A Laxey cafe co-owner is encouraging the public to spread kindness online following the death of her friend, television presenter Caroline Flack. Reporter Jess Ward writes about the initiative.

Bev Clegg of The Shed and Creative Juices has started an initiative that aims to make people think before posting on social media, using the hashtag #pleasebekind.

Miss Flack was best-known for her roles hosting ITV’s reality show Love Island and The X Factor.

The 40-year-old, who faced a trial over an allegation that she had assaulted her boyfriend, took her own life on February 15.

On the cafe’s Facebook Page, Mrs Clegg announced that the staff have ’all been rocked with the desperately sad death of Caroline Flack’.

Mrs Clegg first met the star 18 months ago on a retreat in Portugal.

’It was under sad circumstances with her then boyfriend that she was there,’ she told the Examiner.

’She was having a really tough time. I think I was in the right place at the right time being only a few doors down the corridor from her. We bonded massively and would put the world to right.

’She was the kindest, sweetest, most gorgeous soul you could wish to meet. She wasn’t into this prima donna type of thing.

’We kept in touch ever since and it was only four weeks ago that she messaged me saying she was having a really tough time with the press and social media to do with her arrest.’

Mrs Clegg said she replied to Miss Flack saying she should come to the island where she could relax away from the eyes of the media.

’She said: "Leave it with me. I’ll figure it out",’ Mrs Clegg said. ’Sadly it wasn’t to be.’

The presenter’s death has affected millions, including members of the public who had never met her.

This prompted Mrs Clegg to want to make positive use of her platform at The Shed.

She said: ’We see it all the time - people being nasty on social media and having a dig at others. You don’t realise the impact of your words and it’s so much easier to do this online.

’In my opinion, it was the stuff Caroline saw online that affected her most.’

Miss Flack’s Instagram post in December, which read: ’In a world where you can be anything, be kind’, has been shared around social media in memory of the presenter and to make a stand against online trolls.

The Shed is using the hashtag #pleasebekind and have asked the public for ideas on how to spread kindness in the Manx community.

The response has been ’positive’, she said, with people suggesting a ’pay it forward’ scheme in which people cover the cost of a coffee for the next customer.

’We’ve had Laxey School, Manx Whale and Dolphin Watch, mental health charities and social media influencers and gyms get in touch saying they would like to help,’ she said.

’The Shed is a bit of a sanctuary and people say when they come here it’s like getting Shed therapy, but this isn’t just about The Shed. We want other businesses and cafes to get involved.

’We think something positive will come out of Caroline’s death.’

To get involved, search for @theshedlaxey on Facebook.

Hairdressers across the island have also responded to Caroline Flack’s death by ditching gossip magazines.

Anna Lucia Phillips of Anna Lucia Hair Retreat in Santon will no longer be stocking such publications.

She will instead offer books and magazines on lifestyle, health and hair, as well as local magazines.

’Nobody deserves to be haunted by media. Nobody deserves to be pushed to the point of taking their own life,’ she said.

The idea came from a salon owner who is a friend of hers in the UK.

Miss Phillips said: ’I’ve have been through stuff and have had mental health problems in the past. I think that gossip magazines make you feel so inferior and I don’t think their messages are a good image to portray especially in beauty where you are trying to empower your clients.

’I thought "why are we having these magazines that don’t empower people?".’

She now has a reading corner with her clients being encouraged to take a book home and write a comment about it before bringing it back or adding a book of their own to the collection.

’I want my salon to become a community room,’ she said, adding that she is there if her clients need to talk to someone.

Miss Phillips added that as a small island, ’we should support each other’ before adding: ’It shouldn’t have taken someone to die for the public to make a stand. Unfortunately it is what kind of kicks people into action.’

Salon 3 in Douglas is another hairdressing business to get rid of gossip magazines for good.

In a Facebook post it wrote that it will ’endeavour to have magazines that promote a positive message’ and will add a reading corner.

The salon chooses one charity to work with every year but this time it has decided to work with two charities - mental health charity REACH and Craig’s Heart Strong Foundation.

’We would like all our clients to know Salon 3 is a safe place and our team are always here to listen,’ the post read.