03/06/2014 East Midlands Today

at a boys' school in Rochdale. That's all from the BBC News at Six.

It's goodbye from This is East Midlands Today with

Dominic Heale and me, Anne Davies. Tonight: Cash rewards to help the

NHS find new nurses. Parents do hundreds of miles per week ferrying

around their children. And concern over jobs for adults with learning

disabilities. Good evening. Welcome to tonight's programme. First, the

hospitals offering cash rewards to their own staff to solve a nursing

problem. The Stamford and Peterborough Hospitals Trust has

been to Italy, Romania and Spain to tackle a shortage of nurses. Now its

own workers are being offered a reward of up to ?350 if they can

find suitable recruits. Our health correspondent Rob Sissons reports.

They have tried many things to find nurses and have even gone abroad.

The latest idea is to offer cash incentives to current staff to find

help. If you were a member of staff you would receive ?200 if someone

you find was taken on. If they were still there for 12 months you would

get another ?150. There were mixed views on the streets. It is not a

good idea, no. It seems like a valid way to do it. You should not just be

in it for the money. There is the 14% unfilled vacancies rate at the

trust which means many places vacant. Will the trust have the

money? It is a concern but one of the big advantages of filling the

vacancies is we do not have to ask agencies to provide the nurses.

Agency nurses are at a premium cost. Some say it is the real cost. To

attract staff nurses to hospitals we need investment in their key

development. These are key factors to keep all of staff that you have

already got but also attract new people in. It costs ?1000 to take in

each nurse in the UK when you count things like advertising and career

fears so it is insisted these cash incentives offer value for money.

Agency nurses can earn more filling in. The trusts have all gone abroad

for nurses. The big fear must be patient safety and making sure the

people who fill in now the ropes and where everything is. It is not ideal

having temporary staff so this really does need sorting out. It

certainly does. Still to come: Leicestershire's links with the

biggest sea battle of World War One. This film, which has never been

broadcast before, shows Brooksby Hall near Melton Mowbray transformed

into a convalescent home for sailors injured in the Battle of Jutland.

Specially`trained dogs are being used to search an area of scrubland

in Portugal near to where Leicestershire girl Madeleine McCann

went missing seven years ago. British police officers and their

Portuguese counterparts are spending a second day investigating the

location at Praia da Luz on the Algarve. Ground penetrating radar is

also to be used in the search. Today they began digging with spades.

Loughborough University has seen the biggest rise in complaints and

appeals of any university in the country since higher tuition fees

were introduced. The findings come from a new report by the BBC. It

shows the university saw nearly 100 more complaints last year than it

did in 2011. The University accepts that complaints and appeals have

increased, but says the number which has been upheld has halved. The Arts

Council of England is giving a grant to Leicester which could be used to

expand the Diwali celebrations. ?6,000 will fund research into how

the festival could be made bigger and better. The Diwali celebrations

in the city are already the largest outside India. Police are

investigating after a gang of river thieves raided an island on the

Trent, stealing equipment needed by young sea scouts. It's their fifth

break`in in three years but by far the most organised. The scouts say

they're devastated and will have to start fundraising all over again. Jo

Healey reports. We are now approaching Barton Island about one

mile downstream from the marina. Around 30 young people come here

every week to learn hijacking, rowing, camping, survival stills. ``

kayaking. Now their camp has been raided and their equipment stolen.

They had cut the lock off and we find equipment stolen. For me it

affects the way we have done the third grazing, the work that we do,

it is the children who are affected. `` fundraising. It is

their equipment, not mine, it makes me very angry. You just cannot

fathom why they want to do it to a group of children. Last year we saw

how the Army reservists helped build a new boathouse. But these have

broken in taking this dinghy and then dumping it. They have just

loaded the boards up, taken all the equipment out of the shed and went

with it. It is upsetting to the children. Police are investigating,

the Scouts are fundraising again. Such a shame. Next tonight, the

lengths to which parents in the East Midlands go to ferry around their

children. Yes, a survey suggests two thirds of parents here travel up to

150 miles a week with their kids. It also says the average parent will

spend more than 3,000 hours in the car before their children grow up.

Well, it seems like a huge amount of travelling. Tom Brown's been looking

at the figures. Parents spend an average of 30 hours per year in the

car just waiting for their children and by the time their heads turned

20 parents will have covered more than 26,000 miles, that is like

driving all the way around the world. These figures are really no

surprise. At half past eight in the morning, the taxi of mum and dad is

up and running. For many it feels like a full`time job. I have to take

my son and daughter to different events. You are in and out, a quick

sandwich and of to the next thing. A survey shows the lengths evens will

go to to drive their children around. It also shows why they will

do it. They have to have their hobbies. You want them to have

activities but it is a double edged sword. It is probably time

constraints, I need to be there in five minutes. But parents say their

children are worth going the extra mile, even if that does mean doing

thousands every year. Finally spare a thought for the grandparents who

take over the taxi service and who aren't included in this survey. And

spare a thought for some of the kids ` as one in ten parents here admit

asking their children personal questions in the car because they

were strapped in and couldn't get away. Once the traditional preserve

of the WI, one charity in inner city Leicester is hoping that jam could

throw them a lifeline as they battle cuts in funding. Saffron Acres is a

community project, working with adults with learning difficulties.

With the help of Leicester College, it's negotiated a contract to

produce 6,000 jars of strawberry jam for the Co`op. The only catch is `

they've got to be ready by the end of this week! We put the labels on

and put them in the box. We do everything by hand, our opposite

industry does it by machine. There are people without learning

difficulties who cannot find a job. You can see they are hard workers

and they want to do it. They sit there and get on with the job. The

more we sell, the more work we have got, it is just growing and growing

naturally. It is brilliant coming to work with friends and talking to

people. I am very very proud of what we are doing this year. It smells

very nice. It is all hands on deck. It gives people skills, changes

perspectives of the wider community, of parents and carers.

They understand their loved ones are capable of doing something

worthwhile, quality products that people are willing to pay for.

Everything is riding on this, it is eggs and basket time. We need to

grow out of eight funding cycle. When we pack the last box on Friday

it will feel fantastic. We need people to go out and buy those cars.

Jam goes on sale at the Co`Op from June 19th.Campaigning in the Newark

by`election is set to reach fever pitch tomorrow. It's the final full

day of door`knocking, envelope stuffing and passionate political

entreaties. But many people think the election has ALREADY produced a

winner ` namely, the enormous boost given to the constituency by all

that media attention. Let's find out more from our Political Editor John

Hess, who tonight is at the races. The Prime Minister and most of his

Cabinet, the Labour leader Ed Miliband and UKIP's Nigel Farage

helped put the Newark constituency on the map in recent weeks. The one

place they haven't visited is here at Southwell Races. That's a pity.

Because I could have talked endlessly about this by`election

being a two horse race, the political runners and riders and the

various racing handicaps of each of the 11 candidates. But could be real

winner in this by`election be Newark itself, and the profile this part of

Nottinghamshire has enjoyed as the politicians have moved in. Geeta

Pendse has been to find out. A quiet day at the marketplace but when it

comes to visiting politicians, it has been anything but quiet. What do

those living here think and is it having an impact on business? Over

at this pancake parlour they have noticed an increase in customers

popping in for a bite to eat. The footfall has increased and there has

been a real buzz with businesses and people all over the Internet

community. It is great. Across the street at this gift shop, the owner

has worked in retail here for four decades. It has not made lots more

people come in and buy lots more things but it has made people more

interested in the town and they have been coming to visit. There are more

visitors to the town, yes. It is putting new arc on the map. While

the political visits may die down many here all that the interest new

work will continue. `` Newark. The opinion polls may offer a guide to

the outcome of this election. But where's the hot money going. There

is no form to go on. The vote once every four or five years, it is very

tricky. I am macro definitely, for the Conservatives because it is an

upmarket area. You can get your mortgage on it. Here are the latest

odds. The Conservatives are 12 to one on. You will not get much back

for your money. UKIP at six to one and Lieber 50 to one. How about, a

bit different. 1000 to one. Have they flutter! Last full day of

campaigning is tomorrow. Will the sun shine on the righteous? Not the

righteous, the good, the bad or the ugly can make the sunshine tomorrow.

All be soggy details coming up later. `` all the Sowerby detailed.

`` soggy details. Now here's something you don't often hear! A

sports venue that's being built on time and within budget. The

velodrome in Derby will open in the New Year and already it's being

tipped as a very fast track suitable for setting world records. Jeremy

Nicholas put on his hard hat and went for a look round earlier today.

The quality and workmanship is heard, we are delighted, it has gone

like a dream. We will finish off the declaration, the mechanical testing

and commissioning. As the cyclists appear for the race they will have

rollers here to get them warmed up. They will go past and on the far

side there will be Jim facilities. In the people there is an area for

netball or basketball and the me use that for pop concerts in the arena.

The finish line for the velodrome is in front of the main seating area

there. It is made from a hard compact with that will not splinter,

that is good news if you fall off of your bike.

now. Today it was the turn of the men. Nottingham's

which is a brilliant record for this point in the year. It is the big

incentive. You have got to believe in yourself against these guys, no

doubt about it. This is a home game in a place he really appreciates. I

think the outdoor game is so important for improving compared to

the indoor game. The sport here is great. Next year this centre will

post some of the biggest events around. For now, it is all about the

professionals of the two were looking for the breaks. Onto the

cricket now because on Day Three county championship games are

getting interesting. At Grace Road Leicestershire's bowlers made short

work of their opponents. And there is a tough target down at

Southampton. To mark the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War

we've been looking at how the War transformed life on the Home Front.

Brooksby Hall in Leicestershire is now an agricultural college, but in

World War One it was home to a famous ` and rather controversial `

Sea Admiral. Rare footage we've uncovered from the Imperial War

Museums also shows that the Hall acted as a convalescent home for

badly injured sailors. I've been to Brooksby to find out more. And you

can see and hear more about Brooksby Hall on the BBC's World War One At

Home website ` just click on the BBC Radio Leicester section. I was taken

on a tour of the property. In the oak lined dining room the Admiral

still gazes down. But he was not to the Manor born. He came from an

Irish family but by the time he was born his parents lived in Cheshire.

It was only later in life when he married the rich divorcee that he

bought this house. He liked fox hunting. He liked to stand out from

the crowd. He had the wrong number of buttons on his tunic and he wore

his hat at the rakish angle. `` angle. He was promoted to Rear

Admiral at just 89. At their first official meeting of the Admiralty

Winston Churchill looked at Beattie and remark you look very young for

an admirable `` Admiral. To which Beatty replied you look very young

for a first Lloyd `` first Lord. He hit it off straightaway. This

remarkable footage showed patients including amputees enjoying a game

of football. Exercise and cigarettes clearly good for morale. These

villages have the ball and they were used for some form of service during

the war. Either military personnel there or convalescent homes. Today,

in the church on the estate be huge union flag dominates. It is the

memento from the Battle of Jutland. Here is our man. The bronze bust of

BT. In later years, Admiral Beatty's record came under scrutiny

in some quarters. Some considered him a little gung ho. He lost a few

ships? He did. There is the famous comic which blew up very quickly and

went down to the bottom of the ocean. In Brooks beat he remains a

hero. I think it is part of the bigger picture to pass these stories

down to future generations. There is also this artefact in the grounds.

An old sea dog at home in the green hills of Leicestershire. And you can

see and hear more about Brooks B Hall on the BBC's World War I at

home website. On the website you will also find lots of other stories

of everyday life here in the East Midlands. You will probably not want

to go outside tomorrow! Quite a lot of rain. Most of us escape the

showers today but it is quite fair to say that is unlikely for any of

us tomorrow. This low pressure will push up overnight and be over us for

most of the day tomorrow. Appear for the good old soaking. It will feel

quite cold as well. Temperatures rarely up to around 13 or 14

degrees. We did see some more sunshine today, a few showers

pushing in now. He showers will continue into the evening and if

anything they will merge to longer spells of lean towards the early

hours. The low pressure will play control. Pressured `` temperatures

tonight will be lower than last night. The soggy old start tomorrow

morning, the rain with us from the word go. Some heavier bursts during

the morning. It will be training on and off throughout the day tomorrow.

Not so much in the way of sunshine. The winds will be a little lighter

at least, something to be confident about. It will continue draining

into Wednesday night but eventually the rain will peel away to the north

as the area of low pressure starts to shoot away. It is a lot drier and

brighter on Thursday. Temperatures will respond the king at 17 Celsius.

What are still towards the end of the week. Warm southerly winds with

temperatures in the 20s by Saturday. Some heavy thundery showers are also

possible. A lot going on there. I will be back on the late news

tonight. See you then. Good night. Find out what life's really like

in the favelas. Did I die?

Not yet. But it can be arranged.