Women Today

On Monday 6th March, we were joined by Susan Tummon (former Miss Isle of Man herself) and Colette Wylde, the organisers behind this year's most talked about event. They agreed to stay behind after the show so we could interrogate them further (nicely!) about what the audience - and contestants - can expect from the newly revamped event.

The continuation of our 'Conister Rocks' special biographical programmes, where we talk to some of the Island's well-known personalities, find out about their lives - and the music that means something to them.

Today we were joined by former 'Minister of Fun', motorbike racer, DJ and more - the multifaceted David Cretney. In a frank and honest interview, he talked about his political career, his family, about dealing with loss and grief and about his various and ranging interests - from racing bikes to getting the dance floor rocking in his DJ days. He even pitched for a radio show while he was with us..!

And he shared the five Conister Rocks tracks he agonised over choosing - and they didn't disappoint.

Following our special 'Conister Rocks' biographical programmes with Bill Dale (who was fascinating!) we realised there were a number of questions we didn't have time to ask him. So we asked him to stay behind after the show and we recorded this - where he talks about his close friendship with Sir Norman Wisdom, gives us some hints and tips about how we can do our bit to help save the planet - AND he shared his rather wonderful impersonation of Beth 'Batman' Espey...Not to be missed!

On Monday 20th we were joined by we were joined by a number of people who came in to shed light on a rather complicated condition...

Diabetes can affect anyone, of either gender, at any age and – until it’s managed – it can be scary and somewhat debilitating. We were joined by lead diabetes nurse Janet Clark, podiatrist Julie Maddrell and 17 year old Type 1 Diabetic Anna Clarke-Smith along with her dad Paul Clarke; through them, we found out what diabetes is, how it affects those that have it and how it can be managed, so that people with the condition can lead a full and normal life.

We had so many questions for them that we ran out of time, but they all offered to stay behind after the show to record this exclusive extra content.

The full length interview with Joanne Clague, Chair of the Manx Diabetic Group, who came in to tell us what it's like for her living with Type 1 diabetes and to give advice to others with the condition.

You can find the group on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/ManxDiabeticGroup/

We had an incredible reaction to our interview with Ed Oldham recently about male mental health issues, so decided today to re-play a small section of a truly inspiring interview we did a year ago with a remarkable young woman by the name of Katy Myers. This is the full piece.

On the surface, Katy seems every bit the success story – she was accepted on the MannSat programme to go to NASA’ Space School in Houston to design a mission to Mars; she is an excellent artist, now taking commissions for her work; her social media posts are intelligent, poignant and often very funny – not the kind of person you would think of having challenges with mental health.

And yet, Katy has battled with this for several years – it's a condition which got worse when she went to University. Bravely, she decided to share her experiences in the hope that it would help others, so began broadcasting her life on a dedicated YouTube channel.

Since we recorded this piece, Katy has messaged us to tell us she is soon to be off all medication as she has improved considerably – which is of course fantastic news!

**Exclusive extra content**

It was Harry Potter Day 2017 on #MRWomenToday, so we spoke to self confessed SuperFan, local physiotherapist Adrian Bailey, who loved the series so much that he was inspired to create and write his own books...

In this full length version of the interview, Adi tells us more about his 'Otherworld' book series and gives us the latest on his future releases.

On #MRWomenToday this afternoon, we remembered Holocaust Memorial Day 2017 with a very powerful interview with someone who survived the atrocities...

The theme for this year is ‘How Can Life Go On’, and the organisers behind HMD 2017 are asking us to stop and think about how we behave to people whose stories we may not know - and to listen and share the stories of those who survived so that we can learn from their experiences.

Christy had the privilege this morning of speaking with one such survivor – Janine Webber, along with Sami Abrams from the Holocaust Educational Trust. She began by asking Sami what this significance of January 27th was and why it was chosen as the day to mark the memorial.

Some of you may have noticed a familiar face – and rather loud voice – on your television sets last week, as Manxman James Whittle showed off his building skills and big personality on the Channel 4 programme ‘Restoration Man’.

Despite being the featured character and almost single handedly restoring the North Yorkshire Filtration Plant for his brother and father in law, he vanished from the programme before the build was complete – which led to viewers across the UK hammering the hashtag ‘bringbackjimmy!’ on social media. Picking up on the excitement, within hours of the show ending the Express newspaper had released an article titled ‘Viewers demand builder takes over the show’, saying 'Surely Jimmy will get his own building programme? This guy is glorious!'

Well, he is back – at least, on the Isle of Man – working on a building in the heart of Douglas. Christy caught up with him to ask him what it had been like being a TV star for a night – and he revealed that this may not be the end of his TV career... (if you'd like to sign the petition, follow this link: https://www.change.org/p/channel-4-get-jimmy-the-builder-brother-from-last-weeks-c4-the-restoration-man-his-own-show)

As part of our Women's Health Series, #MRWomenToday regular contributor Nicola Holt speaks with Cognitive Behavioural Therapist Samm Shakespeare about anxiety, how it affects us and how best to cope with it.