23/12/2016 South Today

Hello, I'm Sally Taylor. the BBC's news teams where you are.

Welcome to South Today. In tonight's programme -

from wartorn Syria to a warm welcome in Wokingham but other councils

are criticised for not doing enough for refugees.

How would we feel if there was, like, a fairly affluent

town that just wasn't going to take is in for not really any strong

A bus for the homeless but it's not ready to help those

sleeping rough in Reading this Christmas.

It is camera-ed up and it is the warmest car park in Reading.

It's "bah, humbug" for cabbies in Adur.

They're having to work for less this Christmas.

Any worker, if they were to open up their pay packet, Christmas

week and find that 25% of the money, their wages, was missing, that's

And a heart-warming story of the Christmas card sent to us

which led to a musical reunion for John.

It's just over a year since David Cameron committed the UK

to helping 20,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the decade.

In the last 12 months more than 4,000 people have arrived under

the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme.

councils have helped just 150 according to the latest

Sixty per cent of our councils have taken no Syrians at all,

That's despite the council issuing several enthusiastic press releases

"We are really supportive of assisting where we can".

So what do people in the borough think about the local response?

I think Havant should take at least a couple of hundred.

I think every council should, to be honest.

We can't even help the homeless around here,

or around Portsmouth, let alone refugees and all like that.

If they are genuine refugees then more needs to be done

but they need to prove that they are genuine refugees.

Havant council says priority must be given to local families

Others are worried about who pays, although councils do get more

than ?8,000 to cover the first year costs

Argyll and Bute Council on the western coast of Scotland

has a population of under 90,000 -

In the South, Wiltshire has led the charge with 47 and Winchester

Ben Moore has been to meet one family who've recently arrived

and where the community has rallied behind their new neighbours.

But Ahmed, his wife, and for children have been in the UK

Ahmed was a carpenter in Aleppo but when the war came,

We can't reveal exactly where they are living

but all they have has come from the people of Wokingham.

TRANSLATION: I feel comfortable and safe here and the people

of Wokingham are so kind and are accepting.

They have given as all our furniture and they support us in every step.

They've brought gifts for the children and if they ask

them for anything, for any reason, they help.

This is all that remains of Ahmed's house after two bombs fell on it.

Two of his children were rescued after being trapped in the rubble.

Afterwards, the family fled but arrived here with nothing.

From a storage container, Wokingham's online women's group has

The lovely people of Wokingham have given everything from pillows,

to clothes, to furniture, sofas, fridges, everything

And then, obviously, we go in and deck out

Basically, put everything in that they could ever,

There are four other Syrian families in Wokingham.

This man has been here a year and helps those coming after him.

It's only to say thank you to everyone who support us.

We look for safe, yes, but we are looking to be

TRANSLATION: The most important thing is that my children should

learn English and should finish their education.

But, now, as a family, we are feeling much

The Gossip Girls group is continuing its fundraising

in the New Year but Christmas already looks wrapped up,

thanks to the generosity of the people in working,

the Syrian children will be getting a few presents

In Ringwood, the town council discussed last year whether it

It decided it couldn't take part in what one councillor described

But the politicians have been forced to consider the matter again

after a petition from sixth formers in the town who say

The figures are hard to comprehend, so these Ringwood School pupils

used chalk to show where Syrian refugees had found shelter.

that Ringwood would welcome a displaced family.

What if this was our family, how would we cope, how would we feel if

there was a fairly affluent town that just

wasn't going to take is in

If Ringwood can start taking in some people,

then local other towns, like

Fordingbridge, other small communities, can see how much of a

Last year the town's politicians discussed

if they could offer shelter to a refugee family.

One councillor said it would be "a gesture of the worst kind"

that would pressure on local services.

We need to make sure that we are supporting

the refugees and giving them what they need,

not making a gesture that

actually leaves them in a worse state than perhaps they would have

been if they'd gone through the proper channels.

They should help in getting it all going, shouldn't they?

I suppose we all should be trying to help and

whether it's Ringwood or anywhere in the country, I suppose, it's

I'm not sure if we're ready for that.

They probably wouldn't want local council money to

be used but if the numbers were sensible then I think it might work.

A humanitarian crisis and people should be doing everything they can

Councillors are due to meet again next year to look

at the practicalities of a Syrian family calling this town home.

Matt Treacy, BBC South Today, Ringwood.

A police officer who risked his own safety to help save the life

of a Portsmouth football fan has been given a bravery award.

PC Stuart Dickerson was in France helping to police a Euro 2016 game

when Russian hooligans launched a savage attack on dozens

He helped medics treat Andrew Bache, who's still struggling

In Marseille, the highly organised attack that this policeman found

himself in the middle of was savagely violent. It was horrendous.

150-200 Russian hooligans swarmed through the square randomly

attacking any England find they could find. There were serious

injuries everywhere. Myself and colleague were attacked. We were in

plain clothes. We decided to withdraw. At that time, we saw

French colleagues working on an injured mail. The injured man was

this man who had been repeatedly punched, kicked and hit on the head

with a metal bar. He wasn't breathing by himself. We assisted

with CPR. Because disorder was going on around us, bottles and chairs,

fans being attacked, we put the French riot police around so they

could attend to him. Friends have been helping with Andrew's

rehabilitation. I've only got admiration for those police officers

and the French policemen who gave Andrew CPR. We might have been

looking at a different outcome. He's working really hard on physiotherapy

and he's getting there slowly. PC Dickerson is proud of his

commendation but he says he never wants to see violence on the scale

of that again. A fundraising page set up

for a young father of two from Southampton who's been

diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer has exceeded its target

of ?100m000 in four days. Greg Gilbert is best

known as the lead singer Doctors say all they can offer him

is a course of chemotherapy. But, his family is determined

to raise enough money to get him treatment which isn't available

on the NHS. Christmas is a time

for heart-warming stories where, after battling tough times,

everything comes good in the end. Sadly, real life isn't

always like that. So a group including former rough

sleepers and ex-cons who'd hoped to provide a place

of safety for those on the streets are today facing the grim truth

that their project Joe Campbell has been to meet

them and some of those This is no place to spend Christmas

but these young people would be Some are here after spending most

of their lives in care, their only home now,

this corner of the former We're not all going

to fit a doorway. That's what we're trying

to tell to the council. It is camera-ed up and it is

the warmest car park in Reading. I turned 18, the 13th of December,

last Tuesday, so I was out Birthday was quite hard

because it was my first time A Christian group had hoped to help,

like others on the Isle of White, There's going to be

two beds in each pod. But it's not going to be ready in

time for Christmas, as they'd hoped. I'd love to go and get the guys now

to get them on it but there's The amount of campaigns

we've put out there. We expected loads of people to come

forward, to be honest with you. I thought they would have been

like a Changing Rooms experience. A team of carpenters

would have showed up, a local business would have said,

come on, guys, let's take a morning off, six guys on here,

we could have smashed it out So, all the group and those it helps

can do now is pray 2017 Joe Campbell,

BBC South Today, Reading. Dog walkers in Gosport could be

fined for not picking up their mess. Later an unseasonal

forecast for Christmas. Your festive forecast is looking

a little on the mild side. but things do ease down

into next week. I'll have the details

later in the programme. Would you expect to pay more

for a taxi if you wanted Many cabs will levy extra charges

but drivers in the Shoreham and Lancing area will be working

for less this year. An administrative error by Adur

council means they are not allowed The council is having

to offer compensation. Sean Killick is at the taxi rank

outside Lancing railway station. Sean, not a happy Christmas

for local cabbies? No. The cabbies here are as

miserable as the weather. They are concerned about Christmas Day. They

fear they could use ?5 on an average fare. Usually, they can charge

double from 9pm on Christmas Eve due to Boxing Day but due to a

counsellor they can only charge 1.5 times.

It's actually an equivalent of a 25% loss.

So, imagine any worker, if they were to open their pay packet

at Christmas, and find that 25% of the money,

their wages was missing, that's fairly unreasonable, isn't

We've yet to see how that would be done.

I think it will be a minefield, but we shall see.

Well, Adur District Council says the drivers won't lose out.

The council said the error arose when it was approving an increase

in tariffs which had been asked for by the taxi trade.

Drivers say this is the latest financial pressure. They say that

many customers have less money in their pockets and are using taxes

less. Some of the people we spoke to today had mixed feelings about

paying double over Christmas. I don't think they

should charge double. They should just charge

normal rate, really. They're coming out,

they're getting away from their children

and they should be having double-time because

they get away from it, yes, I do I think it's fair it's

double-time, yes. To get someone to work

on Christmas Day is I think they're just trying

to cheat the public. Even on Christmas Day,

they shouldn't be allowed to charge It's their choice to work

Christmas Day, isn't it? Despite all this, the cabbies are

much busier than normal. Still non-on the rank behind me. It seems

the big Christmas getaway is getting underway. From me, Merry Christmas

and back to the studio. Tony is here the sport. With the end

of 2016 fast approaching, we will look ahead to some of the big

stories for next year. A year ago, I sat here and we looked at what we

thought would be a big story. We spoke to Alex Danson who went on to

win gold in Rio. We are hoping we will get the prediction is right for

next year. Next year the Portsmouth based

Ben Ainslie Racing team will attempt to win sport's

oldest international trophy. The America's Cup began

in the Solent in 1851, In his first television interview

since the team relocated to Bermuda, Sir Ben has brought South Today

up to date on preparations. It's a trophy which has eluded

Britain so far for 165 years. In 2017, our greatest sailor

could bring it home. Around half of the Land Rover BAR

team, led by Sir Ben Ainslie have left their home in Portsmouth

and will spend the winter in Bermuda ahead of racing

for the America's Cup We're almost set up with our base

here now but we're operational in terms of getting boats out

on the water and that's So, a really exciting

period for the team. Feels so much more real now that

we're out here in the reader -- Bermuda and moving into

the New Year. You can see everyone's

focusing incredibly hard The sailing team is now training day

by day in the waters which will hold the 35th America's Cup,

a gruelling series of qualifiers will decide which of five teams take

on the holders Oracle team USA, From next June, many in the sporting

world will be fixing their focus on this tiny North Atlantic island,

3500 miles from the UK. We are a new team so there's

a certain element of catching up we have to do with some

of the existing teams. But our goal is to still try

and bring that cup home. We really appreciate all of

the support from everyone back home. I guarantee you, it's going to be

an incredible America's Cup. The boat used in the main racing

is due to go in the water Over the next six months,

one of Britain's great Staying with sailing and big news

from the Olympic world today. The British sailing team manager

Stephen Park is leaving his post Stephen Park has presided over

the winning of 23 Olympic and Paralympic medals in his 15

years as team manager. The Weymouth and Portland based team

finished as the leading nation The 48-year-old is joining British

cycling as Performance Director What fate awaits our football clubs

in 2017, Southampton have the EFL Cup semi finals,

and promotion to the Premier League is very much on the radar

of Brighton and Reading. Heading into Christmas, the Royals,

with first year boss Jaap Stam are third in the table,

but Brighton are the only club The Albion return to action

against QPR on Tuesday the 27th, and their opponents would have been

considered a promotion rival. They've had to move a few players

out and, of course, with recruitment, sometimes that takes

a bit longer than you will want. Certainly, in Ian Holloway, they got

somebody that knows the club very well and he'll be trying his very

best to try and turn that around. Southampton have a boxing day off

before they host Spurs on the 28th Bournemouth will tackle

table toppers Chelsea, minus Diego Costa and Ngolo Kante

at Stamford Bridge. In the championship Reading

are home to Norwich Oxford and MK Dons will hope

for bumper Boxing Day crowds at hme while Swindon travel

to the East end. Portsmouth are at bottom

of the league Newport in league two. Across the festive season, remember,

you can catch every game Earlier this week, I received this

Christmas card from a gentleman called John asking for our

help to trace a certain young lady playing a piano

in West Quay in Southampton. They had shared a special musical

moment and some seasonal goodwill. John was worried he wouldn't

find out who she was. Christmas is a time for people

to come together and for one man, a chance encounter with a young lady

at a piano in this shopping centre And she was so receptive to me

and we just sang along together and I thought this is the real

essence of Christmas. It just stayed in my mind

and I thought, well, You asked us an South today

if we could find this girl. It would just be a nice

gesture if I can thank her. So, I thought, immediately,

let's write to you and So, we put it all out on Facebook

and then, through Facebook, she got in touch with others

and we're going to go around Hello.

Just a little gesture. I used to sing with

my Nan all the time. We'd just perform everything

for her and she just sing along. It's quite nice because I don't have

grandparents any more, sadly and so, to be able to sing things like this

and be able to also go to the Sunrise elderly home

and perform there. I thought it was such a lovely

gesture at Christmas time. To accept somebody like me who is

completely at it was really a super moment.

# I'm dreaming of a White Christmas # Just like the ones I used to know

# Where the tree tops glisten and children listen... #.

He just loves singing and he loves getting... His voices is not as good

as it used to be and he feels nobody would want him so for somebody to

get up with him like that has just made his day. Made his Christmas.

A heart-warming Christmas story. Enjoy your Christmas, John. Onto the

weather. Sarah Farmer is here. A mild one. Storm Barbra is not

hanging around for too much longer. Giles Marsh sent in this wonderful

shot of the sun rising A grey but glorious

view across the grounds of Blenheim Palace, in Woodstock -

That one was taken by in Weymouth Harbour this afternoon,

captured by Raymond Slack We continue to have outbreaks of

rain through the coming hours and that should clear throughout and we

will see spells of clear whether developing through the night. Clear

skies mean that temperatures will take a bit of a knock. Down to

around four or 5 degrees. Sheltered spots may see a touch of Frost but

there should be enough of a breeze to keep that at bay for most of

ours. Into Christmas Eve, a bright and cheery start. Still breezy

through the cause of the day. We could see one or two showers

floating in from the West. For the most part, a pleasant and bright

day. Temperatures, highs of ten or 11. Cloud will continue to build and

thicken. The odd shower is possible. Through the overnight period, it

will be breezy. Into Christmas Day, it's a mild one. Temperatures around

12-14 . The record is currently 15.60 Greece. It'll be quite cloudy.

-- 15 .6 degrees. Wet weather moves in through the overnight period on

Sunday into Monday. We do eventually see that clear through. Through

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, it looks like we will stay pretty mild.

But pressure conditions as we arrive into Boxing Day. Things to settle

down and the wind is of a touch, as well. That's it. From all others

here, we wish you a Merry Christmas. We would like to leave

you with a carol. The Downton Chamber Voices singing

Comes The Light by Sarah Collins, # Sing out for the mother and the

child she bore # Sing out for the mother and the

child she bore. # Sing out for the Earth and

heavenly renewal... # Comes a light, sing out and be

heard # Sing out for the mother and the

child she bore # Sing out for the mother and the

child she bore. # Sing out for those with faith and

without # For those who hope and those who

doubt # All those who work throughout the

night # Sing out for the mother and the

child she bore. #. Christmas is about family.

I'll have that. Let's get this Christmas party

started!