16/09/2014 Midlands Today

The headlines tonight: we join

The legacy of inspirational teenager Steven Sutton ` more cancer nurses

All the money that Stephen has raised will go to help other young

people. That makes me so proud. We've been speaking to the

Teenage Cancer Trust about the Another 6,000 jobs at

Birmingham City Council could go It will be devastating for people in

Birmingham. Made in the Midlands,

sold in Shanghai ` how businesses are looking to get in

on booming exports to the F`r East. Lifting the lid on an usual tourist

attraction ` a coffin factory. It is becoming warmer

and more humid with hardly a breath of wind in the air, which,

as soothing as it sounds, could have some adverse effdcts

on the weather later this wdek. I'll tell you all about it

in the forecast. He instructed the Teenage C`ncer

Trust to "keep doing what they do", but Stephen Sutton's fund`r`ising

efforts have now allowed The 19`year`old from Staffordshire,

who died of bowel cancer in May inspired thousands of peopld to

raise money both during his short To date, the total stands

at almost ?5 million ` a quarter of which will now pay for

scholarships at Coventry Unhversity Stephen Sutton?s determinathon

despite being terminally ill was to use his personality to inspire

others to help the Teenage Cancer Trust in his final months, `lthough

his dream of being a doctor was never to be realised

his ambition to help others was ?5 ?5 million was donated from

across the world and now, months after his death, that money is being

used to improve teenage cancer He says the relaxed approach of the

teenage units helps him facd cancer. I feel like I am in the hospital

that much, it does encouragd my friends to come, rather than them

thinking there will just look at a well I am in bed. We can pl`y some

games, make times go faster. Coventry University are launching 50

Stephen Sutton scholarships to help medical professionals improve their

knowledge of cancer treatment. He has had an amazing impact on how

people in this service can treat people. Cancer treatment interrupts

the normal trajectory of life. It is about empowering the patient.

Stephen?s family shared his story and his final days with

the world, now his mother s`ys she gets comfort through her grhef with

the knowledge that others whll benefit from his campaign.

He realised how important these teenage cancer units were for young

people, the support network, the education packages. The fact that

all the money he has raised is going into helping so many other xoung

people, that makes me feel so proud of what he achieved.

Stephen Sutton always maint`ined he was just a normal lad, but his

legacy is to help make a difference to the lives of young peopld just

A little earlier I spoke to Kate Collins, the Director of fundraising

I asked her how difficult w`s it to decide where to spend such

The thing is with a large stm of money, it is always easy to spend

money quick league, but it was more important that we spent the money

well. It was important that we were able to have a conversation with him

before he died just to see hf there were any parts of our work that he

felt some of the money should go towards. He just said, I trtst you,

keep doing what you are doing. We went right back to what we `re for

as an organisation. The mondy needs to go to the places that makes the

biggest difference to young people with cancer. We have looked at the

areas of need and where we can use this money to make a differdnce Did

you talk Stephen's mother at all? His mum has had lots of

conversations with us over the last few months. She was aware that we

talked to him and what his wishes were. We have been very cle`r that

we need to honour his legacx by making sure we keep doing what we

are doing. She has been close to things, but has said Stephen give

you an instruction so you follow that! What difference has hhs

amazing fundraising made to the profile of your charity? An enormous

difference. We are not a huge charity. We don't have big budgets

to spend on advertising, to recruit new supporters. For Stephen's story

to have raised our profile, we have received over 340,000 donathons as a

result of his story. We would never have been able to have the loney to

buy an advertising campaign to help us do that. It is made an enormous

difference. We'll be live in Stafford

as protestors demonstrate ottside a meeting about the future

of hospital services. Bosses at Birmingham City Council

say another 6,000 jobs might have to go in the next four years, `s they

look to save more than ?800 million. It means that

by 2018 there would be 7,000 full`time staff at the City Council,

compared with 20,000 in 2010. 7,000 jobs have been lost

in the last four years. Our political reporter

Kathryn Stanczyszyn joins us now Kathryn, what is

behind today's announcement? The answer is cold, hard cash. They

have been facing large budgdt savings because of the central

government cuts to funding. What we know today as they have revhsed the

amount of money that they m`y have to save next year. That means more

job losses, and possible more job losses in the years to come, as

well. That being the leader of the council has said wholesale closures

of some services. I am joindd by Sir Albert. Why have you made this

revision? It is a stark figtre. I have not taken any pleasure in

bringing this news forward. We will possibly have to put more money into

the likes of children's safdguarding services. Therefore, the gap between

our income and what will have to spend has been revised up. What

would you say to someone who has said you have already had 7,000 job

losses, I haven't noticed any difference, you were overst`ffed in

the first race? Some of that is a consequence of outsourcing. Services

have in part been continued. From now on, it will be totally

different. If we discontinud services there will be a re`l

probability that there will be an impact is out there on the streets

of Birmingham and people will notice the services have gone. Thank you.

The government says it has delivered a fair settlement all parts of the

country, including Birmingh`m. The driver of a ?100,000 supercar

has been jailed for six years for killing a woman and serhously

injuring her sister in a high speed Birmingham Crown Court was shown

CCTV footage of the moment 25`year`old Saqib Hussain

smashed a hired Audi R8 Spyder into a Ford Fiesta at more than two`and`

a`half times the speed limit. A normal summer's evening

that was quickly shattered. Noreen Ryan and her sister were

returning home from a party. They were in this Fiesta in the

Hall Green area. Just as they pull out,

a supercar ploughs into thel. The moment

of impact is too horrific to show. Her older sister survived,

but suffered multiple injurhes, including fractures to her spine

and ribs. The hired Audi was being drhven by

Saquib Hussein from Acocks Green. He was travelling at 76mph

in a 30mph zone. What did you make of the footage? We

did not take the decision lhkely to release the footage. It was clearly

done with the permission of the family. Our message is clear, what

we want people to do is drive at the correct speed around the city and

have enough time to be able to react in the case of some of somebody

pulling out in front of thel. This CCTV footage is the latest to

be released by relatives This video was released of

David Holmes' final moments. They were captured on a camdra

attached to his motorcycle helmet, Saquib Hussain has been jailed

for six years and been given A man form Walsall who is mdntally

ill has been detained indefhnitely 86`year`old Lilian Henderson used

to care for her son Ian Henderson. But Wolverhampton Crown Court was

told when her health deteriorated, The 63`year`old admitted her

manslaughter and has been Average house prices in the

West Midlands have reached their highest level since

the start of the financial crisis. The average cost of a house

in the region in July stood at just under ?200,000, according to

new Government figures. A campaign to keep the

Wedgwood Collection in Staffordshire has raised ?700,000

in its first two weeks. It's being sold because

of a pension fund debt that arose when Waterford Wedgwood went

into administration in 2009. The Art Fund needs almost ?3 million

of public donations to ensure Protestors who have spent the summer

camped outside Stafford Hospital have marched to demonstrate outside

a healthcare meeting this evening. The campaigners are opposed to the

downgrading of units at Stafford. Some services are due to st`rt

moving from Stafford to the University

Hospital of North Staffordshire Our Staffordshire reporter, Liz

Copper, is outside the meethng now. Liz, why have the campaigners

decided to target this meethng? Simply to make their voices heard as

part of this continuing campaign. A short while ago they left the camp

that they set up earlier thhs summer outside the hospital and made the

short journey up to where this meeting is being held. Some of them

have stayed outside, others have gone inside were later they will be

asking questions during the public part of the meeting. Before the

meeting got underway I had the opportunity to speak to the chief

officer of the clinical commissioning group. He says the

focus must be on the future. We have to look forward. There are

significant resources coming into the health system in Staffordshire.

We need to work together to use that resource to get the best possible

service that we can for the people of Stafford. An emphasis thdre are

more the next 12 months will hold. Cheryl is one of the campaigners.

Effectively, the decisions have been made, have been made, haven't they?

Yes, they have. No risk assdssments have been done throughout the

process. When maternity leave Stafford in January, there hs no

capacity at the other hospitals the Ambulance Service is on its knees,

what we want is people to rdthink the decisions they have madd before

something terrible happens. They are sending us all into a very dangerous

situation. They have checked this state`of`the`art Stafford on many

occasions and become either safe, but fragile. The other hosphtals

around us are not safe and they need to rethink things. As for the camp,

initially it was set up just for the summer. The demonstrators s`y there

will be there right until the autumn.

There's been a huge rise in the numbers of Midlands

So far this year more than ?2.5 billion worth

That's a ten`fold increase in the past five years.

It means export income from China for our region is the equiv`lent

But many companies still don't export to China and today some of

them attended a special conference in Birmingham designed to hdlp them.

Making custom`built saddles in Walsall `

Here they make around fifty saddles a week and they

Once finished, they're exported all over the world,

The company's managing director wants that to change.

If we can get into the markdt, the sky is the limit. It includds a kind

for the same amount of turnover that we are doing now in maybe fhve

years. It is a bespoke premhum product, just the kind of thing that

sells well in China. The eqtestrian market there is growing fast and

this company wants to capit`lise on that.

Today, hundreds attended a special Export to China conference.

The gathering was given adddd importance with the attendance

of the Vice Mayor of the city of Ningbow in Western China.

Birmingham is one of the most important industrial cities in the

UK. We have implemented a strategy that looks forward to cooperation

with cities like Birmingham. Many Chinese companies have good

partnerships with companies in and around Birmingham.

This speaker at today's conference works for one of them.

His company was taken`over by a Chinese firm eight years ago.

We have seen our company grow to almost 3,000 employees worldwide.

The China British Business Council which organised today gathering

It maintains that there are plenty more opportunities

There is a huge amount of potential for companies of all sizes `nd

sectors in the China market. Everybody has to look at it, whether

it is right for them or not, they need to explore it.

More and more companies are doing just that, with the prospect

of increased sales and growth, which, ultimately, means more jobs.

The legacy of inspirational teenager Steven Sutton ` more cancer nurses

Your detailed weather forecast is to come shortly.

Paddling their own canoe ` the veteran Worcestershire

sportsmen taking on the world's best in a gruelling two`hour event.

Why has a section of Hadrian's Wall ended up in a theatre in Malvern?

In its heyday, the Newman Brothers coffin factory in Birminghal's

Jewellery Quarter made fitthngs for the caskets of Sir Winston Churchill

Now, 15 years after it closdd down, the Victorian factory is behng

Elizabeth Glinka has been to take a look ahead

In a city famed for a thousand trades,

parts of coffins might not be at the glamorous end of the spdctrum,

but the Newman Brothers factory first opened in1894, is abott to

re`open as Birmingham's latdst and most unlikely tourist attraction.

We are looking at Coffin furniture. It covers a broad spec from.

Everything from a handle, to add breastplate over here, which is very

old, Victorian. It is all the metal fittings that would go on the

outside of the Coffin. People might think that an exhibition devoted to

this might be a bit morbid. Yes but they can expect the sensory,

immersive experience. We will have 1960s music in the background,

intermittent signs, and working machinery. We are telling the story

of a company with a social history and Coffin furniture was big

business in Birmingham. It was the centre as far as the UK was

concerned. In the 19th century, there were

hundreds of these metal presses in Ian Clark is the man responsible

for restoring the workshop I think local people will love the

fact that there is another jewel in the crown in the Jewellery Puarter.

Visitors I think would be strprised to find out what it was likd to work

and back to work on back`to`back factory units like this.

One of the other things thex did here at Newman brothers was make

shrouds ` this one was made especially for an Aston Villa

supporter, but I'm told thex also made them in Blues colours so

there's no need for the Birmingham City fans to feel left

out. As the museum prepares for its grand opening next lonth,

volunteers are working to unpack the thousands of pieces abandoned

The idea is to preserve just a snap`shot of our industrial history.

If you thought canoeing was a sedate sport, this might surprise xou.

Combining dynamic kayak rachng with full`out running sprints, contested

It's the World Canoe Marathon Championships, which take place

Leading the British challenge in the veteran class are two

canoeists from Worcestershire with a combined age of 117.

Welcome to the world of mar`thon canoeing. Wait a minute! Wh`t are

they doing? They are getting heights! Believe it or not, it is

all part of the race. It is just what the pioneers of North @merica

used to do. In two marathon, it is done four times over 100 metres and

it is hard work. As it goes on, you soon run out of puff! You c`n win or

lose a race on the getting hn and out, it is an important elelent

This event holds no fears for Andy Nevitt and Julian Gilbert. They are

aged 59 and 58 and have been canoeing in Worcester since they

were teenagers. I love the challenge, the fact the rivdr is

constantly changing. It changes all the time. Different wildlifd. Out in

the fresh air. It is fantastic. They will cover the 19 kilometre course

in roundabout to times macro. In the Masters class, there are colpetitive

with the worlds best. No matter what the result, they will keep on

training throughout the year. We make the getting slower, but

whatever the situation, as long as you can feel fit enough to do it,

the competitive spirit is still there. It is never too late to

compete on, or off, the watdr. We will let you know how to get on next

week! It was the first North`South divide

` 84 miles of wall preventing the Now, almost 2,000 years

after Hadrian's Wall was buhlt, a section of it has turned tp in a

theatre in Malvern for a new play. As Ben Sidwell reports,

it's literally dividing audhences. Whichever way you look at it,

a wall, however famous it is, is an I have always been fascinatdd by

Adrian Zwolle, I don't know why The designer and some of the act has

decided to walk Adrian Zwolle to research this play. It took us six

days Andrew Grayson money for Help For Heroes along the way.

Adrian's Wall is a new play by Nick Wilkes,

Malvern Theatre's first Writer in Residence since George Bdrnard

But to fit in the wall, the whole theatre's had to be remodelled.

We work on a tight budget. This entire set to two weeks to build and

cost just under ?600. These sections, we got them from Pinewood

Studios for nothing. This bht of tree was in the opening cerdmony of

the Olympics games. Although it has got nothing to do with the Scottish

referendum, they will have to make a choice, when they book their ticket,

will they have to sit on thd north or south side of the wall. Ht is the

North! This site! Definitelx, definitely North! As an actor, how

difficult is it to perform on a wall like this! It is challenging. There

are lots of levels. The main thing is not to fall off! It is a

brilliant death of kit, an `mazing set. It is a great representation of

the war that we walked along. tomorrow night and is on at the

Forum Theatre until Saturdax. We have temperatures hovering around

the average for the time of year for the Amber, roundabout 19 Celsius. It

will increase by a couple of degrees as the weak goes on before ht starts

today begin at the weekend. It will be mostly dry until Friday, but it

will be misty and foggy. Yot can see why the warmth is coming from. We

are sitting in an area of w`rm air. Today, we have seen a scattdring of

showers in the southern half of the region and they will continte to

travel northwards through the first part of the night. Plenty of cloud,

but again the residual warmth and the dampness from these showers will

result in some mist and fog across much of the region. It might be

thick enough for it to causd some problems for the airports, like a

dead last night. There are some spots of rain in the north of the

region and that we might be there early on tomorrow morning. Ht will

be grey initially before thd brightness and Sunshine starts to

break through. In the western half of the region, temperatures will

rise up to 22 degrees, so, puite warm for the time of year. Slightly

more of a breeze from the E`st. Tomorrow evening and tomorrow night,

it bears the hallmarks of M's weather. It is misty, murky, cloudy.

It goes on for the rest of the week until we get to Friday, that is when

they humoured table kick in we could get some localised thunderstorms.

Tonight headlines from the BBC: With just two days to go before Scotland

votes, the three main Westmhnster parties pledged to give new powers

to the Scottish Parliament. After weeks of pressure following

the Rotherham child abuse scandal, the South Yorkshire Police `nd Crime

Commissioner stands down. The legacy of inspirational teenager

Stephen Stockton`more cancer nurses to be trained in Coventry.

Another 6,000 jobs Birmingh`m City Council could go in the next four

years. That was Midlands Today. We will be

back at ten o'clock. Have a great evening. Good night.