The Isle of Man branch of Save The Children are holding a coffee morning on Friday.
The event will take place from 10am to midday at St Catherine’s Church Hall in Port Erin.
Admission is £2 and includes tea/coffee and bonnag.
There will be stalls and a raffle to win a hamper filled with Manx produce.
Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting of the Last Supper has been reproduced as a stunning cross stitch embroidery by an inmate at the Isle of Man Prison.
The framed 6ft by 3ft artwork is currently on public display in Ramsey’s Catholic Church.
Prisoner Brian Parton was first introduced to cross stitch by prison officer Tina Quilliam as a way to learn a new skill and to occupy his time in a constructive way.
He showed a natural flair for the decorative form of embroidery and decided to take on a more challenging project following a conversation with Father Brian O’Mahony, one of the prison chaplains. Mr Parton set about recreating the Last Supper, da Vinci’s painting of Jesus and his disciples, working from a special kit.
Father O’Mahony explained: ‘I regularly visited Brian to view the progress. This was a massive project that demanded a great deal of skill, dedication and patience. On completion Brian said he wanted to loan his work to the Catholic Church in Ramsey, which was a wonderful gesture.’
Brian said: ‘I started this type of cross stitching in the Isle of Man Prison and my latest project, the Last Supper, took me approximately 2½ years to complete.
‘I have given this piece of work to Father Brian and the Catholic Church on a permanent loan. I am more than happy to be able to give something back to the local community and to Father Brian. I hope it brings some pleasure to the people who come and see it.’
The Last Supper will be on display in the church on Queen’s Promenade in Ramsey between 10.30am and 9pm, Monday to Friday, until July 19.
The project is part of efforts to provide prisoners with a positive focus while serving their sentences.
Jobs for prisoners in the kitchens, laundry or gardens are supplemented wherever practical by suitable work provided in conjunction with community partners.
Michael Coleman MLC, Member of the Department of Home Affairs with responsibility for the Prison and Probation Service, said: ‘Constructive activities not only provide purpose and structure to prison life, they can also encourage the development of new skills and strengthen our efforts to reduce the risk of re-offending among prisoners.
‘This approach also supports the Department’s wider commitment to combating crime in the Isle of Man and reducing the associated social and economic costs.’
Plans for Peel Carnival have been revealed, with this year’s Carnival Princess also announced.
The event will take place on Sunday, August 2, and promises fun for all the family
Team Power Stilts are back in strength and will be bringing their camera drone which shot a fantastic aerial view of last year’s event. The Panfire Steel Band will also perform.
Meanwhile, Kitty Ayres, aged nine, will be the princess with Bobby Baxter, Tegan Webb, Seana Kitchen, Summer Sweeney, Eanola Gregory and Roseann Tasker as attendants.
Carnival committee chairman Ian Baker said: ‘We are trying to break away from the more traditional stilt walkers, jugglers and clowns and more to the street acrobats with more of a wow factor.
‘As always, however, it’s all about the grand parade and the community participation, the individuals and organisation who put their time and effort into creating all the fantastic walking tableaux and floats.’
The winning float last year was from Michael School. Pupils had already made all their costumes, and the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Car, for their end of term show.
Float judging and registration takes place by the House of Manannan between 1pm and 1.30pm, with the parade starting at 2pm and more than £1,000 in cash prizes to be won.
This year the carnival again coincides with the Traditional Boat Weekend, bringing even bigger crowds for a great summer weekend of family entertainment.
Mr Baker thanked Peel Commissioners, the Arts Council, Culture Vannin, the Lottery Trust, Peel Charity Shop and the businesses who help put the event together.
A charity that helps carers of all ages will host a traditional fete in Douglas later this month.
Taking place at Masham Court on Victoria Road from midday on Sunday, July 26, the staff, volunteers and friends of Crossroads Care will entertain the public with a host of activities.
To launch a new campaign to raise funds for a much needed minibus, the charity’s Young Carers have filled their old bus with balloons and are challenging the public to guess how many were required.
The fete will boast stalls, a lucky dip, nail and face painting and traditional acitivities including a coconut shy and tin can alley, while local crafters have created all manner of quilted and felted items that will be on sale. They’ll also be offering handicraft lessons.
The public will be voting with their spare change to decide the winner of the best decorated cake competition – the cake that’s raised the most money by 4pm will be declared the winner.
Meanwhile a giant inflatable fire engine slide will be in the Crossroads Nursery playground to entertain the youngsters.
Entry will be free but visitors are asked to use the nearest public car park in Noble’s Park. Only disabled parking will be available at Masham Court. For more information visit www.crossroadsiom.org or call 673103.
The fortnightly IT Matters article by Steve Burrows, puts the spotlight on how the pace of technological advances means devices are getting smaller and smaller.
If I had to name the single biggest event in the history of computing it was probably World War II.
The need to read encrypted German radio signals catalysed UK efforts to develop electro-mechanical and electronic machines capable of breaking the German codes, resulting in the first electronic computer, Colossus, in 1943.
The theories and knowledge developed at Bletchley Park by people such as Alan Turing, Max Neumann, Tommy Flowers and many others created the concepts of the computers we have today.
If I had to name the single biggest influence on the development of computing since Colossus it would undoubtedly be Photography. Allow me to explain ….
Colossus was, no way of beating around the bush on this, colossal. It was a huge machine. Computers have become almost immeasurably more powerful since Colossus; if today’s computers were built using the same size of technology then the computing power of your smartphone would require thousands of tons of electronics which would sprawl over the area occupied by a large city.
Fortunately in 1947 three American physicists developed the transistor which superseded the vacuum tube diodes used in Colossus, and in 1953 scientists at the University of Manchester developed the first experimental transistor-based electronic computer. Transistors were much smaller (and cheaper and more reliable) than vacuum tube diodes. This is where the story of modern computing begins.
At the start of the 1980s I was an electronics engineer, designing and fixing discrete electronic circuits.
I and my colleagues would draw out our electronic designs on huge A0 drawing boards, work out how to implement them using the electronic components of the day, and then lay out the designs for the printed circuit boards that would hold and connect the components.
We often did the latter task in a well known public house, The Zebra, in Cambridge; at a large table we would sit around with pints of Greene King IPA and using a technique invented long before, we would apply our design using thin strips of black adhesive plastic to a large sheet of transparent acetate to create the image of a circuit board which would be five to 10 times its real size.
The acetate was then photographed, and projected on to the circuit board material using a technique called photo-etching. In this way we miniaturised our design in a similar way to you taking a photo of the Eiffel Tower and being able to hold the print in your hand.
Other electronics engineers, starting in 1958 used a similar photo-etching technique to draw designs of arrays of transistors and print them on a single slice of silicon crystal to create the first integrated electronic circuits (“ICs”)- what we now call Chips.
Photographic reduction has been the basis of electronic miniaturisation for decades and is still commonly used for miniaturising circuit boards.
The makers of integrated circuits have refined the photographic reduction technique much further; the transistors in a modern chip may be as small as 10 nanometres.
For reference, a human hair is about 60,000 nanometres in diameter.
A modern computer chip may have more than 10 million transistors per square millimetre.
The march of micro-reduction is set to change shortly because we are reaching the theoretical limit of how small we can make transistors, but it will not halt; to date we have been creating the electronics in chips in a single layer - 2D, the next step is to move to 3D and stack layers on top of each other like the storeys in a building. This miniaturisation is why you can hold in your hand a smartphone that is several thousand times more powerful than the computers which landed the Apollo spacecraft on the moon.
It’s also why we can create tiny microcomputers which fit into spectacles and a single satellite so powerful that it is able to provide internet connections to one million households but still small enough to launch into space (the Manx-registered Viasat-1).
next?
So where next? Miniaturisation is not just about size, it’s also about speed, cost and energy consumption.
Smaller electronics means we can fit more functions into a chip, they work faster because the electrons have less distance to travel, and similarly they need less electricity.
The increase in performance enables us to make tiny computers which can address complex problems, needing fewer components reduces cost, and the reduction in power consumption means they can be battery powered and portable.
Wearable computing is one of the next major horizons. Another is the ‘Internet of Things’ because today’s computing chips can be added to almost any type of machine without compromising the design - a refrigerator with a 1990s IBM PC bolted to its side would look a bit odd, but a modern microcomputer coming in at matchbox size or smaller can be incorporated anywhere without spoiling form or function.
Pictured above, the Linino One is designed for prototyping Internet of Things applications and contains two computers - one is used for connecting with and controlling machines and sensors, and the other includes WiFi networking to provide a website and internet communications. It could for instance be used to control a central heating system based on the weather forecast, or to count and report the number of passengers on a bus, or to automatically re-order copier paper when the stationery cupboard is running low.
It could be much smaller but the large number of wiring connectors need space even though the computers don’t.
Also pictured above, an SD memory card which includes a complete Linux computer with WiFi networking.
Normally used to connect digital cameras to smartphones and tablets, it can also be added to almost any other device that can use a SD memory card to connect it to the outside world.
When I consider that my first portable PC was the size of a suitcase and weighed 28lb the idea of a computer the size of a postage stamp seems quite incredible.
great strides
Wearable computing is similarly making great strides.
I am quite deaf and need hearing aids. Pictured above is one of them, supplied by Tim Lapham of Island Hearing in Port Erin.
This is actually a 64 bit computer with a pair of microphones and a loudspeaker which divides sound into 20 frequency bands and adjusts it to compensate for the failing in my hearing, it needs complex programming to tailor it to the wearer’s needs.
Tim has analysed my hearing with a sophisticated computer programme, and loaded that analysis into special programming software which then configured the aids for the peculiarities of my hearing, the types of environment where I commonly talk with people such as cafés and meetings, my preferences in music, etc. etc.
Modern hearing aids are far more than simple noise amplifiers, they are full-blown audio-processing computers, and this one senses the direction of sound to focus on the person speaking to me, shuts out unwanted sounds, and connects with my smartphone and computer to relay phone calls, digital music etc. directly to my ears. Somehow this tiny device contains all the electronics and a battery big enough to power it for a week or more.
Computers have become much smaller and will continue to reduce in size for many years yet. There is no good reason why the PC on your work desk should need to be larger than a packet of cigarettes except that there’s no need to make it that small, but for applications where smaller computers are useful, such as on people, in clothing, attached to machines and so on there is plenty of scope for further shrinkage.
It will not be long before we can buy digital spectacles which allow us to zoom in to what we’re looking at, or lightbulbs which automatically adjust themselves depending on the darkness of the room - the only limit to the new uses of computing will be our imagination.
The annual report of the Preservation of War Memorials Committee will be laid before Tynwald this month.
There are 150 war memorials, ranging from wall-mounted plaques to large stone monuments.
A new War Memorials Bill proposes to place a duty of care on war memorial owners to preserve and maintain them.
A ward at the Noble’s hospital site is to be mothballed over the summer months.
Health and Social Care Minister Howard Quayle insisted the proposed measure was good news as it would enhance patient safety, address spare capacity in other wards and save £250,000 over four months.
There are 22 beds in ward 20, a rehabilitation ward which is currently occupied by 11 patients, he explained.
He said under the proposal, yet to be confirmed, patients and staff would transfer over the summer months to wards five, six and seven which have spare capacity.
Mr Quayle said this was a temporary measure and ward 20 would reopen in the winter. ‘This is not a permanent thing. No jobs will be lost,’ he insisted.
‘This will enhance patient safety and potentially save £250,000 over four months.’
In another move, the Minister hailed a 10 per cent reduction in the waiting times for outpatient appointments at Noble’s Hospital.
The number of first outpatient appointments that people were waiting for fell by more than 750 between February 2014 and April this year – resulting in more patients being seen sooner.
Mr Quayle said: ‘This is welcome news and reflects the effort that has been put into reducing waiting times.’
He explained that the cut in outpatients waiting times had been achieved not through ‘throwing money’ at the problem but by introducing greater efficiencies.
The Minister said a combination of measures included ‘cleansing’ data to ensure referrals are appropriate and still required, reallocating resources where possible to reduce waiting times that are particularly high, and adapting ways of working to improve efficiency and ensure that patients don’t miss their appointments.
He said: ‘We need to examine ways of maintaining this momentum and extending this achievement to inpatient appointments as well. This will include reviewing demand and capacity and exploring new ways of working to increase through-put.’
The Minister added: ‘Reducing waiting times is never easy, there is no single solution, and the constraints on capacity as a result of our finite resources will always be a determining factor.
‘So whilst we are moving in the right direction and making progress, waiting times will remain an ongoing challenge.
‘I’m not trying to say everything is perfect. We have a long way to go. Some waiting lists are still unacceptable in my opinion,’ he told the Examiner.
Indeed some waiting times have increased including ENT and pain management.
The Minister said: ‘We have targeted improvements at outpatient clinics which had the longest waiting times, such as orthopaedics and dermatology, where the numbers waiting have reduced by 27 per cent and 38 per cent respectively.
‘Around 50 per cent of people attend their first outpatient appointment within two months of referral, but some still aren’t being seen as quickly as we’d like and the work to address this continues.’
Mr Quayle added: ‘Innovations in care delivery is one area we can explore, such as moving less complex care to the community setting and delivering some care through telemedicine.’
Isle of Man advocate John Rimmer reflects on the importance of the Trusts (Amendment) Act
History was made on June 16. Hundreds of years of common law were swept away in the Isle of Man when the Trusts (Amendment) Act 2015 took effect.
It has taken some time to come to fruition, and addresses a few important areas:
Rule Against Perpetuity: Gone, But Not Forgotten
For hundreds of years, trusts have been caught by a prohibition against the possibility that interests might vest outside a permitted perpetuity period.
English law addressed it in part in the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 1964, largely reproduced in the Isle of Man in the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 1968.
While Manx law lengthened the possible statutory perpetuity period to 150 years in the Trusts Act 2001, and English law has lengthened it to 125 years, the entire rule has been abolished or has never even existed in the Channel Islands, several U.S. states and Ireland.
What it Means in Practice:
New trusts can be created without being restricted to a particular perpetuity period. The legislation also permits, with careful drafting, existing trusts to be amended to extend or remove the perpetuity period already applicable to them.
This could also be very helpful for trusts moving to or from other jurisdictions or trust assets moving to or from trusts governed by non-Manx law.
Where it is necessary for a trust to be limited in effect so that vesting occurs within a set period can still be accommodated in most cases by careful drafting.
It also permits ‘dynastic’ trusts to be created under Manx law: these have proved highly attractive to clients in Asia and the United States, for example.
Nightmare ‘Two-Trustee Rule’: Just a Bad Memory
This rule under sections 36 and 38 of the Trustee Act 1961 has gone.
These prevent the replacement or retirement of trustees under statutory powers so as to leave a trust with only a single trustee that is not a trust corporation. (Consequent changes were also made to the Settled Land Act 1891, fortunately rarely applicable.)
What it Means in Practice:
Retirement and replacement of trustees will be easier in the future, and traps causing them to fail will disappear.
Historic breaches of the rule are not remedied but thoughtful drafting could remedy possible historic issues in many cases going forward.
The express terms of the trust instrument may still impose a requirement for more than one trustee, however.
Manx ‘Firewall’ Legislation Catches Up with the Leading Standard
The Trusts Act 1995, when passed, put the Isle of Man with leading jurisdictions in excluding the effect of foreign law (especially succession law).
Since then, other jurisdictions have passed legislation that addresses specific concerns about the adequacy of the earlier forms of the legislation.
This includes excluding the impact of orders obtained in other courts and widening of the law to cover matrimonial matters as well as succession and other claims affecting beneficiaries – not just the settlor.
What it Means in Practice:
The Isle of Man has been at a competitive disadvantage for some time.
While the courts would in practice apply the Acts in similar ways, the perception in London and elsewhere seems to have been that the wording of the legislation in some jurisdictions other than the Isle of Man went a little further in assuring the settlor that the trust was protected from foreign law.
The changes are not intended to put the Isle of Man in the ahead of all other jurisdictions, but to bring it up to what is widely seen as the leading standard.
NOTE: This is for information only and no decision should be taken, based upon it, to take or refrain from taking any action: professional advice should always be sought.
Cronk-y-Voddy Ploughing Committee are holding their annual Sports Day will take place on Sunday, July 19.
The day was originally scheduled for Tynwald Day but had to be cancelled due to bad weather.
The event will now start at 2pm with the marquee open at 12 for refreshments.
There are over 40 classes to compete in for all children up to 15 years.
The dog show has been cancelled.
All proceeds will go to the Multiple Sclerosis Society (Isle of Man branch).
Admission is £1 for adults and free for children. Parking is also free.
A new off road Polaris Ranger vehicle has been delivered to the Calf of Man, and it will be used by the estate warden and ornithological warden to carry out their duties.
Previously, wardens Harry Savage and Judit Mateos used a quad bike to survey the area, but this was coming to the end of its life, said properties manager at Manx National Heritage Shaun Murphy.
They decided to replace it with the Polaris Ranger because – being enclosed, with seat belts and a roll bar – it affords greater protection if there’s an accident in the rough terrain it is required to cover.
>> FEATURE: Idyllic Calf is a world apart
The Friends of MNH donated the £13,500 for its purchase for which MNH is very grateful.
‘It will be used for a mixture of things,’ said Shaun. ‘The transporting of guests and luggage from the boats, estate maintenance work, also by the bird warden. It’s got the capability of being able to go off the beaten track’.
There are around 33 species of birds breeding annually and the Calf is located on one of western Britain’s major migration route.
They include Manx shearwater, which once occupied the island in large numbers, but they declined catastrophically following the arrival of longtails believed to have come off a ship wrecked off the coast in 1781. Their numbers this year are of particular interest as MNH carried out a major operation to rid the island of its main predator, the longtail.
Bird warden Judit, who is Spanish, will be using the Polaris Ranger to access burrows and assess if shearwater númbers have improved.
The new vehicle is also good news for visitors who can stay in self-catered hostel standard accommodation (which must be pre-booked) in the Calf, they will benefit from being conveyed in far greater comfort from the harbour to the conservatory.
The fifth Isle of Man Aviation Conference, organised by ICM Aviation and supported by the Isle of Man Aircraft Registry was judged to be the best yet.
The conference was founded by Mark Byrne, director of ICM Aviation.
He was keen to bring overseas delegates to the Isle of Man so they could meet the Isle of Man Aircraft Registry staff in person but also get a feel for the breadth of aviation expertise on the island, in particular finance, tax, insurance, legal, technical and corporate management.
Hard on the heels of our reports on the conference in last week’s Business News, ICM Group’s marketing manager Jenny Oliver and her team worked hard to make sure the event went well.
She revealed it was attended by 135 delegates from 14 countries, representing 83 companies.
The 2015 conference was deemed the best yet and Jenny said: ‘We were taking registrations right up to the very last minute this year.
‘Some of our delegates have been coming over since we organised the first one in 2011 and we have got to know them well. It is a very friendly event – we call it ‘‘the conference with the personal touch’’.
‘We listen to delegate feedback and try and make it better each year. We also like to show our visitors a new part of the island when they are over and despite Manannan’s cloak almost spoiling our evening reception at Bradda Glen this year, the clouds just lifted in time for us to get that fantastic view down the coast.’
One of the main conference speakers was Scott O’Brien from Washington DC who works for the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) as their senior manager of finance and tax policy.
Scott was very taken with the island and vowed to return next year.
He said: ‘The conference brings together experts on worldwide aircraft transactions, provides excellent networking and introduces attendees to the business aviation expertise on the Isle of Man.’
Scott was not the only delegate to spend several days on the island. Jenny added: ‘Quite a few of our overseas delegates stayed a bit longer this year which is of course good for local providers. Local hotels benefitted from almost 100 nights booked by delegates and we certainly know of two public houses that were very busy indeed!
‘These conferences are all about the networking and the Isle of Man is great for that as it is a safe, friendly place and nothing is very far away.’
The event came to an end on the Friday with a boat trip for overseas delegates on the classic M V Karina. The grey, misty weather did not dampen spirits and for those who had not been to the island before, was a fitting end to an eventful few days.
The team at ICM Aviation has already started planning the next Isle of Man Aviation Conference which will take place on June 23, 2016.
St Mark’s Fair will be opened on Saturday at 2pm by former village resident Pam Gilmour.
At the opening ceremony, fair princess, Megan Glassey, attended by Emily Collister and Abigail Corlett with buttonhole boys Josh Gelling and Josh Tyrer, will be crowned by Edith Fargher, who was caretaker at the school.
Onchan Silver Band will play, and there will be a host of entertainment including displays of gymnastics, Manx dancing, lace making, quilting, spinning, corn dolly-making, classic cars, vintage farm machinery and dog agility.
There will also be a range of competitions including handicraft and confectionery, photographic, wildflower and painting, plus children’s sports.
Stalls are open from 3pm to 5pm, with refreshments served from 2.30pm and sports from 3pm.
To book a market stall at the fair, call 851384.
A collection at the entrance will go to the fair’s funds and also Bridge the Gap, a charity committed to improving support for teenagers and young people with complex medical conditions.
Changes to Jobseeker’s Allowance designed to encourage more claimants into employment will be moved at the July sitting of Tynwald.
The changes include reducing rates of JSA for jobseekers who do not have to pay housing costs and incremental cuts in the rates for those who have been signing on for more than six months.
The Tynwald sitting takes place next week.
A new cycling event is launched in Port Erin on Saturday, July 25.
The Port Erin Cycling Kermesse includes competitive categories and also fun classes to encourage participation by the whole community.
Steve Shimmin of SAS Events organising the kermesse said: ‘The programme of events was designed to offer the chance for everyone to enjoy the sport of cycling, inspired by the Tour de France, which will be nearing its conclusion on the night of the event.’
As well as race categories for youth, senior and veteran riders, there will also be an event for mountain bikes and less-serious competitors, as well as a class called Dooley’s Dash for any non-race bikes such as choppers, shoppers, unicycles and penny farthings!
The route follows a course from Station Road to Bridson Street, Orchard Road, Church Road and back around to the start line.
The programme starts at 6pm when roads will be closed to traffic, allowing anyone with a bike to cycle the course before races begin later on.
The event is being sponsored by the Dandara Group.
The firm’s marketing director, Joanna Orton, said: ‘We’re delighted to be sponsoring this brand new event, which is firmly focused on bringing the community together to have fun and be entertained.
‘Cycling is a very popular sport in the Isle of Man and this is a great way of getting people of all ages and abilities together, in the spectacular setting of Port Erin, to enjoy riding on closed roads at their own pace.
‘Port Erin has hosted numerous cycling events over the years including International Cycling Week, last held in 2003, a stage of the Isle of Man Youth Tour in 2007 and a round of the Sky Sports Grand Prix Series in the mid-90s.
‘Those events were always very well supported and we’re hoping the Dandara Port Erin Cycling Kermesse will generate the same level of enthusiasm.’
Steve added: ‘We’re grateful to Dandara for its support as well as Port Erin Commissioners, Erin Bike Hut, Franklins and the Port Erin Traders. Without the assistance of generous local sponsors it is impossible to stage events such as this.’
To enter see www.sasevents.im or email info@sasevents.im. For more information see www.facebook.com/saseventsiom
The UK is going ‘head to head’ with the Isle of Man and other jurisdictions with the reforms announced in last week’s summer budget.
That’s the verdict of Treasury Minister Eddie Teare, who says that changes to the UK’s corporation tax, inheritance tax and reformed non-domicile rules will affect the island’s financial industry and could make it harder for the island to attract entrepeneurs.
‘It will have an impact on us one way or another,’ he told iomtoday. ‘What has come out of this is that the UK is gearing up to be a very strong competitor.
‘They already have the lowest rate of corporate tax in the OECD. If they’re going to reduce it even further it means they’re going into head to head competition with us.’
Meanwhile the island’s fiduciary companies and corporate service providers will feel the effects of changes to the UK non-domicile rules, which will limit the amount of time they can stay in the UK before they are considered to be residents for tax purposes.
‘There are quite a few Isle of Man companies that hold assets on behalf of non-doms based in the UK,’ Mr Teare said. ‘It may mean that non-doms will have to modify their arrangements.’
But the new rules could also attract non-doms seeking to leave the UK, he continued.
‘Some non-doms may move out of the UK and decide they’d like to move to the Isle of Man, where they can take advantage of our tax cap.’
Mr Teare added that the fact that the island has no inheritance tax is still a key part of the package, despite a significant increase to the UK’s inheritance tax threshold.
‘People can come to the Isle of Man, where they know they will pay taxes for as long as they live, but they also know that once they pass away there will be no further claims on their estate,’ he said.
He praised UK chancellor George Osborne’s political talents. ‘He’s produced a very skilful budget, it’s very well done,’ he said. ‘But it may be a double-edged sword for us. It might benefit one part of the economy but have an adverse impact on another.’
This week’s Isle of Man Examiner reveals how much has been paid to civil servants in lump sums for early retirement.
Also this week:
Revealed: Plans for Ramsey pier
Hospital ward shuts to save cash
Hundreds object to prom plans
Peter Tatchell’s view of Isle of Man
Another win for Cavendish
Southern 100 news
Letters
Terry Cringle’s nostalgia pages
The latest from the courts
The paper is in the shops now.
Hospice Isle of Man is celebrating the official opening of a new boutique in Douglas.
Following the success of the pop-up shop which appeared in December and January, Hospice have created a permanent flagship store in Strand Street that aims to sell speciality pieces, designer clothes, bags and ornaments.
Staffed entirely by volunteers, the shop officially opened yesterday (Monday) and will be open from Mondays to Saturdays between 10am and 4pm.
Hospice Isle of Man is appealing for suitably high-end donations.
They can be dropped into the boutique or the charity’s warehouse in Spring Valley Industrial Estate, near the headquarters of Isle of Man Post.
Shops manager Judith Leslie said: ‘The boutique was a huge success when it was a pop-up shop so we have decided to do it again, but this time on a more permanent footing.
‘Hospice shops provide much valued and needed income to the main Hospice so we are very grateful to everyone who donates items and to all that purchase the pre-loved and new pieces.’
To find out more about Hospice visit www.hospice.org.im, ring 647431 or 615055 for the shops or follow Hospice on social media websites.
A concert will be held tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Peel Lifeboat boathouse at 7.30pm.
Organised by Peel Lifeboat Ladies Guild, ‘Summer Music at the Boathouse’ will feature Lon Dhoo choir and guests.
The concert starts at 7.30pm and tickets cost £7.50, which includes refreshments.
Contact Mrs Paddy Kelly on 476700, Mrs Margaret Kelly on 842731, or Shirley Collin on 845708.
Reserves could be better invested to stimulate economic growth in the Isle of Man.
That’s one of the initiatives set out in a government policy report being presented to next week’s Tynwald sitting.
Chief Minister Allan Bell, who will be moving an update to the Agenda for Change strategy, says economic growth is top of the list of priorities.
And he said if we are to ensure the long-term viability of public services, the welfare state and the state pension. the island needs to ‘significantly increase the size of the working age population’.
He told iomtoday that the challenges facing the island are not diminishing and the UK Budget last week would only lead to increased competition.
Mr Bell called for a renewed focus on economic growth, encouraging investment and creating jobs.
The ‘Agenda for Change’ update, entitled ‘Securing A Sustainable Future For Our Island’, sets out the challenges and actions that government will focus on for the remainder of the current administration. The report also sets out the longer term challenges facing the Isle of Man and identifies the actions government will be taking to lay the foundations for our future sustainability.
Priority actions under the ‘Grow the Economy’ heading include a commitment to ‘develop new initiatives with the private sector to boost the economy with a focus on job creation, to be implemented by October 2015’.
The Chief Minister is expected to reveal more about the proposed initiatives when he presents the report for receipt by Tynwald members at next week’s sitting starting on July 21.
The report states: ‘We will continue to promote and support the creation of growth that brings more jobs to our island. We will better use our reserves to stimulate economic growth, drive innovation and support investment in capital infrastructure where it will create jobs and support growth.
‘We will make sure that we have the right environment for enterprise and growth. We want less bureaucracy so business can flourish and grow.’
Revised plans for the Douglas Promenade improvement scheme have been delayed and may not be filed until next week.
The Department of Infrastructure had previously stated their intention to submit updated drawings – which slightly move the horse tram tracks to create more space on the walkway – to the planning office by July 3.
But the updates are on hold ahead of another meeting between the DoI and representatives of various disability groups this week, who have expressed safety concerns about the ‘shared space’ scheme intended for the promenades.
A spokesman for the DoI told iomtoday that the department will not submit any amended plans until those discussions have taken place.
The earliest possible date for submission is this Friday (July 17) but the department have warned that this may be put back a week to Friday, July 24, depending on the extent of any revisions. Planners must then decide if the changes warrant a new 21-day public consultation period.