04/01/2017 Channel Islands News

The gift of life. - so it's goodbye from me -

Compared to the UK, Jersey is described as an embarrassment

I think, as an island, we should be very embarrassed about that. 36% of

the UK think they have a law sign up late and we are less than half of

that. Gas prices are expensive in Jersey

but there's no need for regulation, Plus storms, sharks,

flying sea snakes and 3,600 miles. The challenge of a lifetime

for one Guernsey man. It's a gift that could make

the difference between life or death, but in Jersey only 12%

of the population have registered It's been described

as an embarrassment, compared to the UK's

sign-up rate of 36%. The Health Minister is now

considering following Wales and France and adopting

an opt-out system. There's me and my mum

on my 18th birthday, That was probably one of the last

times we were altogether. But her death enabled others to live

as she was an organ donor. I take great pride in what we did

and what my mum did. We still receive cards

and letters from the people who received my mum's organs,

saying, "Thank you for another wonderful year," you know,

"I've been able to grow up, I've just had another

grandchild just been born," and how amazing is that to have made

a difference to make difference in their lives

at such a sad time for us? But organ donors are

a minority in Jersey. As only 12% of the islands

population have registered, -- Jersey's sign-up rate

is embarrassingly low and I think as an island we should be very

embarrassed Neil's daughter had a heart

transplant ten years ago. He now campaigns for organ donation

and thinks the low sign-up rate People aren't aware that there

is only one register which is based in the UK and that Jersey people

who live here have access to that register and its to the UK we look

for organs when we need them. But with eight people in Jersey

and over 6,500 people in the UK currently waiting for a transplant,

there is a shortage. Jersey's Health Minister is now

considering adopting an opt-out system like Wales and France,

but want the public's view before Scotland are doing a consultation,

Wales have done it, England are following suit,

I think, with a consultation soon, So, we're on the English register,

we should be in line with England as well,

so I think it's a possibility, With changes being considered

to try to grow the number of organ donors in Jersey,

more lives could be saved in future There are plans to look

into whether people with high energy bills in Jersey should

get help to pay them. It's after an independent report

concluded Jersey gas prices don't But the minister responsible says

it is expensive and more support This drop-in centre for older people

switched fully to electricity Beforehand, we had gas,

oil and electric. It was expensive to run on gas,

so when we did the refurbishment we decided to look at the providers,

the costs and everything else, Most people here told me

they don't use gas at home. But those who rely

on it said it's pricey. Of course, I am a pensioner

and when you're older you have But an independent report has

found Jersey Gas prices A consumer watchdog, however,

believes just because it's the Island's only gas provider

doesn't mean it has free reign. We need to make sure it's kept

competitive, not necessarily Clearly, we don't have natural gas,

we're importing gas which makes it But that's not to say we can't

make sure the consumer's getting a fair deal,

understands the prices, what they're Jersey Gas says it is cost-effective

and that recent mild winters have reduced demand,

driving up prices. But the politician overseeing

competition believes Jersey Gas is a very expensive

energy source for consumers, and over the next few weeks I need

to take this report to work out whether there are any options

for govt for reducing those consumers who are facing

high energy costs. Senator Ozouf plans

to talk to Jersey Gas and the Consumer Council

to try to make gas bills more There's a warning it's unlikely

fuel prices in Guernsey At some garages, it's now more

than ?1.20 for a litre of unleaded, higher than it would be

at many UK garages. It's because the cost

of oil has risen. The oil producing companies of the

world met and decided that he wanted to increase prices and the only way

that they can do that is by dropping consumption and, production, rather.

Which they burned by 1.2 million barrels a day, which took effect by

the 1st of January. When production is lower, prices rise and over the

next few months, we'll see price rises.

Outline plans have been submitted to turn a former brewery

Channel Island developers Com prop want to build a 605-space

multi-storey and 15 new homes on the site of the disused

The ?19 million project includes keeping the listed brewery facade

and creating a walkway linking St Saviour's Road to the Town Park

and replaces previous plans for a supermarket there.

There are currently no plans to reconsider the decision to send

Guernsey's waste to Sweden for recycling from next year,

The Island's landfill site is almost full and there's been calls

for Guernsey to look at options closer to home, such

The authorities say despite falling exchange rates,

they are still confident that the agreement to send

it to Sweden provides the best value for money.

Currently, Jersey an unsuccessful bidder Philip tendering process. We

will be looking at a contract for three years, with the option of

extending for two at the end of the three years, it is entirely likely

that we will be re-tendering and jersey can put in another bed.

University students from Jersey and those who can't afford to go

away to study are sharing their experiences as part

A States panel is looking at the financial challenges faced

by young people and their families to access higher education,

A Guernsey man will take on a challenge this year that has

Along with three crew members, 27-year-old James Plumley will row

across the Indian Ocean, a journey that has been successfully

completed by fewer people than have been into space.

Lucy Bickerton caught up with him to find out why he's doing it.

For now, though, it's full steam ahead in a greenhouse.

But what will James fear the most, when him and his team leave the safe

I've heard there's flying sea snakes, which I'm

Apparently there could be big storms, sharks and other

We're going into the unknown and will find out when there

No stranger to the seas, in 2013, James broke the world record

They'll row two hours on, two hours off continually for 3,600 miles.

His friend and coach is helping him prepare for the set off in June.

You need someone to keep you in check and motivated and chat

I think it's probably where my use comes in as he doesn't know

the other guys well, so you need someone to ask

The team will raise money for Young Onset Parkinson's Disease.

And scientists will monitor the rowers progress,

-- as one crew member has Parkinson's.

But will James be looking to break any more world records?

There's a record of 57 days which I think half way through we'll

decided if we want to go for it, but the main challenge

41 crews have tried, 20 have succeeded.

Good luck to James and we'll keep you up to date with his progress.

The weather will be throwing everything it has at him.

Slightly cold air as we head into the weekend. The great day and it

will feel cold, there may even be summarily frost. Also sunshine to

enjoy as well. The cloud is just a bit thick enough for a few spots of

light rain and drizzle. That sort of fizzles out later on tonight and

moves to the Westerners by the middle the data model. We have high

pressure coming back which is also a source of quite cold here.

Temperatures will struggle again tomorrow morning. The high pressure

is finally on the move. Some patchy Chuzzlewit on this evening. Probably

around midnight, one or two EEM, that will disappear. The have a

frost tomorrow. -- we will have a frost tomorrow. You will need to

wrap up warm, as it is not overly warm tomorrow. The wind is light and

mainly for the East and south-east. There are times of high water. For

our surfers, there's not much for to enjoy. The coastal waters forecast

has those ones north-easterly then breeding ground and becoming more

south-easterly and eventually southerly as we move towards the

weekend, generally fear with good visibility. Freddy as a different

day, there is a lot more cloud and rain. Freddy, with more cloud

around, you will struggle with the temperatures. Seven, perhaps eight

Celsius. Saturday will see a few white spots of rain. That's all from

me. And that's all the news

for this Thursday night. goggles and the first

of what will be hundreds of floodlit Kirk England has been up

with one of the crews. The golden lights of the North Devon

town of Chulmleigh. A scene from the Devon

air ambulance. Now the work of the pilots

and paramedics on board doesn't What's made flying at night possible

is a growing number of floodlit community landing sites which make

it easier, faster and safer Chulmleigh's playing

field is good enough. Lit by a specially

installed floodlight, We are a rural community,

a long way from hospitals. Barnstaple and Exeter

are our two main hospitals. Ambulances take 20, 30

minutes or so to get here, I think a lot of people know how

good and how valuable and essential the services we provide

during the daylight. The reality is up until last month

we couldn't do that at night. People still have their

accidents, they still get And we wanted to be able to respond

to them even when it was dark. And this network of community

landing sites we can now help patients in Devon even

when it is dark. The helicopter has been

adapted to fly at night, pilots trained and supplied

with special night vision goggles. At the moment teams clock off

at midnight, but it's hoped that in the next few years they'll be

responding to emergencies We take a poignant journey back

to Syria in a moment Plus an epic arctic climb for two

injured military men. And, coming up, I'm at Sandy Park

as the team get ready for what could be their toughest

test of the season. If you'd been seriously injured

while working in Syria, seen a colleague blown up just

metres from where you were standing, and had a million-dollar

bounty on your head, Well, none of that has

put off photographer He was wounded in an explosion

in Homs in 2012 in which acclaimed He's just returned to the Syrian

border for the first time since that attack as part of a convoy taking

out vital medical equipment. The trip was organised by Devon

doctor Mark Hannaford. They're now back home and they've

been describing their journey. One of the big parts of the convoy

was to make a statement to the Syrian people that they are not

forgotten about and that people do care. The journey itself, we set off

from London 2600 miles, ten different countries, a few

interesting border crossings, a major blizzard. I think the evening

we were trapped in the snow when we got to the untapped and had handed

over this... Was it six babies? They were frozen to death in TQ to get

into Turkey that night. We had been into an area that was surrounded by

a ring of steel, artillery. As the days went on it became insanity. The

buildings around us were falling. Most of the people we had gone in

with were dead so we said... We woke in the morning about 7am and within

minutes a rocket hit about 100 metres one side and 100 metres the

other side. 30 seconds later two more rockets hit maybe 50 metres

away and by now the building was starting to rumble. I wanted my

camera so I ran through looking in the rubble and found my bag and got

my camera, run back in. The corridor behind me exploded. That was taken

out. Then a shell hit a direct hit about four metres or five metres

from where I was standing. But about two metres away. It was an almighty,

I can't really describe the intensity of the explosion. But I

was still standing there. When it comes down. This thought something

was a bit in my leg like a stone, my hand came out to the other side of

my leg. I went to look for Marie and I fell and landed on top of her.

Since I have been out I have been a complete thorn in the side of

everyone trying to get them to act on Syria. So when the opportunity

came with the convoy I have no hesitation. They said yes before I

knew why we were going to Syria. Yes, I will go back. Because they

gave everything to get me out. The chance to go back and actually do

something, physically help, yet, it was all I needed. Mark here had it

all sorted. I'm just glad they got him in because it was a tough thing

to do in that time scale. Yeah, the fundraising initially was ?91,000

the target. No time we did final tally, what came in will be closer

to a quarter of a million. The public response was amazing. We have

certainly been looking at what we can do next to provide further

support. A cunning plan! A stunning plan!

While Plymouth Argyle's trip to Liverpool may be dominating

the sporting headlines in the south-west this week,

there's also a huge rugby match coming up for the Exeter Chiefs.

They take on Premiership champions Saracens off the back of two great

Andy Birkett has been along to Sandy Park.

The Chiefs crashed into the festive season full of cheer,

thrashing Leicester on Christmas Eve.

New Year's Eve and there was more of the same.

This time it was a dramatic last-gasp win

Each win saw them leapfrog their opponents in the table.

Now, with a trip to the European and Premiership champions next,

We didn't always have the best of starts to the season,

and I think it seems we have pulled it together.

A lot of people say we were quite lucky on the weekend,

but we stayed in it for 80 minutes and I think that's

It doesn't matter when you score your points, as long as by the end

I think the team is in a good space at the moment to really get

a bit of confidence, go up there looking forward

When the two teams met here at Sandy Park at the start

of the season, Sarries ran out convincing winners.

But the Chiefs' form has really picked up in the last few weeks,

and now is as good a time as any to take them on again.

Often at this time of year it is about turning up

with the right attitude, the right energy, in

the right frame of mind and you genuinely give it a real go.

And that gives us a foothold, and once you have got a foothold

you can start to make your decisions during the game.

We have focused far more on that than trying to devise some

clever plan, because, you know, most of what Saracens can

Not only are these games exciting for the players,

When two Premiership heavyweights go head-to-head.

Two former Royal Marines from Devon, who had to retire on medical

grounds, are setting off tomorrow as part of a five-man military team

to climb the highest mountain in Antarctica.

Danny Claricoates and James Nightingale both fought in two

James was shot in the jaw, while Danny had post-traumatic

stress after witnessing two friends killed by a roadside bomb.

Johnny Rutherford has been to see how Danny is preparing

This was a spot training for the five-man team

last year in Chamonix, France.

Their mission to raise money for the Royal Marines charity

by climbing the highest peak in Antarctica, Mount Vincent,

which is no mean feat at more than half the height of Mount

But for ex-Royal Marine Danny Claricoates it's much more

In 2007 he fought in Afghanistan and was awarded the Military Cross.

I've come home, 18 months later went back out to Afghanistan

And during that tour two lads, two friends of mine in my team

So, yeah, that was the turning point for me.

That's where it all sort of finished for me.

Post-traumatic stress disorder brought a premature end

There are days sometimes where I just don't want to get out of bed.

You just sort of pull the duvet over your head and just, you know,

you just want to give up on life, but by doing something

like this it gives me something to work towards,

Danny wants to use the expedition to make more people aware

It's about addressing the stigma, it's about educating that actually

We are able to own our own businesses and work for a living

The extreme challenge to get to the top of the bottom

There is a part of me that is a bit jealous,

I think the Antarctic would be a bit harsh for me.

Although Sarah herself is no stranger to physical challenges,

as she won a bronze medal at the Invictus Games last year.

I know for Danny with his PTSD, I have seen for myself

how much he benefits from being in the outdoors.

We've both been to Everest base camp together.

And personally for his rehabilitation, and just

for his self-confidence, his self-esteem, the benefits

Walking axe, sleeping bag, couple of water bottles...

The team hope to reach the summit by next Friday.

Cos once a Royal Marine, always a Royal Marine.

That report from Johnny Rutherford, and all being well we're hoping

to talk to Danny from the Antarctic sometime next week.

We wish them well. Let's find out what the weather is doing closer to

home. Nowhere near as cold. But it will get a little bit chillier?

Probably not as cold as it was earlier in the week but another fast

as possible. At the moment a good cover of cloud helping keep

temperatures up but it is clearing. These were pictures from earlier in

the week. We had some sunshine. I think the cloud has made a bit of a

different sort of a day to day and I think tomorrow we may return to the

sort of pictures with more sunshine. We could well start with Prost. Not

everywhere. Dry and find for most of us and we will see some sunshine.

The boundary between where the riverfront clears and where we get

the clear skies and the low temperatures could give us a risk of

ice bowl tonight and at first tomorrow. Watch out for that

particularly on the minor roads which may not have had treatment. A

lot happening at the moment. Weather front drifting in from the North

already producing some light rain and drizzle but it does clear from

all but parts of Cornwall during the course of the night and at first

tomorrow morning but it is still there around the middle of the day.

Further east the best of the sunshine will be Dorset and

Somerset. Closer to this area of high pressure which is on the move.

It will probably clear quite simply by the end of Friday allowing mild

air to arrive and also a lot of cloud and outbreaks of rain. We do

get westerly winds which gives us a lot of cloud. That is the cover of

cloud we have got in the last few hours. Some holes in the cloud

through Wales and parts of Somerset and Dorset, already breaking up. It

will gradually move westwards but not really clear from Cornwall

particularly the west by the end of the night. Where we do see the clear

skies we will see quite a sharp frost and we're looking at pretty

low temperatures. Crossing were eastern of Devon and parts of

Somerset and the north of Dorset we could see temperatures as low as

minus five or minus six. Further west with all the cloud cover of

cloud will be just about free. It is the boundary line through parts of

east Cornwall and the West of Devon where we will see some clearance but

also enough moisture for a few icy stretches on roads and pavements.

Tomorrow the best of the sunshine is underused. A lot of cloud affecting

Cornwall particularly in the West and Isles of Scilly. The band of

cloud will slowly go back towards London during the course of the day

and eventually cloud the skies across West Devon. The best of the

sunshine in East Devon and Somerset and Dorset. Temperature is where it

starts really cold struggling. Light winds. Four or five across parts of

Somerset. Up to double figures in the far West of Cornwall. But the

Isles of Scilly it is rather cloudy and we continue to see a risk of a

few showers here and there. Surfing conditions aren't brilliant

tomorrow. Up to about two feet on the north coast. A bit choppy along

the south coast. A southerly breeze which will gradually pick up along

the course of the day. South or south-easterly for most of us. 3-4

and generally fair with good visibility. Let's look at the

forecast a little bit further ahead. Freddie looks like it will be much

milder but rather cloudy and outbreaks of rain, some of that

being quite widespread through the afternoon. Saturday is a bit

brighter and still a lot of cloud. I think the weekend ahead it is mild,

quiet but at times rather cloudy. Make the most of the sunshine

tomorrow. Have a good evening. We will have news from Northam and the

public meeting concerning possible help cuts in the late news at

10:30pm. Good night.