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Douglas playground addition to be 'safe and creative environment'

Douglas playground addition to be 'safe and creative environment'

BBC News11-05-2025

A new building for a charity that encourages children to play will provide a "safe and creative environment" for local children, its chief executive has said.Isle of Play has been awarded a £25,000 grant by the Manx Lottery Trust to build a new facility at its Douglas-based Lester's Yard Adventure Playground.Plans for the new facility include a social room, community kitchen, therapeutic suite, and better accessibility.Chris Gregory said he was "excited about the impact it will have on both the children who use our services and the broader community".
The current play centre on the site enables children to explore various outdoor activities.
The grant was awarded through the Manx Lottery Trust's Thematic Funding programme, which back community projects.Trust chairman Stephen Turner said the playground "provides a unique and valuable resource" for children in Douglas, offering them "not only a place to play but a supportive community space".The new building would "further enhance the services they provide", he added.
Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.

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Demise of TGP Europe leaves Premier League clubs with income gap to fill
Demise of TGP Europe leaves Premier League clubs with income gap to fill

The Guardian

time5 hours ago

  • The Guardian

Demise of TGP Europe leaves Premier League clubs with income gap to fill

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In 2024-25, no fewer than 13 Premier League clubs had commercial partnerships in place with clients of TGP, 11 of which operated almost exclusively in jurisdictions where betting on private online platforms is illegal and even criminalised. This was made possible through the exploitation of a loophole in the UK gambling regulations. TGP Europe, as a so-called white label provider (provision of services under one company), took care of everything. As it was licensed in the UK, it could register . domain names for its customers. This is how Kaiyun, for example, was able to display its name on the fronts of Nottingham Forest's shirts and the sleeves of Crystal Palace's jerseys despite it not having any working British operation. Its . website remained 'under construction' until it disappeared for good last month. 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Yet TGP and its clients were allowed to prosper on the back of their lucrative relationships with Premier League clubs, despite a growing number of media reports highlighting the problematic nature of their business. At least two Asian-facing betting partners of English clubs – BK8, formerly associated with Aston Villa and Burnley, and 8XBet, partners of Manchester City, Chelsea, Bournemouth, Leicester and Ipswich – have been accused of running their operations from compounds in Cambodia and Myanmar, countries where the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that at least 200,000 people have been trafficked and enslaved to service the gambling and scamming industries, all of which are intimately connected. BK8 and 8XBet, whose ultimate beneficial owners are unknown, have never responded to these allegations. Yet TGP was allowed to carry on – until now. 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This was courtesy of TGP warning 'of the risks of promoting unlicensed gambling websites' and 'that club officers may be liable to prosecution and, if convicted, face a fine, imprisonment or both if they promote unlicensed gambling businesses that transact with consumers in Great Britain'. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion The clubs were Bournemouth (sponsored by BJ88), Fulham FC (SBOTOP), Newcastle ( and FUN88), Wolves (DEBET) and promoted Burnley ( Leicester (partner of among others) and Everton (Stake) had already been warned. Aston Villa, who have partnered with Nova88, were not contacted, as the bookmaker in question does not have a UK incarnation. While campaigners and regulators will hail a victory over illegal gambling, Premier League clubs will be wondering how to make up for the financial shortfall TGP's disappearance from the British market will cause. 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'We will be carrying out checks without further notice to ensure these sites remain blocked,' the GBGC said in its statement on TGP. 'We will also conduct ongoing spot checks as necessary to ensure they are not accessible to consumers in Great Britain by any means. Should any of these sites be available to GB consumers, we will take appropriate action.' This, however, only addresses the visible part of the problem. It fails to deal with the global dimension of football's toxic relationship with illegal betting operators.

Major supermarket is making big change to 100 stores this summer – and online shopping will be easier
Major supermarket is making big change to 100 stores this summer – and online shopping will be easier

The Sun

time13 hours ago

  • The Sun

Major supermarket is making big change to 100 stores this summer – and online shopping will be easier

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Victorian seaside town home to MASSIVE abandoned lido is being brought back to life in £6.8million makeover
Victorian seaside town home to MASSIVE abandoned lido is being brought back to life in £6.8million makeover

The Sun

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  • The Sun

Victorian seaside town home to MASSIVE abandoned lido is being brought back to life in £6.8million makeover

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