11/11/2013 Spotlight

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month remembered across the

region and across the generations. Good evening. Good evening, and

welcome to Spotlight. Tonight we'll see how communities in the South

West paused to pay their respects to those who have died in conflict. And

at the Menin Gate in Belgium, musicians from our region were

playing a leading role in the Armistice commemorations. Also

tonight: Flybe announce a jump in profits but say they're axing jobs.

The Exeter based airline will cut 500 posts across its operations.

And the bouncers taking to the streets in North Devon to try and

stop violent attacks. School children, veterans and those

who simply wanted to pay their respects were united today at

poignant services across the South West to remember those killed in

conflict. At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, many

communities paused for two minutes in silent reflection. We have two

reports tonight. In a moment, how local musicians played a leading

role in today's events at the Menin Gate in Belgium. But first John

Henderson reports on the services which took place across the region.

Every year, they come, every year, they remember. At the Royal Naval

Air Station, current military personnel paid their respects.

At Exeter, that of past conflicts stood alongside the next

generation. I think the young people should know. I was young. From 230

people, they picked up 39. From 60, just one.

And the sacrifice from numerous complex was not lost on the children

from all of the 12 schools in this region. We remember, because they

fought for us so that we can live and be free. I think it is really

good that they helped us survive, and it was really nice of them, so I

am going to remember them. I think the relevance to the children now is

the complex that we have been involved in over the past ten to 15

years. The Gulf war, Afghanistan, and I am sure that all of the

children here are fully aware of this complex, so I think it has

great relevance to them. `` fully aware of those conflicts. The region

turned out in full force to honour the fallen and never forget.

As well as ceremonies across the region, a South West band has been

at the heart of remembrance events in Belgium. The ceremonial unit of

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service has been playing at the

Menin Gate in Ypres, scene of some of the worst battles of the First

World War. Our reporter John Danks went with them.

These are just a few of the thousands of names of those who died

almost 100 years ago. Their bodies were never found. The mine you meant

is dedicated to the quarter of a million British and Commonwealth

soldiers who lost their lives here. `` the monument. A daily homage to

the fallen is played by Hugh Gillers `` buglers who were originally drawn

from the town's voluntary firefighters.

Joining them last night was the ceremonial unit from the Devon and

Somerset fire and rescue service. We are here because of the association

with the firefighters in Belgium, and particularly, where they took

over the sounding of the last post. They have played that every single

evening since 1928. The Devon group led the parade at

this morning's remembrance service. Among them, musicians from the North

Devon pipe band and the Devonport Royal Naval all is here banned. ``

volunteer band. It is a really special feeling to be up there. Very

proud. It is appropriate that the volunteers are up there. There are

many hundreds who lost their lives in the battlefields and they were

all volunteers. Just very special for us to be up there as well.

One of the most poignant moments was when poppies were released from the

top of the Menin Gate. Thoughts turned to what each soldier named

here must have endured, the cold, the mud and the fear of dying. Ed

was so silent. To think that you were in Ypes and there was no sound

at all, it was very nice. All of the bands paraded proudly back through

the town, a town whose people remain ever thankful to those who made the

ultimate sacrifice. Two other news now. Three Greenpeace

workers from Devon detained in Russia for nearly two months have

been moved to St Petersburg. Kieron Bryan, Iain Rogers and Alexandra

Harris are among a group of 30 charged with hooliganism after a

protest against oil drilling in the Arctic. Their lawyers only realised

they'd been moved when they tried to visit them in Murmansk.

The Cornish disaster relief charity Shelterbox has distributed more than

1,000 aid boxes to survivors of the typhoon in the Philippines. Now it's

sending an extra 2,200 boxes and increasing the number of teams in

the area to two. A Tiverton Town Footballer, Tom

Pilling, seen here on the left, has pleaded guilty to causing a crash

which killed one man and seriously injured another. He was driving a

car which left the M5 in March. Pilling's friend, Daniel Gunn, died

in the crash and another man suffered life changing injuries. Mr

Pilling was given bail at Taunton Crown Court and will be sentenced in

December. It's been a day of hugely mixed news

at the Exeter`based airline Flybe. A return to profit, another big round

of redundancies and a surge in the share price. 500 more job cuts are

on the way, but these will be spread all around the airline and its

operational bases. From Exeter, our business correspondent Neil

Gallacher reports. There are still some clouds hanging

over Flybe as today's announcement makes plain. The airline reduced its

workforce by 490 last year, with a further hundred leading in the first

half of this year, and now, another 500 cuts across its network are

leaving. You want to review the fleet mix and improve aircraft and

crew utilization. You sound like you are slashing the airline in your new

role. Really, the focus of these actions is to put the airline on a

very solid foundation for future growth. We have taken down a lot of

cost already. We need to do more, but I am confident that we have a

very exciting future ahead of us. The new boss was able to underline

that with a half yearly profit of just under ?14 million, compared to

a loss this time last year. Flybe's share price rocketed. It's less than

three years since the airline was investing heavily in the region and

opening new facilities fast, but those days are definitely over. Now,

unions are desperate to avoid compulsory redundancies. But it was

clear they can see some logic in today's move. It is good for the

business in the long run. We have to consider the viability of the

company, because there are going to be jobs that are left, and who wants

to ensure that those jobs are secure for the future. So you accept this

is necessary? It is necessary to a point. Whether the severity of the

redundancies are necessary, we want to scrutinize that and have a look.

Today's news emphasizes that the new boss still sees cuts at Flybe. The

days when the airline had money available for impressive projects

like this seem a long way off, but investors at least seem to be

convinced now that the airline does have a future.

Street marshals are now patrolling in Barnstaple during the early hours

of the morning to stop violent attacks. They're working with the

police in busy areas at the weekends when most of the trouble happens.

Spotlight's Emma Thomasson has been out with them to see what they have

to deal with. One o'clock in the early hours of

Sunday morning and Barnstaple, before kicking out time to stop an

abrupt end to this man's night out. The new scheme is designed to stop

things getting this far once the club shuts a few hours later. The

doorman are here to make sure there is no more trouble. They tend to

listen to us rather than turn around and give the police a bit of abuse.

Because they get problems from us, off they go, because they feel they

might not be able to come in next time. It is a good idea. I work in

the tavern, so I get to see some of the state that people get in. I have

been attacked before, and they helped me and got the police

involved and stuff. I have seen a couple of fights that happened

inside takeaways. They bring them out and deal with it there and then

the ones who were fighting away, so it is really good. This is the first

scheme of its kind in the force area. It came from this PC. It is

just a means to effectively control what goes on in the street without

tying up police resources. Some people might argue that it is

policing on the cheap. That is a common statement in relation to

that. It does not policing on the cheap. These men are trained and

registered and are able to deal with these kind of incidents. They have

no more powers than any other member of the public but they are dealing

with low level stuff that perhaps the police should not be dealing

with anyway. At the moment, it is on the a child that is being funded by

one of the big nightclubs and North Devon Council. It has proven to be

successful so far, so hopefully after the trial, we will continue

with it in the new year. Many new businesses might support the scheme

also. On the time will tell if more businesses are willing to fund

them. Whether that is here or other places throughout the South West.

Coming up, find out how major fundraising in Cornwall is making a

big difference for stroke victims. The moving story of how the BBC

Children in Need Appeal is supporting these youngsters.

A South West charity which uses military veterans suffering from

post traumatic stress disorder to run motivational training courses

for job seekers, says it's hoping to expand across the UK. The Active

Plus course uses team building games and training in interrogation

techniques to help people gain confidence. And, as Chloe Axford

reports from Barnstaple, the results have been impressive.

Active Plus is a course of a difference. It uses military

training techniques to help people gain employment skills. Here,

participants are being challenged to cross a plank without touching the

floor. We have got to get across the logs, helping each other, and the

person has the blindfold on and they all easily have no site `` they all

via asleep have no site, so it is not easy. The idea behind it is to

teach them to support each other, trust in people, and it is not wrong

to put your hand up for help. Because he could not see where it

was going, but you guys and girls could, so you have got to put your

faith into other people. And these are the people who make the course

so unique. All of the trainers are military veterans suffering from

post traumatic stress disorder, covering Oakland `` complex from the

Falklands to Afghanistan. For people to see us with those kinds of things

going on in the background and still able to help others, I think that

sets us aside from everybody else, because we have experienced

hardships ourselves, so they don't see us as talking down to them. As

well as team games, the course includes training in how to do well

in job interviews led by ex`military intelligence officers skilled in

doing interrogations. His top tip is always to wear something red. Those

taking part in the course say it has been a real help to them. The

teamwork activities have been really beneficial to help motivate you and

give you a reason to get out of bed. I have definitely learned to be

more confident in myself. Definitely have some more interview techniques

and I am more prepared for them when I get them. It is basically just

building up my confidence more than anything else. I found it very

positive. It is a real reinforcement about what you need to do in

interviews to get jobs and move back into employment. The six`week

company macro course was developed in Cornwall and is now running in

Dorset and Somerset to my with plans to run it out across the UK. So far,

more than 50% of people who have done the course have gone on to

further training or have found jobs. We have found people who have been

so timid and reserved at the start, and by the end of the course am a

they are upstanding in front of people telling them what a

transmission may have gone through. The goat `` to see how their lives

have changed is fantastic. An appeal to help stroke patients in

Cornwall is celebrating hitting its half a million pound target today.

BBC Radio Cornwall listeners helped raise money for the Phoenix Stroke

Appeal, which is buying life changing equipment and helping

patients recover in their own homes. Alison Johns reports.

Around 800 people a year had a stroke in Cornwall. The Phoenix

Stroke Appeal was launched in June of 2011, and organisers are thrilled

that today they have hit their target. With the help of Radio

Cornwall, right from the onset, and the help of a vast number of people

throughout the community in Cornwall who have really responded big`time

to this appeal, we have got there. The money is being used by the acute

unit at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, where patients are assessed after

treatment to see if they are ready to go back home. It is also helping

the strict units at other hospitals. `` the stroke units. We

have now got the equipment that we can use for our patients. They do

not have to wait. They used to have to wait for a splint or a hoist, so

it has made a big difference. People can get on with their

rehabilitation. By the equipment has been bought for the scheme, which

gives intensive treatment to patients in their own homes. This

man says it has really helped him recover from a stroke which left him

unable to speak. Very good, because you are in your own environment, so

you feel more comfortable, and you feel as if they have more time for

you. Although the Phoenix Stroke Appeal itself has now finished, the

organisers say the work goes on, and donations can still be made to all

of Cornwall's hospitals. Onto the sport, and Dave's here with

a goalless FA Cup. But in rugby, there was plenty to cheer about.

First, the bad news. Yeovil Town are now four points adrift of safety in

the Championship. It follows their one goal loss to Wigan Athletic at

Huish Park yesterday. Jo Edwards had the Glovers best chance but they

eventually slipped to their second defeat in a row. Frenchman Marc

Antoine`Fortune scored the only goal 12 minutes from the end to leave

Yeovil rock bottom of the division. Plymouth Argyle are the only Devon

team left in this season's FA Cup. But they have to beat Conference

outfit Lincoln City in a first round replay at Home Park on Wednesday

week to progress. If they win, they'll meet another Conference

side, Welling United, at home in round two. This is how BBC Radio

Devon's commentators saw the cup ties.

A good cross him. That was a chance for the opening goal.

It is into the net! Torquay United go behind. A brilliant save. They

look like they have killed this game on the 18th minute.

`` 88th minute. Exeter Chiefs have started their

assault on the Anglo`Welsh Cup in fine style. They beat holders

Harlequins 19`5 at Sandy Park in their first tie in pool two. Ceri

Sweeney kicked 14 points, including four penalty kicks with Sireli

Naqelevuki scoring the Chiefs only try. Just under 9,500 were at Sandy

Park which has been chosen to host the final of the competition.

The Cornish Pirates and Plymouth Albion are keeping the pressure on

the Championship's top four. Kieran Hallett's three penalties were

decisive in the Pirates 16`13 win over Bedford Blues. Tries from Tom

Bowen and Lewis Warner helped Albion win at struggling Ealing by 20

points to five. Finally, tomorrow we'll be building

up to the Remembrance rugby match at the Brickfields when the Barbarians

meet the Combined Services at 7:15pm.

The BBC Children in Need Appeal takes place this Friday and the

money you raise helps change the lives of children across the South

West. Every year new projects receive funding for the first time,

and in the last 12 months, one of those is Children and Families in

Grief, in South Devon, who help youngsters, and their families,

who've been bereaved. Sue Cole and her son James, and Jo Hamilton and

her daughter Summer tell us their story, and how they were helped by

Children in Need at a time they needed it most.

I kind of just cried and I felt like I was the only one that had lost a

father. It was three days before Christmas, and he committed suicide.

James was seven at the time. I felt really shocked and just despair,

really, not knowing how I was going to tell my daughter that her father

had died suddenly because, you know I'm a dork father `` you know, your

dad is your world on a really, and how are you supposed to not have him

in your life? I did not want to talk about it to any of my friends encase

they started talking about how it happened, so I just kept it to

myself. I was really worried about him because I did not understand and

I was an adult, so I did not know how he could understand what

happened to his father. You do not know how to help them. He just hoped

that by telling them the truth and giving them lots of cuddles that

they will be OK. I was a bit shaky, but I know I was with my mum come

and we used to sit on the sofa and hog and just talk about it. `` and

cuddle and just talk about it. When I first went to Children and

Families in Grief, I was very nervous. I felt a bit better that I

could speak about it to other people. It makes a big difference.

It is a relief that you can see your child's smile. I always felt a bit

better when I knew that it wasn't me that lost my father. What ever the

special person is that they lost, they will share their feelings in a

different way, but at least you were opening up in expressing themselves.

`` at least they were. Until then, James had not showed any emotion and

did not talk about it, and he felt he was the only one, and he went

there and he brought out a lot of his feelings and was able to talk

more about it. I am glad that I can go there and I can just speak about

how I feel. I would say that Children in Need were pretty

fantastic for supporting children and families in Greece, because

there is not enough bereavement support groups out there for

families. It is really needed. `` families in grief.

So, as you can see, the money you raise really does make a difference,

and if you're fundraising and want to come along to the National

Maritime Museum Cornwall on Friday night for Pudsey's party, just

e`mail and we'll send you the tickets. Thank you for all of the

fundraising so far. Let's see what the weather is doing. We'll have a

quick look at it. It looks like we have a much quieter week ahead of

us, certainly a lot drier than last week and less windy. There will be

some rain around, but that is the general theme this week. It is

mainly dry and there is even a risk of a touch of Frost, particularly

into the small hours of Wednesday morning. We have lots of low clouds

and light humidity in the air. It is misty and foggy in places. The cloud

is reducing outbreaks of rain. `` producing. It is a very slow

progress on the weather system, but it will clear. There is a good deal

of sunshine per turning right across the South West of England, it is

slowly moving away, so do not expect improvements to the to rapid

tomorrow. By the time we get to Wednesday, we still have a ridge of

high pressure across southern Britain. Another fine day on

Wednesday. Perhaps a bit breezy as we see some showers turn up from the

North West. Let's look at that cloud picture. Still some more to come,

even though there are breaks in the clouds. The rain that is coming out

of Southern Ireland is still heading our way, so do not expect too much

of a clearance. Perhaps some of the mist and fog will clear out of the

way by tomorrow morning. Lest this ability but still a lot of clouds

and patchy rain around to stop `` less visibility. The winds become

northwesterly, and that brings us pressure air and slightly colder air

as well, so by the end of the night, South Coast temperatures will

probably be no lower than 12 or 13. In the north coast of Devon, the

colder air will follow the main line of cloud and rain. It will disappear

through the day tomorrow, which means the sunshine will be back out.

The best of the sunshine will be just before it is getting dark. A

chilly nights to come tomorrow night. Temperatures are lower than

they have been, 12, maybe 13 the highest temperature. A brisk

northerly breeze will make it feel colder than that. What's the clouds

in a few spots of rain it out of the way through the morning, there will

be a better chance to see the sun in the afternoon. Winds from the north,

fine and dry, with very good visibility. Times of high water:

the winds are from the north or North West tomorrow. Mainly fair

with generally good visibility. I said I would mention Friday's

forecast. Friday is largely dry and pretty quiet, with a wind from the

north or North West for the good news for Pudsey. Have a good

evening. That's all from us for now. We'll

leave you this evening with a reminder of how the region stopped

and remembered on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

Goodbye. Good night.