Jo Ward

The arts Society Gibraltar welcome Antique Roadshow Expert

Jo Ward talks to Marc Allum ahead of his lecture for The Arts Society Gibraltar on Wednesday, 20th April. 

Marc Allum is a very eclectic person who derives his ideas, style and taste from a broad and diverse range of sources that make up his varied collections of antiques and collectables. It is no secret that Marc has a passion for classic cars and we talk as he has ventured out to his barn to start up his 1956 Citroen. “It’s such a lovely day so I can start to get the cars out of mothballs, and then I am going to head into Bath – where there is a brilliant exhibition of Tudor portraits,” he says. 

Growing up in Coventry where his father was a trainee surveyor helping to rebuild the city, especially museums, Marc says that it was a fascinating place to be.  “We then moved to Kenilworth, which I think of as home, and it was when I was about eight years old that my interest in antiques started,” he states. “Even though my parents didn’t particularly like antiques, they did enjoy taking us out, and Warwickshire was a very rich county for stately homes and country houses.” 

Marc say that one of the first places that made a real impression on him was Snowshill Manor in Gloucestershire. “I never looked back after visiting it and was inspired by the collection of Charles Paget Wade who was the most eclectic collector, and I took a leaf out of his book and followed suit.” Marc goes on to say that he was mesmerised by a collection of Japanese armour. “I fulfilled my ambition to own a similar item and one of my most treasured possessions is a suit of early 19th Century Samurai armour which I have in my home, and it is the one that features on the opening titles of Antiques Roadshow,” he says proudly. 

By the time he was a teenager, Marc was ‘a mad collector’ going to local auctions and starting to buy and sell a bit. Did his peers think he was a bit strange?  “Well, I don’t think I was a strange boy, I had the same kind of interests that boys have, but I started playing the guitar when I was about 14 and then, of course, all I wanted to do was collect guitars.” 

Marc is still obsessed with guitars and tells me that in the last two weeks he has bought three. “I just ran a fabulous guitar sale last week and I had one guitar that made £132,000 – which was pretty amazing – so it is funny how those childhood interests follow you through life.” Stating that he was very much an ‘Indie kid’ – “I was really into that post-Punk revolution” – his musical tastes have become more varied. “I’m as likely to put a bit of classical on, or a bit of hip-hop, Kate Bush or whatever takes my fancy – but considering my age I still like quite raucous music,” he laughs. 

After completing a degree in English and Media, Marc decided that even though he was mad about antiques his career would be music based. “I got a job as a trainee sound engineer for Phonogram in London and after a year and a half I realised this was not the right course for me so I left and signed up with a new Sale Room in London – Roseberys – where I eventually became a shareholder, and we grew the company enormously until by the time I was 40 I literally ran out of steam,” he explains.  Marc and his wife Lisa moved to France, bought an old chateau, restored it, and watched their daughter grow up. “We ran art and antiques courses out there – but during all that time I was also jetting backwards and forwards doing the Antiques Roadshow.” Known as the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow expert on all-things miscellaneous, Marc has appeared on the show for over twenty years. 

Having been an Arts Society lecturer for the past five years, Marc is a keen supporter of the organisation which he thinks is enormously important. “Not only is it a socially good institution that brings people out and gets people together, but in more recent years it has such a varied offering with something for everyone,” he says.

“There is always new content to add in to my talks, and if you watched the Antiques Roadshow on the 27th March you will have seen an amazing object at the end of the show,” he divulges. “It is such a quirky and rare thing that I will have to include it in my lecture.”

Find out more when Marc presents ‘The Antiques Roadshow – Behind the Scenes and the Great Discoveries’ for The Arts Society Gibraltar on 20th April. 

Wine Tasting

The illustrated talk is generously sponsored by the Sovereign Trust Gibraltar Ltd and Sovereign Insurance Ltd. Prior to the lecture there will be a presentation from the Sovereign Art Foundation – a charitable organisation founded in 2003 to recognise, support and promote contemporary art talent and to bring the therapeutic benefits of art to disadvantaged children. This will be followed by a wine tasting from Howard’s Folly vineyard in Portugal. The wine sold from this vineyard goes towards supporting the Art Foundation.

The event will be held at the Garrison Library, with doors opening earlier than usual at 6pm for Sovereign’s presentation. Marc Allum’s talk will commence at 7.30pm. Guests are welcome – £12.00 at the door.

www.theartssocietygibraltar.org

A much loved daughter, wife, mother and grandmother, Rose Tilbury was a successful entrepreneur and a former Insight contributor who led a passionate and accomplished life before her sudden death in February. 

Rose was born in 1945 to parents Juanita and Pepe Rocca and grew up alongside her younger brother and older sister in a three bedroomed house in Alameda Estate which was shared by a very large extended family of thirteen. Maltese was the language spoken at home, with both Rose’s parents having Maltese and Italian heritage. 

Her loving mother, who Rose was very close to, died when she was young and this had an impact on her, bringing with it a dual challenge – significant sadness (and some loneliness) but also a realisation that life is short and that one must enjoy every minute of it. In 1966, Rose married neighbour Eric Tilbury and together they had two children, Nicole and Daniella. Eric was the love of her life and sadly passed away a few days after celebrating their Golden Anniversary in 2016. “Losing Eric was a massive blow,” Nicole states. “She was deeply in love with him and considered him her soul mate. Her smile was never the same after he left.” Rose was very proud of her grandchildren: Stefan, Tiffany and Alexa and enjoyed light-hearted banter with her son-in-law’s Dylan and Kim.

When she was young Rose won various beauty awards and was a regular on the Gibraltar Cavalcade floats. Dressing up in numerous character roles was something she very much enjoyed and in later years she became well known for her bling and colourful jewellery collection, which brought her much joy. Rose’s red hair and matching outfits were a signature trademark and at her funeral many people dressed in colour to say their goodbyes. 

As was the tradition in the sixties, local women did not go to University as there were no funding opportunities or support for young Gibraltarian women. Daniella says that a degree is something she truly would have wanted to have attained. “Her passion was in English literature and writing and she continued to write whenever she had an opportunity and took various university courses online to further develop her abilities in this area.”

Rose went on to become a civil servant working in the Dept. of Labour and Social Security at a time when women did not have many responsibilities in government, yet she held a role with significant duties. She left her position after her second child was born as she wanted to raise her children rather than depend on grandparents.

“Once I left for University and my sister left home, Mum set up her own business leading an estate and letting agency at Ocean Heights,” Daniella explains, going on to say that she was very proud of her achievements as a women leading and growing the business all by herself. “In truth, she was a savvy businesswomen who took significant yet informed business risks which paid off – she had no fear of making decisive decisions. Quite remarkable for a women of her time who had no real assets, mentoring or qualifications in business and yet she did very well. Her business required significant commitments of time and energy and when she sold the business almost ten years ago, this significantly changed the quality of her life.”

Rose was a founder member of the Gibraltar Women in Business network and formed part of the committee for over fifteen years, taking on the role of public relations adviser and as an outreach member. She was also an active member of the GFSB. 

Daniella says that writing for Insight was something Rose was very proud of. “She had a particular commitment to human rights issues and so she wrote extensively about child soldiers; women’s issues; poverty and similar social concerns. She was very empathetic and felt the lack of opportunity or alternatives of others very deeply.”

Among many other interests, Rose was a passionate gardener and her pride and joy was her garden where she spent a great deal of time and which became a haven for her, especially after Eric passed away. Rose was a member of the Gibraltar Horticultural Society and her talent for growing plants and flowers, as well as for flower arranging, led her to become the most prized winner of the GHS, becoming the highest overall winner on eight occasions. 

She also had a soft spot for culture and the arts and was a regular attendee at the Gibraltar Drama Festival and the Gibraltar Literary Festival. Something unknown by many people was the fact that Rose had an extensive collection of original art work from local artists and a copy of every book published by a Gibraltarian. 

Rose and Eric shared a love of dancing. They were elected as President and Committee Member of the Catholic Community Sequence Dance Club leading change during the mid-80s and through the 90s. They established the National Day dances and were very involved in extending the reach and relevance of the club. “Rose was very playful and cheeky and very much enjoyed dressing up for fancy dress competitions organised by the club. She was well known for her ability to disrupt to ensure no one took themselves too seriously – and she was always fun and full of life,” Daniella comments. 

Just days before the 50th Anniversary of the Catholic Community Centre Ballroom Dancing Club, Daniella took Rose shopping for a ball gown and matching shoes. “She was really looking forward to the event,” Daniella says. Sadly, the day before the Ball, Rose unexpectedly passed away.

Rose’s warm demeanour was infectious and she was always generous with her time and friendship. Daniella’s final accolade to Rose is: “Mum was a women of colour, courage and conviction as well as a sensitive soul with a lot of heart.”

‘Rose always had a great relationship with my father and passed on that respect to me. Her cheery disposition, great warmth and charm always made me feel happy and welcome in her presence.’ Craig Sacarello

“I’ve known Rose since I was a young boy as we lived in Royal Sovereign House for many years. I went to school with Daniella and Nicole is married to one of my best friends and I’m also the godfather to her granddaughter Tiffany. Many things come to mind when you think about Rose her way of expressing her view of whatever the conversation was about. I remember the last time when Tiffany played for the national team I sat beside rose and started to wind her up saying that the opponents were all the time kicking our Tiffy even without the ball, so you can imagine what came out of that grandma’s mouth until someone told her it wasn’t true and then she had a few things to tell me. Rose had her loving daughter’s grandchildren that she was so proud of and her son’s in law as well. So, to all, I say Rose lived a happy life with the only regret that she lost her partner on the way. So to Daniella and Nicole you have made your mum so proud and happy and she left as she lived.. with a bang.” Pepito Ocana

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Rose is the person I have laughed with the most, during the fifteen years that I run the aerobics classes she came and at the end of every term we had a fancy dress party, her originality was always top prize winner. All elaborated by Eric.  She loved travelling and we share three trips Cancun, Cordoba and Tangier were she came to buy a coffee table she had fallen in love with in our flat! Going shopping with Rose was a treat as we would want to buy everything and it all had to match including the underwear, sunbathing was another pasión, we would then compare tans! In her later years I had become her supplier of turmeric which she took every morning! Will miss dearly my special Rose. Henry Sacramento

‘’My gorgeous Rose. Devastated. What a heartbreak and what a void you have left in all of us. Our world will be so much duller without your style, your talent and your grace. I’ll always look across the road and see you there smiling at me and looking absolutely fabulous. You will forever be my beautiful friend and neighbour’ Marlene Hassan Nahon

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‘Rose was a truly lovely kind lady with a wonderful energy but I also found her to be a great inspiration. Despite dealing with the grief of your father which she could not overcome as it was so great and terrible illnesses which affected her ability to get up and do things as she was truly so unwell, she still did. She got up, looked amazing, got out but above all she always had a smile and time for everyone and was always so lovely to everyone, and she just kept going. So I always think about her.’ Elka Salmon

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Rose was a larger than life person. She was happy, funny and in love with life. She was a schoolmate and luckily she kept in touch with all her friends. We’ve been holding school reunions for practically every year which goes back a long way. I met her a few weeks ago and complimented her on her beautiful garden. She was the brightest rose there. You will be remembered by all of us.  Maricela Linares

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What can we say about Rose, after 40 years of friendship Rose was part of our family. She was always smiling and with her unique sense of humour always made us laugh. Will dearly miss our outings and daily chats. Rose will always live in our hearts and memories. Vivian key

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I remember Rose with wonderful and happy memories. Our love of plants and beautiful flowers bonded us as it always gave us an enjoyment that we always shared. Her enthusiasm to have a gorgeous garden kept her on her toes, be it buying more colourful plants or arranging and rearranging her terraces and patios. She was always in search of perfection. Her garden was her heaven on earth; now she has perfection! Maurice Gache

As the saying goes: ”Friends are the family we choose”   Rose and I have been friends since 1980 and together with Eric she worked tirelessly for the CCC Sequence Dance Club.  Her cheeky sense of humour and cheerful nature has been enlightening to me and to everyone. Even when she was missing Eric or feeling ill she would crack a joke and the sadness of the moment would come alive with laughter.  Rose is (her spirit lives) the kind of lady who lights up the room as soon as she enters. Her empathy and kindness towards everyone are two of her numerous qualities. I miss her radiance, her generosity,  infectious laughter,  her joie de vivre.  She has left a void which will never be filled.’ Ana Maria Morro

“Our years at Gibraltar Business Network were formative. Rose made immeasurable contribution to the Network. She related many funny anecdotes during our talks to school girls who understood that hard work can also be enjoyable which I am sure made an impact. We will miss you Rose ’ Lydia Durham

Rose was like a star, full of light and brightness,she always had a smile for everyone who she met ,have known her a long time and we had a beautiful friendship which was shared for our love of Football, especially supporting our National Team and also our love for Gibraltar and it’s people where we travelled in a coach in June 1999 to Brussels to demonstrate to the world and the European Parliament at our discontent how Gibraltar and it’s people were being treated. Our chats were sometimes very interesting but we always ended up having a laugh together, she is now gone but will never be forgotten as she will always be that bright star shining in the night sky. Simy Herbert

Jo Ward talks to local artist Karl Ullger about his work as a teacher and artist and where he gets his creative inspiration from. 

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There is no doubt that Karl Ullger was born with an innate talent but it wasn’t until his last year at Leeds University where he was studying Graphics, Art and Design, that he became serious about painting. “I got a commission from Leeds Opera House to produce a poster for Handel’s Radamisto,” Karl explains. “I enjoyed working on that commission, which I created in a fine art style, and it was then that I realised that I wanted to create paintings.”

Karl juggles his passion for art with teaching, something he does as an Art and Design secondary school teacher here in Gibraltar, teaching art at GCE and A levels. “I try to stay current and fresh and every three or four years I will do an exhibition of my work, interspersed with taking part in group exhibitions and events,” he says. 

It is in the nature of most artists to investigate, explore and experiment, and there is no doubt that Karl likes to do just that. “My favourite artist of all time is Joaquín Sorolla (known as the painter of light), followed closely by Velázquez, but I also like the work of John Singer Sargent,” Karl states, going on to say that lately he has been doing a lot of limited four colour palette work in the style of the famous Swedish painter Anders Zorn. 

“I always tell my students that like them I am learning all the time and there are periods when I concentrate on painting landscapes, but then I may jump to doing portraits or a little bit of still life – so it is what you have the most hunger or drive towards, perhaps focusing on that topic or genre and then combining the contemporary with the traditional.” 

In 2015 Karl’s landscape entitled ‘Bayview Clock Tower’ was selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. “That piece was the first in my scrap metal series titled ‘Raw’,” Karl explains. “I found the piece of metal and was using it to clean my brushes, and because I loved the texture of it and the effects that it generated, I decided to paint something on it and look what happened to that painting!” The last time a Gibraltarian had a piece exhibited at the Royal Academy was in 1913 when Gustavo Bacarisas was invited to show his work there. “That is probably when Gibraltar started to recognise me as a household name as an artist,” he says proudly.

Other moments of note in Karl’s artistic career have been to have his paintings of four schools featured on a set of stamps issued by the Gibraltar Philatelic Bureau and the Government of Gibraltar, meaning that his art will have gone around the world! “I was also one of forty eight artists who took part in the Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year television programme in 2016,” he says. “Unfortunately, I got knocked out in the quarter final.”

Locally, Karl is better known for his landscapes than his portraits. “I would say that I have more of an expressionistic approach as opposed to abstract, and I like the exploration of materials in my landscapes, whether that is metal or wood,” he comments. “Currently I am painting a patio with broken shutters where I have used actual plaster from the walls in some sections, added to which there are hyper realistic parts of the slate from the rooves.”

“My portraits are more influenced by the work of Sorolla or Sergeant, but of course both genres have one link and that is the exploration of light, so I try and emphasise light and dark tones quite a lot whether it be landscape or portrait.” At the moment his dominant medium is oils but if you had asked him six years ago Karl says that he would most probably have said plaster and resin.  

Last year was a particularly successful period of time for Karl who not only won quite a few local prizes, but also published a book ‘Lockdown with Cane-Yo’. For many artists and creatives, technology provided a lifeline during the coronavirus pandemic. “Lockdown was very hard for so many people, with the limitations and restrictions in place causing mental anxiety and depression, because they weren’t able to go out and meet up with family and friends, but I was fortunate that I had my art that I could fall back on.” 

“Creating art definitely helped me to carry on through lockdown,” Karl says. “I would wake up in the morning and play with my daughter during the day, then when she went to bed I was able to go straight into the studio in my basement and start painting, and that was a way for me not only to interact with other people but also to keep my brain safe and active.”

Karl was churning out paintings every two or three days, mainly portraits or figure work, based on people that had connected with him via his Instagram or Facebook pages. “It just blew up” he says. “People started to react with me and send me photographs, to the extent that they were even painting portraits of me!”

This online interaction between creatives, including dancers, actors and musicians, kept lockdown more interesting and Karl’s book is the result of his reaction to photos that they had taken of themselves in lockdown showing the frustration of their daily routines – maybe someone sitting outside their house, having a coffee, or someone cutting their hair or doing their makeup – displaying the emotional connections that he made with those individuals. “It was because I knew what a difficult year it had been that I donated £10 from every sale of the book to GibSams, an admirable charity who had received an unprecedented amount of calls from people during lockdown.” Alongside the publication of the book Karl held an exhibition of his work, including paintings from the book and a series of landscapes, at the Fine Arts Gallery. 

Yet another accolade for Karl in 2021 was the news that he had made it through to the 1st Round of the Jackson Painting Prize Competition in the UK, with his painting ‘Los Glacis’ having been whittled down to the top 400 from 8674 entries. He was also one of the nominees for the 2021 Gibraltar Cultural Awards in the senior category. “That was a privilege in itself just being nominated amongst people like Richard Garcia who won it and who, to my mind, was a deserved winner,” Karl states. “I hope to be in his position in thirty years’ time, but I have still got a lot to do in my career – a lot in my future to still conquer – and I think it is exciting to go on to the next challenge.”

What about those unfulfilled ambitions and, having achieved so much already, is turning professional something that Karl would like to do? “Well, I didn’t think I was ever going to publish a book, but I have learnt to never say never!” Something that Karl would like to do in the future is to have a retrospective of his work. “Before that happens there are still a lot of things to do,” he laughs. “As for turning professional, although I have exhibited in London a couple of times it is very hard to sustain if you don’t have the backing of a gallery or to have someone to represent you in the art world nowadays,” Karl explains. “There is an exciting project coming up in the UK in September and also something in Belgium – so there are little pockets of things happening that will get my name out there.”

Karl’s light is shining bright and his fame as an artist is spreading. “I am very grateful because through lockdown I connected with a lot of famous artists because we were all going through the same thing at the same time, and they message me now to talk about casual stuff, not necessarily art, and through this connection I can safely say that I can call them friends.”  

Karl Ullger’s art is available to purchase from his online shop:  

Website www.ullger.bigcartel.com 

Facebook: KarlUllgerArtworks 

Instagram /Twitter: @ullger_art 

A Different Kind of Approach to Mental Health

“We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

COVID-19 has had a major effect on all of our lives, with many of us having to face challenges that are stressful, overwhelming, and which have caused strong emotional upheaval in both adults and children. 

The Mindspace Project, led by three therapists who have personal backgrounds with depression and mental health, offers a holistic option to mental, emotional and physical wellbeing, without resorting to medication as the first port of call.

Galadriel McGrail explains that she launched the Mindspace Project back in November 2020 in the midst of the pandemic in an effort to fill a gap that she believed existed within the mental and emotional wellbeing services provided to the community in Gibraltar.

“After 20 years in the Gaming Industry in Project Management within Software Development, I decided to leave and embark on this journey,” Galadriel states, going on to say that she founded The Mindspace Project in honour of her late father Derek McGrail, in the hope of being able to provide the tools and the alternative therapy that he did not have available and for this to be accessible to the entire community.

Personal circumstances led Galadriel to embark upon a course on counselling, which she took alongside Energy Psychology and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) based courses. Massively impacted by the effectiveness of the latter, she dropped counselling and in 2020 qualified as an Integrative Therapist.

Kationa Matto had worked as a pre-school practitioner for over sixteen years at St. Christopher’s school but wanted to find a different way to working with children and helping families. “Education was very limiting for me, so I started on my journey with yoga,” Kationa explains. Taking a leap of faith, Kationa retired and took time out to raise her third child whilst also looking for ways to develop her own growth. This led her to form Mindful Kids, running family yoga classes and parenting workshops. Galadriel and Kationa met studying the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) and NLP and realised they shared a vision in offering similar services, so combined their skills under the Mindspace Project.

More recently, Galadriel and Kationa have been joined by fitness specialist Tony Gaul, awarded an MBE by the Queen for his services to the British Army and to charity, who was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) two years ago. Tony is an experienced and highly qualified physical training instructor and motivational speaker whose vision is to support those who may be struggling with mental health. Tony had a traumatic abusive childhood, both physically and mentally, but is keen to say that he is not a victim. “I ran away from home at fourteen and joined the army at sixteen, which was the best thing that I could have done because it gave me a family – but in that process I spent over a thousand days on the frontline fighting, and that had an effect on me,” he states. Tony had got to the stage where he wanted to end his life, but credits an EFT session with Kath Temple, founder of the Happiness Foundation, as having a transformative effect. “It didn’t happen overnight but I slowly realised that I had to look within myself rather talking to someone about my trauma.”

Tony runs fitness programs for children that include life-coaching and motivational speaking that will help empower the kids and provide tools that will help them self-regulate emotionally. “The sessions include anything from a walk to a jog, to using outside apparatus for training – and whilst we are doing that we are working on self-belief,” he says. “It’s all about self-love and self-care, but very much using language that they understand.”

“It’s about being present and mindful,” Tony comments. “The kids often think that they can’t meditate because they have too many thoughts in their head and they will ask how to do it, so we tell them to accept those thoughts and then concentrate on their breathing.” Apparently, the children think that Tony is ‘cool’ and will listen to what he tells them to do. Galadriel says that it is easier for the team to deliver a message that parents may want to deliver themselves, but the kids resist that, so when it comes through true stories and narratives the message gets through. “They accept and engage with it and then they put it into practice themselves,” she states. One example the team gives is of a six year old who had a worry whilst she was at school. “After our storytelling session on worry, she came back and said she had remembered what they had done in the session, so she stopped what she was doing, did her breathing, and the worry went away,” Kationa says, adding that it may be something small to us, but it wasn’t to her. 

The team explain that children will model what they learn at Mindspace to their parents, which in turn helps the grown-ups around them apply the same tools and techniques, such as mindful breathing, when angry or stressed. “Living with anxiety and stress have become the norm,” Kationa comments. “People have anxiety because they are thinking anxious thoughts, it is a process,” Galadriel explains. “The Mindspace Project is trying to change that mindset and get back to understanding why people are having those thoughts.”

The team have developed a series of programs for young people under the theme of Emotional Regulation, including The Magic of Storytelling for children aged 4-7 and Fitness with a Difference for teens from 12-16, as well as Fitness with a Difference for 8-11 year-olds and Yoga with a Difference for teens. Their intention is to promote fitness in its own right, but also as a means to engage our younger generation in activities and discussions which will empower them to become healthy happy adults and break the cycle of stress, anxiety and limiting beliefs. 

The Mindspace Project provides a space where the children feel safe, where they will be heard, seen and understood. Galadriel explains that there is a theme running alongside the sessions every week, such as dealing with anger, bullying, tech dependency or dealing with hormones. “Because we are all therapists, if a child needs something we are always on site during Tony’s fitness sessions to notice any problems, concerns or worries that arise and we can intervene and provide help as and when needed.”

The fitness sessions are held outdoors, weather permitting, in places such as Alameda Gardens or Commonwealth Park, but if not then they use the space in their small clinic in Horse Barrack Lane where their therapy and storytelling sessions are held. Kationa has a strong belief due to her educational background that the sessions they provide should be included as part of the school curriculum.

The team undertake one-on-one therapy sessions for both adults and children, and their vision from the start has been to work and support parents as much as the children. “We want to be there for the entire community, and we now have the powerhouse to do that,” Tony comments.  

The Mindspace Project is growing through word of mouth and advertising. “We really feel that we are gaining momentum now and it is building really quickly, but it is still important for the team to make sure that we are doing this correctly,” Tony says. “People often feel that when you offer therapy you are intruding, but this is very non-intrusive,” Kationa adds. At the moment the Mindspace Project doesn’t get any funding, but the hope is that they will soon garner support from local corporations and from the government as the work they are doing becomes more well-known.  

Recently there have been two new additions to the Mindspace team. Abigail Garcia is an SNLSA (Special Needs Learning Service Assistant) in a secondary school who believes that there is so much that can be done for the younger generation to be the best they can be in all aspects of life. As a mother herself, Abi is experiencing first-hand the incredible impact the Mindspace Project is having on her own child and her aim is to help the younger generation in Gibraltar achieve their dreams and overcome all obstacles. The second addition is Odile Matto who has started working diligently behind the scenes to ensure that all their events run smoothly.

This incredible team of transformational therapists, performance coaches, Masters in Neuro Linguistic Programming, Yoga teachers, mediators and EFT Practitioners are on a mission to break through barriers that some of the young people in Gibraltar, as well as the wider community, are struggling to overcome – barriers that keep them from dreaming, believing and achieving. 

Follow Facebook:  @mindspacegibraltar

Leave those bad habits behind you and step into 2022 with the mission to change and to adopt some new habits that are beneficial to your health and lifestyle. The New Year is a time to break bad habits and replace them with healthy ones, but we all know that is often easier said than done.

First of all, focus on what it is that you want to stop, whether that is smoking, drinking too much alcohol, biting your nails, or eating too many sugary foods. Once something has become a habit you find that you rely on it to calm yourself when you become stressed or anxious, so it is important to replace that habit with good ones. However, it is not a good idea to try and break all your bad habits at once! 

Try using the ‘SMART Goals’ system. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound and it is an excellent way for you to set goals and to have the means by which to achieve them. To successfully break a habit, identify why you want to change and write those reasons down. How will life improve if you stop that bad habit and what will happen if you continue with those same bad habits. Keep this list with you in case you need to look at it for motivation and to monitor your habit and look for patterns. Defining each of the five SMART characteristics can help to outline a pathway to reaching the goal. The more well-defined that pathway becomes, the easier it is to follow.

Establish realistic goals and maintain them by having a strategy to help in times you feel challenged. Understanding the trigger that starts you reaching for that bad habit is crucial. Maybe you find yourself having that cigarette or glass of wine when you are bored? Analyse why, when and where you mostly engage in your habit and how often you do it. It’s crucial to understand your behaviour if you want to change it. When we perform the same actions over and over again, we begin to lose awareness about them as our brain goes into autopilot. Awareness provides the foundation for change.

The key to stopping the cycle is knowing how the habit is formed and breaking that habit at the ‘reward’ phase. You need to replace a bad habit with a new habit that provides a similar benefit. Choosing a substitute for your bad habit requires planning ahead. Prepare yourself to be uncomfortable and to experience some bad cravings. Don’t forget to establish incentives and reward yourself! Use the money, time or energy you’ve saved from opting out of your bad habit to treat yourself to something nice, such as a new piece of clothing. 

The next time you reach for that extra piece of chocolate, or just one more glass of wine, ask yourself how it really makes you feel and is it worth it… and then go for a brisk walk!