are treated with a lot of TLC. “Some work on batteries, others are ‘wind ups’ and then we have the pendulum clocks which require more attention. I can do a little work on them myself like replacing weights, doing some internal work and cleaning them. I have a friend in the UK who comes out every now and then with spares and he helps a little. There is also Manuel at the ICC. He too, fixes things for me,” Gerry tells me, and evidently he certainly is prepared for any minor contingency. The very rare patch of wall space here and there is taken up with a neat spread of tools and spares; there are hundreds of screws, nails, springs and dozens of batteries of all sizes, and a variety of other tiny parts and bits and pieces, not forgetting that which comes in handy like Singer sewing machine oil! Gerry spends countless hours nurturing his collection especially at night when sleep sidesteps him. “Oh yes, I can spend many hours down here at night and I enjoy it. It’s quiet and I can do some work or cleaning, it’s great. But you know I won’t attempt to clean up those clock faces that are faded because they show their age and are worth more in that condition!” But it started for him all those years ago when, in fact, he began to collect watches, which he still does. He has more than 300 of them, but they’re nowhere to be seen in this storeroom. “That’s because there is no room for them here so I have them all at home and I still collect them from wherever I can find them. I might buy some and then people that have ones that don’t work and would throw out give them to me. I get them working and add them to my collection.” There’s no doubt that collecting clocks and watches is a fulltime commitment if you are going to look after them properly, keeping them clean and in

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FEATURE

working order like our ‘clock man’ endeavours to do. “You know one of the most tiring jobs I have to do is when we have a time change and they all have to be put forward or backwards one hour,” Gerry explained, and apparently, putting them back an hour is the more tedious of the two because they have to be stopped first. One person managing to tackle fifty clocks requiring a time change twice a year and still maintaining unanimity when striking next time round… genius! I would have thought leaving them alone and just having them all running one hour late for six months would have been sensible enough and certainly less taxing, but meticulous Gerry is up for it, is fastidious enough and has the time for the unavoidable, painstaking chore!

Clearl y Gerry i s very happ y with what This man is i s manifest- undoubtedly a truely his heartcollector of f e l t hobthings… clocks, – b y

watches, antique gramophones and needles! His gramophone collection is one that for now will have to stay small, at least and until Gerry finds more space to store his unique pieces. It might take a while, for as we all know, space on the Rock is in extremely short supply so we’ll have to give him TIME!!

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clocks. But that’s not all, as we know from a previous interview, sitting proudly in a corner of the overwhelmingly `timepiece haven’ are a few trumpet or horn gramophones (of His Master’s Voice vintage) and slightly more modern gramophone players – a clear sign that the broadcaster in him has not waned! “They are wonderful pieces,” he exclaims and couldn’t help showing me once more how they’re still in working order as he went on to play an old 78rpm breakable paste disc on them which sounded… well… which sounded! “The volume in these is controlled by the thickness of the steel needles. You can have thin, soft, medium, large and extra large and I have about 8,000 of them!”

GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM

CANINE

LEISHMANIASIS a silent killer Article by Mark Pizarro

Today I will discuss canine Leishmaniasis, its cause, treatment and prevention. There is some misinformation of this disease in the public domain so I hope to clarify this illness and hopefully by doing this it will help in protecting our canine companions. This disease is caused by a flagellated protozoa that is injected into dogs by Sandflies (phlebotominae). The female of this biting fly feeds on blood that it requires for egg production, however at the same time that it feeds it can infect the host with the protozoa, in a similar way that malaria is spread by mosquitos. The protozoa can cause devastating damage to a dog, but the illness is a slow insidious disease that can damage pretty much any organ in the body. Broadly speaking they can be divided into two types; the visceral type infecting the internal body organs, or the cutaneous one that infects the skin. This is a bit of a simplification as it can affect any body system and therefore it can sometimes be a challenge to diagnose. One common complaint is that the dog â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t rightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. In some cases the illness is asymptomatic until the animal becomes suddenly seriously ill - and in some of these cases the dog has gone beyond the point of no return and does not respond to medical therapy. Confirmation of the disease is done by doing a simple blood test, generally you can have the results back in under quarter of an hour. There are various treatment regimes used in the medical therapy of infected dogs, depending on their body condition, the body system affected and on the finances available. Sometimes the dog does not respond to one treatment and may need an alternative. What is very unfortunate about this disease is that in the majority of cases after treatment the animal goes into remission and the parasite cannot be eliminated, it remains dormant in some hidden recess of the body, usually in the lymphatic system or the bone marrow. Thanks to medical progress we can now actually look for DNA of the protozoa in the blood, so that we can check the level of infection in treated animals to make sure the parasite does not make an unwelcome reappearance.

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Evidently prevention of Leishmaniasis is by far the best option. Now, not all dogs are at the same risk of contracting this disease so you can tailor your prevention strategy depending on your particular circumstances. There are two ways of protecting your pet, one is to vaccinate your pet and secondly to prevent its infection by the Sandfly. Vaccination is a fairly recent option, it is more expensive than your standard vaccine, but be aware that the manufacturers do not recommend that you stop using ecto-parasite treatment to stop the vector. There are various ecto-parasitic treatments that have been proven to stop the Sandfly from taking a meal from your pet, there are collars and Spot-On prophylactic medications, but remember that if your dog swims regularly then the Spot-Ons are unlikely to be a good option for you. The plug in foggers used to prevent mosquito bites are also effective in stopping this biting fly. It is a fly that is most active between dawn and dusk, similar to mosquitos, so this is a prophylactic option too, and it is a fly that is only active when the temperature is above 15 degrees centigrade. The females lays its eggs in moist organic matter, therefore the risk of contagion is highest where there is leaf litter, animal burrows etc. However all pets do not require the same level of protection, the highest level must be for those dogs that are outside in gardens during the times of highest risk, dusk to dawn. Those dogs living in flats in highly urbanised areas are at a smaller risk but there is never any guarantee that a female Sandfly will not sneak in and infect your family pet, so do not become complacent. On a Public Health side note, this disease can infect humans too, however it is generally only a risk to those immunosuppressed individuals and there is no direct contagion from dogs, it has to pass through the Sandfly.

For more information about this or any other concerns about your pet, contact, Mark Pizarro on Tel: 200 77334 or 200 50427, email: info@gibvet.com

APRIL 2019

FEATURE

PAUL COSQUIERI IS DANCING WITH HIS PAINTINGS I first met Paul Cosquieri in the mid-80s when he joined GBC as a graphics designer for TV production. He had studied at the Chelsea School of Art and already showed promise as an emerging artist who would push the boat out and ‘try things’ once you managed to communicate programme ideas to him. He has accomplished a lot since then, not least running a printer’s and owning Gibraltar’s first property magazine as well as establishing himself as a leading artistic innovator through various series of TV art programmes.

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FEATURE

Art has always defined Paul and he is as well known for his dripping collages ‘Cosqui Rocks’ as is Mario Finlayson for his ‘Rooftops.’ Like the great Mario, Paul is also blessed with an engaging personality and a restless curiosity to experiment in art. He now drives the local scene as president of the Fine Arts Society. As I write this in mid-February his latest exhibition called ‘Paintings to Dance to’ hangs in the GEMA gallery at Montagu Bastion and what it has achieved thus far is that through Paul’s exhibition the previously little known space is now attracting attention as a permanent gallery which also houses some of the prizewinning artworks that belong to the Gibraltar Cultural Services. Many past international exhibition winning works now live there and there is a very good cross section of work from our artistic community and the hinterland’s too. Installations, sculptures and paintings are at last on permanent view and no longer gathering dust in storage. As soon as Paul saw the GEMA exhibition space, which I found very funky too, he knew he had to pull something out of the bag and make some artistic noise in order to break the reverential silence of serious art. He bought rolls of canvas and worked in larger formats. There were two exhibitions coming up for him and a large format commission at the Gibraltar University common room. So no pressure then! One morning I went to see his ‘Paintings to Dance to’ and then set up a chat with him at the Fine Arts Gallery that afternoon. I mapped out our interview by first talking about his work and how it had ‘spoken’ to me. I knew he would soon warm to that and expand as I called out the canvas titles and what some of the paintings had suggested to me. He now takes up the story. Nadja: “First of all, this is different to all the others as it has no photographs and no collage. Some people said that it reminded them of many faces like a crowd in a stadium. You said that you were looking for a pattern in the dropped blocks. You can interpret it in any way but there is a very marked and clear structure to it. I started painting into squares and I did them uniformly all along the painting in one colour then again in another and then I made the squares disappear altogether so although you don’t see the structure it is there. My main aim had been to create mayhem but some order crept into it I guess. The name Nadja is not after the name of a song. All the other paintings are named after songs. I remember now that it was inspired by the title of a book which I was reading and had enjoyed”. ‘Tara’: “Last year a young girl lost her life in a bike accident, she was my daughter’s friend and it hit us quite hard. I was quite down and needed to paint, so subconsciously I placed a collage photo which to me looked like Tara and as I looked for

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other similar photos I ended up making the painting my personal tribute to Tara and then a statement emerges about the way women are seen in today’s society. Usually in magazine pose, pouted lips, and all made up, so that stands out to me. I love magazines as I’m a graphic designer and women are seen purely as objects and that’s what I wanted to convey in ‘Tara’.” ‘Blues of Desperation’: “When I was painting for this exhibition I always had music on and this particular tune whose title I adopted is by blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa. Although you say that the painting looks optimistic to you, all I can say is yes but really the colouring has nothing to do with the title. It’s more to do with how I play one album constantly while I paint and that song title for me defined a whole album and it helped me to paint this series”. ‘My kind of Blue’: “This painting is much darker and carries the title of one of my favourite Jazz albums of all time by Miles Davis. You say that all the collages here have expressive eyes and certain looks, but I saw it as inspiring me to call it after the famous album and that must have influenced you as well when you saw it, but I agree with you that this one is more ‘Bluesy’ and the other one called ‘Blues of Desperation’ more ‘optimistic’.” ‘Short Fuse’: “This one has Meryl Streep in it somewhere and I tried a different approach to this.” I pointed out that I saw female mouths and was looking for someone shouting… perhaps I was trying too hard. The artist says that the mouths idea came to him subconsciously. “There’s also a baby in there and so possibly there is a more powerful statement because it is different to the other paintings. This is one of my favourites.” There is more to Paul’s exhibition of course and anyone can take what they want out of viewing it, however at this point in our chat we moved to my observation that it was quite brave and original of him to hang up his work with bulldog clips although some of it was purposely bunched up so that the whole painting could not be seen. “Those are a bit like an installation and it was inspired by the GEMA space. At the moment I have another half dozen paintings from this series hanging in the ‘Easterly Winds’ exhibition in Cadiz”. “These paintings are experimental and I was having fun with them and not thinking about sales. They are not stretched canvasses and so as they hang they also curl inwards which says something about me I suppose.” As it turns out many have also liked the way that the works hang from bulldog clips in an irreverent sort of way, some of it purposely obscured from view unless you pry and lift the canvas furls, which you shouldn’t of course. The bunched up works are more landscape but the artist has made a brave statement by not stretching them out to full length.

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How many artists do you know who hide their work at the same time as inviting you to see it on exhibition? There is an inspiring story of how painting has helped Paul to heal after he had suffered a stroke last May. As delivery of the Alwani Trust’s commission for the University of Gibraltar common room mural was looming, Paul was barely recovering from a stroke which had slowed him down and destroyed his confidence. Luckily he had done all the historical research and preliminary sketch work before the illness so he was able to push himself into work just a month into recovery. He now concedes that it helped him heal. I think that his need to work himself back into shape and channel his artistic energy was the clincher. There’s no doubt that he had to dig deep to overcome the after effects of suffering a scary stroke which incapacitated him, luckily it didn’t hit him too hard and he has bounced back ‘happy as Larry,’ at least he looked like that to me as we chatted. The first thing he did for the mural’s execution was to set about finding a large space, one where he could lay down the large panels that would go to make up the mural, and as soon as he found a suitable space he lay the panels down on the floor and started priming the canvas. His long- time friend and work colleague retired TV producer Andrew Agius was roped in to film ‘the making of the University mural’. The documentary has not yet been shown on GBC but it will give an insight into how the artist works when we get to see it. He seems content with the outcome of that particular commission which is now the main wall feature in the University common room. “I threw myself into that mural and was walking on the panels everyday as soon as the previous day’s painting had dried. It was a new experience for me as I was not painting in an upright position. My arms were being used in a different way and I was looking at the work from above, a different perspective too. As always I put on an album on earphones to help me focus because music always inspires me and that is how the title of my latest exhibition ‘Paintings to Dance to’ came about. It normally takes me ten days to finish a painting and during that time I will literally wear an album out”. Wearing an album out pales into insignificance if Paul were to dance to all his paintings! He’s a prolific artist who is always leading from the front in all the undertakings of the Fine Arts Society of which he is president. He will always be found near where there is creative art. A medical episode hasn’t subdued him and in fact has given him a new sense of urgency which is always good to spur inspiration. I left his pleasant company full of optimism in that he still has a lot to say artistically because now he is clearly in a happy place when he dances with his paintings.

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GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM

ON THE SPOT

JOHN CARRERAS PUBLIC RELATIONS OF HISTORY SOCIETY GIBRALTAR

Where did you first start your employment? “I started my employment with Saccone & Speed Ltd.”

How would you describe yourself? “Honest, hard working and sensitive.”

Which person has been the biggest influence in your life? “As I am in my 50’s, I can say the most influential person in my life is me. At this age, your personality has been fully developed for some time and you are financially and socially independent. When I was younger, my father certainly played an influential role in who I was and what I believed in..”

lax attitude. I quickly realized he was delivering excellent results. I soon noticed that we needed both types of personalities to deliver the required results to gain different perspectives. Now, I am more open minded to people who don’t think like I do.”

What’s the best country you’ve ever visited and why?

What’s the worst advice you’ve ever been given? “You can do anything with a degree.”

What makes you laugh? “Funny conversations with friends, witty jokes and recalling anecdotes from the past.”

What’s your greatest ambition? “To write a book.”

Have you had any embarrassing moments?

“Italy. The Amalfi Coast. The beauty is fantastic and also pasta, gnocchi and polenta dishes.”

“I went to a drive thru in Bristol to place my order and then I heard ‘Can you speak through the speaker and not through the trash can’.”

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Which word or phrases do you most overuse?

“Unfortunately, there is none for life is an internal and external interaction with himself and others. A person’s happiness, however fleeting in time, is subject to forces we cannot control. All it takes is just a brief moment of disequilibrium or disruption and the “ perfect happiness “ evaporates. Perfect happiness is, if at all achievable, a very small time in time and space. There is no permanence to it.”

“I use Gee Whizz and Awesome a lot.”

What’s the best book you’ve ever read?

Do you have any regrets? “I wish I had spent more time with the people I love. Time slips away so easily that once it is gone you cannot get it back again.”

What keeps you awake at night? “The thought of how I can tackle some issues the following day.”

If you didn’t live where you are currently located where would you like to Live (Money no object)?

“One hundred years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.”

“Vietnam. Amazing coffee culture. Amazing caves, parks and adventure sports. Amazing food.”

What’s your favourite music track? “Can’t help but wait by Trey Songz”

What’s your biggest fear?

What person historic or living would you most like to meet?

“Losing a limb.”

“Stephen Hawking.”

If you could change something about yourself, what would it be?

If you could change one thing about Gibraltar what would it be?

“Size of my nose.”

“Traffic is horrendous. Pollution also is terrible.”

Have you ever been given advice that you wished you had acted on?

What is your favourite hobby or interest “Reading, hiking wine tasting and motor sports.”

“I once worked with someone who had Personalty A and I had Personalty B and we clashed all the time. I was more competitive and aggressive than he was and often impatient to his GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM

APRIL 2019

MUM ON THE ROCK

Gender Neutral Parenting WOULD YOU CONSIDER IT?

THIS HOT TOPIC HAS BEEN MAKING HEADLINES AROUND THE WORLD, BUT WOULD YOU CONSIDER RAISING YOUR CHILDREN IN A GENDER NEUTRAL ENVIRONMENT OR DO YOU THINK THAT THIS ISSUE HAS GONE TOO FAR? You only have to look at the media to see which celebs are raising their kids without pressure to be either feminine or masculine as they grow up. Adele is one of those that fully supports letting her son Angelo express who he wants to be, even taking him to Disneyland dressed in his outfit of choice: a Princess Anna costume. Adele says she is eagerly awaiting the changes her son will go through as he grows and learns what he likes. Russel Brand said on The Jonathon Ross Show before his daughter’s birth: “I may not even impose a gender upon it, let the child grow up and be whatever the hell it is.” First time Mum, UK singer Paloma Faith told The Mirror at the Q magazine music awards, “I’m loving being a Mum. I want two or three kids in all, and they will all be gender neutral.” She added that: “I just want them to be who they want to be.” There are, of course, many parents who have raised perfectly sensible humans without resorting to this trend to allow children the freedom to explore their world without gender based restrictions. It seems that young Millennials from middle-class homes in developed countries are often blamed for leading the way in gender neutral parenting, but is it really their fault? Apparently the idea for gender neutral parenting was developed in the 1960s in the USA when children wore clothes

suitable for either boys or girls and played with toys made for either sex. Then in the 1970s to early 1980s, thanks largely to second-wave feminism, there was a surge of gender neutral parenting There are some ‘hard-core’ parents who have decided not to reveal the sex of their baby and who use pronouns for their children (they/them) instead of ‘he’ or ‘she’. Recently a couple from Florida in the USA made international headlines after revealing they’ve decided to raise their child, Sparrow, as gender neutral. They say that he is not a boy or a girl and instead they use the term ‘theyby’. There is also the case of Zoomer, another child being raised as a ‘theyby’ in the States, whose anatomy was kept a secret from Zoomer’s grandparents so that they would be comfortable using the correct pronouns. No bath time fun for them! For some people, gender creative parenting is not about denying biology or anatomy and they accept that there are biological differences between the sexes. But is gender a social construction? From personal experience, I know that children will gravitate to what inspires them and what makes them happy. I also know that the boys in my family love their Nerf guns, Super Heroes and rough and tumble play and that the girls dress up in Princess dresses and tiaras

and enjoy dancing around because they want to, despite having plenty of gender neutral toys to play with. There are other terms used by people who parent in a gender neutral way who prefer to use words such as ‘gender open’, ‘gender affirming’, or ‘gender creative’. There has also been a growing trend in toy buying for ‘gender-neutral playthings’ - which are toys that don’t reinforce gender stereotypes. It has been noticeable that retailers are choosing to throw out the pink and blue rule book and embrace a gender-neutral approach to marketing children’s toys and clothing, with several retailers across the UK, including Boots and John Lewis, removing ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ signs from their marketing. As social gender perceptions change, so too will traditional male and female identities and roles. Perhaps the future will be one where boys and girls believe that they can do the same things, but if they see that women are always the ones cooking and washing and that men are the ones mowing the lawn or washing the car, they will pick up on these gender stereotypes and believe these to be the norm. Whatever you decided, as parents it is your decision how you raise your children, but the best thing we can do for them is to let them know that there are choices regarding gender and identity.

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APRIL 2019

HEALTH & FEATURE WELLBEING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IMPROVES YOUR HEALTH

Part 2 Adults

Regular physical activity and exercise is an important contributing factor to maintaining and improving your general health as well as helping you reduce the risk of developing serious diseases according to the World Health Organization physical inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality, causing an estimated 3.2 million deaths worldwide every year. Health experts describe inactivity as the ‘silent killer’. To reduce our risk of ill health, adults are advised to exercise regularly – at least 150 minutes a week, and reduce sitting time. Many adults spend more than seven hours a day sitting or lying, and this typically increases with age to 10 hours or more. This includes watching TV, using a computer, smartphone or tablet, reading, doing homework, and travelling by car or bus, but does not include sleeping. Regular exercise promotes strong muscles and bones, improves your respiratory, cardiovascular health, helps you maintain a healthy weight and benefits your overall health. According to the NHS in the United Kingdom, it can reduce your risk of major illnesses, such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and cancer by up to 50% and lower your risk of early death by up to 30%. According to data supplied by the NHS, people who do regular physical activity have: •

up to a 35% lower risk of coronary heart disease and stroke;

•

up to a 50% lower risk of type 2 diabetes;

•

up to a 50% lower risk of colon cancer;

•

up to a 20% lower risk of breast cancer;

•

a 30% lower risk of early death;

•

up to an 83% lower risk of osteoarthritis;

•

up to a 68% lower risk of hip fracture;

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a 30% lower risk of falls (among older adults);

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up to a 30% lower risk of depression;

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up to a 30% lower risk of dementia.

For adults ages 65 years and over, try to be more active around the house – cooking, housework and walking while you’re on the phone can help keep you mobile, although these activities won’t count towards your weekly activity target. Walking is the easiest way to increase your activity levels. Find a friend to walk with. Swimming, fitness classes, Yoga (it combines a series of poses with breathing, and is good for building strength, flexibility and balance), Tai Chi (which helps build strength, flexibility and balance through slow and controlled movements), or Pilates, which focuses on stretching and strengthening the whole body to improve balance, muscle strength, flexibility and posture. All these can help you stay active and can be fun, relieve stress and help you meet friends.

SOME EXAMPLES OF ACTIVITIES YOU CAN DO TO IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH: Aerobic activities are very important for your overall health and wellbeing especially for the health of your heart. They are continuous activities that use a whole range of muscles, such as walking, cycling and dancing. It is also important to participate in some activity a couple of times a week which improves your muscular strength, stamina and flexibility. These activities will help build up your stamina, improve the shape of your body and muscles, make your bones and muscles stronger and prevent injury. Climbing, circuit training and gymnastics are examples of sports that are good for muscular strength and stamina. Flexibility or the range of movement around joints can be improved by doing flexibility exercises such as Yoga, Pilates or Tai Chi (mentioned above), about twice a week. Flexibility is important for preventing muscles becoming sore and injured, helping you carry out everyday activities more easily and for improving posture. Exercising the major muscles enhances muscle strength through to old age, keeping limbs strong and bodies flexible. This dramatically reduces the risk of falls, hip fractures and improves overall bone health. Vigorous exercise increases deep breathing, and a good respiratory function is essential for sound health.

It’s important to bear in mind though, that you can reach your weekly activity target but still be at risk of ill health if you are spending much of the rest of the time sitting or lying down. Choosing the types of physical activities that suit you and can easily be included in your daily routine will improve your general health and enhance your quality of life, helping you to relax, sleep better, be able to deal with everyday stresses more effectively and boost your self-esteem.

Try to find activities that you enjoy and can make a regular part of your life. If you have any concerns about becoming more physically active, please consult your GP first. If you don’t feel well, don’t force yourself to be active. Read up on the safety aspects of each activity or consult an expert before you start exercising. If you have not been physically active for some time, gentle, steady progress is the key. Be careful not to overdo it at first. Gradually build the activities into your daily lifestyle. You can also visit the GHA’s healthgibraltar.org website for more suggestions and advice on physical activities.

How much physical activity you need to do each week will depend on your age. There are all sorts of different activities that you can do regularly to stay healthy or improve your health. For the younger generation, and those not so young, why not walk to and from work. Take the stairs instead of the lift, or get out of the lift a few floors early and use the stairs. Go for a walk during your lunch break. Exercise before or after work, or during your lunch break.

So, whatever your age, being physically active on a regular basis is essential if you want to live a healthier, happier and more fulfilling life right into old age.

WORDS BY CHARLIE BOSANO 62

APRIL 2019

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HEALTH & WELLBEING

FACING THE FUTURE WITH CONFIDENCE EXPLORING THE ENDURING POPULARITY

OF THE FACELIFT Marilyn Monroe in ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ told us that diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Yet these days maybe it’s truer to suggest that our best friend is our Cosmetic Surgeon, since with the latest noninvasive techniques both men and women can look more youthful – which surely is the greatest luxury in life. With face and neck lifts, using modern techniques, one can get natural looking results. Talk to clients of Aria Medical Group and one soon understands how having facial surgery can delivery genuine, positive effects to the person’s life.

facelift (known as rhytidectomy) can’t stop the aging process. What it can do is ‘turn back the clock’, improving the most visible signs of aging by removing excess fat, tightening underlying muscles, and repositioning the skin of the face and neck.

Thanks to a number of discreet and highly effective techniques, a face and/or neck lift can successfully tighten underlying muscles and remove excess skin on the cheeks and neck, thereby giving a more overall youthful appearance.

Before

procedure was performed and one can see that bruising and swelling are minimal and that the only obvious sign of surgery are the discreet ‘steristrips’ protecting the incision areas during the healing and recovery time. Over time, as swelling reduces, the results are even more natural looking.

After

With new techniques and the skill of an experienced surgeon like Dr. Vricella of Aria Medical Group, the natural results can be seen straight away after surgery. Take for example these ‘before’ and ‘after´ photographs.

It’s worth noting that often the best candidates for a facelift is a man or woman whose face and neck have begun to sag, but whose skin still has some elasticity and whose bone structure is strong and well-defined. Most patients are in their forties to sixties, but facelifts can be done successfully on people in their seventies or eighties as well. Free Consultations If you want to find out more, then Dr. Vricella holds free consultations at College Clinic, Regal House, Gibraltar every 2 weeks – for dates and to book an appointment please call + 34 951 276 748 or email info@ariamedicalgroup.com

This client of Aria Medical Group had a lower facelift with neck lift. The ‘after’ photo was taken shortly after the

Some of our most popular procedures: + Breast Augmentation + Breast Uplift (Mastopexy) + Breast Reduction + Tummy Tuck (Abdominoplasty) + Liposuction + Buttock Augmentation + Face Lifts + Eyebag Removal (Blepharoplasty) + Rhinoplasty (Nose Surgery) + Weight-loss Surgery / Gastric Band + Cosmetic Dentistry www.ariamedicalgroup.com Dr. Marco Vricella 64

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uis

329c Main Street Gibraltar Tel: 200 50710 luisphoto@gibtelecom.net

PHOTOS Commercial Photographer Finest collection of old photographs on the Rock

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VISITING SPECIALISTS - APR 2019 Dr Barry Monk - Dermatologist

8th April

Dr Benjamin Lopez - Neurosurgeon

9th & 23rd April

Mr Ammar Alhasso - Neurosurgeon

11th & 12th April

Alan Stone - Audiologist

16th April

Dr Eva Carneiro - Sports & Exercise Medicine

24th April

Rosmetics - Injectable aesthetic techniques

25th & 26th April

REGULAR SURGICAL AND MEDICAL SPECIALISTS Mr David Deardon – General and Venous Surgeon

Wednesdays

Dr Robin Reyes – Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon

Alternate Tuesdays

Mr Thomas Boerger – Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgeon

Thursday and Friday evenings

Dr Ramin Pakzad – Obstetrician & Gynaecologist

Mondays and Thursdays

Dr Waqar Haider – Consultant General Physician / Respiratory Medicine. Dr Francisca Dominguez – Paediatrician Dr Antonio Segovia - Psychiatrist

Tuesday evenings

Mon/ Tues/ Wed/Thurs/ Fri mornings, and Wednesday afternoons. By prior appointment

Dr Pedro Aranda - Vascular Surgeon Dr Pietro Di Mauro - Aesthetic Surgeon

WORLD IMMUNISATION WEEK, 24 - 30 APRIL 2019, INFORMATION FROM THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION 1. Are vaccines still necessary? Vaccines are necessary. If we don’t maintain optimum rates of immunization or “herd immunity”, the diseases prevented by vaccination will return. While better hygiene, sanitation and clean water help protect people from infectious diseases, many infections can spread regardless of how clean we are. If people are not vaccinated, diseases that have become uncommon such as whooping cough, polio and measles, will quickly reappear. 2. Are vaccines safe?

By prior arrangement By prior arrangement

GENERAL PRACTICE - FAMILY MEDICINE Dr Patrick Nerney – including Occupational Health Dr Monique Risso – including Naprotechnology

Emergency and routine appointments available every day

3. Do vaccines provide better immunity than natural infections?

Dr Kate Roue Dr Maria Rosca

TRAVEL CLINIC - VACCINATION INCLUDING YELLOW FEVER Sr Susan Rhoda – Full travel needs assesments

Vaccines interact with the immune system to produce an immune response similar to that produced by the natural infection, but they do not cause the disease or put the immunized person at risk of its potential complications. In contrast, the price paid for getting immunity through natural infection might lead to serious disability or amy even be life threatening. 4. Do I need to be vaccinated against diseases that I do not see in my community or my country?

DIAGNOSTIC SERVICES Dr Chris Rodriguez – Consultant Radiologist

Vaccines are safe. Any licensed vaccine is rigorously tested across multiple phases of trials before it is approved for use, and regularly reassessed once it is on the market. Scientists monitor constantly for signs that a vaccine may cause an adverse event and investigate if reported. Most vaccine reactions are usually minor and temporary, such as a sore arm or mild fever. It is far more likely to be seriously injured by a vaccine-preventable disease than by a vaccine.

Ultrasound scanning, Xray and scan reporting Tuesday evenings.

ALLIED HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Although vaccine-preventable diseases have become uncommon in many countries, the infectious agents that cause them continue to circulate in some parts of the world. In a highly inter-connected world, they can cross geographical borders and infect anyone who is not protected.

Kayron Pozo

Podiatry and Prolotherapy

Joyce Evans

Physiotherapy and Sports Injury

Geraldine Canepa

Counselling and Psychotherapy

Two key reasons to get vaccinated are to protect ourselves and to protect those around us. Successful vaccination programmes depend on the cooperation of every individual to ensure the wellbeing of all. We should not rely on people around us to stop the spread of disease; we, too, must do what we can.

Pricilla Chelleram Jeffries

Osteopathy & Manipulation

5. Can a child be given more than one vaccine at a time?

Sr Susan Rhoda

Sclerotherapy and Nursing Services

Dr Karen Surridge

Clinical Psychologist

Sr Ros Bown

Botulinum Toxin and Dermal Fillers

Alan Stone

Hearing and Audiology

Laura Sanchez Soiza

Nutritional Nurse

Krisanne Pozo & Delyse Crome

Cambridge Weight Plan

Juan Garcia

Cardiac Physiologist

Daya Dewfall

Massage Therapist

Rebecca Ramirez

Women’s Health and Children’s Physiotherapy.

Clinic times may be subject to change. Some appointments will be rescheduled by agreement. GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM APRIL 2019

Scientific evidence shows that giving several vaccines at the same time has no negative effect on a child’s immune system. Children are exposed to several hundred foreign substances that trigger an immune response every day. The simple act of eating food introduces new antigens into the body, and numerous bacteria live in the mouth and nose. A child is exposed to far more antigens from a common cold or sore throat than they are from vaccines. At the Specialist Medical Clinic, we provide vaccination for both adults and children. For more information, or to make an appointment, please contact us on the details below.

Unit F7, 1st Floor, ICC Building, Casemates Square, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 49999. Fax: +350 200 68999. Find us on www.specialistmedicalclinic.com Direct billing arrangements with major insurers.

Specialist Medical Clinic 67

Aries (Mar 21 – Apr 21) April brings creative and positive changes for you Aries. So, harness this energy by putting in place those things that you have been procrastinating on. You will be very glad you did!

Taurus TAKEAWAYS

(Apr 21 – May 21)

VEHICLE REPAIRS

Avoid the temptation to be impulsive, Taurus, as it will not serve you well at this time! Better to take things a step at a time and be patient. It will benefit everyone in the end.

Gemini (May 22 – June 22) You seem to be at the centre of the social whirl this month, Gemini. Actually, you love it so go on out there and make the most of it while you can. Its just what you need so ….. enjoy!!

Cancer June 23 – July 22) You may have been feeling a little isolated of late, Cancer, but that is all about to change! Don’t resist but go forward with enthusiasm and make the most of it.

Leo July 23 – Aug 23) You may start the month feeling a bit disconnected, Leo, but you just need to take a deep breath and acknowledge how you honestly feel and not how others want you to feel. And then tell them!!

Virgo (Aug 24 – Sep 23)

BARS / PUBS

Take it easy this month, Virgo. You have been too stressed out recently and no one can change that but you. So take the steps that you know you must …. And don’t look back.

Libra Sep 24 – Oct 23) If things seem to have gone a little off track over recent weeks, Libra, fear not as this is a temporary setback. Often what seems like a setback is actually a step forward in disguise.

Scorpio Oct 24 – Nov 22) Have the confidence to stand up and be counted this month, Scorpio. Sometimes we just have to make clear that enough is enough. You can do it!

Sagittarius Nov 23 – Dec 21) April will find you reminiscing over old times, Sagittarius. So ……. Make sure that you savour every moment. Our history is so important and we can learn so much from looking back.

Capricorn (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

INDUSTRIAL

Now, this is a fortunate time indeed for you Capricorns! Grab the bull by the horns this April and obstacles will simply move out of your way.

Aquarius Jan 21 – Feb 19) April is a good month for you to spread your wings Aquarius. Ignore the naysayers and follow your heart … it will not let you down!

Pisces Feb 20 – Mar 20) So, this month, Pisces, allow yourself to loosen up and believe in your ability to create new and inspiring situations in you life Your dreams will come true if you let them! 68

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Email: katemch@gmail.com Facebook Group: Horoscopes Gibraltar

I love banoffee pie and this, along with a couple of others, seem to be the most ‘go to’ dessert when eating out. Making this dessert took some time but the addition of that chocolate layer was worth it.

INGREDIENTS BASE • 175G Digestive Biscuits • 2 Tbsp Butter TOPPINGS • 180G Dark Chocolate • 397G Tin Condensed Milk • 3 – 4 Bananas • 300ML Double Cream • Milk METHOD 1, Place an unopened can (labels removed) of condensed milk in a pot filled and covered with water and simmer for 3 hours, your can should remain static. 2, You will need 8 Ramekins or one spring bottom cake tin. Begin by preparing the base, crush the digestives and mix together with the melted butter. Divide into the ramekins or tin and press down firmly so that you have at least a thickness near a finger width high. Place this in the fridge to firm. 3, Melt your chocolate (saving 2 cubes) in a bowl over a pot with hot water, adding a splash of milk to keep this from setting and pour over the biscuit base, and return to the fridge. 4, When ready, leave to cool, then open and spread over the melted chocolate, now firm from the fridge. Slice your bananas and place along the top of the dulce de leche / toffee and cover with whipped double cream. 5, Finish off by grating some chocolate over the top. MERINGUE ALTERNATIVE 6, Whisk the egg whites until frothy and white, add a squeeze of the lemon juice to keep these stiff and slowly pour in the sugar, whilst whisking continuously, until the egg white form thickens and stiffens and you end up with silky peaks. Make sure not to over-whisk or you will begin to lose air and texture.

For more delicious Mama Lotties recipes visit: GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM

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Just Married on the Rock Andrew & Veronika married on 4th February 2019. Photo by Radka Horvath.

Rhea & Dennis, married on 28th January 2019. Photo by Radka Horvath.

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Just Married on the Rock Mobile: 58897000 Email: nicholas64@gibtelecom.net

Ellen Cronin & Sean Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neill, married on 21st November 2018. Photo by Nicky Sanchez.

Maria & Farzan, married on 10th October 2018. Photo by Nicky Sanchez.

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