Smokers in the island are being encouraged to take advantage of new appointment-only clinics to help them stop smoking during this year’s ‘Stoptober’ campaign.

The island’s Quit4You Stop Smoking Service has made changes to its service, to coincide with the campaign, to provide weekly appointment only clinics in Peel, Ramsey and Port Erin.

Clinics in Douglas will remain as drop-in sessions open every Tuesday from 12.30pm-1.30pm and 5.30pm-6.30pm.

The annual Stoptober campaign encourages smokers to stop smoking for 28 days from October 1. Research shows that if people can stop smoking for 28 days, they are five times more likely to stop for good.

Health Minister Howard Quayle MHK said he wanted to encourage people to take on the challenge and find out what help and support was available to them.

‘Quitting smoking is still the single best thing people can do for their health. The island’s free Quit4You Stop Smoking Service, along with encouragement from family, friends, employers and work collegues, can help motivate people to stop for the whole of October and beyond,’ he said.

During Stoptober, Quit4You is offering free Quit Kits which include a beat the cravings booklet, success tracker and details about how to access local services.

Health psychologist Anita Imberger said the Quit4You service could provide vouchers for free nicotine replacement therapy to help smokers quit.

‘Quitting smoking isn’t easy on your own, so Stoptober is an opportunity to get lots of support every day throughout October,’ she said. ‘It’s a great way of breaking down the quitting process and making it more manageable. Just 28 days can change your life.’

All Stoptober support materials are free.

To sign up for this year’s ‘Stoptober’ visit www.smokefree.nhs.co.uk. For more information, to book an appointment or to receive a free Quit Kit, visit www.Quit4You.gov.im, call 642402 or email tobacco@gov.im

Onchan commissioners have offered condolences to their former member Fred Griffin who has died aged 84.

Mr Griffin was elected as a commissioner in November 1974 amd was chairman from 1981 to 1983. He retired by rotation from the board in April 1985.

Though born in Douglas Mr Griffin spent his formative years in the south of the island where his father farmed at Balnahowe and The Sound. He attended Rushen primary school and Douglas High School for Boys. For a time after leaving school he worked for Castletown architect FH Kerr. After spending his national service in the army he returned to the island to work in the offices of the Isle of Man Farmers. This was followed by a spell working for Corlett and Sons and Cowley Ltd before, in 1966, becoming assistant secretary of the Agricultural Marketing Society. He remained there for 21 years before finding employment with an island firm of advocates, where he remained until retirement.

Rally enthusiasts may remember him as a founder member of the Steering Wheel Club which was formed to support local rally car enthusiasts. He also opened a cafe called the Steering Wheel which was run by his family and frequented by club members.

In 1973 he and his wife Pat, also a former Onchan commissioner, moved to Onchan where she took over the Royal Avenue sub post office at Port Jack. The couple celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary late last year at Anfield Manor residential home in Douglas.

We are rapidly approaching the end of 2015, and so far, apart from a long weekend in Liverpool, we haven’t been off the island.

Usually by now we’ve either been somewhere ‘foreign’, or have plans to do so in the near future. Not only that, there are no plans in the pipeline to do anything about it.

And to be truthful, the way things are in the world, I can’t see us going anywhere outside the UK again.

Not only is it too much hassle to actually get there, some recent, apparently random acts of terrorism, don’t exactly make me feel very secure.

I know it is very unlikely we would be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I just can’t stir up enthusiasm to see the travel agent any time soon.

The daily news reports on TV and the lengths that some desperate folk are forced to go to just to survive are so upsetting that it seems immoral to waste the amount of resources it costs to go on holiday.

It seems so unfair that we have so much and others have to survive on so little.

Our European travels have been limited to the popular Mediterranean destinations such as Cyprus, Spain and Portugal etc.

The one common denominator that stands out is the labour force that keeps the wheels turning and the hotels clean is from countries other than the one you are visiting.

If you are in Cyprus, the bar workers are more likely to be from Latvia than Limassol.

And another thing, have you ever seen a Spanish beggar when you are in Spain? Not often I would say.

And in Majorca for example, all the buskers are from Romania. It just seems that for some folk, the grass is always greener on the other side of the border.

But basically, the rich travel to the poor countries because in their eyes everything is so cheap. This in turn drives the cost of living up. Then the wealthy new residents start to buy up property which puts even a modest house beyond the pockets of the locals.

And another wedge that gets driven between the rich and the reality are these so-called ‘gated communities’.

To all intents and purposes, they are simply fortresses designed to protect the wealthy and privileged residents from the real world. Some years ago we spent a couple of weeks in a rented apartment in a gated complex in Southern Spain. It was horrible.

It was a development that had everything you would could ever need for a holiday in the sun. Everything that is, if you went on holiday to avoid meeting the locals.

The less said about my ex pat neighbours the better. Suffice to say that our Christmas card list didn’t get any longer, and in my opinion, the gates were to protect the locals from the Brits and not the other way round.

Our changing world and its growing population seems to be coming more troubled each week. Asylum seekers, refugees, and people who just want to work and live with dignity and freedom are trying to escape from their own countries to have the chance to live in peace with their families.

They face unimaginable risks, probably losing every penny that they own, in the hope that they can at least have the chance of a better life.

In the Isle of Man we live in comfort and safety and cannot possibly know how it feels to be under the threat of death at the hand of your fellow countryman.

We are reluctant to accept refugees and displaced people into our precious and comfortable cocoons.

We complain and moan about the foreign workers who come and work long hours for minimum reward in our service industries.

Yet it doesn’t seem so long ago the conquering heroes from our so-called civilised world, invaded the lands of our so-called, primitive cousins.

How does that saying go? I think it’s something like: ‘What goes around, comes around’.

It’s almost 40 years since Smokie released worldwide hit Living Next Door to Alice and 20 years since they collaborated on a parody version with Chubby Brown.

Chris Norman, who has lived in the island for 29 years, enjoyed a massively successful decade with the band as lead singer before leaving in 1986 to embark on a solo career.

As Chris launches his latest solo album this weekend, Island Life took the chance to try to solve one of the great music mysteries: Who exactly is Alice?

The Yorkshire-born singer and songwriter said: ‘I don’t know but if I find out I’ll let you know!’

Following his 2011 release Time Traveller and his most recent There And Back album (2013), Crossover is his most genre-defying release yet.

It will be released on Saturday through Solo Sound Records, featuring 12 tracks and a bonus track, Forty Years On, a remix of the song he exclusively penned for the recent 40th anniversary release Smokie Gold 1975-2015.

‘The title just seemed appropriate because of the variety of styles of the songs, which cross from one genre to another,’ he said.

‘I decided not to follow any kind of style and just worked on any song I came up with.

‘I took no notice if it was rock or country or whatever, the only thing I went by was if it was a good song and I felt it suited my voice.’

Born into a show business family, Chris fell in love with music at a young age.

He was three when he walked on stage to join the finale line up for a show his parents were appearing in.

Four years later, he got his first guitar, and at 11, Chris started at St Bede’s Grammar School in Bradford where he met Alan Silson and Terry Uttley – the future members of Smokie.

In 1973 Pete Spencer completed the line up.

From 1975 Smokie dominated the charts in UK and various other countries, Chris and the band released a string of hit singles, including If You Think You Know How To Love Me, Living Next Door To Alice, Mexican Girl, It’s Your Life and Lay Back In The Arms Of Someone.

Having first tasted success outside the group with Stumblin In (a duet he recorded with Suzi Quatro in 1978), he left Smokie in 1986 to launch his solo career.

His 1986 single Midnight Lady featured in a popular German TV movie and became a massive hit throughout Europe, holding the number one spot in Germany for six weeks.

Awarded ‘International Video Star of the Year’ by CMT Europe in 1994, stand-out hits such as No Arms Can Ever Hold You (1988) and Amazing (2004) have made him one of the few artists on YouTube whose videos have exceeded 10 million views per clip.

To support the release of Crossover, Chris, who lives in Braddan, will embark upon on an 18-date German tour in November, with dates in other territories to be announced.

New musical comedy Jimmy Mac, which has its world premiere at the Gaiety next month as part of the inaugural TheatreFest15 programme, will feature two well-known local performers.

Kristene Sutcliffe and Michelle Jamieson will be performing alongside West End professionals in the show where the central character, Jimmy Mac, is described as ‘a lovable rogue’.

The show traces his relationships with four very different women in his life.

Kristene plays Alice, a well-to-do opinionated woman, while Michelle plays Lucy, a sweet-natured nurse who sees only the good in everyone.

The other loves in Jimmy Mac’s life are Sharon, a lonely homebody and homemaker, and Chantal, a headstrong French dancer with ambitious plans; their roles, and that of Jimmy Mac, are to be played by West End artists.

The story is told via music and dance featuring around 20 new compositions by Stuart Brayson who wrote From Here To Eternity with Sir Tim Rice.

Kristene, a director of the theatre company Stage Door Entertainment, was the first winner of the Young Singer of Mann competition.

She has most recently been seen as Carlotta in Taylorian Productions’ sell-out success Phantom of the Opera.

‘As an actor, to be involved in what’s a totally new work is a real privilege and I can’t wait to get started,’ she said.

Former Young Singer of Mann and Young Actor of Mann Michelle Jamieson has been involved in many local productions including Cats, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Evita.

‘It will be great to work with West End professionals and learn from them,’ she said.

‘I’ve met Stuart Brayson once and his From Here To Eternity is my all-time favourite musical.’

TheatreFest15 is a five-year project encouraging new work for the theatre and is a partnership between the Isle of Man Arts Council and the National Operatic and Dramatic Association (NODA).

Tony Gibbs, NODA’s chief executive said: ‘Jimmy Mac is a box-fresh new work for the theatre, so is a perfect fit with TheatreFest15.’

Jimmy Mac is at the Gaiety Theatre on Saturday, October 10.

Doors open 7pm for a 7.30pm start. To book, visit villagaiety.com or call the ticket hotline 600555.

Castletown resident Jonathan Rea scored two fourth place finishes at Jerez on Sunday to clinch the FIM Superbike World Championship crown.

After the second 20-lap race of the day, Rea’s Kawasaki team was confirmed as manufacturers’ champion.

Rea said: ‘This is an amazing moment for me in my career .There has been a lot of hard work from myself, sacrifice and dedication from my family, but most of all this championship would not be possible without Kawasaki. I want to thank both my team manager Guim Roda, and Steve Guttridge from KME, who really believed in me and gave me this opportunity.’

More in Tuesday’s Examiner.

Find out how amazing leaves are with a Manx Wildlife Trust event.

Looking at Leaves takes place on Saturday (September 26) at Cooildarry nature reserve.

It runs from 1.30pm to 2.30pm for four to 11 year olds and from 3pm to 4pm for youngsters aged 11 to 16.

See how leaves are used for plant defence and have a go at leaf scavenger hunting.

Children must be accompanied by a parent/carer. It costs £1 per child.

Meet at Glen Wyllin car park.

Two island bands are promising a party atmosphere at this year’s Manx Last Night of the Proms.

The evening, which follows the same format as the traditional Last Night of the Proms held at the Royal Albert Hall, takes place at the Gaiety Theatre on Saturday next week (September 26).

The Manx Youth Band and Manx Concert Brass will be joined by four-times Cleveland Medal winner Mandy Griffin.

The bands’ musical director, Ian Clague, said: ‘This is one of our major concerts of the year and we look forward to welcoming regular “promenaders” and new audience members alike.

‘The players also enjoy the party atmosphere, and whilst the first half of the evening tends to have a slightly more serious feel, we all look forward to everyone singing and clapping along with the music in the second half.’

The bands will open the first half of the concert, with pieces including Franz Von Suppe’s ‘Light Cavalry’ Overture and a selection of music associated with Fred Astaire, while Mandy will perform Benjamin Britten’s ‘Cabaret Songs’.

Following the interval, the tempo and excitement continues to build towards the traditional finale.

The second half kicks off with the spirited ‘Radetzky March’ by Johann Strauss, giving the audience a chance to see if they can keep up with the band!

Rodgers and Hammerstein fans will be delighted to hear that the second half will also see Mandy rejoining the bands to perform a selection of songs from ‘The Sound Of Music’.

The audience will be encouraged to wave their flags and fly their streamers, both of which will be available on the night from the Gaiety foyer, as the party atmosphere takes over with Mandy rejoining the bands to lead the singing of traditional Proms favourites, including Rule Britannia, Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory.

The Manx Youth Band and Manx Concert Brass have been running the Manx Last Night of the Proms for over 25 years and this is the sixth year that it has been back in the Gaiety, after a short stint at the Villa Marina.

The concert begins at 7.30pm.

Tickets cost between £12.50 and £15 for adults, and £5 for children. They are available from the Villa Marina Box Office on 600555.

A Norman Wisdom lookalike and impressionist will be walking 100 miles around the island in memory of Sir Norman Wisdom on the fifth anniversary of his death.

Glenn Michael Ford, who has been working as a Norman Wisdom impressionist for 35 years, will be starting his walk on October 4, the anniversary of Norman Wisdom’s death, at the Sefton Hotel in Douglas at 10am.

The walk will take him 100 miles around the island in five days stopping at Norman’s former Andreas home and at Bride Church where he is buried.

Glenn will be dressed as Sir Norman and hopes to raise £2,000 for The Grand Order of the Water Rats charitable fund which helps veteran entertainers and which Norman was a member of for many years.

Glenn, from Portsmouth, said: ‘I had the good fortune to know him for 29 years and over the years a friendship developed which I highly value.’

In February this year he raised £8,000 for the charity after he walked 180 miles from London to Cardiff to celebrate what would have been Norman’s 100th birthday.

There will be bucket collections along the walk or you can donate at www.gowr.net

If anybody is interested in helping to provide free accomodation or food along the way or any company is interested in sponsoring the event, contact Johnny Mans Productions on 01992470907 or email JohnnyMansAgent@aol.com

Defending Regency Travel Women’s League champions suffered opening day defeat at the hands of title rivals Douglas Royal on Sunday.

A Leanne Quayle double, plus strikes from Sarah Breen and Rebecca Cole gave Royal a 4-1 win over their Ballafletcher rivals who responded through taliswoman Jade Burden.

DHSOB sit top of the pile after the season’s first set of fixtures after beating new side Douglas Athletic 8-0. Kim Watson was the star of the show for the Blackberry Lane outfit netting five goals, while Helen Cooper bagged a hat-trick.

In the day’s other game, last term’s runners-up Peel beat Gymns 2-0 thanks to goals from Becky Corkish and Maxine Smalley.

Regency Travel Women’s League

Douglas Royal 4-1 Corinthians

Peel 2-0 Gymns

Douglas Athletic 0-8 DHSOB

As part of the celebrations to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Ramsey being granted town status, a series of concerts has been arranged.

This includes the Civic Service, which will take place on Sunday, October 18, at 3pm at Our Lady Star of the Sea and St Maughold Church. The Lieutenant Governor will attend.

A parade of dignitaries and representatives of local organisations will set off for the church from the town hall at about 2.45pm.

The following concerts have also been confirmed: WI Choir, November 1, St Olave’s Church, 3pm; Lon Dhoo Male Voice Choir, November 27, Waterloo Road Methodist Church, 7.30pm; Ramsey Choral, December 13, Trinity United Reform Church, 3pm.

Ramsey was made a town in 1865.

A well-known Manx farmer is being mourned today.

John Kennaugh, who farmed at Ballaleece, St John’s, died today in Hospice.

He was respected not only for his farming, but for radio broadcasting, his work as a magistrate and his time in local politics as a commissioner in German parish.

Mr Kennaugh, who was 77, leaves his wife, Margaret, and three daughters.

Tributes are paid to him in tomorrow’s Isle of Man Examiner.

In accordance with the wishes of the family, we have delayed publishing news of his death until 5pm today.

Mark Cavendish has undergone surgery following his withdrawal from this week’s UCI Road World Championships in America.

The surgery, which was deemed a success, was to fix a partial tear of his left AC ligament suffered as a consequence of the crash during the sixth stage of the recent Tour of Britain. This was the opposite shoulder to the one damaged in last year’s Tour de France.

‘It has been a very difficult decision,’ Cav commented. ‘However, 10 days after the crash, I still had pain and I couldn’t lift or pull much weight. I tried to ride my bike a few days ago on the road, but I could not put any power out by pulling on the handlebars. The surgery was necessary to avoid any problems in the near future. I’m so disappointed to end the season like this.’

Fellow Manxies Nathan Draper and Lizzie Holden are both in the GB squads to contest the junior men’s and women’s races this Saturday and Friday respectively.

Holden finished 32nd in the junior women’s time trial on Monday.

More in Thursday’s Manx Independent.

A group of dog-loving A&E nurses from Noble’s Hospital are holding a ball in aid of two animal welfare causes.

The 101 Donations black and white themed charity ball will be at the Palace Hotel on Saturday, October 3 in aid of the ManxSPCA and a Romanian dog shelter. It will feature a three-course meal, live music from AM Frequency, a photo booth, and a raffle that’s well supported by local firms.

A & E nurse Jennifer Cannell said that after her last dog, a Greek street dog called May, died earlier this year she wanted to do some volunteering work with dogs, so went to Romania, where many dogs struggle in awful conditions.

‘I went to the Amicii shelter, a small charity run by a dedicated team of local people together with two women from the UK, who look after adopting, volunteering and fundraising,’ she said.

‘I was so moved by what I saw that when I got back home I wanted to do what I could to find some of these dogs a loving home, so I decided to foster dogs from the shelter with a view to rehoming them.’

Jennifer chose a puppy she called Gypsy, who she described as being ‘adorable’. She said Gypsy soon settled in to her new life in the island.

On hearing about the shelter and Gypsy, Yvonne Phillips, Jennifer’s friend and A&E colleague, chose to offer a home to a dog but ended up adopting one, Suzi, from an Amicii fosterer in the UK.

Jennifer said: ‘The shelter’s a lifeline for abused dogs and the volunteers need all the support they can get. Similarly the MCPCA is doing fantastic work - they often help us out when patients are admitted unexpectedly to hospital and don’t have anyone at home who can look after their pets.’

The ball was inspired by another A&E nurse, Julie Hedley, who has organised the event with support from Jennifer, Yvonne and the other A&E nurses Jo Standish, Kim Durbin, Sharon Weir and Sheilagh Gilman.

The ball starts at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £50 and include a drink on arrival, a lavish seafood buffet, carvery main course with vegetarian option and a choice of desserts.

To book contact Julie Hedley, 455119 or email eganjulie@hotmail.com

The boss of Manx Precision Optics, a high-precision optics manufacturer on the island, has given a talk about the island’s space industry and winning business in the space and manufacturing fields.

Dr Helmet Kessler was the speaker at the event on Saturday which was organised by the island branch of the Society of Satellite Professionals Internationals, the satellite industry’s largest global professional association.

Dr Kessler spent 17 years with CVI Technical Optics before founding Manx Precision Optics in 2013. He is a member of the board of trustees at the International Space University in Strasbourg and of the International Institute of Space Commerce and is also a graduate of the first class of the ISU Executive MBA programe.

Chris Scott, boss of ManSat and chairman of the SSPI, said: ‘Dr Kessler’s optics are flying in space, surveying Mars and more. He has considerable experience, not only in optics, but also as an entrepreneur and businessman. We are honoured that he has kindly agreed to join us to speak about winning business in the space and manufacturing arenas.’

Dr Kessler said: ‘Having a branch of SSPI on the island and SSPI having a Manx chairman demonstrates once more the Isle of Man’s growing importance in the space industry. Manufacturing for space is an exciting topic and in many ways different from “terrestrial” manufacturing.’

For more information about the island branch visit www.sspi.org.

A biker turned runner has completed the challenge of riding the TT Course and also running the 37.73-mile circuit.

Dave Binch, from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, decided to take on the challenge after a family friend was diagnosed with terminal cancer and has raised over £13,000 for Cancer Research UK.

The 45-year-old restored his old Yamaha racing bike for the Classic TT lap of honour and started his run at 2am the next day, beginning at Ramsey and heading along the seven-mile mountain section to Douglas.

He completed the 37.73-mile run in eight and a quarter hours and finished the parade lap in 24 minutes.

Dave said: ‘It was very overwhelming because it was a tough old jog. I just put one foot in front of the other and ran and ran. It was so peaceful and something I will remember for a long time.

‘I often thought about people who are suffering from cancer and thought they are struggling more than I am - it helped me keep going.’

The father of two, who raced in the Manx Grand Prix between 1989 and 1997, said he loved every minute of taking part in the parade lap and said his favourite part of the course is the section from the bottom of Barregarrow to Kirk Michael.

‘It was great to relive my youth back on the bike and the run was a rollercoaster of emotions.’

A six-man team went round the course with buckets collecting money for the charity and race organisers allowed Dave and his team to have photographs taken on the TT winners’ podium after he finished his challenge.

To donate visit www.justgiving.com/DaveBinch

Government departments have made savings totalling more than £7.6m over the past five years by putting services out to tender.

Treasury Minister Eddie Teare MHK was quizzed about the savings in a Tynwald question tabled by Douglas West MHK Chris Thomas.

In a written reply, Mr Teare said total savings from putting services out to tender had risen from just £482,000 in 2011-12 to just under £3.23m in the first quarter of the current financial year alone.

Total savings in 2012-13. 2013-14 and 2014-15 were £820,570, £1,034,117 and £2,042,287 respectively.

Mr Teare said due to binding commitments given to third parties, Treasury is unable to publish savings broken down by individual contract.

He pointed out that those departments with the highest third party spend will be more likely to achieve savings through tendering.

Moreover, if the value of the majority of a department’s contracts is below the tender threshold then any savings achieved through the renewal of those contracts would not be included in the figures given in his answer.

This week’s Isle of Man Examiner is in the shops now.

On page one, there’s a court story about a man who strangled his ex-girlfriend.

We also pay tribute to Manx farming stalwart John Kennaugh.

Also this week we reveal what happened when a union asked for an independent investigation into the public pension ‘crisis’. It wasn’t the result the union might have wanted.

MER stops rally stage

Isle of Man on USA tax haven blacklist

Peel sewage latest

Rally action

Wallabies move south

With community news, the Final Whistle sports pullout, your letters, the social diary and pictures from the Food and Drink Festival, the Examiner is a great read this week.

Douglas RNLI lifeboat was launched last night at 5.04pm after a small pleasure boat suffered engine failure and the crew had radioed for help.

The RNLI all-weather lifeboat Sir William Hillary was launched under the command of volunteer Coxswain Neal Corran.

The small pleasure craft with three people on board was found just off Port Soderick, south of Douglas.

All three people were uninjured and two were transferred to the lifeboat and volunteer lifeboat crewman Donald Bottomley was put aboard the casualty boat to assist as it was taken under tow by the lifeboat back to Douglas.

The small pleasure craft was taken into Douglas marina and the lifeboat returned to station where it was re-housed, washed down, re-fuelled and made ready again for service.