Browse content similar to 07/02/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Welcome to Wales Today. Tonight's top story. A report eight years ago | :00:07. | :00:12. | |
warned the Welsh Government to shut off new funding to the underfire | :00:12. | :00:22. | |
:00:22. | :00:36. | ||
Empty seats and empty coffers. Our rugby regions face a major shake-up. | :00:36. | :00:40. | |
They sever their country but after many ex-servicemen and women are | :00:40. | :00:47. | |
not getting the medical treatment they are entitled to. Meal times in | :00:47. | :00:50. | |
hospitals. Why are some relatives not being allowed to help feed | :00:50. | :00:56. | |
their loved ones? And perhaps the last words writ bin Dicken, the | :00:56. | :01:00. | |
national library finds a cheque made out days before his death. -- | :01:00. | :01:07. | |
written by. Good evening. The Welsh Government was warned eight years | :01:07. | :01:12. | |
ago that new funding for an underfire race equality body should | :01:12. | :01:17. | |
be stopped. It is investigating how the All Wales Ethnic Minority | :01:18. | :01:21. | |
Association or AWEMA administered.8.4 million of tax | :01:22. | :01:25. | |
payers' money. And a report into allegations of financial | :01:25. | :01:30. | |
mismanagement is due on Thursday. Our political editor is at the | :01:30. | :01:36. | |
National Assembly for us tonight. Thank you. Well, here it is. The | :01:36. | :01:41. | |
report commissioned in 2003, handed to ministers in 2004. A report that | :01:41. | :01:45. | |
concludes that there should be no further public funding for AWEMA | :01:45. | :01:50. | |
until it sorted its out, until there was better scrutiny in place. | :01:50. | :01:55. | |
Now what the opposition parties see here they say is a sign of the | :01:55. | :01:59. | |
Welsh label Government inaction and foolishness. That Government is | :01:59. | :02:07. | |
saying that it has nothing to hide. With more, here is Mark han by. | :02:07. | :02:11. | |
Allegation about AWEMA and its Chief Executive are dominating | :02:11. | :02:15. | |
Welsh politics. Claims of financial wrong doing and bullying are under | :02:15. | :02:19. | |
investigation. AMs want to know what happened when. They had asked | :02:19. | :02:23. | |
to see a report into AWEMA's projects which the Welsh Government | :02:23. | :02:26. | |
commissioned in 2003. This afternoon the First Minister said | :02:26. | :02:30. | |
he didn't know what had become of the report. It is not clear whether | :02:30. | :02:35. | |
that report has been published or not. Nine years ago, when the | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
report was first commissioned, it isn't clear whether that was made | :02:39. | :02:43. | |
public at the time. But it will be. But as car win Joan was speaking | :02:43. | :02:49. | |
the report emerged. The Liberal Democrats had discovered it, in the | :02:49. | :02:54. | |
AM's library. It's a report into AWEMA's projects rather any | :02:54. | :02:58. | |
allegations of wrong doing. Those have emerged more recently. The | :02:58. | :03:03. | |
report did warn that no more money should be given to AWEMA until its | :03:03. | :03:07. | |
performance improved. It also made clear that the assembly must apply | :03:07. | :03:11. | |
more stringent scrutiny to the charity. Despite that | :03:11. | :03:14. | |
recommendation from an independent person, the Government subsequently | :03:14. | :03:19. | |
went on to give over �8 million to this organisation. The question is, | :03:19. | :03:22. | |
why did the Government go to the trouble of commissioning a report, | :03:22. | :03:28. | |
only then to ignore its findings? The Welsh Government said its | :03:28. | :03:32. | |
currently reviewing AWEMA's historical funding. A new report | :03:32. | :03:35. | |
intool ledged mas practise will be published on Thursday. The Welsh | :03:36. | :03:41. | |
Government will be expect to be questioned on I findings. Some will | :03:41. | :03:46. | |
want to know why a charity so strongly criticised in 2004 was | :03:46. | :03:53. | |
still in receipt of public funds so many years later. So a lot of anger | :03:53. | :03:56. | |
among the opposition over this report? Yes, certainly. They can | :03:56. | :04:00. | |
see, as we can, that the report does say if things could be sorted | :04:00. | :04:04. | |
out, better structures in place, there was no reason to carry on | :04:04. | :04:08. | |
funding AWEMA, but how come, therefore, they say a few days ago | :04:08. | :04:12. | |
Wales' top civil servant was saying, well, the permanent secretary | :04:12. | :04:17. | |
saying we should have regarded it as high risk, we didn't grade it | :04:17. | :04:21. | |
high risk enough. Why it is, they ask, if the Government had done | :04:21. | :04:25. | |
enough about this report AWEMA is facing allegations of financial | :04:25. | :04:27. | |
mismanagement, why do they ask, does there need to be another | :04:28. | :04:32. | |
report now if the warnings in here had been heeded? They make a link | :04:32. | :04:35. | |
between the nact the chief executive of AWEMA is a strong | :04:35. | :04:38. | |
Labour supporter. Labour say that is grubby poll licking, there is no | :04:39. | :04:42. | |
link whatsoever. I should say we have spoken to somebody who was | :04:42. | :04:47. | |
involved with the original work, back in 2003 and 4. They have read | :04:47. | :04:52. | |
the report that came out a few months ago and say it is just deja | :04:52. | :04:57. | |
vu. Lots of questions there, what and when are we going to hear from | :04:57. | :05:00. | |
the Government on this? Well, they have made a statement they have | :05:00. | :05:04. | |
made clear they have nothing to hide here. That the priority for | :05:04. | :05:09. | |
them is to handle the current issue, with funding AWEMA, however, the | :05:09. | :05:12. | |
permanent secretary is currently reviewing the historical funding of | :05:12. | :05:16. | |
the organisation, but they make it very clear that before the end of | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
the week, we will know more, and they make it very clear, that in | :05:19. | :05:27. | |
their view there is no link whatsoever, to those allegation of | :05:27. | :05:30. | |
political nuances that the opposition parties are giving this | :05:30. | :05:35. | |
story. They said we will know more before the end of this week. | :05:35. | :05:39. | |
Regional rugby in Wales could be about to face another major shake- | :05:39. | :05:42. | |
up, the chief executive of the Welsh Rugby Union says the way each | :05:42. | :05:47. | |
of the teams is funded could change. Empty stands are to blame for | :05:47. | :05:53. | |
record losss for all of the four regions. The Scarlets cover most of | :05:53. | :05:57. | |
Wales, the Ospreys call Swansea their home, taking in Neath and | :05:57. | :06:05. | |
Bridgend, the Dragons play in Newport and include the Gwent | :06:05. | :06:09. | |
Valleys. The Blues the South Wales valley. Tonight our reporter is at | :06:09. | :06:16. | |
their old ground, Cardiff Arms Park. Thank you. This season a lot of | :06:17. | :06:20. | |
regional rugby games have been played in front of half empty | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
stadiums. The Blues are trying to win back some fans by moving | :06:24. | :06:28. | |
Friday's game against Connacht from their usual home here to the | :06:28. | :06:31. | |
Cardiff Arms Park in Cardiff City centre. They are trying to rebuild | :06:31. | :06:35. | |
the sort of loyalty that the old club sides used to enjoy before the | :06:35. | :06:40. | |
add vent of regional rugby. It is true that the four Welsh regions | :06:40. | :06:47. | |
are struggling financially. They are bracing themselves for change. | :06:47. | :06:52. | |
Steve Hughes is the typical rugby mad Welsh fan. He and his family | :06:52. | :06:56. | |
support their local side and Wales but they represent Welsh rugby's | :06:56. | :07:01. | |
paradox. The regions which have provided a conveyor belt of talent | :07:01. | :07:05. | |
to win two Grand Slams, can't attract the crowds to watch the | :07:05. | :07:10. | |
same players in different Jerseys. No interest, I feel what we have | :07:10. | :07:15. | |
got at the moment, is maybe a lost generation of fan, who haven't | :07:15. | :07:18. | |
bought into regional rugby who have other things to do instead of | :07:18. | :07:22. | |
having a connection with the regions. That needs to be addressed. | :07:22. | :07:26. | |
They are struggling financially too, with all four making losses. | :07:26. | :07:29. | |
Together with a WRU they are subject to an independent financial | :07:29. | :07:33. | |
review, which reports back next month. The outcomes could be | :07:33. | :07:37. | |
radical, with the possibility of one or more sides receiving less | :07:37. | :07:43. | |
money in the future. Perhaps four different relationships with the | :07:43. | :07:46. | |
Welsh ruin, that is something I have discussed informally with the | :07:46. | :07:51. | |
region, over the past year. Just to clarify you could have three | :07:51. | :07:55. | |
regions that each get X amount and a fourth that gets a smaller amount | :07:55. | :07:58. | |
of money than the other three? permutation could be greater than | :07:58. | :08:03. | |
that, so it could be one three, two, two, three one, whatever. You know, | :08:03. | :08:09. | |
it is, so we have to come up with a solution for all of Welsh rugby. | :08:09. | :08:13. | |
all have to realise, put our hands up that the way we have run it in | :08:13. | :08:18. | |
the past as individual region, clubs before that, is no longer | :08:18. | :08:21. | |
sustainable. If one side is downgraded, it would send | :08:21. | :08:27. | |
shockwaves through the game. And beg the question, which one? In the | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
meantime they are opening to giving regional rugby a go but can they | :08:31. | :08:35. | |
and others by tempted through the turnstile. I would give it another | :08:35. | :08:39. | |
go, because I think the intensity of the rugby is much greater, it is | :08:39. | :08:42. | |
more interesting to watch, I find than the local games but my | :08:42. | :08:47. | |
husband's just not keen on going. He can't, he was so prove involved | :08:47. | :08:51. | |
with Bridgend that he finds it difficult to sort of, I think he | :08:51. | :08:57. | |
feels he's is betraying his local club by going to watch the regional | :08:57. | :09:02. | |
rugby. The nation Hal side needs strong regions. Future success of | :09:02. | :09:07. | |
Wales is at stake. Paul Rees is a rugby writer for guardian and the | :09:07. | :09:11. | |
Observer. We saw from Roger, he says the status quo isn't an option, | :09:11. | :09:15. | |
what do you think needs to change? Well it sound like they are going | :09:15. | :09:21. | |
to cut, I would rather they look to expand, have a look at the area | :09:21. | :09:25. | |
where there is no reputation in the valleys for professional rugby. A | :09:25. | :09:31. | |
huge swathe of van, -- fans, try and get them, look at ways of | :09:31. | :09:36. | |
expanding it because they cut from 12, to tn, to nine in the old club | :09:36. | :09:40. | |
era, that was too many. They cut to five. Now they are saying four is | :09:40. | :09:43. | |
too many. Where do you end up. are mooting the idea of downgrading | :09:43. | :09:48. | |
one or possibly more to development status. If that was to happen, | :09:48. | :09:52. | |
which region do you think would be downgraded. As the union owns 50% | :09:52. | :09:57. | |
of the Dragons you would think the Dragons. And they are not in the | :09:57. | :10:02. | |
the Heineken Cup. It is the devil's choice. I would look to keep four, | :10:02. | :10:07. | |
and introduce a fifth. Look at the Irish province, all play to packed | :10:07. | :10:10. | |
houses. Ten, 15 years ago that wasn't the case. Learn from them, | :10:10. | :10:14. | |
how have they done it. Leisure from football clubs who have built new | :10:14. | :10:19. | |
staid y and moved out. How have they done it? You saw in the World | :10:19. | :10:23. | |
Cup, 60 odd thousand getting up crack of dawn to watch World Cup | :10:23. | :10:26. | |
matches. The audience is there. We are standing at the Arms Park. I | :10:26. | :10:31. | |
remember when I was a kid Cardiff played, it was all ticket. It was a | :10:32. | :10:36. | |
16,000 seller. It is 40 years on, times have changed but the audience | :10:36. | :10:39. | |
is out there. Go and get it. Wow won't get it by cutting. You like | :10:39. | :10:43. | |
the idea of what the Blues are doing here, that is the sort of | :10:43. | :10:45. | |
thing that might help bring audiences back. The first thing | :10:45. | :10:50. | |
they should be doing is talking to supporters, who watch them, | :10:50. | :10:53. | |
supporters who have watched them in the past, supporters who watch club | :10:53. | :10:59. | |
rugby. What do they want? What will it take to get them back. Work at | :10:59. | :11:03. | |
it. The more it contracts, the worse it will be for Wales, at a | :11:03. | :11:06. | |
time when for the international team it is an exciting moment. | :11:07. | :11:11. | |
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. There is an in-depth look at the | :11:11. | :11:16. | |
state of Welsh regional rugby an its future in Week In Week Out, at | :11:16. | :11:20. | |
10.35 on BBC One Wales tonight. I will be back in a few minutes with | :11:20. | :11:27. | |
news of a disciplinary hearing for Wales lock Bradley Davies. The | :11:27. | :11:31. | |
Rhondda MP Chris Bryant has welcomed as long overdue the | :11:31. | :11:34. | |
admission from the Metropolitan Police that it acted unlawfully by | :11:34. | :11:38. | |
not warning people five years ago that their phones may have been | :11:38. | :11:41. | |
hacked by the News of the World. The force made the admission at the | :11:41. | :11:46. | |
high court and the case brought by five people including Mr Bryant | :11:46. | :11:51. | |
whose phone worst hacked. Anglesey down sill will continue to be run | :11:51. | :11:54. | |
by commissioners until May next year at least. They were brought in | :11:54. | :11:57. | |
after years political infighting. Ministers say there has been | :11:57. | :12:01. | |
progress but the work is not finished. The council says it will | :12:01. | :12:05. | |
continue to work towards regaining the trust of the electorate. Many | :12:05. | :12:11. | |
ex-servicemen and women are not getting the health treatment they | :12:11. | :12:16. | |
are entitled to doctors often don't know that veteran should get | :12:16. | :12:20. | |
priority treatment for injuries from their time in the Armed Forces. | :12:20. | :12:23. | |
81% of doctors said they knew littlor nothing about it and 85% | :12:23. | :12:29. | |
said they hadn't passed that information on to hospitals. They | :12:29. | :12:32. | |
call it the military covenant. A promise to servicemen and women | :12:32. | :12:37. | |
that when they put Nair lives on the line, they know they and their | :12:37. | :12:40. | |
families are guaranteed fair treatment back home. And it holes | :12:40. | :12:46. | |
when they return to civilian life as well. One aspect of the covenant | :12:46. | :12:49. | |
is supposed to give them priority access to the NHS, but many it | :12:49. | :12:56. | |
seems may not be getting it. Gareth is preparing to leave the army, and | :12:56. | :12:59. | |
say it big transition after ten years service, with the Queen's | :12:59. | :13:02. | |
dragon goo Dragoon Guards including tours to Iraq and Afghanistan. | :13:02. | :13:07. | |
Sorting out a new home for his family in Neath wasn't easy, he had | :13:07. | :13:11. | |
high pressure from a forces charity with that. As for healthcare, that | :13:11. | :13:15. | |
isn't something he has thought about yet. Even though it main a | :13:15. | :13:21. | |
case of don't ask, don't get. never thought of it. I have never | :13:21. | :13:27. | |
thought about it if I am honest. Certainly the guys that are in the | :13:28. | :13:33. | |
army or any other forces should definitely certainly if it is | :13:33. | :13:37. | |
serious enough should go straight to the top. Outside of the army, | :13:37. | :13:42. | |
crikey, I don't know. I have friends that have had injuries from | :13:42. | :13:46. | |
being on tour and stuff, and they should definitely be at the top of | :13:46. | :13:55. | |
Taking evidence in Llandudno today, MPs from the Welsh Affairs | :13:55. | :13:59. | |
Committee looking at services for veterans in Wales. Another separate | :13:59. | :14:03. | |
review from the Welsh healthcare inspectorate is looking at armed | :14:03. | :14:08. | |
forces healthcare here. The MPs were told that many GPs either | :14:08. | :14:12. | |
don't know about the priority rule or don't act on it. | :14:12. | :14:18. | |
It certainly would appear to be across the piece eight degree of | :14:18. | :14:23. | |
resistance in some GPs to acknowledge that some ex-servicemen | :14:23. | :14:28. | |
have got to be given priority. I sent that that has been tackled and | :14:28. | :14:34. | |
I think the message is getting across the board. I think there was | :14:34. | :14:40. | |
less awareness in 2009 that there was this fast Track service | :14:40. | :14:44. | |
available to veterans. I wasn't aware of it being | :14:44. | :14:47. | |
available to people who had served for one day, perhaps. | :14:47. | :14:52. | |
The risk of injury is something members of the armed forces know | :14:52. | :14:57. | |
all about. Today in Wrexham, these soldiers were raising money for a | :14:57. | :15:00. | |
charity which supports blind and partially sighted ex servicemen and | :15:00. | :15:05. | |
women. They are doing their bit, society needs to act as well. Much | :15:06. | :15:08. | |
more to come before 7:00pm. After the tackle, the disciplinary | :15:08. | :15:11. | |
hearing - Bradley Davies finds out tomorrow whether he can play | :15:11. | :15:15. | |
Scotland. And getting the run of the green - | :15:15. | :15:25. | |
:15:25. | :15:25. | ||
the bowlers celebrating escaping Too many relatives are being turned | :15:25. | :15:28. | |
away from hospital wards when they want to help their relatives at | :15:28. | :15:31. | |
meal times. The Assembly's Public Accounts Committee says more needs | :15:31. | :15:35. | |
to be done to improve food standards in the NHS and cut down | :15:35. | :15:43. | |
on waste. Here's our Health Dinner time on the wards. It's when | :15:43. | :15:46. | |
everything but urgent medical care is meant to stop, so patients can | :15:46. | :15:51. | |
be guaranteed a nutritious meal. But some hospital have also been | :15:51. | :15:56. | |
turning away visitors who want to help their loved ones eat. The | :15:56. | :16:02. | |
Older People's Commissioner says that's going too far. | :16:02. | :16:07. | |
Eating is often not a solitary activity and if you're not feeling | :16:07. | :16:12. | |
well and the encouragement to eat a meal which is, of course, part of | :16:12. | :16:16. | |
getting better, could, nutritional food, and the ability to have a | :16:16. | :16:21. | |
good meal and a hot or cold drink is really important to aid people's | :16:21. | :16:23. | |
recovery. Today's committee report weighs up attempts to improve | :16:23. | :16:25. | |
hospital food. It finds there's too much inconsistency between | :16:25. | :16:33. | |
different hospitals, particularly on costs. | :16:33. | :16:37. | |
Feeding thousands of patients every day across several hospital sites | :16:37. | :16:43. | |
is a massive logistical exercise. Freezing meals helps but every year, | :16:43. | :16:47. | |
�1.5 million is wasted in the Welsh NHS at a time when everyone is | :16:47. | :16:49. | |
trying to save money. These kitchens at the University Hospital | :16:49. | :16:53. | |
of Wales feed 2,000 patients a day. To cut down on waste, they've | :16:53. | :16:55. | |
changed their menus, putting on more favorites like cooked | :16:55. | :17:02. | |
breakfasts. Although some waste is inevitable. | :17:02. | :17:07. | |
We are dealing with patients who are unwell. We are not feeding a | :17:07. | :17:11. | |
fit population of patience so by having a menu that is driven by | :17:11. | :17:15. | |
patients choices, hopefully there is something on the menu that the | :17:15. | :17:18. | |
patient can eat and that will have an effect on the amount of waste | :17:18. | :17:20. | |
from the meal. The Welsh Government says it's | :17:20. | :17:23. | |
already making improvements but at a time when the NHS is having to | :17:23. | :17:26. | |
cut back, today's report says they're not happening quickly | :17:26. | :17:32. | |
A new law making stalking a specific offence is needed to stop | :17:32. | :17:36. | |
harassment ending in violence and murder. That's according to an | :17:36. | :17:41. | |
inquiry chaired by the Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP Elfyn Llwyd. It says | :17:41. | :17:44. | |
the current laws in Wales and England are inadequate. In Scotland, | :17:44. | :17:50. | |
stalking was made a criminal offence in 2010. | :17:50. | :17:55. | |
We need to persuade the government of the need for legislation. That | :17:55. | :18:00. | |
what we need to do now. The prime minister, in answer to my questions, | :18:00. | :18:05. | |
said that he believes the time is ripe for change. He has agreed that | :18:05. | :18:09. | |
he will see us in two-course as well. I think the tide of opinion | :18:09. | :18:12. | |
is with first. First head back to Ashley for the | :18:12. | :18:17. | |
rest of the day's sport. The Cardiff Blues are experimenting | :18:17. | :18:21. | |
by holding a match here at the Cardiff Arms Park on Friday night. | :18:21. | :18:25. | |
The first time they've done that since 2009. They are bracing | :18:25. | :18:29. | |
themselves for the possibility of using the services of one of their | :18:29. | :18:33. | |
international players for a few weeks. Bradley Davies could be | :18:33. | :18:36. | |
banned from playing for the Blues and Royals at a disciplinary | :18:36. | :18:42. | |
hearing tomorrow. He will face charges and could be punished after | :18:42. | :18:46. | |
tipping a player on his head after Sunday's victory over Ireland. It | :18:46. | :18:50. | |
was an incident that even Warren Gatland didn't try to defend. | :18:50. | :18:55. | |
Bradley Davies now faces charges of dangerous play at an independent | :18:55. | :18:57. | |
Six Nations disciplinary committee in London. | :18:57. | :19:01. | |
We don't want to say too much on that because he has to go up | :19:01. | :19:05. | |
tomorrow. Just hope everything will be all right. | :19:05. | :19:09. | |
Second row is a position where Wales are already short with their | :19:09. | :19:13. | |
first choice men already injured. If Davies is banned, Wales will | :19:13. | :19:15. | |
have to find a new partner for Ian Evans. | :19:15. | :19:22. | |
We got Lou Reed who is in the squad. He has played at second row before, | :19:22. | :19:27. | |
so has Ryan Jones. Alun Wyn Jones is back, that is a long shot. I | :19:27. | :19:31. | |
don't think it's an area we have to worry about. The coaches will make | :19:31. | :19:34. | |
that judgement. There is some good news. Flanker | :19:34. | :19:39. | |
Dan Lydiate and Gethin Jenkins are expected to return to full training | :19:40. | :19:43. | |
this week to make themselves available for selection against | :19:43. | :19:47. | |
Scotland. Wales are also hopeful that Sam Warburton will recover | :19:47. | :19:51. | |
from the dead leg that forced him off against Ireland. Warren Gatland | :19:51. | :19:56. | |
is now expected to announce his team on Thursday. | :19:56. | :19:59. | |
Some other rugby news that might be of interest to fancier at the Arms | :19:59. | :20:04. | |
Park. Scottish international Dan Parks is a fly half here at the | :20:04. | :20:08. | |
Cardiff Blues. He has announced his retirement from international rugby | :20:09. | :20:12. | |
with immediate effect and he might even be involved here on Friday | :20:12. | :20:16. | |
night. It has also been interesting this afternoon gauging the reaction | :20:16. | :20:21. | |
of players at the decision to play at the Arms Park. Jamie Roberts | :20:21. | :20:27. | |
treated that he was still buzzing over the news. Gareth Thomas, a | :20:27. | :20:33. | |
blast from the past, said it was great news. The Arms Park is a | :20:33. | :20:36. | |
place of true history, he said. It will be interesting to see what the | :20:36. | :20:40. | |
crowd is like. Let's switch sports and there is good news for bowlers | :20:40. | :20:46. | |
in Torfaen. They feared their local council was going to cut spending | :20:46. | :20:51. | |
on their bowling greens. Members of the Eastern Valley Bowls | :20:51. | :20:54. | |
Association feared it would jeopardise the sport in their area | :20:54. | :21:00. | |
but today they had a reprieve. Come rain, hail or snow, members at | :21:00. | :21:04. | |
the bowls club can be found out on the greens, practising the perfect | :21:04. | :21:11. | |
shot. They do it for the social life as much as the competition. | :21:11. | :21:18. | |
Torfaen Castle proposed cutting the �228,000 it spends on maintaining | :21:18. | :21:21. | |
seven bowling greens across the country. | :21:21. | :21:26. | |
It is around about 300-400 players, but there are other people involved | :21:26. | :21:30. | |
in the game that are just members of clubs that sit on the bank and | :21:30. | :21:33. | |
enjoy a bit of banter and a pint afterwards. | :21:33. | :21:37. | |
The players say they haven't got the expertise to keep the grass in | :21:37. | :21:42. | |
this condition and crucially, aren't physically up to moving the | :21:42. | :21:46. | |
four terms of topsoil needed for each green. Looking after it year | :21:46. | :21:50. | |
round is also an issue. Eastern Valley Bowls Association | :21:50. | :21:55. | |
was founded by miners in 1923 and boasts recent Welsh internationals | :21:55. | :21:59. | |
and British champions. Some of the stars of the game on display at the | :21:59. | :22:06. | |
Wales grand-prix in Llanelli. Some of the members are young but | :22:06. | :22:10. | |
they are busy in school or college so they can't be up and they can't | :22:10. | :22:13. | |
keep the green up and running. That's why are we need other people | :22:14. | :22:17. | |
to do it. Eastern Valley Bowls Association | :22:17. | :22:22. | |
has 500 members but his secretary, Bob Price, who has been playing for | :22:22. | :22:27. | |
37 years, fears for the future of the sport in Wales. | :22:27. | :22:32. | |
They are at an age when they can't take shots like this, knowing that | :22:32. | :22:36. | |
their bowling Korea could end. They stay at home and they vegetate and | :22:36. | :22:41. | |
if this -- if this goes through with Torfaen, other councils will | :22:41. | :22:45. | |
jump on the bandwagon. It will have repercussions. | :22:45. | :22:49. | |
Torfaen council has told BBC Wales that the cuts to the bowling green | :22:49. | :22:53. | |
budget have been shelved but it does need to save �5 million | :22:53. | :22:58. | |
elsewhere. It appears that the Eastern Valley Bowls Association | :22:58. | :23:02. | |
has won a reprieve but for how long, they are not sure. | :23:02. | :23:06. | |
I we wish them well. That is all the sport for tonight. From the | :23:06. | :23:11. | |
Arms Park, back to you. As the world celebrates 200 years | :23:11. | :23:15. | |
since the birth of Charles Dickens, Wales has made a claim for some of | :23:15. | :23:19. | |
the last words he wrote. The National Library of Wales has found | :23:19. | :23:23. | |
a cheque written by the great All for three days before his death. It | :23:23. | :23:26. | |
was bequeathed to them by a Pembridge a historian but it is a | :23:26. | :23:33. | |
mystery how it got here. A cheque for �21. Made payable to | :23:33. | :23:37. | |
house and sundries. A Victorian form of cash back that gives us a | :23:37. | :23:43. | |
glimpse into the last week of Dickens's life. He cashed it in | :23:43. | :23:46. | |
Kent while researching his unfinished work, the mystery of | :23:46. | :23:51. | |
Edwin Drood. He was seen on that Monday | :23:51. | :23:55. | |
afternoon standing on a street in Rochester, studying buildings. | :23:55. | :24:01. | |
These building that he studied was incorporated in one of the Path's | :24:01. | :24:05. | |
public sh -- published after his death. He was doing his research | :24:05. | :24:10. | |
and he was going to the bank. The novelist had few connections to | :24:10. | :24:15. | |
Wales. There is an important one lurking on the seabed. A tragedy | :24:15. | :24:20. | |
which led Dickens the journalist to Anglesey in 1859. | :24:20. | :24:25. | |
In order to visit the wreck of the Royal Charter, a ship that had gone | :24:25. | :24:30. | |
down on its return journey from Australia to Liverpool. It became a | :24:30. | :24:36. | |
media event, like the ship that went down in Italy. | :24:36. | :24:41. | |
For the moment, nothing was so calmly and monotonously reel under | :24:41. | :24:44. | |
the sunlight as the gentle fall of water... | :24:44. | :24:49. | |
The experience became one of the stories in his book published a | :24:49. | :24:54. | |
year later. Some say his time spent visiting the churchyard where the | :24:54. | :24:57. | |
victims of the Royal Charter of were buried inspired the first | :24:57. | :25:02. | |
scene of great expectations. Was she right -- you might remember | :25:02. | :25:08. | |
is the famous scene worthy criminal appears from behind the grey zone. | :25:08. | :25:15. | |
There are some similarities. -- the gravestone. It actually turned up | :25:15. | :25:18. | |
in one of the most famous scenes of English literature. | :25:18. | :25:23. | |
Around the world, there are grand celebrations today but Wales can | :25:23. | :25:27. | |
remember him in smaller details. Something the brighter, with such a | :25:27. | :25:30. | |
forensic eye, would have appreciated. | :25:30. | :25:35. | |
Chapter and verse on the weather front. Here is Derek with feet for | :25:35. | :25:45. | |
:25:45. | :25:46. | ||
front. Here is Derek with feet for It has turned colder today with | :25:46. | :25:49. | |
temperatures in Denbighshire at reaching six Celsius but only two | :25:49. | :25:55. | |
Celsius in Powys. Brian took this photograph on Snowdon. Walker's | :25:55. | :26:02. | |
braving the blowing snow. Football fans will need a few layers tonight | :26:02. | :26:06. | |
if they are watching Newport. Despite the cold, it will be dry. | :26:06. | :26:12. | |
Elsewhere tonight, largely dry with most of the cloud clearing after | :26:12. | :26:15. | |
midnight with temperatures dropping below freezing for much of the | :26:15. | :26:23. | |
country.-seven Celsius below. Parts of Paris could fall as low as minus | :26:23. | :26:28. | |
nine. That means a widespread frost. A dry start tomorrow but bitterly | :26:28. | :26:34. | |
cold. Some cloud for the south-east along the border to Wrexham. | :26:34. | :26:39. | |
Elsewhere, 80 these guys should be clear with frost and sunshine -- | :26:39. | :26:44. | |
the skies should be clear. Very cold but try tomorrow with lots of | :26:44. | :26:49. | |
winter sunshine. Some cloud is likely in parts of the self-, mid- | :26:49. | :26:53. | |
Wales and the Bristol Channel. Colder than today with temperatures | :26:53. | :26:59. | |
struggling to reach two Celsius. Up to four Celsius on Cardigan Bay | :26:59. | :27:04. | |
with a south-easterly breeze. Tomorrow night, cloud will increase, | :27:04. | :27:09. | |
spreading across the country. On Thursday, more try and cold weather | :27:09. | :27:13. | |
but a little rain is possible in the north. Into Friday, some rain | :27:13. | :27:19. | |
may spread across Wales, bringing a risk of ice and snow. A charity | :27:19. | :27:23. | |
concert in us being held in Bridgend tomorrow evening. It will | :27:23. | :27:33. | |
:27:33. | :27:34. |