30/05/2014 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

than 40,000 have made the journey so far this year.

Hello and welcome to Friday's Look North.

Shocking new figures show the North is the worst area of the country

for alcohol`related admissions to hospital.

New arrests in Operation Sanctuary ` 91 men have now been held

in the police investigation into alleged abuse of women

Army doctors demonstrate what it's like to work in some

of the most hostile and dangerous parts of the world.

And the street busker turned top musician `

we meet the young saxophonist who's won a prestigious new award.

In sport, Ashes cricket hero Andrew 'Freddy'

Flintoff could face Cumbrian opposition this weekend as he

And why one of our best`known ex football managers

One drinker is admitted to hospital with

an alcohol`related problem every eight minutes here in the North.

That's one of the shocking statistics revealed in a new survey

which shows this region as the worst in England for alcohol abuse.

Middlesbrough is top of the list, with nearly 3,300 hospital

But it's closely followed by South Tyneside in fourth place,

Sunderland in seventh place and North Tyneside in ninth.

Look North has been gauging reaction to those figures.

Let's cross live now to Phil Connell who's at James Cook Hospital

The North East is still top of this league table Dornoch, despite

concerted efforts by health officials to try and persuade people

to drink more sensibly. Here at the James Cook Hospital in

Middlesbrough, doctors say they are treating patients for all kinds of

drink related problems. They are doing themselves and their families

incredible amount of harm. Some of the most tragic cases we see are

people that have developed complications to their brain

function related to long`term alcohol abuse and are unable to look

after themselves. Or people with severe liver problems that are

irreversible. We can only patch it up, not cure it. Middlesbrough is

being described as the worst place in the country, with almost 4.5

thousand hospital admissions. 65% of those are said to be men, and today

we have been in Middlesbrough to ask people why they think the town has

such a significant problem. Drink is always cheaper around here. It is

probably because people drink at home and then go out and do not know

their limits. Educating people is good. People do not know their own

limits. When employment. People have nothing to do, youngsters have

nowhere to go. So they just drink. Anti`social behaviour, a lot of

children start trading early because they see their parents doing it and

think it is the norm. A vicious circle. Five years ago in the

north`east, a special project was launched to look at alcohol`related

issues. It is called the balance north`east and is the only project

of its kind in the country. They campaign on three main issues: The

availability of drink, its promotion and its price. We the voice of the

north`east and carry out year`on`year perception surveys. We

are sending a clear message from the north`east that enough is enough. We

have run many campaigns saying there is a lot of support here for things

like minimum unit price. We trying to a message to Government and hope

they hear it. Doctors here are James Cook say they are beginning to see a

slight fall in alcohol`related admonitions, but despite that,

Middlesbrough is still top of this league table with no clear

indications tonight as to when its position will improve.

And you can have your say on that story by logging onto

A charity working with vulnerable children on Tyneside has warned

of men trying to lure teenagers into sexual abuse.

The comments, from The Children's Society,

come as a police investigation into the alleged abuse of women

Today Northumbria Police's Operation Sanctuary made further arrests `

meaning almost 100 men have been held in the last four months.

It's an investigation into a twilight world.

Women and girls, often under the influence of drink or drugs, who

are taken to addresses and then, it's alleged, raped or assaulted.

Allegations which brought the launch of Operation Sanctuary.

Those in the frontline say the risks to the vulnerable are clear.

There are adults in the city who will try to lure

vulnerable young people to addresses in the city where really horrible

Young people will be plied with alcohol or drugs

Operation Sanctuary started in January when the first

Within days, 27 people had been arrested

By then, the police had identified dozens

Today two further arrests brought the total to 91 in four months.

These are allegations yet to be tested in court.

The police have been keen to stress those arrested come

from different communities, not one ethnic or religious group.

They've been at pains to avoid community tensions

` a point clearly not accepted by members of the English Defence

League, who marched through Newcastle earlier this month.

This kind of grooming is not limited to one race or one religion.

It can be a rock star it can be someone in the shop down the road.

What we need to do is make sure the victims are protected and those

who prey on the vulnerable like this are identified and jailed.

There is no clue as to when Operation Sanctuary will end.

Peter, Operation Sanctuary is now four months old.

How much help have the police had in tackling this kind of abuse?

They have a information from taxi firms, from the public and from

hotels. They believe that some women and girls were taken to hotels where

there were allegedly abused. In other cases it was houses. It is

also clear this is broad ranging. For instance, those arrested are

from right across Wear and it seems we are not dealing with an organised

gang as such, it's really pockets of abuse. It's also clear that we are

likely to be talking about sanctuary for a long time to come, because it

far too early now to say exactly what has gone on and who might be

responsible. Thank you. They've worked in some of the most

hostile and dangerous parts of the world, dealing with the worst

battlefield injuries imaginable. But today,

British army reserve medics were hoping to persuade health staff from

the North East to join them and An exercise on the Tyne gave NHS

workers a glimpse of what life in countries like Iraq

and Afghanistan has been like. Volunteer today came from health

trusts across the north`east. Some front`line medical staff others were

from management or admin. They all had to attend to and deal with the

terrible of casualties. These are a compliment part of the Army's reach

into providing medical support to our soldiers in the field wherever

they are serving. Recently we were they are serving. Recently we were

in Afghanistan and we have also been based in Iraq and wherever there is

a requirement in reserve service for medical personnel to be involved.

Nationally there are 19,000 army reservists,

with the government hoping to push that figure up to 30,000

And reservists admit they face key shortages.

So, could they be persuaded to join up?

We are short in specific areas. At the moment we have one IT nurse. A

is another field we are looking for as well. We are always desperate for

a knee nurses and doctors. Theatre and scrub nurses, too. There are

always specific ones we looking for. These people face challenges in

their everyday lives as professionals anyway. The Army is

keen to give them a glimpse of what life is like as a reserve medic. The

hospital runs hospitals in combat zones across the world and hope

these people may be tempted to join up. Could they be persuaded? I like

the physical side of it. But it is just time and shifts and I do not

know how it would work. It has been good so far. It has been a good

experience so, maybe. I do not know an awful lot about the Army. I knew

something of it, but they have really show me what they do and it

looks quite impressive. After all the excitement of

One Direction's appearance at Sunderland's Stadium of Light this

week, it's the turn of Newcastle's American rock band Kings of Leon,

seen here on Later With Jools Holland, will entertain

the crowds tomorrow night. They're the first act to play

at the Newcastle United ground for seven years and the football

club says it will make more than And the football club has called

in specialist help for Chris Vaughan was the production

director for the closing ceremony It is a very imposing

and beautiful stadium. It has massive high stands meaning

it will be great from the public's point of view

and also for any artist who walks It is great experience

for the artist. In recent years it's been

Sunderland's Stadium of Light, where big bands

like Take That have performed. And you have to go back to 2007 for

the last big concert at St James But before that, big acts like

the Rolling Stones played there. So there's just one question `

why have we had to wait so long? Just getting the right model

and the right people on board. This is obviously our first year

for seven years to have a concert here so we have to get our name back

out there and get people to want to We are doing it ourselves

and there is a lot of a risk The football club says it will make

more than ?500,000 Around 25,000 people will gather on

the pitch for tomorrow's concert. The club says if it is a success,

more events will follow as once again it tries to attract

the biggest names Now, the moving

and remarkable story of ten brothers from York who all served in

the First World War ` and survived. At the end of the 19th century,

the Calpin brothers grew up in the city's slums with little

money or prospects. The war offered them

a chance to escape their impoverished lives, so they joined

up and were sent into battle. They were hailed as heroes ` but

their story was quickly forgotten. In the late 19th century,

York was notorious Sarah Macdonald and Patrick Calpin

were born in the slums. Both

their parents had moved there from The couple married

and had 11 children. They all lived in a house on

Hope Street. By the time World War I had broken

out, the boys had grown into men and one by one they signed up to

fight for King and country. And miraculously, one by one,

they all returned home again. Today, the grandson still proudly

displays an original poster of all My dad had had this

since I was little.