Gibraltar Insight™ May 2020

THE ROCK’S LONGEST RUNNING MAGAZINE

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Photo: Assistant Commissioner Richard Ullger, Royal Gibraltar Police

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M AY ISSUE 49

Contents

22

36

Business Insight 17

BUSINESS NEWS

Football Insight 29

LYNX FC – THE UNSUNG HEROES

Forces Insight 28

ARMED FORCES NEWS

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Features 16

ONE RETURNING HERO

18

THANKYOU TO THE GHA!

22

INTERVIEW WITH DR SOHAIL BHATTI, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH, GIBRALTAR

26

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS GIBRALTAR?

30 GIBRALTAR MILITARY WIVES CHOIR 38

TO KISS OR NOT TO KISS

40 A NEW MEANING TO SHARING 43

LOST DURING ISOLATION

60 SHINE YOUR LIGHT

History Insight 36

DID YOU KNOW? THE STORY BEHIND SOME OF GIBRALTAR’S STAMPS

Regular Features 8

COMMUNITY INSIGHT

15

TECHNOLOGY INSIGHT

33

TAGORE COMPETITION

34

MOTORING INSIGHT

45

VET COLUMN – PETS, COVID-19 AND ISOLATION

46 MUM ON THE ROCK – HOSTING A CHILD’S PARTY

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HEALTH & WELLBEING INSIGHT

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HOROSCOPES

57

MAMA LOTTIES RECIPE

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WEDDING INSIGHT

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THE LIGHT & POWER SHOP CROSSWORD

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Gibraltar Insight Deputy Editor: Jean King

Gibraltar Insight - the Rock’s longest running magazine.

Production: Billy Couper

Published by GBZ Media Limited, 5 Governor’s Lane, Gibraltar GX11 1AA.

Accounts & Administration: Rosemary Salah-El-Din Superyacht Owners’ Guide Managing Editor: Sophie Blake Creative Director: Ben Lewis

Printed by Roca Graphics Limited, 21 Tuckey’s Lane, Gibraltar GX11 1AA

Executive Editor: Ross Ford

Copyright 2020. All rights reserved.

For advertising & general queries, contact: +350 200 40913

The names Gibraltar Insight, Bermuda Insight, Mum On The Rock, SYOG, Superyacht Owners’ Guide & GBZ Media are marks of GBZ Media (Overseas) Limited, used under exclusive licence. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher.

Email:

hello@gibraltarinsight.com

Web:

www.gibraltarinsight.com

Socials:

@GBZinsight @MumOnTheRockGBZ @BermudaInsight @SYOGuide @GBZmedia

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/or correspondents do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. Neither Gibraltar Insight nor GBZ Media Limited is responsible for any claims made, or material(s) used, in advertisements.

For permission to copy cuttings for internal or client use, contact NLA - nlamediaaccess.com or +441892 525273.

Photo: Elliott Howe

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COMMUNITY INSIGHT

NEW FIREFIGHTERS READY TO SERVE THE GIBRALTAR FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE AIRPORT FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE, HAS WELCOMED 5 NEW RECRUITS. GFRS firefighters Liam Wilding, Jaydan Fortunato and Steven Soussi and AFRS firefighters Alain Pons and Julian Lopez had been on a course in the UK just as lockdown was about to hit, but still managed to complete their Firefighter Foundation and Development Programme (FFDP), a first in the services’ history. Congratulations to you all.

AIR QUALITY IMPROVES A CONSEQUENCE OF GIBRALTAR’S LOCKDOWN OWING TO COVID-19 HAS BEEN AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE ROCK’S AIR QUALITY, PARTICULARLY WITH PARTICULATES. Minister for the Environment John Cortes commented, “The results are to be expected. They do prove that traffic is now our main source of diminished air quality, which should encourage us to redouble efforts to deal with this after the current crisis when we start to regain a reviewed normality. The fact that poor air quality affects respiratory health is particularly significant as this will be key to good health in later years if COVID-19 becomes endemic. For the moment one consolation of the difficulties we are living through is the fact that we are breathing cleaner air.

EASTER EGGS RAISE SPIRITS Chandru Khemani of Bon Bon Supermarket kindly donated Easter eggs to children in care this year.

Pictured, Neil Hayes, a civil contingencies volunteer, handed all 25 eggs over to the appropriate social worker.

#SHOWUSYOUR RAINBOW The Royal Gibraltar Police has announced the closing date for their #ShowUsYourRainbow competition.

Entrants have until Friday 15th May to share their artistic flair, and help spread goodwill during this difficult time in Gibraltar.

The rules are: -

Open to children aged 12 & under Picture must include a rainbow & Police theme Picture must include child’s first name & age Picture must include #StayHomeSaveLives Place them on your window if you can

Send your pictures to media@royalgib. police.gi and the RGP will post entries received to their Facebook, Twitter & Instagram feeds.

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The 5 winners selected will go on a group visit to New Mole House Police Headquarters, as well as a patrol with the Police’s Mobile & Marine units (when possible after lockdown has ended).

Winning entries will also feature in June’s Gibraltar Insight. · The deadline for receiving entries for the competition is final. No entries received after the given date will be considered. · The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. · Entrants will be deemed to have accepted these rules and to agree to be bound by them when entering this competition. · This competition is administered by the Royal Gibraltar Police.

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COMMUNITY INSIGHT

CULTURAL ONLINE

P RO GR AM M I NG

We e k 7 MONDAY 4TH MAY 2020 10am

A NEW ISOLATION UNIT HAS BECOME OPERATIONAL AT MOUNT ALVERNIA. ITS TIMELY OPENING MEANS THAT THERE IS NOW EXTRA CAPACITY FOR IV THERAPY, CARDIAC MONITORING AND NON-INVASIVE MECHANIC VENTILATION. Elderly Residential Services’ Care Manager Susan Vallejo said; “This newly created isolation unit increases our capability to care for residents potentially infected by COVID-19 and complements the existing contingency measures.”

Minister for Health and Care, the Hon. Paul Balban added, “I believe this additional facility will add valuable resilience to the ERS in its contingency planning. I am grateful to GJBS for having delivered this project in record time and, of course, my gratitude to Susan and her team for their unwavering commitment to the care and safety of our community’s most vulnerable. Additionally, this is a real advantage for the future also as we will be able to provide medical care for our vulnerable elders here even after the COVID Pandemic is over.”

Storytelling for Children from the John Mackintosh Hall Library 11am GAMPA performance

12noon GibTalks 2017 featuring Julian Felice and Samantha Barrass 2pm BrightMed Talks featuring John Le Drew TUESDAY 5TH MAY 2020 10am

Storytelling for Children - LIVE

11am

Jetstream Video Clips

12noon GibTalks 2017 featuring Tito Vallejo 2pm

Phillip Borge and Anthony Roper – Duettino – Singing songs from II Divo

WEDNESDAY 6TH MAY 2020 10am

Storytelling for Children from the John Mackintosh Hall Library 11am Surianne Dalmedo – Find Your Voice – Part 1 - LIVE

12noon GibTalks 2017 featuring Man Benn Tahayekt and Sean Acris 2pm BrightMed Talks featuring Yan Delgado THURSDAY 7TH MAY 2020 10am

Storytelling for Children - LIVE

11am

GAMPA performance

12noon GibTalks 2017 featuring Henry and Priscilla Sacramento 2pm Music Potpourri featuring Karina Ortiz and Liana Peklivanas FRIDAY 8TH MAY 2020 10am

Storytelling for Children from the John Mackintosh Hall Library

11am

Surianne Dalmedo – Find Your Voice – Part 2 - LIVE

12noon GibTalks 2017 featuring Karl Ullger 2pm

World Music Festival 2017 featuring Orphy Robinson, Lester Batchelor, Dee Byrtne and Mohammed Nazam

FIND OUT MORE ONLINE: culture.gi and gampa.gi as well as social media.

For further information please contact Gibraltar Cultural Services on 20075669, 20067236, 202079750 or email: info@culture.gi

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BUSINESS INSIGHT CELAC kept to its regular meeting schedule and included representatives of all constituent organisations plus the Chief Minister, the Ministers for Financial Services and Gaming, Albert Isola, and for Business, Vijay Daryanani, as well as the Financial Secretary, Albert Mena.

Included in the agenda was how to stave off insolvencies in the period of the COVID pandemic, and how to pro-actively stimulate the economy post-COVID (including loan schemes for businesses) via Task Force Future.

CELAC also started work on resolving issues relating to sick leave and holiday pay that fall to be considered as a result of the enforced closure of businesses during this difficult time.

The other representatives included Stuart Davies and Christian Duo for Unite, Wendy Cumming for the GGCA, Christian Hernandez for the Chamber of Commerce, Julian Byrne for the Federation of Small Businesses, Marc Ellul for the Finance Centre Council, Nigel Birrell for the GBGA and Cecilia Bravo Garcia for the Landlords Association.

Brexit Contingency Pays Off Local medical gas supplier, Oxy Limited, was at the forefront of the installation of an oxygen production plant for use by the medical sector.

It formed part of an existing Brexit contingency plan in order to make Gibraltar as self-sufficient as possible, especially when it came to matters as potentially sensitive as medical supplies.

The new plant can produce more oxygen than St Bernard’s Hospital would normally need and can also be used to fill the Rock’s own cylinders.

At the Europa Point Hospital Nightingale Facility, oxygen is being provided through a combination of portable oxygen concentrators, and compressed oxygen cylinders.

Soon, it will make use of a temporary liquid oxygen tank and fixed oxygen points, installed by multinational medical gas supplier, Linde Plc, in conjunction with Oxy Limited.

BRITISH AIRWAYS MAINTAINS GIB FLIGHTS

Following on from a discussion held last month with HMGoG, British Airways will continue to run services to and from Gibraltar in May, with regular reassessments to consider changing circumstances and emergency regulations.

The Chief Minister, the Hon Fabian Picardo commented, “I am delighted that we have been able to agree that British Airways will continue operating to Gibraltar providing a lifeline to our community and those around Gibraltar, not only for those people that need to travel for essential purposes but to ensure the carriage of persons and goods which may be vital to the current crisis as well as mail, cargo, courier services and other items that are crucial at this time. This is a great result for Gibraltar at this challenging time.”

The Minister for Health and Care, the Hon Mr Paul Balban stated “St Bernard’s and the Nightingale facility now have their own guaranteed capability. Going forwards the GHA will be self-sufficient in oxygen provided from its own plant for normal usage and will continue to work closely with Oxy Limited to ensure that we have access to imported oxygen as a back-up or for circumstances where our demand greatly exceeds normal requirements.”

WORKERS’ MEMORIAL DAY This year’s service took on a different format, given the COVID circumstances.

The Chief Minister, The Hon Fabian Picardo QC MP, the Minister for Employment, The Hon Gilbert Licudi QC MP and two representatives from Unite the Union, laid wreaths at the Lobby of Parliament. In addition, candles were lit to remember all those workers who have died worldwide since the start of the pandemic.

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TECHNOLOGY INSIGHT

R ED B ULL LEA D TH E PAC K,

VIRTUALLY IT’S SAFE TO SAY THAT WITHOUT A BIT OF SPORT GOING ON, THE WORLD IS A POORER PLACE (UNLESS YOU’RE IN BELARUS WHO ARE STILL RUNNING A FULL SCHEDULE AT THE TIME OF GOING TO PRESS).

The thrill of seeing the team or professional you follow, or merely the buzz from the likes of Wimbledon, is sadly missing for all of us.

A few clubs and governing bodies, along with TV sports channels, have embarked on a “greatest hits” approach to keep fans engaged and the airwaves busy. This is all very well, but the edge of the unknown is missing from all of it. Quite simply, we all know what comes to transpire.

Enter eSports. For a long time, eSports has been seen as a bit of a poor relation to the real thing. After all, these are virtual reality representations of the athletes and sports we are all familiar with. But what if the COVID crisis makes this type of sport part of the “new normal”?

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Gibraltar already has a healthy eSports community, and with greater exposure we could see a groundswell of global adoption of playing sports online. NHL teams in North America have used this pause in the regular season to run matches online, complete with national anthems and all the pomp of the “real” event. Manchester City was one of the first football teams to actually employ an eSports athlete full-time - it helps their brand reach and keeps a different demographic hooked into their team.

Leyton Orient stole a march on the bigger clubs, however, when they set up a virtual tournament during “the great pause” by inviting them to compete on Twitter.

There are, of course, some sports that suit the virtual world slightly better than others, and Formula 1 is probably one of them.

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Self-heralded as the most technologically advanced sport in the world, it’s no wonder that these brands have looked at eSports seriously, and not necessarily confined to their own area of expertise.

At the end of April, Red Bull qualified for the Le Mans eSports Super Final, which is due to take place later in the year. This is the type of event that stakeholders see as complementary to the real world, and give followers of motorsport even greater insight into the technology - virtual or real - that powers their business.

All that’s missing, however, is the champagne - it could damage the game controllers.

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FEATURE

ONE RETURNING

HERO

A NURSE’S DESCRIBES RETURNING TO THE NHS FRONTLINE TO HELP FIGHT THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

WORDS BY KATHLEEN NORTH 16

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FEATURE The Coronavirus has had a huge impact on all of our lives. Whether you are an individual who has suffered from this disease to those experiencing loss of a loved one - no one has escaped its emotional, physical and psychological impact.

own safety and exposure to the virus. But once I had recognized a few faces on that morning shift, I felt right at home again.

Wearing full PPEs which were provided and working with wonderful new healthcare professionals who had been redeployed from other areas of the hospital to help in the critical areas was something I wasn’t used to either. I must say the PPEs are something you could never get used to wearing, feeling claustrophobic, hot, sweaty and barely being able to see through the goggles you had on due to the steam from your eyes, and then facing a Unit bursting at the seams full of COVID-19 patients all on ventilators and life support machines.

None more so than our frontline health professionals who are providing healthcare and emotional support to all their patients - and to each other - during these exacting, frankly dangerous times.

For those healthcare professionals returning to the NHS after previously leaving their profession, the desire to help is overwhelming.

Rosy Boulton, 52, lives alone in Suffolk after recently separating. Rosy has three grown up children who all live in various parts of the country and New Zealand.

“I have a nursing degree RGN BSc and speciality in Critical Care nursing where I worked for 10 years in our local NHS hospital from qualifying as a nurse and rose to being a Sister on the Unit.

I left Critical Care Nursing in 2016 after 10 years’ service. I felt I had achieved all my personal goals working on the Unit and didn’t want to progress any higher which would have meant less patient contact as you climbed the ranks and that just wasn’t for me! You see I was a mature student when I entered this amazing profession after seeing the amazing nursing care my father received when he was dying of cancer. In fact, the nurse who took great care of him and inspired me to become a nurse is now a very good friend of mine and she encouraged me to be the best I could in Critical Care. I have a lot to thank her for. So patient care was always at the heart of nursing for me and management, with all its politics and bureaucracy, just wasn’t for me.

At times, I wondered why I’d volunteered - this was not the nursing I’d signed up to. This felt akin to a battle zone but instead of weapons as the enemy, it was an invisible deadly disease. On a daily basis I was seeing sad sights of patients struggling with every weakened breath, seeing their hearts take a hit with the impact of the virus taking over their bodies needing strong cardiac drugs and their kidneys packing up requiring dialysis and all the powerful drugs and medication given to keep them alive.

Seeing patients at their most vulnerable time of need without family members being present meant that as a nurse you were the only one to hold their hand and be with them to comfort and tenderly care for their needs.

I then nursed in the Community for two years feeling I wanted to give a different arm of nursing a try and learn new skills. So I cared for a patient in her home who still required 1-1 nursing, hence continuing to put my Critical Care skills to good use. It was such a stark contrast to working in hospital where patients would immediately develop “white coat” syndrome and bow down to Drs and healthcare professionals in charge of their care, to me being extremely respectful of my new patient’s personal wishes on how she wanted to be cared for and her personal space, home and belongings.

I then stopped practicing nursing in 2018 to concentrate on my new business, running my own private medical skin clinic in Suffolk, Crystal Rose Skin Clinic, but continued to keep my nursing registration valid as this was highly regarded by my clients in the Clinic and also in case I ever needed to go back to nursing.

As soon as the Government informed the whole nation to go into lockdown in March 2020, I had no option but to close my skin Clinic for the foreseeable and hearing the hardship and struggles my old nursing colleagues in Critical Care were having to go through with the rise of COVID-19 patients, I immediately knew I had to go back to help and offer my services. I contacted my old matron on the Unit and registered with the local NHSP Bank service and started working immediately. Unfortunately due to the shortage of experienced staff, there was no going back gently for me after having left 4 years previously, and I had to pray my memory would not let me down. But it gradually all came back to me caring for the very sick on multiple lifesaving machines. My colleagues describe it like “riding a bike” - you never forget.

It was also great to be part of my old fantastic team of dedicated nurses, doctors and consultants again and I was even asked by a colleague why I’d returned. My response was “once a nurse always a nurse”... it’s in your blood!

My first day back was quite daunting, feeling nervous and wondering if I had made the right decision taking into account my GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM

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I was isolating alone but I could see the fear in my colleagues who had family and young children at home isolating with them, because of the fear of going home and spreading the virus. But each day an army of brave nurses and hospital workers would turn up to take on another horrendous day.

I know that this period in my nursing career will never be forgotten or repeated in my generation, going down in history. I feel enormous pride and a sense of being able to do my bit to help along with all the amazing key workers and volunteers across the country, all doing their bit in the nation’s moment of need. I know that we healthcare professionals ARE the frontline in this war and are proud and honoured to serve.

My children are very proud of the fact and not at all surprised that I returned to the NHS to offer my help. They were naturally very worried for my own health and safety but knew that I would never put myself in a compromised situation and make sure full PPEs were provided. They knew that my love for this vocation would make me want to help in whatever way I could.

I’m so proud of the accomplishments Major Tom Moore has done for the NHS so I am a strong supporter of his.” www.crystalroseskinclinic.co.uk

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FEATURE

“In January it was like seeing a tsunami coming that no one else could really see yet” INTERVIEW WITH DR SOHAIL BHATTI, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH, GIBRALTAR

INTERVIEW BY SOPHIE BLAKE 22

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We are grateful to Dr Bhatti for taking the time out of his busy schedule to talk to us about his work and the current pandemic and why he loves Gibraltar…

HOW DID YOU GET INTO PUBLIC HEALTH? I wasn’t clear exactly what I wanted to do but I was clear that I was good at public health and there had been a significant change in government policy after I graduated and public health was expanding, so I applied to join the formal training programme in the North West of England; obtaining an MSc in Public Health in 1994 from Manchester University, having previously qualified in Medicine from Glasgow University in 1985. Public Health is subject to political influences.

When I joined, the speciality was expanding but when I finished training it was contracting because a new government had come in and introduced new policies, so I had a longer training period.

DO YOU THINK MEDICAL SCIENCE WAS SIMPLER, IN THE SENSE OF THE NUMBER OF THREATS IN THE PAST? The threats have always been there. Global travel and connectivity have made more of the population subject to them. If you go back to the Spanish conquest of South and Central America, syphilis and measles were introduced and it decimated the population; some estimate ninety percent were wiped out. If you introduce infections into a new population, there can be a big impact if they’ve never been exposed. This has been within human beings throughout history. In fact most infectious diseases have a counterpart in animals, called zoonoses. These are very similar diseases, making us think that they transferred to humans some time ago. For example, canine distemper is similar to measles and bovine TB is similar to TB. The only diseases that are specific to humans are Smallpox - which is why we have eradicated it and also Polio, which we have nearly eradicated.

THE NORTH OF ENGLAND MADE AN IMPRESSION ON YOU. WHAT WAS YOUR MOMENT OF GREATEST SATISFACTION WHEN YOU LOOK BACK ON YOUR TIME IN MANCHESTER, HUDDERSFIELD AND LANCASHIRE? I did some pioneering work whilst I was there. When I was training, my thesis was on focus groups as a method of consultation; in those days nobody had heard of them. I also did a lot on geodemographics which links geographic and health information, with deprivation; also pioneering work at the time. Our work in Huddersfield compared information in a novel way that illustrated how bad deprivation was. I wrote about how ethnic minorities were paying a disproportionate price in terms of their ill health. I had a broad set of interests and worked voluntarily supporting charities which was enjoyable because I was able to use my skills and knowledge in helping others which revitalised my batteries. I am vocationally driven and want to help our communities and leave them better off from where I found them. The nature of change is such that if you wish your change to stick you have to make others the custodians of it; they have to own the change and believe they were the authors of the change, even though you know you had introduced and implemented the concept. I would like to think that things I started car-

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ried on after I had left. That is one of the things that would make me feel warmest. For example, I helped set up a primary care resource centre in Manchester’s Moss Side, which was handed over to the community to run. Its greatest credit was the way people took it up. It was a vibrant, thriving centre when I revisited it 10 years later, which was great to see in the heart of a deprived community.

YOU TOOK UP YOUR CURRENT POSITION AS DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH (DPH) IN GIBRALTAR IN 2008, HAVING PREVIOUSLY HELD THE SAME POSITION IN HUDDERSFIELD, EAST LANCASHIRE, CITY OF LONDON, THE LONDON BOROUGHS OF HACKNEY AND HOUNSLOW, AS WELL AS THE CITY OF BRISTOL. WHAT MADE YOU THINK OF GIBRALTAR AS YOUR NEXT WORK DESTINATION? I spent a long time in the NHS and felt wedded to it so when latterly my speciality moved into local government, I felt this a bridge too far. I wanted to help people and see my work have impact.

I had visited Gibraltar and it intrigued me: a community that was self-contained, somewhere I might be able to leave a legacy and make a measurable difference to a community; it had all these wonderful hallmarks. I am a great believer in diversity and that is Gibraltar: a polyglot community, multigenerational, multiracial, in fact it is a model for the world. When one goes back historically and looks at Andalusia and Cordoba, they were multicultural societies that promoted learning.

Gibraltar inherited that model; built on trade, people spending a lot of time and effort acquiring knowledge, a legal framework, medical infrastructure.

THIS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST MEDICAL EMERGENCIES THE WORLD HAS FACED IN RECENT TIMES. WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON IT AND HOW THE WORLD’S HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS ARE COPING? Pandemics of this nature happen rarely. The last one was in 1918. In some ways my entire training has been for this moment. I am privileged that I am able to utilise all of that training whilst still professionally active.

This pandemic is unique because it challenges our healthcare systems with overwhelming demand. No healthcare system created sustainably could withstand this kind of attack. This is a war and all wars by their nature are unexpected and aren’t fought like the previous war. Gibraltar has shown a huge entrepreneurial flair to expand its healthcare system, such that our modellers suggest that if we had the worst-case scenario - and we won’t - that our healthcare is sufficient to allow us to cope. However this has come at a huge cost and relies on workers coming here and PPE brought from abroad etc., so we can’t relax too much and think we have it made; we haven’t.

The best system promotes prevention because this virus is a bad lifestyle virus. It targets people who modern healthcare has kept alive because they have had a bad lifestyle. The best cure is not to fall ill. Bad lifestyles abuse the free good, the asset which most - though not all of us - are given; a body which functions. Over time through alcohol, smoking, eating too much, not exercising enough, our bodies pay the price of decades of abuse. The human body is designed for persistence running; our ancestors survived by hunting

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FEATURE

“this virus is a bad lifestyle virus.

Alcohol, smoking, eating too much, not exercising enough, our bodies pay the price of decades of abuse” game. The great strength we had was the ability to store glycogen in our liver and so effectively run prey into submission. If you keep a car and never run it, it will cease up; indolence is abuse for the body. Smoking exposes the body to 3,000 chemicals including dioxin, arsenic, cadmium. Alcohol is a toxin and we can lose control with it. It is not the natural state of our body to live in an environment of plenty all of the time; these are all metabolic challenges and that is how we lose the greatest asset we have, which is our well-being.

IS THE COVID-19 SITUATION SOMETHING THAT COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED? OR HAVE LIFESTYLE CHOICES MADE SOMETHING LIKE THIS INEVITABLE? Humans are first and foremost social creatures; we thrive through joint enterprise: we hunt together, squabble together, but build civilisations and societies together. Touch is important to us; it releases endorphins in our brain and affects our dopaminergic system (the reward systems in the brain). We thrive on relationships and touch. This virus targets us because of this; it spreads through close proximity, the very things that make us human beings - it is our Achilles’ heel.

Other viruses came and went because we developed immunity or a strategy to cope with them.

GIBRALTAR HAS EFFICIENTLY CONTAINED THE VIRUS SO FAR; CAN WE CONTINUE IN THIS VEIN WITH CORRECT MEASURES IN PLACE OR ARE WE DELAYING THE INEVITABLE GIVEN THE GLOBAL IMPACT? Our problem is that we are part of the Iberian peninsular and we thrive on trade, human interaction is a core part of our being. We live in extended families and thrive on those relationships, living in a tightly packed community. We are always going to be subject and vulnerable to a virus that attacks our sociability.

It is asking us to change who we are. We are a very adaptable species, so we will change who we are, but it takes time. The great blessing of this virus is that young people - our investment in the future - by and large are protected.

The issue is whether there will be a vaccine and how we are going to live with it if this persists: they are big questions. The challenge for a vaccine is that, if this virus is anything like the other corona viruses, im-

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munity may be weak and not persistent, so a vaccine may not be as successful as we hope. In fact, the vast majority of people have such a minor illness, that they don’t even know they have got it, hence it has thrived.

My great hope therefore is antivirals, to give us ways to protect ourselves, minimise the harm or successful treatments for those older people who have more severe reactions. There are many trials underway. These drugs are being repurposed from drugs that have already been tested. There may be a long-term goal to develop an entire new class of antivirals to target this one. If it was easy, we would have a vaccine against the common cold.

WHAT IS IT YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT GIBRALTAR? It is easy to fall in love with this place. It is a concentrated piece of heaven: the people are warm and lovely, and people make a place. They squabble but that is part of their charm; they feel passionately for each other. They have many languages and nationalities and they all get along fine with each other. This is an asset that is difficult to replicate anywhere else. The environment is lovely; you just need to go up the rock to feel like you are in a different place, and where else can you stand and look across at two continents. Gibraltar has invested in its young people; the level of knowledge and education is superb and that Gibraltar manages to attract its young people back is testament to this.

It is a safe environment to bring up children. There is commerce and some industry, it is full of entrepreneurs that bring opportunities. It has the hallmarks of becoming a new Singapore or Hong Kong, but it would need more space for this. I am a great believer in empowering others. The quality of the politicians both in government and in opposition is another quality it should be proud of.

IF THERE WAS ONE MEDICALLY BENEFICIAL BEHAVIOUR YOU WOULD ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO ADOPT, WHAT WOULD IT BE? The number one issue for Gibraltar is smoking. For those that smoke, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give up and if you can’t give up then vape; it is 90% safer than smoking. What made our ancestors thrive was having days without feeding and doing exercise to catch their food, so we also need to exercise more.

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FEATURE

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RL O W THE

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R A T L W A R B I G IN E R HE

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FEATURE

CANADA Located in the French River in the province of Ontario in east-central Canada, Gibraltar Rock is a popular summit from which death-defying jumpers often leap. Published in 1832, a book titled The Columbia River by Ross Cox commented that “The Canadians, who are very fertile in baptizing remarkable places, called an island near our encampment of the 6th Gibraltar, from the rocky steepness of its shore.” (p.118) Gibraltar Point Lighthouse, located on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, was named by John Graves Simcoe, Ontario’s first lieutenant-governor, after what we know as Europa Point, who also chose it as the site for one of the new lighthouses he was planning along the Great Lakes.

The lighthouse is the oldest one left on the Great Lakes and the second oldest in Canada. It was built in 1808 and guided ships to Toronto’s harbour from what was then a sandy peninsula until it was decommissioned in 1958.

USA Even more confusing is the fact that if you had a craving for some ‘Gibraltar Candies’ you would be forgiven for thinking that you were eating sweets produced here in Gibraltar, when in fact you would be indulging in confectionary renowned to be the first candy produced in America.

Also known as ‘Gibraltar Rocks’, presumably because the candy is so hard to break apart, the white candy comes in either lemon or peppermint flavours and apparently melts in the mouth. They originate from Salem, Massachusetts, in the early 19th-century when an English family set sail for America. They lost all their worldly goods in a shipwreck and arrived in Salem in a destitute condition. Mary Spencer (a widowed single mother) started the company with a barrel of sugar given to her by some of her neighbours on Buffum Street in 1806 and Mary Spencer’s ‘Salem, Gibraltars’ were born! They are now sold

by America’s oldest candy company, Ye Olde Pepper Companie based in Salem.

American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem and had a special fondness for the candies. He sent some to his sister Louisa and in his letter said: “I send Susannah’s Gibraltars. There were fourteen of them originally, but I doubt whether there will be

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quite a dozen when she gets them.” He also mentioned the sweets in two of his novels. In The House of the Seven Gables, published in 1851, a character named Hepzibah Pyncheon operates a little “cent-shop” which contained “a glass pickle-jar, filled with fragments of Gibraltar rock; not, indeed, splinters of the veritable stone foundation of the famous fortress, but bits of delectable candy, neatly done up in white paper.”

And in Hawthorne’s short story “The Old Apple-Dealer” there is a mention of “that delectable condiment, known by children as Gibraltar rock.”

AUSTRALIA Another popular place for rock climbing enthusiasts is the 2,100 feet (640 metres) high granite outcrop known as Gibraltar Rock in the Porongurup National Park, south of Perth, in Western Australia. The Porongurup region is well known for its vineyards because the Mediterranean climate and long ripening season of the region produces exceptional quality fruit with intense flavours. One of the two oldest vineyards in the region was Gibraltar Rock, acquired by the Burch family in 2010, which provides the majority of fruit for their Howard Park label Rieslings.

Then there is the Gibraltar Range National Park situated in one of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, recognised as part of the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of Australia, a World Heritage area, featuring rugged trails perfect for hiking and six spectacular granite columns rising out of Dandahra Gorge known as The Needles.

COLOMBIA There are also 10 places in Colombia, South America with the name Gibraltar. One of which is in the region of Antioquia, where Gibraltar is a town located some 223 km North-West of Bogotá, the country’s capital.

HER D ANY OF THE OT HAVE YOU VISITE GIBRALTAR? PLACES NAMED

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ARMED FORCES INSIGHT

BARBARIANS’ BIRTHDAY 28th April 2020 marked the 81st anniversary of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment.

would, if the need arose, be mobilised and form part of the Rock’s defences. The notices requested that volunteers report to the Fortress HQ, then at the site of the present Duke of Kent House. 50 men were selected from over 500 volunteers and those chosen few paraded for the first time on 28th April 1939. This parade continues to this day as the Regiment’s Regimental Day.

The Regimental flag was flown at No 6 Convent Place to mark the 81st Anniversary of the Regiment being raised. At Devil’s Tower Camp, a birthday parade was enacted, led by Lieutenant Colonel Simon Dyson and the Regimental Sergeant Major Patrick Canepa, for those troops available.

Commanding Officer of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Simon Dyson said: “As today we celebrate our 81st Regimental Day, I want you all to be proud also of your service. I am proud of you. Gibraltar is proud of you.

As we face and go through our current crisis, you have all stepped forward as Gibraltar has required it. And I know a long road is ahead of us but I know I can rely on us all to step forward again, as and when required. I wish you all a happy 81st Regimental Day.”

Troops from the Regiment gathered together in the Cookhouse to enjoy coffee and birthday cake, while socially distancing.

The attendees were treated to following historical readings of the raising of the Regiment on 28 April 1939, read by Second Lieutenants Thomas and Walsh.

In early 1938, the Governor-General of Gibraltar was in touch with the War Office regarding the possibility of training Gibraltarians for war-time duties. The initial plan was to form a uniformed labour force but this did not materialise. The idea subsequently evolved into a peace-time training scheme for men who could easily join the ranks of the Royal Artillery in an emergency.

In order to thank other officials in Gibraltar, His Excellency the Governor, Chief Minister and Commander British Forces Gibraltar all received a Regimental Birthday Cake, delivered by the Port Sergeant Colour Sergeant Lee Turner.

In April 1939 the first notices appeared, asking for volunteers for a Gibraltar Defence Force Anti-Aircraft section. The notices stated that this section

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Second Lieutenant Thomas attended King’s College British School, Madrid to complete IGCSEs and A-Levels before joining the University of Birmingham in England to study biochemistry for three years. He began his training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in January 2019 and commissioned in December 2019.

Second Lieutenant Walsh attended Swavesey College, Cambridgeshire to complete GCSEs and A-Levels, before he read Ancient History at Reading University.

Having attained his degree he joined the Army as an Environmental Health Technician in the Royal Army Medical Corps, before being selected to attend officer training at Sandhurst. He commissioned in April 2020.

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2nd Lt Joel Walsh

2nd Lt Rhodri Thomas

Two new young officers have been welcomed into the Royal Gibraltar Regiment. Second Lieutenant Rhodri Thomas and Second Lieutenant Joel Walsh arrived on the Rock to take up Platoon Commander appointments within I Company in April 2020.

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FOOTBALL INSIGHT

All football fans can instantly name their favourite players, many wearing the names of them on the back of their shirts. The manager is also instantly recognisable; the man who gets much of the blame when it all goes wrong or the glory when things go well. But the Club Secretary? Few fans would even know who they are. Yet the secretary is one of the most important figures behind the scenes, a vital cog in the well-oiled machinery that makes a club tick over daily. Faceless, perhaps, but always there to check and double-check the fine details so that the players, manager and the committee members can smoothly get on with their jobs. They are the principal administrator for the club and undertake all administrative duties that enable the club and its members to function effectively.

Jimmy Cavilla became the first Club Secretary of Lynx FC in 2014. The responsibilities had previously been shared between the President and the owner of the club Mr Albert Parody. Supporting the club as a vital member of the Committee and was critical to the successful management of Lynx Football Club during the early stages of Gibraltar becoming the 54th Member of UEFA in 2013.

Becoming a secretary is not only a great way to meet everybody in the club, but also a great way to expand experience in their planning, communication and even financial management skills. These are voluntary roles, but they command a lot of vital workplace experience, and we are so grateful for the professionalism the secretaries have brought to Lynx FC. Jimmy once said: “As Club Secretary, you have to have particular attention to detail. The better you put in the paperwork, the more chance you’ve have of getting it back quickly. Transfer deadline day was pretty mental. I didn’t get home until 11.45 pm. We put through three registrations in the last hour, the last one going through two minutes before the deadline. However there was a great satisfaction of accomplishment when you achieved your goal.”

In 2017, Jimmy had stepped down as Club Secretary and became the Treasurer. It was not easy finding a person to

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fill in his shoes. The Committee had agreed to temporarily appoint Deirdre Copello as the Club Secretary under the support of Jonathan Costa, CEO of Lynx Football Club. Deirdre’s commitment became an essential factor in 2019 as we entered the UEFA Futsal Champions League in Holland. Communication was vital when travelling abroad, and we were lucky to have her on board. Often not seen as high profile, in actual fact a secretary is a crucial pivot point for all of the club’s activities. A key aspect of the role is to hold the player’s registration forms. The secretary keeps an accurate record of the players, including a copy of each player’s birth certificate, should any query arise regarding eligibility.

To do a good job, you need to understand your motivations and balance these off against the needs of the club.

As a consequence, we felt it was time to bring in a permanent candidate for the role, as Deirdre also managed the Futsal administration.

When Jonathan approached Elaine Rodriguez in January 2020, he reassured her that she did not have to worry about knowing everything in a short period. We had a great team supporting Elaine during the early days of her appointment and knew she was not alone.

Having assistants from the Committee helped spread her workload by working together, bouncing ideas off each other and generally enjoying the experience. Elaine soon became an asset to the club, saying that ”the role of the Secretary is gratifying and creates a lifetime experience that can’t be replicated anywhere else.”

Jonathan Costa, CEO of Lynx Football Club later added, “becoming a FOR FURT HER Club Secretary, your fellow committee INFORMAT ION, members, your players, members, supporters PLEASE CO NTACT and the community will be looking to you as THE CLUB ON one of the leaders of the club; the unsung heLYNXFC@M AIL.COM roes. We might be near the end of the season, OR 200 69 695. but as soon as it finishes, it all kicks off preparing for next season.”

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FEATURE G I B R A LT A R

M IL ITA RY WI VE S CHOIR

Gibraltar’s Military Wives Choir was started in November 2019 by a member of another choir who missed the singing, support and camaraderie of choir while in Gibraltar, and felt the community would benefit from it. Gibraltar MWC is part of the Military Wives Choirs, a registered charity and network of 75 choirs in British military bases across the UK and overseas, with over 2,200 members. There is a big focus on their ethos of ‘Sing, Share, Support’. The choir’s primary focus is of course to sing together but we also hope to be a source of support. Being a military wife can be incredibly lonely and difficult; the network provides a place for support and friendship as soon as any woman arrives at a new draft location.

Singing is wonderful for sustaining good mental health. Being a part of a choir and singing improves health, happiness and is a perfect ice breaker, according to research by the University of Oxford. It also helps to improve breathing, posture and muscle tension. Above all, song is a powerful therapy tool. Meeting once a week online during lockdown helps the member’s mental wellbeing.

Gibraltar MWC currently has nine members; a small choir as only recently formed. We welcome any women within the military community, regardless of position or rank as this is not what we are about. Anyone who fits the membership criteria can join regardless of experience or even if you would like to come for the atmosphere and to learn about music and harmonies, etc. Most of our members haven’t been in a choir before and enjoy the uniqueness it brings each week. Membership criteria is broad as all MWCs exist to support women whose lives are impacted by their military connection. We welcome any women in Gibraltar who are: - wives, partners, fiancées or cohabiting partners of a serving member of the UK Armed Forces or UK Armed Forces veteran (including Reservists and Gibraltar Regiment) - serving UK Armed Forces personnel or veterans - employed within the military community for an organisation that provides a direct service to serving military personnel and families If you would like to join then please email us at Gibraltar@ militarywiveschoirs.org or message us via our Facebook page ‘Gibraltar Military Wives Choir’.

Gibraltar MWC has access to a library of music available for the whole network. Choirs across the network including Gibraltar MWC are currently learning music from the recently released film Military Wives, to be featured in a series of concerts around the UK in 2021, which we hope to be a part of.

We have just started learning a new song Together, written by Hilary Davan Wetton, which uses lyrics formed from different choirs in the network. Learning core songs with the same ar-

rangement means members can quickly fit into a new choir when they move location.

We normally rehearse once a week. Our rehearsals are two part: a social part where we chat, have a cup of tea, eat cake and support each other and the second part is singing. We do the same now when we meet online, and it’s brilliant to keep in touch and have that couple of hours of ‘normality’ and see our friends. We are lucky enough that our current MD (Musical Director) is another military wife. Everyone is proud of all of our members across the network who have continued music-making in these challenging times.

Life in lockdown for choir members is the same as everyone else. We join in with the clapping for keyworkers especially as two of our members are healthcare professionals, but not forgetting all of the work that has been done by the military behind the scenes to help Gibraltar during this pandemic. One of our talented members has been performing each Thursday from her balcony in support for the NHS and GHA, by singing beautifully You’ll Never Walk Alone as well as a trumpet rendition of Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Morale is generally high and everyone is supporting each other. Some have been providing random act of kindness deeds to families across the base, with cakes, flowers and drawings to remind us we are all in this together and have one another. We have lots of beautiful artwork displayed across the base from the children to remind us to keep safe, it’s very welcoming.

Gibraltar MWC would love to perform publicly in the future.

The aim of the choir initially is to provide welfare support for its members, so performances are the choice of each individual member but they are also great fun. We had an idea to perform songs for VE day in Casemates Square but unfortunately this has had to be cancelled.

Gareth Malone’s episode of the Great British Home Chorus on 22 April is on YouTube and featured a Military Wives Choir Musical Director, and actors from the recent film, Military Wives. www.militarywiveschoirs.org

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MOTORING INSIGHT

ISUZU D-MAX

F A C T F IL E

ISUZU IS A RARE AUTOMOTIVE COMPANY. THEY ONLY MAKE TRUCKS, NO CARS, JUST TRUCKS OF VARYING SIZES, AND BECAUSE THEY ONLY KNOW HOW TO MAKE A TRUCK, AND DON’T HAVE TO SHARE COMPONENTS WITH CARS, LIKE SOME OTHER MANUFACTURERS HAVE TO, THEN EVERYTHING IS ‘OVER-ENGINEERED’ MADE TO LAST, AND BE CAPABLE OF ANYTHING ASKED OF IT. THE D-MAX HAS BEEN ON THE MARKET SINCE 2002 AND SINCE THEN HAS BEEN IMPROVED, AND IMPROVED CONSTANTLY.

A couple of years ago, Isuzu took the controversial decision to drop the 2.5-litre diesel engine, and replace it with a more economical 1.9-litre diesel: shock, horror, thought many. This was done for many reasons, mainly due to emissions and other technical factors. The farmers threw their hands up, shook their heads and said it wouldn’t work.

We did the launch of the new 1.9, and Isuzu did have the 2.5 there as well, and it did prove to be far superior in every aspect than the good old 2.5. Since then it has sold well, including to hardened farmers, and Isuzu have never looked back, or the farming fraternity.

After the road trip around Kent, we went to a farm where there was an off-road course, including some fairly steep uphill and downhill sections, through a small river and through some tight wooded areas. The D-MAX was more capable of doing much more dynamic testing, and only did a fraction of what it was really could do off-road, it was all pretty tame for this 4x4.

left until the car is sold and ready to leave the centre, when a panic is likely to happen.

Isuzu now offer a one-stop-shop for all conversions, and these conversions and wide and vast. Most of the conversions are done on-site, either by Isuzu staff, or more frequently by the converters themselves. But if it is converted on-site, with the full approval of Isuzu, then it has the full 125,000, 5-year warranty.

Some of the conversions we saw, ranged from just a tow-bar, a rear-canopy, right up to Access Platforms (cherry-pickers), full recovery vehicles, fully-kitted out Police vehicles, Fire-engines, tippers, and fully equipped workshops. Basically, as Isuzu said, if you have a problem, we can fix it, they will build just about anything that anyone wants.

Isuzu is really a little known manufacturer to most, but those who do, really like and understand what they do, and what the vehicles are capable of.

It has a system that allows you to put it into 4x4 Low, and will go up and hill, down any hill, whatever the gradient, and you don’t touch any pedal, the car automatically finds the right speed and finds the right amount of traction, all you have to do is steer it, all

clever stuff, and does give you the confidence in the vehicle.

After the farm, it was back on the road, and a short drive to the Import Centre at Sheerness. The cars arrive from the factory in Thailand at the docks, and are transported the short distance to the Isuzu compound. This is a fairly new facility, and everything has been thought out in great detail. They have leaned over the years to leave bigger gaps between the vehicles, both at the side, and front and rear, as this causes less damage, with doors opening, especially when its windy, as the wind can catch the doors, and causes small dents. And the wind can certainly blow near the coast in Kent.

There is a ‘no-blame’ policy in place for all the drivers if a car gets accidentally damaged.

It is up to the driver to report immediately any damage, so it can be repaired, and not

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MOTORING INSIGHT

LAND ROVER DEPLOYS IN COVID FIGHT “This unpreced ented global health emergen cy requires us all to pull together . As part of the British Red Cross response to coronavirus, we’re delving deep into the heart of communi ties across the UK to help strength en support for the most vulnerab le people through deliverin g essential food parcels and medicine s to those unable to get out.”

S IM O N L E W IS

FI N BA R M CFA LL

JAGUAR LAND ROVE R CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE DIREC TOR

thei r emp loye es, cus tom ers and “The hea lth and safe ty of our do will er Rov Land . Jag uar and fam ilies rem ains our prio rity Our ld. wor the und aro t peo ple in nee d eve ryth ing we can to sup por will we and rs yea 65 k ss goe s bac par tner ship with the Red Cro glob al to do all we can dur ing this them with d han wor k han d in er to clos e thos to help also pro vide hea lth eme rge ncy . We will ing the help in t par a play . We can all hom e in our loca l com mun ities ic.” dem pan al vuln era ble dur ing this glob

S RESPONSE, HEAD OF CRISI CROSS D RE BRITISH

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FEATURE

DID YOU KNOW? THE STORY BEHIND SOME OF GIBRALTAR’S STAMPS IN 1967, THE POST OFFICE ISSUED A SET OF STAMPS DEPICTING SHIPS THAT HAD CONNECTIONS TO GIBRALTAR. THE 2D STAMP SHOWED HMS CARMANIA. HOW MANY OF US EVER WONDERED WHAT THE CONNECTION WAS? MOST OF THE OTHER STAMPS WERE WELL KNOWN SHIPS, SUCH AS HMS HOOD, MARY CELESTE AND OTHERS, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CARMANIA. WHAT WAS A WHITE STAR LINER DOING WITH A PREFIX OF HMS. This is her story.

part of a fleet patrolling in the southern Caribbean. Captain Grant and Barr conferred and decided that they should disguise their ship and the decision was made to add a third funnel. This was made up of light wood and fitted en route.

As the Sabre rattling in Europe reached its crescendo, Germany began to convert some of her merchant ships into armed cruisers in order to lull unsuspecting cargo ships into a trap.

Britain, not to be outdone, did the same. One of these conversions was the White Star Liner Carmania. This 19,524ton liner was fitted with eight 4.7inch guns on reinforced deck and fitted with a splinter shield. She was repainted grey to disguise her.

She sailed from Liverpool on the 15th of August 1914 under Captain Grant RN but Captain Barr RNR., the original Cunard captain remained on board. They were to patrol the area off Northern Ireland, but on the 19th she was ordered to Shell Bay, Bermuda where she arrived about the 24th of that same month. The Admiralty had intercepted an encoded message to Berlin which they were unable to read but were able to establish that it originated from the German gunboat SMS Elber.

The Admiralty feared that the Germans were attempting to disrupt the sea route round Cape of Good Hope, a strategically important life line to and from the east. The Carmania was ordered into the South Atlantic as a store ship, presumably for other warships in the area. On the 29th of August she left Bermuda and headed south to meet a British fleet that was patrolling the coast of Venezuela. The Admiralty intercepted a further communication which indicated that the Cap Trafalgar, under Korvettenkapitan Julius Wirth, along with the cruiser Dresden and Komprinz Wilhem were due to meet around the Trinidade Islands, off the coast of Brazil.

On the 11th of September the Carmania was ordered to investigate and report any findings to HMS Bristol which was

Some German ships were caught well away from the Fatherland when war was declared and these were deployed to some remote island bases set up to act as or maintain armed cruisers. One of these bases was on the Ilhe do Trinidade, part of the Martim Vaz archipelago, some 1100km south east of Rio do Janeiro and belonging to Brazil. This island was British from 1890 to 1896 and was known as South Trinidad.

The Cap Trafalgar was a Hamburg South America liner that was in South America at the time that war broke out under Captain Langerhans.

She was told to stay in Buenos Aires, where she had been since the 2nd of August, and await further orders. One of the German ships in Buenos Aires was told to run the gauntlet of British warships to carry reservists and volunteers to Germany. Captain Langerhans of the Cap Trafalgar, lost 150 of his crew this way, including the chief cook, four officers, his personal servant and the ships ornithologist. He however called on the patriotism of the orchestra and persuaded them to stay and they were employed as stokers in the boiler rooms.

The German Admiralty were under the impression that the Cap Trafalgar had secretly loaded guns in Hamburg, and gave orders for the ship to load up with coal and provisions and head out to sea and convert into an armed cruiser. In fact there was only a rifle and pistol on board. When they realised their mistake she was ordered without delay to Trinidade Is-

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FEATURE land, some 1300miles NNE of Buenos Aires where she would be met by ships that would provide the arms and ammunition she required.

The remaining problem was her silhouette which would be recognised by an enemy ship. Fortunately, one of her three funnels was only a ventilator shaft and not connected to the boiler room. The captain had this removed, the life boats painted white, extended the bridge using light wooden material and fabricated a red ensign and a Cunard house flag with the intention of disguising itself as the Carmania. However he refused to change the name of the ship on the hull as sailors consider this bad luck.

When she arrived at Trinidade, the gunboat SMS Eber, under Captain Julius Wirth, was waiting for her with orders to transfer his guns and crew to the Cap Trafalgar and to take command of the armed cruiser. The Elbe transferred two 105mm guns and six heavy machine guns to the cruiser. After some difficulty, the guns were installed.

The Captain realised that, with only 6500m range, he would be easily outgunned by any warship and to bring the machine guns into range would be suicidal.

On the 14th of September at about 11am, they sighted the Carmania, the two colliers were hastily cast off and they each made off in separate directions, the Captain of the Carmania saw the Cap Trafalgar appearing from behind the island and heading in a N.N.W. direction. The Carmania was not sure what ship they had intercepted and once her adversary was within range, fired a shot across her bows and called for the Cap Trafalgar to identify herself.

At first the German cruiser appeared to be fleeing but it was obvious that she was looking for sea room but soon, seeing the British flag turned and at about 6900m both vessels commenced firing. The Cap Trafalgar was armed with 4in guns and Pom Poms, a multiple barrelled gun firing 37 or 40mm shells. The crew of 423 were well trained naval mariners.

At first the shot from the Cap Trafalgar was high but as they closed, their shells began to take effect. The second shot took away the radio mast, the third smashed one of the guns. Further shells hit the Carmania setting fire to the forebridge and putting the fire fighting water mains out of action making it impossible to bring the fire under control. Gradually the heavier guns of the Carmania began to take effect, one of her shells penetrated the German’s “Summer Garden” sending shards and splinters everywhere, starting small fires and killing the helmsman. The ship veered to port but the Captain leapt over and brought the ship back on course. The fire was seen to

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have taken hold of the German cruiser. The false bridge was on fire, the smoke making it difficult for the gun crews to see their target.

Captain Grant saw the Cap Trafalgar’s manoeuvres and calculated that were trying to get close to use their heavy machine guns and then attempt to board. He turned the Carmania to Starboard and ordered the gunners to concentrate on the hull below the waterline. Two shells hit the ship’s starboard side, one of them penetrating one of the ship’s bulkheads below the waterline which flooded one of the coal bunkers, and entering the engine room.

Further shells hit the bows and damaged the forward coal bunker. She began to list to port. The engineer, Carl Rieck, flooded tanks on the starboard side in an attempt to level the ship, unfortunately Wirth decided to turn sharply to starboard at the same time in an attempt to follow the Carmania which caused even more water to enter the ship. Seeing the problem he changed course veering away from the British ship.

After a fierce exchange of fire lasting one hour and forty minutes, the Cap Trafalgar was seen to be listing to starboard. The wounded ship turned and tried to escape but the list increased until her engines could no longer cope. With her ensign still flying, her head began to sink and explosions rent her decks, probably from air trapped below decks. With her propeller still turning she sank into the Atlantic. The Carmania’s bridge was burning out of control with no means of quenching the flames. There was no way she could go to the rescue of the Cap Trafalgar crew in her condition. Fortunately the ship had been stripped of all wooden fittings from the numerous cabins and other areas, where previously, peacetime passengers had spent the cruise in luxury. This had been done by Captain Barr during the commissioning of the ship as an armed cruiser and this forethought saved the ship.

Two midshipmen were recommended for their bravery when, during the fire, had entered the forebridge to rescue the compass and some of the burning charts and a partially burned code book. The fire burned itself out without spreading but the Captain found himself without an effective compass, no charts of the area, no chronometer or sextant and as the steering on the bridge was unusable, the after wheel had to be manned and orders passed by runner. There was no engine room telegraph so orders were passed through the engine room skylight using a whistle.

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A sextant was discovered in one of the cabins and the rescued compass was set up on a feather pillow well above the deck to reduce the vibration and the effect of the iron ship on the magnetic compass. With this they were able to get under way with some semblance of confidence. The Carmania sent a signal which was picked up and met by HMS Bristol and then steamed 600 north to the Islands of Abrolhos, off Espirito Santo, Brazil, Here she was patched up and made seaworthy with the help of the navy ships there. After a few days HMS Cornwall shadowed the Carmania across the Atlantic to Gibraltar.

Here she entered dry dock at the end of September where she was repaired.

The 380 holes were patched and by the 14th of November she was ready to resume her duties.

During the action, the Carmania received seventy three hits. The bridge was destroyed and two shots hit her in the hull.

There were a total of 380 holes to be repaired in Gibraltar. This would be a 1914 version of HMS Penelope in 1942. All told she suffered nine dead and a number of wounded.

As the Cap Trafalgar sunk, the collier Eleonore Woermann recovered her life boats with 279 survivors. Of these there were 66 wounded that were cared for at the German Hospital in Buenos Aires. Among the 144 dead was the Captain. As the Cap Trafalgar Sank, the crew of the collier joined with the Cap Trafalgar’s crew singing the patriotic song “Soltzweb die Flagge schwarzweiss – rot” The crew were taken to Buenos Aires where they were interned on the Island of Martin Garcia in the River Plate estuary, known locally as “THE GIBRALTAR OF LA PLATA.”

This island is 3km off the coast of Uruguay and 46km from Buenos Aires and was used by the Argentineans as a prison and naval base. Today it is a National Park jointly managed by both countries but still owned by Argentina.

By the end of the war, thirteen officers and one hundred and twenty sailors had escaped, five had died. In 1919 the remaining four officers and one hundred and eight sailors and others were due to be repatriated on Dutch vessels although some requested permission to join the Hamburg – South America Line, whilst others were employed by Siemens locally. The ships doctor, Dr.Violet remained behind and had been working in the German Hospital in Buenos Aires from 1915.

The British crew were awarded a total pf £250,000 in prize money. The two captains were awarded the Order of the Bath, Third Class, and the First Officer was also decorated.

Article supplied by History Society Gibraltar.

Email: historysocietygibraltar@hotmail.com

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FEATURE

TO KISS OR NOT TO KISS?

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FEATURE

Now, in the age of coronavirus, friendly kissing poses a dilemma for many of us and this may well lead to a change in our behaviour in the future with kissing becoming taboo. There was a time when a handshake was the more usual greeting, especially in the UK, and that air kissing was thought to be reserved for the more gregarious Mediterranean countries, or for those in professions such as fashion or in the theatre where exuberant behaviour had become de rigueur.

So a kiss is just a kiss – except when it spreads disease.

In 1439, King Henry VI banned kissing to prevent the spread of the Black Plague throughout England and Europe. Even the French, thought of as one of the most romantic countries in the world, were recently asked to stop kissing when they greeted each other to try and slow the spread of coronavirus. French health minister Olivier Véran said that people should no longer do la bise, the distinctive French double (or treble) cheek kiss to greet people. The problem is So is kissing a learned, cultural behaviour, or is it inthat kissing with a mask on just isn’t the same! If we tuitive? The scientific study of kissing is called phihave to adapt to a new way of greeting each other lematology (philos in ancient Greek means earthly there are several alternatives out there, including ellove) and if you think about it, kissing is really quite bow bumping and the Thai “wai” semi-bow. In Beijing, a strange thing to do. Pressing our lips against anbillboards told people not to other person’s lips and, in shake hands but to make the some cases, swapping saliva, traditional gong shou gesture sounds bizarre. There is eviMOST OF US DO IT. CHEEK KISSING OR which is a fist in the oppodence that a kiss was a way AIR KISSING HAS BECOME A site palm. Then there’s the for early humans to subconCOMMONPLACE PART OF SOCIETY IN “Wuhan shake,” named after sciously sniff each other out MOST COUNTRIES, ALTHOUGH THERE the city where COVID-19 was and that cavemen licked each ARE STILL SOME CULTURES WHERE first identified. The touching other’s cheeks to obtain salt. and bumping of feet - a quick KISSING IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE There is another theory that right kick, then a quick left PRACTICE. WHETHER ONCE, TWICE, kissing came from the prackick - first featured in a video OR EVEN MORE, KISSING HAS BECOME A tice of kiss-feeding based on that then went viral.

ROUTINE PART OF GREETING SOMEONE birds feeding worms to their – HOWEVER WELL WE KNOW THEM. hatchlings and human mothPrince Charles demonstraters who fed children their ed the perfect alternative chewed up food. to a handshake when meeting guests as he joined his hands, palms together, Romantic kissing can be traced back 3,500 years to and bowed slightly in respectful salutation. The IndiHindu Vedic Sanskrit texts. In these texts, kissing is an greeting Namaste, a combination of two Sanskrit described as inhaling each other’s’ souls. The Kama words which translates into “bowing to you”, does not Sutra, written in the 6th century A.D., describes severinvolve skin contact and allows people to maintain an al different types of kissing and some anthropologists appropriate distance. Although it did take a while for who believe that kissing is a learned behaviour theothe Prince to remember what to do as he put his hand rise that the Greeks learned about it from the Indians forward and then quickly withdrew it, which led him to when Alexander the Great invaded India in 326 B.C. break into a fit of giggles at his near faux pas.

What about that first kiss - we surely all remember the The question is what happens to kissing post Covid-19 feeling of pleasure that it evoked. Kissing feels good and will we return to the old ways of puckering up or and this is because the nerve endings on our lips make air kissing? There may be some hesitancy to return to it one of the most sensitive areas of our body. The our past behaviours but maybe declining to air kiss or stimulation of our lips sends signals to the brain, reshake hands will be seen as an expression of concern leasing the hormone oxytocin which is often referred for our own and other people’s health. The age of soto as the “love hormone” because it stirs up feelings cial kissing may be over. of love, social bonding and well-being. Kissing also releases other happy hormones such as dopamine and serotonin and it lowers your cortisol (stress hormone) levels.

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FEATURE

IF THERE IS ANYTHING THAT LOCKDOWN AND ISOLATION HAS TAUGHT MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ACROSS THE WORLD IT’S THAT THE WORD ‘SHARE’ HAS TAKEN ON A NEW MEANING. ESPECIALLY IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA THREADS WHERE EVEN THE MOST CYNICAL AND BATTLE HARDENED KEYBOARD WARRIORS HAVE MELLOWED AND HAVE EITHER SHUT UP TEMPORARILY OR PUT UP MORE FORGIVING MESSAGES ACROSS THE MEDIA PLATFORMS.

A New

Meaning

to S h a r i n g

We may have become more philosophical and engaging, or at least those who dabble in social media threads. Suddenly shooting from the hip and many hostile knee-jerk reaction to posts has given way to a kind of ‘peace brother/ sister,’ which harkens back to the sixties era of flower power and summer of love with a generally more chilled view of life, which perhaps was much needed at this time although we didn’t realise it.

Many of us have been guilty of taking everything and everyone for granted and now faced with the dark reality of this global pandemic disseminating our species, we swarm or swim together finding protection in numbers. Because worldwide communication is so advanced and instant it also gives us the ‘instant Karma’ that we seek. Now we are all writers, photographers, poets, beauticians and politicians. That may be a good thing and I hope it lasts until we can rebuild our world again. It keeps our egos fed which like it or not is important.

How many likes, how many views and how many shares to our media posts is a new currency and for some, the breath of life and what they live for. We may all be media ‘influencers’ to a greater or lesser degree but the fact remains that during this crisis we have mostly mellowed and become kinder towards our fellow humans. More power to social platforms and the unseen puppeteers pulling the strings.

Certainly people of ample means have come down from ivory towers, perhaps being made to feel guilty by the ‘bonhomie’ and solidarity which the rest of us have shown in this crisis. Many of them are now offering their talents and services for free when barely a month ago these generous gestures would have been unthinkable.

Could you in a month of Sundays have ever imagined that Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber would have sat at his piano to play for us from his hit musicals catalogue in an up close and personal concert perhaps staged in his castle? In another form of music, Chris Martin from ‘Coldplay’ got up one fine morning and took on the challenge to play requests live and chat to fans about how he came up with some of his mega hits, even attempting to play some songs that were clearly rusty.

I was glued to my phone and was engaged with this superstar on a one to one level. Going into the classical genre Welsh soprano Katherine Jenkins did a few ‘front room recitals’ which have also engaged me. There are many such concerts out there worth checking out and indeed our own artists have also been inspiring and generous too in this respect. Tune in to ‘Friday Night Live Keep Safe’ and check out their wonderful offerings.

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FEATURE

US Country Rock superstar Keith Urban who is a really accomplished performer and is married to Hollywood A-list actress Nicole Kidman performed a few solo concerts on line, but would you have ever imagined that his famous wife would be his camera person, walk in and out of frame helping him prop up his guitars with her hair done in a bun and barefoot? It’s oddly unthinkable that the idols of red carpets and movies have come down from their pedestals to walk with mere mortals.

This is but one example of how much the world that we knew is changing before our eyes. It’s indeed a wonderful thing to have access to artists that previously would have cost an arm and a leg to see performing under stage lights, are now willing to share their talents and personal insights on our mobile screens half an arm’s length away from our eyes. I wonder how the lucrative Rock concert market is ever going to recover now that we have been spoilt rotten ‘attending’ so many free concerts on line. Have the legends shot themselves in the foot?

Sharing has taken on a new meaning which has nothing to do with generosity and everything to do with being one up on your social media friends. Maybe there is some generosity in the thought that your ‘friends’ ought to benefit from a feel good factor concert or recipes that you might have shared, however it’s the comments that you hope to get back that you’ll be looking out for, after you finish trawling the net for your next ‘find’ to then start ‘sharing’ all over again.

There is however one undeniably good thing that has happened to us with so much time on our hands during lockdown. No matter what daily routines we may have set for ourselves indoors, after three or four weeks now we may have modified or abandoned them (a bad thing), we still have managed to pull together in adversity and closed ranks by using up more screen time and becoming more media friendly in the best sense of the word. There seems to be better empathy and understanding. A new dawn perhaps post CV? Have you noticed how many new outstanding friend requests you now have? Be generous and after sensible vetting accept them because they will be your new ‘likes’ and also the new candidates for sharing your new discoveries with. We have become more aware of each other and of the need to offer each other support and helpful advice while things are way more difficult ‘out there.’

I would be remiss if I were to sign off here without offering the standard and very necessary good advice of ‘Stay safe, stay indoors and help to save lives by doing so.’ Till next time, go and spread ‘likes’ and ‘share’ away your favourite posts because cyber universe is a better place with you in it, so take care until we can enjoy the real world outside our homes/screens again and hopefully not too long from now.

Please share this article of course.

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FEATURE

LOST DURING ISOLATION

Philip was blessed with a natural talent for guitar playing and was equally at home playing electric guitar as with nylon finger style which was his favourite medium and was what he was best known for. He had a knack for picking out tunes and styling them in a very pleasing way which captivated the listener and student alike. He taught many aspiring guitarists and entertained many more as a background musician, but he was much more than that.

His charisma and smile was a beacon wherever he went and you could truly say that he could light up a room and easily be the life and soul of any party because he was all heart and a kind soul who you looked forward to meeting and chatting

with, but more importantly to hearing him play guitar. A lot of good tributes have gone up about his demise and I don’t want to repeat all that has deservingly been said about him.

Photo by Johnny Bugeja, courtesy of The Gibraltar Chronicle

The music fraternity and many music lovers on the Rock said goodbye a few weeks back to Philip Valverde, a local music legend who touched so many hearts during his lifetime.

If you had never met him you would have known that the name Valverde comes from a family with a rich tradition in entertainment and music. His father Frank was a well known theatrical entertainer who was funny and very artistic. Their household spawned four great musicians in Frank, Hubert, Rosanna, and Philip, the youngest and the most enduring.

I will just say that he was a ray of sunshine and smiles rolled into a beautiful person who was a joy to know and it was always worth chancing a trip to his music shop in Bomb House Lane even if he had his ‘back in 10 minutes’ sign on the door.

You would always find him in convivial company because he was a wonderful guy who could easily have been a poster boy for Mr Friendship.

I count myself as fortunate to have enjoyed his friendship and privileged to have enjoyed his music many times throughout a long and illustrious music career which has been cut short by his sudden demise. We will not be the same without him and his loss is heaven’s gain where his blessed soul endures and I am sure his music too. ‘Hasta Pronto Felipe’ – go on and Rock those Angels my friend. We all loved you and you loved us back ten times over, we were lucky to live in your times.

WORDS BY JOE ADAMBERY

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This Month’s

Dog Of The Month

Desey This sweet 4 year old girl is desperate for a home. She is so loving and wants to share her love with every one. She is great with other dogs. She needs a chance, someone to notice her and give her the home she deserves.

To adopt Desey or one of the many dogs awaiting their forever home: https://www.ainf.gi Facebook: Animals In Need Foundation (Adopt a Rescue Dog Gibraltar) If you would like to make a donation to our society, please see info on the right.

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MUM ON THE ROCK

HosT

InG a

cHil D

paRt in lockdo

’s

Y

wn

SO, WE ARE STILL STAYING IN, BUT WHEN IT COMES TO BIRTHDAYS ESPECIALLY CHILDREN’S, THE SHOW MUST GO ON. THEY WAIT ALL YEAR FOR THIS DAY, SO HERE’S HOW TO STILL MAKE IT SPECIAL.

If you don’t fancy being the MC for the shindig there are companies that provide online interactive parties, such as Making Kids Parties, Puddles London, Jojo Fun and Captain Fantastic are a few we found in the UK, but lots out there.

HavE a pLAn

GifTs

Tailor your day around what your child loves doing, talk to them beforehand about how it will be a bit different this year but they get to choose their day.

Lots of the local shops including toy shops in Gibraltar are still delivering, or you could try one of the freight companies such as Eastgate/Skynet, O2O Logistics to get things shipped in. Make like Elsa from Frozen Fever and give the birthday girl or boy a piece of string to follow, which leads them to their presents, tucked around their home. Or, arrange a pirate-esque treasure hunt based on clues if children are older. Get creative with it and make it a fun game for them.

Set The ScENe Decorate the room with balloons, banners, bunting, streamers, whatever you can get, to inject some birthday magic. Charlotte at My Party Perfect swears by a main cake table, where the cake can rest safely also giving a fantastic photo opportunity as a back drop. She suggests making decorations to keep little ones busy in the lead up to the party, and getting lots of balloons to fill the house, or their bedroom. AJ’s Fiestas provide packs of party plates, cups, banners in a range of themes and are offering 15% off purchases until end of May. Party Away have lots of party accessories and deliver these as well as balloons.

A viRtUaL pARtY Set up a video party, and get a crowd of friends ‘in the room’ to help celebrate. WhatsApp an invite to the people your child most wants to spend his or her party with, and test it beforehand so make sure that on the day you can all see each other; don’t let tech be a buzz kill. For a younger child, a big group call might be overwhelming, so you can always make individual calls throughout the day. Set a time, duration (half an hour should do it) and anything guests need to prepare in advance; you can even include a theme for dressing up on the invite. On Zoom you can set your backdrop to be a movie scene etc. On the plus side, they may be getting the chance to celebrate with people from all over the world who they wouldn’t usually have there.

Get the party started with a brief round of hellos, intros and happy birthday wishes then get things going with party games, such as musical statues/chairs; prepare a playlist beforehand.

My Party Perfect suggest the limbo, the Chu Chua and the hokey kokey. You can do a talent show where the parents get involved too, or Opposites, where everyone has to do the opposite of what you say (e.g. “stand up!”); or Guess the Number, using a jar filled with bouncy balls or sweets. If the child is into playdough or lego, you can set challenges to see who can make what in a set time. Other activities could be a simple craft; make a silly party hat (search for a downloadable free printables); a mask from a paper plate or disc. Let the parents know what you are planning in advance so they can have stuff prepared or cut out for their child to join in and keep it simple. Older children might like a karaoke app, or a movie party so they can watch and chat together on Netflix Party (Google Chrome extension download). Finish the party off with a good ol’ happy birthday song, cake and candles. Guests can get cake in too so that everyone has a treat to munch on. You could even have a birthday tea together with similar food for all, such as pizza.

The CAke Your child might like to be involved in making the cake and help decorate it; give them the option. Jane at The Crafty Cupcake is posting daily recipes on their Facebook page which have been tried and tested at their workshops so are really child friendly. As for decorating, she suggests using a piping bag and always squeezing from the top; otherwise the icing will over flow out of the top, or if squeezing from the bottom it will block the icing flow. There are no rules, so Jane says be as creative or as minimalist as you like, take your time and think about what you would like your cake to look like before you begin. There can never be too many sprinkles and most of all have fun! Jane also is a big advocate of letting kids do as much as they feel they can, unaided, even if it does get a bit messy, parents are often surprised how much they are capable of with just a little guidance and a stand back approach.

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What Is A Virtual Playgroup?

T

he Parent And Child Society’s (PACS) role within the community is to offer play group sessions for babies, toddlers and their families in Gibraltar four times a week, face to face. However with the current social restrictions in place, PACS has had to find a new way of offering the charity’s services.

Playgroups offer parents and children support in children’s learning, health & well-being, relationship building and making people feel less isolated.

To continue to meet Gibraltar’s needs in these unprecedented times, PACS has come up with “virtual playgroup”.

our volunteers engaging in activities in line with our normal play session times. Therefore, our families know that on a Monday we have Storytime and Song time will be on Wednesday and Fridays as well as Friday’s cooking session. Offering support and sharing information is an important part of our playgroup sessions, in addition we have been sharing play ideas and important government messages via our page. We also have a WhatsApp group set up for our bumps and babies’ session, that allows this group of new parents to stay in touch and support each other through this time. In the future this virtual playgroup might expand to offer ‘live’ virtual sessions.

So, if you’re a parent who is struggling for some new ideas for your little ones or just looking for some fun activities to do then head over to the Parent And Child Society – PACS Gibraltar Facebook page.

Virtual playgroup has been developed to continue supporting playgroup families by connecting through online song time, story time and craft activities. Via our Facebook page, PACS has been posting videos of

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HEALTH & WELLBEING

OUR CLUBHOUSE BUILDING IS CLOSED OUR CLUBHOUSE COMMUNITY IS OPEN We hope you are keeping well and staying safe in the current situation. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your on-going support over the years and to offer our services to your organization, friends, relatives and anybody that you know that may be in need of mental health support during these difficult times. The Corona virus pandemic has had a profound effect and presented many challenges for everybody, not least for those who have a history of mental illness. Clubhouse’s resiliency, innovation, passion and dedication have quickly led to an inspiring array of strategies and solutions to address this new reality. Members and staff may no longer be able to gather together in the Clubhouse building, but continue to support each other through this crisis. We are deeply moved by the extraordinary level of care and connection that continues to hold Clubhouse communities together, despite the restrictions regarding physical togetherness.

OUR CLUBHOUSE BUILDING IS CLOSED - OUR CLUBHOUSE COMMUNITY IS OPEN.

EFFECT OF THE COVID 19 RESTRICTIONS ON CLUBHOUSE GIBRALTAR’S INCOME

Clubhouse Gibraltar is providing mental health support on a daily basis with a fully experienced staff team from Monday to Friday during our standard opening hours as follows: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 9.00 am to 4.30 pm, Tuesdays 9.00 am to 6.00 pm, Fridays 9.00 am to 3.00 pm whether our building is closed or not. Our TELEPHONE HELPLINE IS 200 68423, EMAIL: support@clubhousegibraltar.com Clubhouse Facebook Page, and WEBSITE www.clubhousegibraltar.com

Due to the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, we are struggling to raise funds as we are unable to organise our usual public events, or run our charity shop which helps us greatly towards our sustainability. We are nevertheless working hard to maintain the important and crucial service that we provide and we would be grateful if you could consider supporting us financially so that we can continue to help the most vulnerable in our community.

Clubhouse Gibraltar has been communicating with all its members through various channels and there is an outreach telephone list to ring up those who do not have smartphones or who have specially requested this. A daily newsletter is being provided via text and e-mails to maintain continuity of communication, with tips and ideas and to encourage contributions. Community Support is provided for members in need of hot meals, benefits, or any other problem they need support with and/or liaising with other services in the community.

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If you would like any further information, please feel free to communicate with us.

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HEALTH & WELLBEING

S MOKIN G &

SMOKING TOBACCO IS KNOWN TO DAMAGE THE LUNGS AND AIRWAYS CAUSING A RANGE OF SEVERE RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS. SMOKING IS ALSO DETRIMENTAL TO THE IMMUNE SYSTEM; THIS MAKES SMOKERS MORE VULNERABLE TO INFECTIOUS DISEASES. SEVERAL STUDIES HAVE HIGHLIGHTED THAT SMOKERS ARE MORE LIKELY THAN NON-SMOKERS TO CONTRACT INFLUENZA AND HAVE MORE SEVERE SYMPTOMS.

IF YOU CAN’T QUIT, STEP DOWN!

A recent systematic review of studies on COVID-19 in relation to smoking highlights that smoking is most likely associated with the negative progression and adverse outcomes of COVID-19.

The role of vaping and COVID-19 is not yet clear and research indicates that any form of smoking will affect respiratory function. However, if you find the idea of quitting “cold turkey” as being too difficult, Public Health advises a step down approach:

By smoking, you are not only putting yourself at greater risk of developing severe disease from the COVID-19 virus, but those around you exposed to second hand smoke, including children, are also at increased risk.

Furthermore, the repetitive hand to mouth movement provides an easy route of entry for the virus, putting smokers at greater risk of contracting COVID-19.

If you smoke or have a loved one who smokes, now is the time to Stub it. Stop it. And get #CovidFit. There are various tools to help stop smoking efforts, such as e-cigarettes, nicotine patches, tablets (Champix) etc. Some people prefer to go “cold turkey”, but research shows you are four times more likely to quit with additional guidance and support. Public Health recommends:

In light of this COVID-19 pandemic, there has never been a more important time to stop smoking; not just for your own health but to protect those around you.

REMEMBER, IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO QUIT!

• accessing our free GHA smoke cessation service (200 07910)

Once you quit smoking, your body will repair itself progressively; more immediate benefits include: • Elimination of carbon monoxide from the body after 48 hours

• asking your local pharmacy for “stepping-down” advice • downloading a SmokeFree app to understand your smoking patterns

• Clearing out of mucus and other smoking debris from the lungs

• growing your support network and connecting with others in the same position

• Relaxation of the bronchial tubes, making breathing easier after 72 hours

• checking CovidFit.gi for more information

• Improvement in blood circulation making physical activity like walking and running easier after 2 to 12 weeks

Health Promotion, Ministry of Public Health, Gibraltar

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HEALTH & WELLBEING

HOW TO MANAGE SEASONAL ALLERGIES NATURALLY FLOWERS ARE BLOOMING, THE WEATHER IS GETTING WARMER, THE DAYS ARE GETTING LONGER AND THE SPRING ALLERGY SEASON IS UPON US. THIS IS THE TIME WHEN TREE AND GRASS POLLENS ARE MORE PREVALENT IN THE AIR, BUT DON’T LET ALLERGIES RUIN YOUR ENJOYMENT OF GOING OUTSIDE. An allergic reaction happens when your body’s immune system overreacts to an allergen it perceives as a threat. The severity of allergies varies from person to person. It releases chemicals including histamine, designed to stop the spread of an infection, and it’s these that cause your unwanted symptoms.

You may find that you are suffering with some of the typical symptoms that occur at this time of year. These can include: sneezing; itchy, red and watery eyes; runny or stuffy nose; earaches; sore throat; loss of smell; itchy nose, mouth throat or ears; tiredness or fatigue and feeling generally unwell. Less common symptoms include: headache; shortness of breath; wheezing and coughing.

You can try and minimise your exposure to pollen by wearing sunglasses and tying your hair back when outside. When indoors it is a good idea to close windows, turn fans off, and try to vacuum and dust regularly.

Lifestyle changes may also help ease your springtime woes. Adding certain foods to your diet could actually help relieve symptoms, reduce inflammation and boost your immune system.

Hay fever, also known as allergic rhinitis, is one of the most common allergic reactions caused by pollen, and can result in some unpleasant and sometimes debilitating symptoms for which a doctor may prescribe antihistamines, but Holland & Barrett have a range of all-natural treatments that studies show can help with allergy symptoms.

Nettles have long been thought to relieve allergy symptoms, including hay fever, and one of the easiest ways to take the natural remedy is in a tea.

Try Heath & Heather Tea Nettle 50 Tea

50

Bags (50) for a light, gentle and refreshing drink.

One of the best ways to stop hay fever is by not inhaling pollen and a simple balm can help act as a barrier against pollen getting up your nose. Haymax have a variety of Pure Organic Drug Free pollen barrier balms that are suitable for both adults and children. Just apply a small amount at the bottom of your nostrils and re-apply regularly or when needed.

Nasal sprays can offer instant relief, working within minutes to relieve a blocked and bunged up nose for several hours. Holland & Barrett sell A.Vogel Pollinosan Nasal Spray 20ml that has a cleansing action to clear the nose of pollen, dust and other allergen particles, restoring the fluid and moisture in the nose making it feel more comfortable.

Bromelain is an enzyme found in pineapple that works in synergy with quercetin. Studies have shown it can help balance an over-sensitive immune system and reduce allergic sensitisation. Take one tablet three times daily, preferably with meals, of the Holland & Barrett Bromelain 60 Tablets 500mg to ease inflammation associated with allergies.

Quercetin is a powerful antioxidant compound found in plant foods including leafy greens, tomatoes, berries and broccoli. Studies have shown quercetin supplements to be effective at fighting allergy, with no side effects. Holland & Barrett sell Solgar Quercetin Complex 50 Vegi Capsules offer a blend of ingredients in capsule form. The bioflavonoid quercetin is combined with Ester-C (a non-acidic form of Vitamin C), acerola berry, rutin and rosehips as well as the natural enzyme bromelian.

MAY 2020

Nothing is more irritating than having itchy, swollen, watery eyes and if your eyes are red, tearing up or burning it can be very hard trying not to constantly rub them which will trigger a further release of histamine and worsen the symptoms. If they do become inflamed, they can obscure your vision, which can be dangerous.

Cutting back on wearing your contact lenses will prevent pollen from being trapped in the eyes. A.Vogel Eye Drops 10ml available from Holland & Barrett can give relief to dry, irritated or tired eyes. The drops provide rapid moisturisation and refreshment to help maintain lubrication of the eye and are suitable for use when wearing contact lenses.

There’s anecdotal evidence that eating locally produced honey helps relieve hay fever. Instead, taking one to two tablets daily of Holland & Barrett Bee Pollen 500mg Tablets could help.

While may be an old wives’ tale that vitamin C prevents the common cold, it does have beneficial immune supporting and antioxidant properties.

Holland & Barrett has a wide selection of vitamin C caplets, chewable vitamin C tablets, easy-to-take vitamin C effervescent tablets and vitamin C powder.

ADVISORY

INFORMAT

ION: Food supp le be used as ments must not a substitut varied and e for a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. If pregnant, you are breastfeed ing, taking any medic atio medical su ns or are under pervision, consult a please doct professiona or or healthcare l and alway s read the label be fore use.

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Here are discussed the most common ones, with different grades of rarity and severity.

CELIAC DISEASE is a long-term but usually not life-threatening condition affecting intestinal digestion. It is caused by allergy or intolerance to gluten, a protein found in cereals like wheat, barley and rye. In genetically predisposed individuals, exposure to gluten sparks anomalous autoimmune responses.

Diagnosis is not always straight-forward to achieve unequivocally, but early screening can help with mild symptoms easily mistaken with other digestive issues. Early symptoms in babies and children are steatorrhea and failure to grow.

Celiac disease must be told apart from wheat allergy, a rare but more serious condition which cannot be neutralised with gluten-free products consumption alone.

CYSTIC FIBROSIS is a genetic disorder caused by gene mutation or deletion that affects mostly the lungs, but also pancreas, liver, kidneys and bowels, for which there is no cure, and which halves life expectancy in the developed world.

It is mostly common in individuals of north European ancestry, where about a quarter of the population are estimated to be carriers.

Africans and Asians seem to be almost immune to this mutation, and some studies suggest that it may be related to evolutionary exposure to dim lights and cold temperatures, although other populations from subarctic climates like Siberia, Alaska or Greenland, seem to be immune. Others suggested it may be linked to the mutations of eye colour, in other words if you have blue or green eyes you may have higher chances to be a carrier, but no theory has so far satisfactorily returned unequivocal proof.

Symptoms manifest in early childhood with poor growth and flimsy weight despite healthy appetites, frequent chest infections with sticky mucus and the characteristic salty-tasting and smelling skin.

Treatment so far consists in a gluten-free diet, to avoid and prevent bloating, lethargy, anaemia, hyposplenism, vitamin and minerals deficiency, and complications like intestinal cancer or lymphoma, which are nevertheless rare.

Parents’ suspicions about salty skin may be confirmed by genetic testing. Preventive screening is available to warn prospective parents who are both carriers about the 1-in-4 possibility to produce an affected child, with a ratio akin to thalassaemia.

In regions alien to traditional wheat farming, like south-eastern Asia where rice is the staple cereal, or Mesoamerica, where corn is, celiac disease still exists but it doesn’t manifest until the ingestion of wheat, barley and rye, European staples.

Most damage to the organs is caused by blockage from thickened secretions that can lead to lungs failure.

Pulmonary physiotherapy is the key to support an improved quality of life. Lung transplant is an option for those worst affected with respiratory symptoms.

Celiacs can source their carbs from non-cereals like quinoa, amaranth and of course potatoes, pumpkins and bananas. Always seek medical advice before starting a carb-free diet.

Visit: www.nationalceliac.org, www.celiac.org www.coeliac.org.uk www.beyondceliac.org.

EHLERS-DANLOS SYNDROMES are a group of separate but related connective-tissue disorders, occurring because of variation of a number of genes that affect the structure or production of collagen, and it can be potentially severe or life-threatening.

Visit: www.cff.org and www.lung.org.

MAY IS MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS AND SKIN CANCER AWARENESS MONTH, WHICH ARE WIDELY MARKED ON THE ROCK, BUT THERE ARE OTHER CONDITIONS WHOSE PREVENTION OR TREATMENT IS GIVEN SPECIAL COVERAGE THIS MONTH.

HUNTINGTON’S DISEASE is a degenerative inherited disorder resulting in the accelerated demise of brain cells, manifesting itself in the early stages with subtle motor skill problems, lack of hand-eye coordination, and mild loss of balance, not always paired with decline in cognitive abilities.

Early symptoms that may prompt you to seek medical attention for your baby or toddler are delayed walking beyond 18 months, and a preference for bottom-shuffling instead of crawling. Another alarm bell can be your toddlers’ habit to stick their tongue out and, so doing, reach comfortably their nose with its tip (Gorlin’s sign).

Onset can be as early as in one’s twenties, and it can be difficult to diagnose it, if one is unaware that the genetic condition is running in the family. Jerky out-of-control movements are an early symptom to pay attention to, together with rigidity, poor posture or balance, reduced facial expression, seizures and sleeping disturbance.

Later, it can show through joint hyper-flexibility and skin hyper-extension, arthralgia, myalgia, scoliosis, kyphosis, translucent skin, heels’ piezogenic papules, hyper-mobile fingers and toes, bendable thumbs.

There is no cure, but treatment is available to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life, but in later stages, patients inevitably become dependant on around-the-clock care.

There is no cure for this, but once a diagnosis is achieved through genetic testing, treatment is available for each of the symptoms and co-morbidities, like cardio-valvular disease, brittle cornea, keratoconus, macular degeneration, hiatus hernia, fragile skin, muscle hypotonia, periodontitis, and pregnancy complications.

There are different degrees of EDS and most patients can lead a normal life with it. Some have made of their skin hyper-elasticity a career in showbiz. Italian virtuoso Niccolò Paganini is believed to have suffered from a mild form of EDS making his fingers extra-long and agile on the strings.

Visit: www.ehlers-danlos.org.

Predictive genetic testing and prenatal testing are advised to carriers. Physical examinations like MRI and PET can map the areas of the brain affected, while psychological tests can gauge the extent – if any – of cognitive decline and devise brain retraining. Affected subjects are at risk of anxiety, depression, compulsive behaviour, addictions, hyper-sexuality, egocentrism and suicidal thoughts, as well as muscle atrophy, cardiac failure, osteoporosis, and, when elderly, at higher risk of dying as consequence of a fall.

Visit: www.hda.org.uk.

This article aims at being informative only, with no medical or diagnostic pretenses. Consult your GP if you suspect you or a relative may be suffering from any of the conditions here described.

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ARIES (MAR 21 – APR 21) May is the perfect time for you to get started on new projects, access new ideas and give birth to a new set of conditions in your life, Aries.

Meditate on it and put those plans in place,

TAURUS TAKEAWAYS

(APR 21 – MAY 21)

VEHICLE REPAIRS

May is a good month for you to have a detox, Taurus. Do this for both your body and your mind and you will truly feel the benefit. The fog will pass and your energy will lift.

GEMINI (MAY 22 – JUNE 22) You are being asked to reach out with love this month, Gemini.

Remember that the love you share and send into the world is all part of your divine purpose and is eternal.

CANCER (JUNE 23 – JULY 22) Boundaries is your key word this month, Cancer. It is not always easy for you to say ‘no’ but you need to reclaim your space and say ‘no’ to those who are demanding your time and energy inappropriately.

LEO (JULY 23 – AUG 23) You can put all your worries on hold this month, Leo. The Universe is shining brightly on you and things are working out as you want them to.

So, help it along by holding positive thoughts and intentions.

VIRGO (AUG 24 – SEP 23)

BARS / PUBS

You would benefit from spending time by the water, Virgo. Especially if you are feeling sad or just needing some healing time. A salt sea bathe or a freshwater spring will uplift your spirit and recharge your batteries.

LIBRA (SEP 24 – OCT 23) Do some energy balancing work this month, Libra. Whether you are man or woman, allow your male and female energies to harmonise and come into sync with one another and feel your true power.

(OCT 24 – NOV 22) Your homemaking skills come to the fore this month, Scorpio, when you will be called upon to improve a particular situation. Whether that is in the sphere of moving house or simply updating the décor.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV 23 – DEC 21) Do not back down this month, Sagittarius. It may be difficult but stand up for what you believe in and don’t worry about what others think.

Speak your truth and put your foot down.

CAPRICORN (DEC 22 – JAN 20)

INDUSTRIAL

You need to be honest with yourself this month, Capricorn. You need to give yourself permission to make a deep change and let go of the things that do not feed your passion for life.

AQUARIUS (JAN 21 – FEB 19) You’ve maybe been spending too much time indoors recently, and now you need to get out and breathe in fresh air. Or it may be that you are feeling mentally clogged up and need inspiration to broaden your horizons.

PISCES

(FEB 20 – MAR 20) An important door is about to open for you, Pisces, and you must walk right though. No shilly - shallying and wondering if it is right. Don’t hesitate. The timing is perfect and the opportunity has arrived.

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Rosco De Anis (Anise Cake)

To begin with, just a note of caution on this recipe, Anise can be strong so go easy on the syrup otherwise it won’t just be ‘don’t drink and drive’ but ‘don’t eat and drive’.

INGREDIENTS CAKE: • 255g Sugar • 255g Butter • 255g Self raising flour • 6 Eggs.

SYRUP: • 350ml Water • 250g Sugar • 250ml Anise liquor (Anis seco, dry anis) • Cinnamon

METHOD Beat the egg yolks together with the sugar, leaving the egg whites separately to one side.

Once the eggs and sugar are creamed together, mix in the flour.

Make sure not to over mix, but just enough to blend the contents together.

Leave to one side and beat the egg white until you have a peaked meringue. Now fold this into your batter, until all the egg white and batter is blended together.

Place your batter in a lined bunt tin and bake at 180°C for 40 to 45 minutes.

Once golden and fluffy and you see that you can pierce your cake and have a clean blade, leave to one side to cool and prepare your syrup.

Heat the water and sugar in a pan until everything is dissolved and reduces, then add your anise.

When cool, flip your cake over and pour half the syrup over the bottom of the cake, allow to soak for a few minutes, then flip and repeat over the top. Finish off with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

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Erin & Michael, married on 13th February 2020.

Photo by Radka Horvath.

Jess & Karl, married on 6th February 2020.

Photo by Radka Horvath.

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FEATURE

Shine

Light

Your

“WE ARE ALL MEANT TO SHINE. AND AS WE LET OUR OWN LIGHT SHINE, WE UNCONSCIOUSLY GIVE OTHER PEOPLE PERMISSION TO DO THE SAME. AS WE ARE LIBERATED FROM OUR OWN FEAR, OUR PRESENCE AUTOMATICALLY LIBERATES OTHERS.” MARIANNE WILLIAMSON. Finding The Inner You is a first step to giving yourself permission to shine. Once you have located your inner light then, I believe, that you actually have a responsibility to let it shine… thus encouraging others to give themselves permission to do the same. Not in any boastful or bragging way but coming from a place of humility. The Inner You understands that we are all one - that we all have a light to shine - but we lose our childlike innocence as we get older and are exposed to the things that the material world values. Our values become confused and we develop the need to conform and to fit in. The child whose vivid imagination is encouraged and who is considered both intelligent and cute at age two then goes to school and is told not to make up stories and gently, “Now, you know that isn’t really true.”

How confusing is that! They learn that imagination is not true but is allowed at a specific lesson time when they are allowed to write stories to develop language skills and story lines. Thus, imagination has a box with a tight lid to keep it firmly under control.

car, and your sleep patterns. Exercise? What condition are they in? Is your diet healthy? Is your house in a good state of repair and is it a comfortable and supportive place to be? Are your clothes okay or do you need some new underwear? Is your car properly maintained and do you get a good undisturbed sleep every night? Do you set time aside for exercise? Be honest with yourself!

So, what is the solution? First of all - give yourself permission. Give yourself permission to be you. Many of us spend years wondering who we really are, why we are here and what our purpose is, indeed, do we have a purpose? Maybe the ultimate purpose for all of us is to shine that light; however it is important to differentiate between purpose and process. I believe that we go though many changing processes and the purpose remains the same, but that is the substance of another article.

This exercise can be done in stages… in fact, it needs to be done in stages until you are familiar with it and also it is alright to overlap. Yoga may well fit into three or four of the categories and that’s fine. But when you have done the exercise and, if you have been honest, you will have one area very depleted and probably one over stocked!

So, you can identify where you need to focus in order to redress the balance. While doing the exercise allow yourself to become aware of which area you are most interested in. Which one you are most drawn to. Then give yourself permission to discover more about that area. Give yourself permission to explore that area and feel how much you enjoy and get excited about it. You may work in a physical job - like building or body training - but your inner you really enjoys reading spiritual literature and you don’t get time to do much. So, you give yourself permission and set aside time to indulge this passion. And this is how you go about finding what lights you up and then going out and sharing it with the world. This is how you Shine your Light.

WHO ARE YOU… AND WHO ARE YOU GIVING YOURSELF PERMISSION TO BE? I have a favourite model which I have used for many years with clients and groups… I didn’t create it; I came across it many, many years ago and adapted it to work with in my own unique way. I call it the PIES model and I have found that within this model you can identify, really quite quickly, just where you fit and just how to shine your own unique light.

The basic premise of this model is that there are four pillars to a balanced life. The P(hysical), E(motional), I(ntellectual), S(piritual).

Very simply, you make a list of as many things as you can think of that you do on a daily or weekly basis to nourish yourself in these four areas. So, for example, on the Physical you would look at your diet, your house, your clothes, your

The same process for Intellectual… what books do you read? Do you read? Do you keep abreast of your career, hobbies and interests? Have meaningful conversations?

Challenge your brain?

Emotional? Do you have healthy, close relationships? People who care for you and for whom you care in return? Are you a good listener? Do you support a charity? Etc. etc.

And Spiritually? Do you meditate? Read spiritual literature?

Practice yoga? Have meaningful discussions? Listen to healing music? And so on.

Forget the thought that you are not ready or that you need to be a great prophet. You are that prophet! You are that Light! You have that Light to Shine and the most powerful thing about Shining your Light is that you encourage others to do the same. How exciting is that!

Kate McHardy is a Personal and Spiritual Counsellor.

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Sabrina & Dan, married 2nd February 2020.

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Cheryle & Alex, married on 21st October 2019.

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