Jo Ward – Page 15 – Gibraltar Insight

Vitamins to Boost Hair Growth

5 years ago in Health & Beauty by Jo Ward

It is often said that our hair is our crowning glory and there is no doubt that having a healthy looking head of hair can boost our confidence. But what about those of us who have noticed that our hair is thinning or find that it is now fine and wispy when it was once full and luscious? This doesn’t just apply to women, but men as well, who are often equally as vain when it comes to their hair.

The hair on your head goes through a life cycle that involves growth, resting, and shedding. Each hair is attached to the scalp via a follicle. There are between 100,000 and 350,000 hair follicles on the human scalp and normal hair loss in an adult is about 50-100 hairs a day, but there are many people who suffer with more severe hair loss caused by stressful situations, pregnancy, chronic illness, injury or poor diet. Other factors such as age, genetics and hormones can also affect hair growth.

In those situations and when hair loss is persistent, it is advisable to seek medical assistance, but if you want to give your locks a boost, it is worth investing in vitamins or supplements that may help your hair follicles function to the best of their ability.

Having a healthy diet full of nutrients can have an impact on the growth, strength and volume of our hair. Certain proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals are especially significant for strong, healthy hair. Research has determined that vitamins A, B, C, D, iron, selenium, and zinc are all important to the hair growth and retention processes, specifically with cell turnover.

Vitamin A

Your hair needs vitamin A to stay moisturised and to grow and it also strengthens hair to reduce breakage. Good food sources include sweet potatoes, carrots (especially carrot juice), spinach, kale and some animal foods.

Vitamin B

One of the best known vitamins for hair growth is a B-vitamin called biotin. B-vitamins help carry oxygen and nutrients to your scalp, which aids in hair growth. Wholegrains, meat, seafood and dark, leafy greens are all good sources of B-vitamins.

Vitamin C

Free radical damage can block growth and cause your hair to age. Vitamin C is needed to make collagen and can help prevent hair from aging. Good sources include peppers, citrus fruits and strawberries.

Vitamin D

Low levels of vitamin D are linked to alopecia. You can increase vitamin D levels through sun exposure or by eating certain foods such as eggs, berries, oily fish such as salmon, avocados, sweet potatoes, nuts and seeds.

Vitamin E

Similar to vitamin C, vitamin E is an antioxidant that can prevent oxidative stress and can boost hair growth. Good dietary sources include sunflower seeds, almonds, spinach and avocados.

IRON

If your iron levels are too low (anaemia), less iron is supplied to your hair follicles disrupting your hair growth cycle and causing hair loss in some people. Iron is an important mineral for many bodily functions, including hair growth. The best sources of iron include clams, oysters, eggs, red meat, spinach and lentils.

Zinc and Selenium

Zinc plays an important role in hair tissue growth and repair and a lack of zinc can lead to hair loss and a dry, flaky scalp. It also helps keep the oil glands around the follicles working properly. The mineral zinc can improve hair growth in people who are deficient in it. Good sources include fortified cereals, wholegrains, eggs, oysters, beef and pumpkin seeds.

Protein

Hair is made almost entirely of protein. Consuming enough is important for hair growth. If your diet is low in protein, you’re likely to have hair loss or dry and brittle hair. Eat the right proteins and keep your hair strong. What to eat: Chicken, fish, turkey, eggs and dairy products. For vegans or vegetarians, legumes and nuts are an excellent source of protein.

Vitamin Supplements

A nutritious, balanced diet is the best source of vitamins for hair growth but it is often difficult to get sufficient, so vitamin supplements can be helpful.

Holland & Barrett have a wide range of natural products, high quality vitamins and nutritional supplements, including their own brand, which can help to encourage hair growth from within our body.

Holland & Barrett Vitamin B-Complex and Vitamin B12 food supplement

New Nordic Hair Volume tablets contain micronutrients and herbal extracts including apple extract, procyanidin B12, biotin, zinc and copper.

Viviscal Hair Growth Maximum Strength supplements are for people who want to maintain normal healthy hair growth.

Nourkrin is a nutritional supplement that contains the fish extract known as marilex. Taken regularly for a period of at least 6 months, Nourkrin promotes hair growth by maintaining the health of your hair follicles.

Vitabiotics are multivitamins and supplements for both men and women that can boost hair growth.

Advisory Information:

Food supplements must not be used as a substitute for a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking any medications or are under medical supervision, please consult a doctor or healthcare professional and always read the label before use.

Raising Body Confident Children

5 years ago in Health & Beauty/Mum on the Rock by Jo Ward

Raising our children to be healthy, happy and confident is something that most parents aspire to, but nowadays that is becoming increasingly hard to do as they are bombarded with negative
messages about body image in the media where beautiful and thin people are portrayed as ideal.

Kath Temple, the Psychologist at the heart of Gibraltar Charity The A healthy body image in childhood can lay the foundations for good physical and mental health later in life. An unhealthy body image in childhood can have long-lasting consequences.

Unfortunately, Photoshopped images of perfection are everywhere and their effect can be seen in children even from a young age, with body image concerns beginning as early as preschool, and kids don’t understand the powers of airbrushing or self-editing images.

Self-esteem is all about how much we value, love and accept ourselves. Children with high self-esteem and who are body confident feel good about their physical image, take pride in their abilities and appreciate their own worth. Signs of bad self-esteem about body image can include a child that is self-critical, comparing their body to others and obsessing about weight loss.

It’s not just girls that are affected either. Boys can be influenced by superheroes and action figures depicting unrealistic body types. Teen boys may strive for the perfect body through dieting or compulsive exercise and children with negative body image have a greater likelihood of developing an eating disorder that can lead to anorexia.

NHS UK advice for parents of a child who has been diagnosed with an eating disorder include talking to your child about it: ‘Although they might come across as angry or aggressive, deep down they could be feeling scared or insecure. It might be difficult for them to express their feelings, so be patient and listen to what they’re trying to say.’

A child’s body image is influenced by many factors including family environment, ability or disability, the attitudes of their peers, social media and their cultural background. As they get older, puberty can also be a big influence. During puberty your child’s body is going through lots of changes, at the same time as they are trying to fit in and look the same as other people.

There’s a lot you can do to help your child develop a positive body image, including:

Talking and listening with your child. Discuss the severe realities that underweight models and overly-muscular celebrities experience. Talk about the drastic and unhealthy measures many people take to obtain these body types, despite what it does to their
Have regular conversations about stereotypes, prejudice and using words like “ugly” or “fat” as insults and how that can change someone’s body image.
Watch TV together, pause shows and adverts to talk about the messages that are being sent. Look at magazines together and discuss the unrealistic images
Discuss the tactics advertisers use to sell products. Help your child spot underlying messages about how a product will make them more attractive.
Explain that personality is more important than physical appearance.

At every stage of your child’s life you can do positive things to support a healthy body image and develop their self-esteem.

If you think that your child has an eating disorder, you can ask to be referred by your GP to the Gibraltar Health Authority (GHA) to get professional help or counselling.

Become a Positive Body Image Role Model

How you feel about your body can have a powerful influence on your children. Take time to think about ways you might be telling them about your body image. If you talk about your huge stomach, your latest weight loss diet or your gruelling workouts, your children will pick up on these negative messages. They will begin to worry about their own size and think they should be dieting.

Focus on Health, Not Weight

Shift your focus from weight to health. Stop obsessing about numbers on the scales. Instead, concentrate on delicious foods and fun physical activities. Children shouldn’t be counting calories or restricting their intake. They should be enjoying regular meals and learning how to make smart, healthy choices. Try cooking healthy meals together.

Nutrition and fitness are great goals because they give us energy to do all the things that we want to do. We all feel better when we take care of our bodies so teach your children about how to get the energy they need to live an active life.

Help them to get fit

Feeling fit, strong and capable is one aspect of positive body image. Children who undertake regular physical activity enjoy good social skills and develop a more positive body image. All children need regular physical activity they enjoy. It doesn’t matter what they do for physical fitness, it just matters that they do something. Be active together; go for a walk, to the park to play ball games, or take them swimming.

If your children see that you are active every day, that you eat healthily and that you talk about your own body in positive ways, they will pick up on this and do the same. You can make your children feel comfortable in their own bodies by helping them to realise that their shape and size doesn’t matter to anyone else, and it certainly doesn’t matter to you!

Behind the Scenes at the Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Service

5 years ago in Features by Jo Ward

Safety is the main concern at airports and it’s down to the Gibraltar Airport Fire & Rescue Service (AFRS) to protect the life of passengers, workers and tourists at Gibraltar Airport and in certain other instances around the Rock. As we already know, Gibraltar Airport has its own challenges with a short runway and with the sea at both ends. There is also the added complication of having a main road crossing the runway, which brings its own problems, but the AFRS is always prepared for any eventuality and ready to respond. Senior Fire Officer Nicky Viñales shows Insight’s Jo Ward behind the scenes and lets her get up close to their new state-of-the-art fleet of vehicles.

Nicky Viñales has worked as a firefighter for the past twenty-seven years, but took on the role of Senior Fire Officer in 2015, at exactly the same time as the new fleet of firefighting vehicles arrived. He explains that the airport is MoD owned and operated but that the civilian side has its own Air Terminal. “In October 2015 the Defence Fire & Rescue Service was handed over to the Gibraltar Government, who now owns the organisation, but the MoD continues to co-fund the organisation as well as the procurement of the equipment.”

The Airport Fire Station situated near the North Barrier at the side of the airfield consists of the usual administration offices, a training room, rest room, gym and a kitchen that at the time of my visit was emitting some very pleasant cooking smells. “One of the firefighters is detailed every day to cook,” Nicky says. “Shifts start at 8 am and finish when the air field shuts which is usually around 9 pm at night, so the bulk of the work is undertaken in the morning and then in the afternoon it’s stand down time and when training takes place.”

There are a total of 28 firefighting personnel operating on a two-watch 13 hour shift system. “It is a small organisation but we have lots of capabilities,” Nicky tells me, continuing: “We do pretty much everything that the Gibraltar Fire & Rescue Service (GFRS) does, except diving, as well as the aviation side of things, so we are nearly fully interchangeable.”

As well as providing support to the GFRS on request, the AFRS form part of the MoD Nuclear Emergency Response Organisation and were on hand for the blaze at the North Mole Bunkering Facility in 2011. They also carry out numerous skills and specialties including Aviation, Structural (working at height and in a confined space), as well as Maritime where they provide fire cover for naval vessel ammunitioning of ships and submarines and for road ammo. Nicky adds that the firefighters are First Responder First Aid trained and that they also have some hazardous materials advisors.

Both the AFRS and the GFRS work to British procedures with training primarily done in the UK, other than for refresher courses. “Next year we are all due a refresher and in the past we used to have to fly people over to the UK to different training establishments, but now we are able to bring out a couple of instructors and they can train the whole station over a week or two,” he states.

It goes without saying that firefighters are imbued with integrity and dedication, and that ongoing and daily training is an essential part of what they do. There is also no doubt that if any of them had a childhood dream to become a firefighter, they could not have envisaged the magnificent bespoke vehicles that they now operate.

The new fleet consists of three Rosenbauer PANTHER 6×6 trucks, one 4×4 Rosenbauer PANTHER, two command support utility vehicles and a light rescue unit. Rosenbauer is the world’s leading technology and service provider of fire fighting vehicles and it is not just the vehicles that are different to the ones they have replaced, it is also the firefighting tactics, as Nicky outlines. “The other vehicles carried a lot less water and foam on board and you had to be very measured in terms of how much water and foam you were using because it was expelled at 6,000 litres per minute and the water/foam was gone very quickly, so it entailed a lot more manual firefighting.” With the new roof monitor water can be deployed with a 90 metre jet throw.

The three bigger vehicles have a water capacity of 11,500 litres and 1,500 litres of foam, whilst the smaller vehicle has a water capacity of 6,500 litres which is only slightly less than the old large vehicles at 6,800 litres.

The award-winning modern firefighting vehicles have been designed specifically for the needs of Gibraltar’s AFRS. “Different airports have different requirements and one of the items we requested were, for instance, extendable hose reels on an arm that swings out,” Nicky says. The other thing that is noticeable is that everything is automated. “This is very much for the PlayStation generation,” Nicky laughs as he explains that his firefighters have no real issues with joysticks, screens and buttons. “However, it has involved a lot of retraining because the old vehicles had more conventional levers and switches.”

Everything about the vehicle is evocative of the sleek big cat with which it shares its name – the Panther, full of power and elegance. It is a high climb up into the cab of the 6×6 which offers a comfort previously unseen in older trucks. There is room for five or six personnel, and the automated system allows for one firefighter to control everything from inside whilst the rest of the team are deployed dealing with the incident. Nicky points out the electronically controlled high reach turrets which extend up to 16 metres high, but it is impossible not to notice the impressively huge tyres, which he points out have rear wheel drive steering making it easier to manouvre the vehicle.

The smaller 4×4 can carry similar equipment, but is more geared towards the rescue element, carrying the bulk of the cutting and hydraulic lifting gear. “We have got total flexibility within our fleet but they all have a specific role within the fire vehicle line-up,” Nicky comments.

Another specification asked for was a pump that could withstand corrosion. Nicky explains that the vehicles normally carry fresh water but the hydrant systems in Gibraltar contain sea water, so obviously they needed a pump that would be more resistant to the corrosive nature of salt water.

Back in his office, Nicky gives me a short history of the AFRS. “The origins stem from the Army Fire Service which used to exist at Europa, and when the Admiralty Fire Service at the Naval base closed in 1992, it amalgamated with the RAF Fire Service, replacing RAF personnel, he tells me, “which then became the Defence Fire & Rescue Service up until 30th September 2015.”

The airport is civilian owned and has its scheduled flights, but Nicky explains that the AFRS operates very much within an aviation compliance regime. “Everything that we do, all the training, the testing of equipment and the competencies of the firefighters, has to be recorded and for this we use the RedKite Management software system.” They are also subject to periodic UK Civll Aviation Authority and MoD audits.

Although hard work and training are an integral part of a firefighter’s job, they provide a vital public service that we rarely think about until they respond to an incident, and this is particularly true of the AFRS who work and train hard to keep our community safe, now with even better vehicles and equipment to enable them to do so.

Empowering the Patient

5 years ago in Health & Beauty by Jo Ward

St. Bernard’s Hospital has seen a series of improvements over the last few years that have changed the face of healthcare in Gibraltar for the better, and under the recently launched formal constitution, the Gibraltar Health Authority (GHA) has set out its principles, values, and pledges to the community regarding the rights and obligations of patients, describing the constitution as: “Our commitment to your health, care and wellbeing.”

Sandra Gracia was appointed as the Director of Nursing and Ambulance Services for the GHA at St. Bernard’s Hospital in September 2018, having previously covered the post for two and a half years in an acting capacity.

“It is a very busy and challenging role, but I like challenges, but it is also an interesting one because of the fact that I feel empowered enough to make the changes that need to be implemented, not only for the patient which is the ultimate reason why we are all here, but also because there are so many exciting developments occurring,” Sandie says. “One of the greatest things happening at the moment is how we are changing nursing practice and at the same time taking pre-hospital care forward with the help of our Acting Chief Ambulance officer and seeing the difference and the impact that makes to patient outcomes.”

Sigurd Haveland is a paramedic and the Acting Chief Ambulance officer that Sandie is referring to and fortuitously he came into his role at the same time that Sandie became Director of Nursing. “This has enabled us to have discussions about the strategic direction of the Ambulance Service and I think that we have been successful in cementing that,” Sigurd tells me. “It is going to be a paramedic led ambulance service where technicians are the backbone of the pre-hospital care clinician.”

Calling the Ambulance Service ‘embryonic’ because it was only in 2000 when the service became professional and only 2013 when paramedics came in to fruition, Sigurd explains that it is a combination of technicians and paramedics delivering pre-hospital patient centered care.

Currently there are three operational ambulances supported at times with a paramedic vehicle. “We have two skill sets in the frontline ambulance clinicians; the technician and the paramedic who is a health care professional,” Sigurd states. “We also support pre-hospital operations with transport drivers which help us keep three ambulances operational all the time and our objective is to have three paramedics in every shift by 2023/5.” Sigurd goes on to say that there should be a paramedic available for every call, not necessarily in an ambulance, but every call will have either a paramedic present or will be supported by a paramedic.

Sandie comments that it is about changing the concept of the emergency ambulance service from what it was in Gibraltar and where it is getting to going forward. “It is about providing the best clinical outcome from a pre-hospital setting because obviously that impacts on the community at large and the survival of anybody that is going to come in as an acute emergency.”

Sigurd points out that it is important for the public to recognise that the Gibraltar Ambulance Service is totally integrated with the health care system and with the GHA, but that when it comes to the emergency service they are a stand-alone operation.

The Ambulance Service in Gibraltar has a multi-faceted role and raising public awareness about what they do is an ongoing initiative. Maritime Attendance and Retrieval is one such speciality, where clinicians attend seamen or people out at sea and if necessary use their specialised skills to package, extricate and disembark patients before ferrying them to hospital. “Gibraltar Port is very important for maritime rescue and this is a service that the Port Authority and the Gibraltar Government provide to shipping,” Sigurd says.

They also work closely alongside the Gibraltar Fire & Rescue Service in the event of road traffic accidents, collisions, in fires and rescues. Sigurd adds: “There is now an appetite for paramedics to be trained in rock rescue as well and we have to look forward as to how we are going to manage any incidents up the Rock.”

Sandie and Sigurd are keen to highlight a campaign directed at educating the public on how to best use the emergency ambulance services. “The public should be aware that there are other routes to go down before an ambulance will come out to them,” Sandie comments. In that respect Sigurd has been active in integrating a telephone CPR assistance service and working alongside the Department of Education to launch CPR training in all the schools in Gibraltar, hopefully by October this year. “We want to increase and enhance bystander CPR in Gibraltar and we thought that the best way to do this was to go to the roots – the children.”

“We also have the Public Access Defibrillators Campaign – where we are looking at not only increasing but enhancing public defibrillation in pre-hospital care,” Sigurd confirms. “There are 14 operational defibrillators at the moment around Gibraltar, but we want to engage with companies who have defibrillators in their premises and are hoping that they can sign up with the GHA so their staff can be trained in defibrillator use, so that if there is an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest close to these business premises, the public will know where to access a defibrillator.”

Both Sandie and Sigurd want to thank the Gibraltar Cardiac Association who has been working alongside them to raise public awareness. “They have been bending over backwards to help with this,” Sigurd states. Sandie adds that the Gibraltar Government has given their commitment to expand the extra services and the clinical expertise within the ambulance service in the future.

Simple things could save a life and Gibraltar Insight is happy to publish a map of where the 14 defibrillators in Gibraltar can be found.

Behind the Scenes at the Day Surgery Unit

Amongst others, one of the success stories at St. Bernard’s Hospital has been the Day Surgery Unit which has become one of the flagship projects of the GHA. “One of the things that surprised us was how we changed public perception from what was the norm before to what could be delivered,” Sandie says, continuing, “the other thing that we were quite astounded by was getting the public on-board and you can see that on social media where there is always somebody thanking Day Surgery and saying how wonderful it is, and that is a huge achievement and a drive for the staff themselves to keep delivering that little bit extra back to their patients.”

The unit was designed with the patient in mind by a team headed up by Day Surgery Sister Angela Morgan and Sandie. “It was eight years in the making and we designed it the way we wanted it to be, and it works, so we are reaping the rewards now of what Day Surgery could have been and what has eventually been done,” Angie says. “We work on the floor, we know what we need and we know what we need for our patients.”

Sandie adds that they were lucky that there was an appetite from the Gibraltar Government to empower the clinicians to say “look this is what we need, this is what the patients want and we were able to deliver that.”

The Day Surgery unit is nurse-led so once patients come into the Main Reception, welcoming and well-lit and furnished with comfy chairs, they are admitted by a nurse who takes a brief medical and case history and that same nurse is assigned to the patient all the way through their surgery procedure. Specialised day surgery trolleys designed to minimise patient manual handling provide all the functions of a bed, trolley and operating table together and accompany the day surgery patient throughout the entire patient journey through to first stage recovery. Happy healthcare employees can lead to happier patients and the nursing staff that I met were all incredibly friendly, happy in their work, extremely knowledgeable and able to put their patients at ease.

The suite has been in operation for six years but looks brand spanking new, rather like a VIP unit, and Sandie is quick to praise Angie and her staff for keeping it that way. There are fifteen beds at the moment with a complement of eight staff nurses and two Enrolled Nurses.

Ward Manager Caron Fennelly explains that they can facilitate a turnover of up to 30 patients a day – depending on the number of surgeons operating on the same day, which can be up to four. “They have their surgery, maybe in the main hospital theatres or in our own theatre, so it is like a big circle, in, out and recover.”

Because of the geography of Gibraltar Sandie states that they have managed to extend the boundaries of day surgery. “When we have gone back to conferences in the UK they have been quite surprised at that not only is it the boundaries of day surgery that we have expanded beyond, it is the techniques that we have developed with our clinicians, our anaesthetists and our surgeons to be able to get the patients home within the same day,” Sandie confirms. This is due to a special type of analgesia and the take home medication that is prescribed, along with a follow-up call and somebody who they can call during the night for advice. The patient gets another follow-up call the next day and they can either come in or they can go straight to A & E if there is a problem. “We have been able to expand on the ‘basket of day surgery cases’ to include more complex, more invasive surgery,” she states.

This then takes the pressure off the reason for an in-patient stay and the patients actually now prefer to go home and rest, with research showing that they make a quicker recovery within their own home environment.

Angie comments that they have now outgrown the unit. “This was the foundation and we opened up with our vision in mind,” Sandie says, “but that vision has now expanded to include a wider range of surgical activity, and making the unit bigger is something that we will be looking forward to doing in the next couple of years.”

The Value of Dyslexia

5 years ago in Features by Jo Ward

Many of us may have preconceived ideas about what dyslexia is and how it can impact on someone’s life. As a result, people with dyslexia often have to overcome numerous barriers, despite the fact there are many positive differences and sometimes hidden talents. However, it is those perceived barriers that sometimes give people the strength to overcome them and to achieve success because of, and not despite of, dyslexia.

Ten percent of the world’s population are believed to be dyslexic, but dyslexia is still often poorly understood. We all know the high profile entrepreneurs, business leaders and celebrities with dyslexia, such as Lord Sugar, Anita Roddick, Richard Branson, Jamie Oliver and Ikea founder Ingvar Kampradand, and there is no doubt that with the right support, the strengths and talents of dyslexic people can really shine. However, change is needed, especially by educators and in the workplace, so that dyslexics can reach their full potential.

To raise awareness of the problems surrounding those issues, The Gibraltar Dyslexia Support Group (GDSG) in association with the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses (GFSB) will be hosting a Diversity & Inclusion Seminar in September to highlight the positive impact of dyslexia in the workplace.

Stuart Byrne, who works at the GFSB and is also Chairman of the GDSG, explains how the seminar came about. “This is something that the GDSG has been wanting to do with the business community for a number of years, but so far a lot of our efforts and work has been mainly focused on children, the education system and helping youngsters and parents, but it has always been our aim to open the scope a bit more and to try and help dyslexics in the workplace as well.”

An invitation to the Global Summit from Made by Dyslexia in London, a global charity led by successful and famous dyslexics such as Richard Branson, with the purpose to help the world properly understand and support dyslexia, led Stuart to thinking that this was now the perfect opportunity to reach the local business community in Gibraltar. At the Summit a report was handed out to all delegates on The Value of Dyslexia, created in collaboration with EY, which showcased in depth how neurodiversity will become increasingly valuable within the working world, highlighting key facts and research into dyslexia and its unique thinking skills.

“I approached the GFSB and they thought a seminar was a great idea and were happy to support it,” Stuart explains, “and from there we branched out and got in contact with other organisations that we thought would be interested in supporting it, such as the CIPD, Women in Business and the Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce, amongst others, and together with our sponsors we are able to bring expert speakers over to participate in the seminar here in Gibraltar.”

These guest speakers comprise Kate Griggs, Founder and CEO of Made By Dyslexia, Benjamin Cooke, Senior Strategy Consultant at EY London, and Edward Davis, His Excellency The Governor of Gibraltar and Gibraltar Dyslexia Support Group Patron.

As a dyslexic himself and with two children with dyslexia as well, Stuart is passionate to raise awareness of dyslexia and realises that businesses, schools and people can all make small changes that can result in big differences.

“Dyslexia has always been fighting its case for reasonable adjustments to be made in the workplace, but with companies investing in diversity and inclusion programs at the moment surrounding gender, race, sexual orientation, disability etc., it seemed to be the perfect time to include dyslexia in that mix to heighten awareness and create an inclusive environment for dyslexics in the workplace, and I think it is about time the business community starts thinking about how better to serve their staff,” Stuart states.

So what reasonable adjustments could businesses think about to help support people overcome the challenges posed by dyslexia? Stuart says that the list is endless! “The important thing is looking at people as individuals, and to recognise that if you have two dyslexic members of staff it does not mean that they need the same assistance.” Part of that is working towards their strengths and supporting their weaknesses.

“You have to be individualistic and holistic in your view of your staff, maybe putting a creative person alongside an academic person, maybe letting someone record things audibly, being a bit lenient on spelling on internal correspondence, or having someone to double check their work before an email gets sent out to a client.”

“There are lots of little easy simple things that can be done at either none or minimal cost to the business, it is just a mentality shift, and hopefully we can start building on that with this seminar,” Stuart states.

The Governor of Gibraltar, Patron of the Gibraltar Dyslexia Support Group

Edward Davis, His Excellency The Governor of Gibraltar and Gibraltar
Dyslexia Support Group Patron, talks to Jo Ward about the upcoming seminar and about being dyslexic himself.

It was only about a year and a half ago that The Governor found out about the GDSG at a family charity day on the Piazza. “It was a bit of a revelation when I came across Stuart and his team and after chatting with them for a bit I was instantly keen to get involved,” he says, “so I was delighted to become the Patron, especially as being associated with the group has given me an opportunity to better understand my own dyslexia at a fairly senior age, which in some ways, I wish I had the opportunity to do before, but I am glad I have done it now, so I want to express my thanks to Stuart.”

The way we talk about personal cognitive differences has changed over the past couple of years – from members of the Royal Family speaking out about their own personal challenges, to politicians and celebrities using their public platforms, and this has transformed the views that people have on personal cognitive differences and altered the way in which we are willing to engage with people with such differences, and that includes dyslexia.

“The community of Gibraltar is a lot better off because we have a better understanding of dyslexia, we are engaging with it and embracing it in a way which is very positive, and I think it has helped me in my own personal journey,” His Excellency states. “I was born in Hereford, made in the Royal Marines and defined in Gibraltar – part of my self-definition journey here in Gibraltar, which I suppose is a look-back over my life so far, is understanding the role dyslexia has played in my life.”

As with many children, Edward Davis found his differences made him stand out at school. “My dyslexia was first recognised by my parents when I was at primary school, so I had some extra tuition, but in those days, the focus was on dealing with the symptoms as opposed to the causes of the difference,” he comments. “This meant that I was just made to read more, rather than addressing some of the fundamental underlying issues, embracing personalised learning techniques or focusing on different educational disciplines so that you could contribute productively as part of your school along with your school mates, in a way which made you not stand out as being different in a negative way.”

Keen to explain that the fact that being dyslexic means that you have different abilities, not limiting abilities, The Governor says that one of the things he has mastered is how he approaches learning. “I have got a very good memory and I can take lots of facts in and remember them – that was very much what got me through my ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels,” he tells me. After joining the Royal Marines, His Excellency says that dyslexia wasn’t a hindrance to his career path as, by then, he knew how to prepare himself for occasions, whether that was reading or speaking in public, where his dyslexia would particularly manifest itself. “It was muscle memory of the brain, so I wasn’t relying on seeing, computing and speaking in real time. I made myself familiar with what I was going to read beforehand; in doing so, I compensated for the short-comings in my ability to speak in sync with my reading.”

Agreeing that the upcoming seminar will help to heighten the profile of dyslexia, The Governor adds that he would describe diversity and inclusion as embracing the power of combinations. “I have lived my personal and professional life by harnessing the power of having the humility to realise that everybody has something to offer and that if you don’t include them then you are going to miss out,” going on to say that he thinks dyslexia will become an increasingly significant difference if utilised correctly. “I say that because the nature of the future workplace, and the business that the future workplace conducts in our increasingly digitally-driven world, will become more and more dependent on some of the inherent skills and attributes that dyslexics have: their curiosity, creativity, innovation and lateral thinking.”

The Governor comments that this is particularly evident in Gibraltar’s context, where it is already a digitally-based economy, and one that will become increasingly more so. “The worldwide figures are quite striking. In the next ten years 60% of jobs and 30% of the activities within those jobs are going to be automated through artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. The remaining activities are going to require employees who are able to engage with the digital business enterprise in a far more intuitive and dynamic way. And I believe dyslexics have the differences and the attributes to succeed in such an environment.”

“Against this backdrop, we are, potentially, going to either have to reskill, or train from scratch, up to 4,500 members of Gibraltar’s workforce, to be able to give them meaningful, fulfilling, productive employment in the future and to also provide Gibraltar – the unified jurisdiction – with the workforce skills that it needs to maintain its socio-economic wellbeing,” he states. This can be helped by companies understanding the difference that is dyslexia. A difference that has a lot of the skills that will be needed in a digitally-driven economy. A difference that dyslexic employees already have within Gibraltar’s business community.

“Ultimately, understanding, engaging and embracing dyslexia within the Rock’s business community is all about increasing commercial outcomes in step with improving staff wellbeing. Resulting in greater good for everybody.”

The Governor contends that given the changing nature of the workplace it is a very timely, important and inspired seminar, because in Gibraltar, as in business-led jurisdictions everywhere else, the difference that is dyslexia has the potential to make a difference that matters.

Ghita Hearing Loss Support Group

5 years ago in Community Insight/Health & Beauty by Jo Ward

1 in 6 people may find it difficult to hear a conversation. By the age of 50 this is 42% of us, rising to 71% after 70. Yet approximately 40% of those have never worn a hearing aid.

Around 10% of people in Gibraltar have Tinnitus and for about 300 people this affects their quality of life. Little is known about the number of people who also have Hyperacusis (noise sensitivity). Meniere’s disease, a disorder of the inner ear that causes severe dizziness (vertigo), ringing in the ears (tinnitus), hearing loss, and a feeling of fullness or congestion in the ear, probably affects 50 Gibraltarians mostly over the age of 40.

People with hearing loss may use British Sign Language (BSL) or they may lip-read. They could have a hearing aid or cochlear implant.

The Gibraltar Hearing Issues and Tinnitus Association Support Group (GHITA) is a registered charity that runs a support group who meet once a month giving guidance to anyone requiring it, offering advice about the help and equipment available in Gibraltar and signposting people to other services.

The aim of GHITA is to increase awareness about ear health, rights to services, and to give support to people suffering with hearing loss issues including Tinnitus, Meniere’s or Hyperacusis. GHITA is active throughout the year, giving talks to schools, charities and Government departments about Deaf Awareness.

Worldwide there are 432 million people who are deaf or have a significant loss, including 34 million children. By 2050 this will rise to 900 million.

Having an informal chat over coffee with others with the same issues is often the best way to come to terms with hearing loss. Meeting with other people going through the same journey can prove therapeutic and complements existing therapy or help in the absence of any support. Everyone is welcome to join us for a coffee and a chat. Please keep in touch via the Facebook page at Gibraltar Hearing Issues & Tinnitus Association (GHITA & BSL Club). The support group meet on the first Monday of every month except on a Bank Holiday or during August, and the next three meetings will be held on 1^st July 2019, 2^nd September and 7^th October from 17.00-18.00.

The Important Role of Grandparents

5 years ago in Mum on the Rock/Regular feature by Jo Ward

Not all children have living grandparents, but if yours are lucky enough to have grandparents who want to play an active part in their grandchildren’s lives, then count your blessings.

Whether they live nearby or whether they are long-distance grandparents who communicate via Skype, or whether they are biological or non-biological grandparents, it is important to nurture the grandchild grandparent relationship and wise parents will keep the flow of communication open by whatever means.

Becoming a grandparent is part of the cycle of life and for those in their twilight years there is nothing better than cradling a new baby in their arms and being in awe of the tiny human that is just beginning their life.

Studies have shown that the quality of relationships between the two generations has measurable consequences on the mental well-being of both. Researchers polled 2,000 British grandparents and discovered as many as 51% feel sad or depressed that they do not see their grandchildren as much as they want, with a further 14% saying they hardly see them at all.

Being a grandparent is an undeniable privilege and although we all know the old adage ‘at least we can hand them back at the end of the day’, there is a certain truth in the fact that grandparents usually benefit from quality time and often miss out on the stress and the tantrums. Very often grandparents are good role models and mentors, having a wealth of experience that they can pass on to the younger generation. Generally, grandparents have more time to devote to what are deemed to be the ‘fun’ elements of brining up children; playing, reading, exploring and learning. Engaging with the spontaneity naturally found in children can help to recapture lost passions and reconnect the oldies with their inner child, stirring those footloose feelings and emotions from a time gone by. Remember that grandchildren love unconditionally and we can all learn from their example.

Grandparents can also pass on valuable life skills and hobbies, both consciously and unconsciously, some of which may be lost unless they are passed down from generation to generation. There is also a whole wealth of knowledge that grandparents have to divulge about the past that can contribute to preserving the family history. However, we mustn’t forget that it can work both ways and grandchildren can be just what the doctor ordered for the older generation who can sometimes be stuck in their ways. The little ones in their life can keep them up-to-date with current trends, help them to see things from a new perspective and teach them new skills such as how to use digital technology, or maybe even how to floss (that’s the dance not the dental procedure)!

With the ‘Baby Boom’ now becoming the ‘Grandparent Boom’ there are more grandparents than ever, but some have less contact than they would like and grandparents’ groups in the UK have been campaigning for over a decade to make the law and policy around post separation or divorce easier for grandchildren to see their grandparents. There are also an increasing numbers of grandparents who are solely caring for their grandchildren during the day or who have full legal custody of their grandchildren, making them surrogate parents and ultimately resulting in them having a particularly strong influence over their upbringing.

Grandparents are also the biggest fans of the achievements of their grandchildren – and the proudest! Simply having the love and support of grandparents can make a huge difference to a child’s confidence and self-esteem.

So whether it’s through practical help such as offering childcare, or emotional support such as providing a shoulder to cry on when a grandchild is having a tough time at school, at home or because of bullying, grandparents are often utterly indispensable and a lot of families would struggle to keep going without them. Cherish grandparents!

Intergenerational Care

Intergenerational care is the practice of bringing the young and elderly together by introducing nurseries and care homes to one another. It started in Tokyo, Japan in the 1970s and was soon adopted in many other countries, including the US and Australia. The UK was slower off the mark, but there has been a rapid expansion in the past two years, inspired in part by the hit Channel 4 show, Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds, and it seems to be going some way to addressing the current epidemic of loneliness in old age.

Studies claim this type of intergenerational interaction can decrease older people’s loneliness, delay mental decline, lower blood pressure and even reduce the risk of disease or death and it was evident from the TV programme that the adults were happier and that it helped the children to become more confident, develop their social skills and improve their language, reading and communication skills. Who could fail to feel energised by a gaggle of happy kids!

‘Healing the Generational Divide’: A report by the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Integration highlights the need to bring together children with older people in care settings. Maybe this could be rolled out in Gibraltar – something that would be sure to put smiles on everyone’s faces.

Natural Vitamins for Healthy Skin

5 years ago in Health & Beauty by Jo Ward

The skin is the body’s largest organ and it is important to take care of it so that it remains healthy, although it’s not necessarily considered to be the most important organ by our bodies and the nutrients we ingest typically go to other more vital organs first, with little left to nourish the skin. This means that we should make sure that we apply vitamins topically (directly on to the skin) to be sure that it gets what it needs.

Most of us have a regular skincare routine that involves cleansing, toning and moisturising, sometimes with the added boost of anti-aging products, and most of us know that we should wear protective sunscreen to limit exposure to harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. In fact sunscreen is often the first thing on a dermatologist’s list when it comes to skincare, because it’s the best anti-aging product around.

However, a little bit of sun can be beneficial because our body creates vitamin D from direct sunlight on our skin when we’re outdoors. Just 10–15 minutes of daily exposure helps manufacture vitamin D throughout the skin. Vitamin D is one of the best vitamins for your skin, along with vitamins C, E, and F. Taking vitamins in supplemental form can keep your skin healthy and supple and looking youthful, but they are also found in vitamin enriched skincare products such as moisturisers, serums and cleansers, and are a great addition to incorporate into your established skincare routine.

Here’s our guide to the ABC’s of vitamins:

Vitamin A wins the gold star because in its purest form it is also known as retinol, beloved by dermatologists for restoring and regenerating damaged collagen. If your skin is dry, rough, or slow to heal, then this is a good sign that it needs Vitamin A. Using a retinol-based product may make the top layer of your skin dry and flaky, so it’s best to apply it at night and wear moisturiser and sunscreen the next morning. Always sk a dermatologist if you are unsure about how to use it properly. Choose skincare products containing common vitamin A derivatives such as retinol and retinyl palmitate to help minimize fine lines and even skin tone and texture.

Vitamin B is in the rock star category in skincare because these can keep the skin protected from free radicals and therefore keep it more youthful looking. The skin loves Vitamin B and this makes it well suited for faces creams and body creams, particularly for dry or eczema-prone skin. There are several B-complex vitamins that may improve skin health such as B-3, or niacinamide, which may help some signs of skin aging. Some studies suggest that it may help reduce the appearance of age spots and other forms of skin discoloration

Vitamin C is another powerful antioxidant that again protects you from free radicals and can possibly assist in lowering your chance of skin cancer. This vitamin is also known for its brightening effects on the skin and its ability to protect against pollution. Use it to help brighten dull skin and decrease dark spots with continued use.

Vitamin D was traditionally used to treat conditions like psoriasis, but also assists in repairing skin damage and can help in preventing infections that might be caused due to skin injuries as well as being used in creams to rejuvenate the skin. It can be applied topically as an oil to soothe the skin.

Vitamin E is commonly found in skin care products and can aide certain skin disorders as well as being used for skin repair, for cellular restoration from sun damage and as a healing support for scars or burns. Vitamin E is an antioxidant preventing oxidative damage to cells by helping to remove free radicals and is often used for its moisturising properties.

Vitamin F, sometimes thought of as the new-kid-on-the-block vitamin, is probably best known for its ability to hydrate, plump and heal the skin, but it is an excellent carrier oil that can get below the surface of the skin and is often used to facilitate the penetration of other active ingredients such as antioxidants.

Unfortunately, having great skin is not part of our DNA and can be affected by the environment, where we live and by air pollution, so using essential vitamins can help you achieve optimum skin health.

Always contact a dermatologist or seek medical advice if you have any queries or experience any problems using skincare products.

Gibraltar Welcomes the Island Games – and Sustainability is the Word!

5 years ago in Features/Sport Insight by Jo Ward

In what has been described as a unique, multidisciplinary sporting spectacle and as a scaled-down version of the Olympics, the Island Games is coming to Gibraltar this month between the 6th and 12th July.

Over 3,000 coaches, athletes, officials and spectators will be descending on Gibraltar from all over the world to take part in The Gibraltar 2019 NatWest International Island Games XVIII at some fantastic new venues with the Rock as the backdrop.

This is only the second time that Gibraltar has hosted the Island Games, the first being in 1995 when it was dubbed the ‘Sunshine Games’, but it will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for many to watch international athletes competing on their home turf, and the good news is that apart from the Opening Ceremony, entry is free to all events.

The games started in 1985 as the Inter-Island Games, part of the Isle of Man’s International Year of Sport, which saw fifteen islands with 700 competitors and officials taking part in seven sports. Initially only meant to be a one-off event, the festival was such a success it was agreed to hold it every two years. President of the Gibraltar Island Games Association, Linda Alvarez, has been involved with the Island Games since 1987 when she participated as an athlete playing Badminton in Guernsey, and has been involved in the organisation of the Island Games ever since.

I remember the Games from the last time they were held here and the euphoria surrounding them, and I am hoping for the same atmosphere this time around,” Linda comments. “The Island Games will be a really good thing for Gibraltar and I think particularly in these times of uncertainty that we are facing, it is great that Gibraltar can prove to Europe and to the rest of the world that we are not just a small place but that we can do big things

Linda

The Island Games Association consists of 24 islands and to apply to join, an island has to be under a certain size to become a member. Linda explains that when the Games first began there had been a call asking for islands to participate. “Although we are not an island, it was a great opportunity for Gibraltarian athletes to participate, particularly in 1985 when the frontier was closed, and because up until then we could only compete in the Commonwealth Games,” she says.

This year there will be 22 competing islands coming from as far north as Greenland, as far south as St. Helena and the Falkland Islands in the Atlantic, and including the Caribbean Islands of Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.

The 14 sports consist of athletics, badminton, basketball, cycling, beach volleyball, shooting, squash, swimming, table tennis, tennis, judo, ten-pin bowling, triathlon and sailing. “Six new venues have been built just for the Games, which will obviously be part of the legacy for Gibraltar, and the rest of the venues have been revamped,” Linda states.

Sustainability is the word, and Gibraltar is leading the way as an example to the world by reducing its environmental impact during the Island Games with campaigns that will benefit the whole community. All the new facilities have been constructed in an eco-friendly way so as not to negatively impact the environment or heritage, featuring green roofs and solar panels.

“We want to educate and inspire the younger generation,” Linda says, “and right from the beginning it was my idea that I wanted to go single use plastic free.” With that in mind Linda decided on a dolphin as the mascot for the Games. “We held a competition with GBC Radio to name the dolphin and the winning name was Hope, which is very apt as it goes nicely with our slogan which is ‘Clean seas, our future’.”

Main sponsors for the Island Games, Nat West International, are providing each athlete with an aluminium bottle and Agua Gib will be installing fountains all over Gibraltar, particularly in the sporting venues, so that people can easily refill their water bottles.

Linda explains that just as the Olympics has a flame, the Island Games has a similar concept but with water as a symbol of the oceans and seas surrounding the islands. “The water ceremony, the now traditional curtain-raiser to the Games, will take place at the Opening Ceremony at the Europa Point Stadium,” she says. “Every island in attendance will bring water and pour it in the ceremonial fountain which will circulate until the closing ceremony, when a sample will be handed to Guernsey, the 2021 host,” Linda says.

It goes without saying that the fountain is going to be made from reusable recyclable material, the podiums are being made out of wooden pallets, and even things like the flag poles will be made out of old broomsticks. “Wherever we can we are trying to be sustainable,” Linda comments. A further lasting legacy will be the tree planted in Alameda Gardens, and to celebrate the event there are ten commemorative stamps featuring various sports.

“Minister for the Environment, Dr John Cortes, is hosting a Green Islands conference for member islands before the games to discuss environmental issues,” Linda reveals, “and there is going to be a lovely exhibition in Casemates run by the Department of Culture in conjunction with the Gibraltar Chronicle showing the history of the Games.”

There are a whole host of special events for everybody to enjoy taking place during the week of the Games to be held at Grand Casemates Square which will be named ‘Games Square’. These include a special edition of gastronomic food festival ‘Calentita’ to be held on the 5th, the eve of the Games’ official opening and also a selection of live entertainment during ‘Summer Nights’, which will take place on a daily basis from Saturday 6th to Saturday 13th.

“We will have a stage in ‘Games Square’ where medal presentations will take place every evening, ensuring that locals and visitors alike can get involved in the friendly ambiance,” Linda confirms.

The aim of the Island Games is twofold,” Linda tells me. “Firstly, the whole reason it was started was to give athletes from islands opportunities to experience participating in different sports, and secondly to build up some sort of legacy for the islands.” Linda gives an example of the legacy from the 1995 Games. “We built the GASA swimming pool which is still used by the public, and this time we are going to have new shooting ranges, new athletics track, a 50m indoor swimming pool at Lathbury Barracks and a completely new stadium at Europa Point –all venues that can be used in the future by local people and to enhance a sports tourist industry that will bring more visitors and revenue into Gibraltar – so the legacy that this Island Games is going to leave behind is going to be huge.”

Accommodation for athletes will be dotted around Gibraltar at various locations including the new University student block at Europa Point. “The hotels have been very good and given us around 700 beds and the former MoD property at Europa Walks will house about 1,200 people. The ‘Games Village’ will be housed there and the old St. Christopher’s school site has been transformed into the athletes dining area. There will be a transport link from the venues to accommodation areas so that accredited athletes will be able to hop on and off buses branded with the Island Games logos at special bus stops that won’t disrupt local transportation.

As a retired teacher, Linda knows that in this day and age it is all about trying to get kids out and about instead of sitting there playing with their computers. “Gibraltar has a high uptake of youngsters taking up sport and something like this can encourage even more to do so,” she comments. “I have been going round to all the schools giving presentations and lectures to try and get the students involved, and this is yet another part of the legacy that we need to leave behind.”

Over five hundred local people have signed-up to volunteer as ‘games makers’ to help out with the organising and running of the Games during the week-long event. “We had a fantastic response to our call for help, which is amazing, and from past experience I know that the volunteers make a real difference whilst thoroughly enjoying themselves at the same time,” Linda says.

“I can’t state this enough, but it is thanks to the Government and all the different agencies working together in the areas of security, transport, culture and customs that will make this Island Games a truly great success.”

After many sleepless nights, challenges and all the days of hard work that have gone into the huge undertaking to complete everything and make it operational for the start of the Games, Linda is sure of one thing. “It is going to be very exciting,” she remarks.

Legal Services firm Ramparts Acquired by Ince Gordon Dadds

5 years ago in Business Insight by Jo Ward

Now the name Ince is back in prominence in Gibraltar with the acquisition of legal services firm Ramparts by Ince Gordon Dadds, to be known in future solely as Ince Gibraltar.

Chief Minister Fabian Picardo attended the launch of Ince Gibraltar on the Sunborn Yacht Hotel on the 1st June. The acquisition brings together three companies as part of a bigger group, all specialists in their fields, with more access to resources and expertise.

Founder of Ramparts Peter Howitt first came to Gibraltar in 2005 to join gaming company Party Gaming, now GVC, and after working in a few different roles he decided to start Ramparts seven years ago. “We focused primarily on e-gaming which is obviously a huge part of the Gibraltar economy, and my experience in-house as a lawyer helped us grow a gaming practice,” he states. “We do a lot of work for payments companies that has led to work in cryptocurrency related activities and we also have a company administration side, so we manage companies for clients. We also undertake financial services advisory and compliance work.”

In a place not lacking in law firms, Peter comments that some people were a bit surprised at his decision to start another, but he felt that coming from an in-house background would mean he would have an advantage in persuading clients that Ramparts was solutions focused, somewhere people could go to for solving problems, whether related to the law or to practical issues.

Having grown Ramparts as a one-man-band from 2012 to a team of fifteen in just seven years, Peter realised that the company had reached a point where it needed to offer something else in the local community. It was an introduction by Andrew Tait, who had spent ten years as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Gibraltar-based operator Mansion Group and had then moved to London as a Partner in Gordon Dadds, which opened negotiations between Gordon Dadds founder Adrian Biles. “It has taken about nine months or so, but we are delighted to be part of a bigger group,” Peter says.

Adrian Biles founded the business in 2013 with the acquisition of Gordon Dadds, a small traditional Mayfair law firm specialising in private clients and family law matters. “At that time it was about 2.5 million pounds of annual fee income and from there we have grown it largely by mergers and acquisitions to a business with 13 offices in 8 countries, 1,000 people and an annualised income of 100 million pounds,” Adrian states. The different sectors of business of the company are shipping, transport and logistics, energy and infrastructure, insurance, technology, media and telecoms, regulatory solutions and gaming.

Listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange in August 2017, Adrian explains that Gordon Dadds undertook a merger with world leading shipping firm Ince, and the company is now rebranding the London international offices of the business as Ince. “Gibraltar is a jurisdiction which is extremely attractive from a shipping point of view and, although we are specialists and world leaders in shipping and in gaming law, we have not had our own people on the ground here before, and from that point of view we have recruited a leading shipping lawyer , Anne Rose from Hassans, who will join Ince as Shipping Partner,” Adrian states, continuing, “add to that the relocation of Andrew Tait, who is one of our leading gaming practitioners, so we see that as an investment in Gibraltar and we are looking to contribute to the local economy and to grow our business here over the next few years.”

In terms of what Ince will now be able to bring to Gibraltar, Peter is confident that it will mean better recognition internationally for the jurisdiction as a good place to invest in or to move to. “Having an international brand and network will enable us to go out and sell Gibraltar plc really easily and to get those key messages across.”

The effects of Brexit on Gibraltar are as yet still unknown but whether there is a ‘withdrawal agreement’ or ‘no deal’, there are bound to be challenges for the jurisdiction. Peter comments that although they were very concerned prior to the referendum, he thinks that one of Gibraltar’s key strengths is resilience, and although it would be nice for the uncertainty to be over – he doesn’t think it really matters long-term to Gibraltar’s future.

“Luckily for us it isn’t about being in the EU, which is why we think the Ince deal is good and why we will be able to bring business to Gibraltar, because for many of the businesses and individuals that we can attract to Gibraltar it is not that important – it really depends on the sector.”

Another key area where Peter is confident that they can offer value, both with their experienced personnel in Gibraltar and access to people in the teams in London and elsewhere, is compliance. “This is a massive part of many operations now where they need to meet all sorts of compliance obligations and it is not just data protection; there is also anti-money laundering, responsible gaming for gaming companies, financial `promotion and conduct of business.”

“We also recognised that Gibraltar could really benefit from a different approach to dispute resolution and we are pleased to have on board Fiona Young as a Senior Associate,” Peter says. Fiona has experience as a commercial and employment lawyer and mediator which will help to open up new opportunities for Ince.

“We are looking at our clients as more than just their particular issue but identifying what their needs might be in the whole and taking those forward, which is exactly what the Ince brand is doing globally,” Fiona explains. “The other area that I am involved with is diversity and inclusion which is something that a lot of the local gaming companies are developing, so my work is very project based which is also exactly what the Ince brand are doing , breaking the mould of the traditional law firm and looking at our clients’ needs.”

A final point from Peter: “Brexit and the uncertainty surrounding is obviously a really important thing, but the fact is that an international business looking at acquisitions around the world decided that Gibraltar was investable in.”

Jo Ward - page 15

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Behind the Scenes at the Day Surgery Unit

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The Governor of Gibraltar, Patron of the Gibraltar Dyslexia Support Group

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Intergenerational Care

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