0:00:02 > 0:00:04A new year, a new life...
0:00:04 > 0:00:06Amazing.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08..and a new Wales.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11SHEEP BLEATS
0:00:11 > 0:00:14But how do we really live as a 21st-century nation?
0:00:14 > 0:00:16How do we work?
0:00:16 > 0:00:18HE WHISTLES
0:00:18 > 0:00:19How do we play?
0:00:19 > 0:00:21THEY CHEER
0:00:21 > 0:00:23How do we love?
0:00:24 > 0:00:26CAR HORN BEEPS
0:00:27 > 0:00:322012 saw the results of the latest Welsh National Census.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36But a census is just a set of dry statistics.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38It's not flesh and bones.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41It doesn't show us how we really live, or who we really are.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44# In my dreams, I'll always see you... #
0:00:44 > 0:00:46Our hopes...
0:00:47 > 0:00:48our fears...
0:00:50 > 0:00:51our dreams...
0:00:54 > 0:00:57For the past 12 months, we have followed
0:00:57 > 0:01:01eight very different families from all walks of life
0:01:01 > 0:01:03and from all over the country
0:01:03 > 0:01:07to reveal the real Wales behind the statistics.
0:01:07 > 0:01:09What woman ain't going to love that?
0:01:11 > 0:01:14We've captured their day-to-day lives at home...
0:01:14 > 0:01:16at work...
0:01:16 > 0:01:18and at play.
0:01:18 > 0:01:19And I love him.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23A kaleidoscope of celebrations...
0:01:23 > 0:01:25So, I've got it at last.
0:01:25 > 0:01:26..and challenges...
0:01:26 > 0:01:30You've come to a point where it's not worth sending the ships out.
0:01:30 > 0:01:31..happiness...
0:01:31 > 0:01:33I baptise you in the name of the Father...
0:01:33 > 0:01:34..and heartaches.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37I don't want her to die in a hospital environment.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39I'd rather it be here, at home.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44It's a unique and unfolding insight
0:01:44 > 0:01:48into the incredible daily dramas of all our lives.
0:01:48 > 0:01:49Oh!
0:01:49 > 0:01:52This is Wales In A Year.
0:01:52 > 0:01:53That's good news.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05Wales, 2012.
0:02:05 > 0:02:10A land of 8,000 square miles, eight and a half million sheep,
0:02:10 > 0:02:1422 million trees and 3.1 million people...
0:02:17 > 0:02:20..and as new year dawns in Newport Gwent,
0:02:20 > 0:02:24the population is about to become a 3.1 million plus one.
0:02:26 > 0:02:2827-year-old Charlene Christensen
0:02:28 > 0:02:31and her 25-year-old boyfriend Sean Lonergan
0:02:31 > 0:02:34are preparing for their new arrival.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38Charlene is 38 weeks pregnant, and tomorrow she's booked in
0:02:38 > 0:02:41to have her new baby delivered by Caesarean section.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45You think six, then, do you, Mum?
0:02:45 > 0:02:47Yes, I'd take in six.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51The scans have revealed that Charlene is expecting a little girl,
0:02:51 > 0:02:53but her mum, Hermione, is not convinced.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55Well, take the grey ones as well.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58You've got a choice then, haven't you?
0:02:58 > 0:02:59If...it should come out a he, he!
0:02:59 > 0:03:01SHE LAUGHS
0:03:01 > 0:03:05No, because she's carrying the same way I carried on both my boys
0:03:05 > 0:03:08and her actions have been exactly the same, her scattiness.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10That's how I was on the boys.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14And, like, normally, on a girl, she's more rounded
0:03:14 > 0:03:16and you carry something, you know, round in the back,
0:03:16 > 0:03:19whereas she's lost it all. She's just all front.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22And that's how I went on both my boys, so I'm not convinced.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24I haven't been convinced from the word go.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28Girl or boy, this won't be Charlene's first child.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30I've got two children.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32The oldest is six, which is Aleya Ellie,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35and then I've got Aleysha Ayla.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38Aleysha is three. She's really fun-loving.
0:03:38 > 0:03:39She's a lovely child.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43She's severely disabled, she is.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47She's got brain damage, which was caused at birth,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50and she's partially blind...
0:03:51 > 0:03:56She's also epileptic as well and she's got cerebral palsy,
0:03:56 > 0:03:58so she's 24-hour care.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01She doesn't walk, she doesn't talk, she's got no mobility at all.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06Charlene had a straightforward and worry-free pregnancy
0:04:06 > 0:04:07when carrying Aleysha.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11It was when she went into labour that the complications began.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15I remember the baby's head coming out and the student midwife said,
0:04:15 > 0:04:18"Stop pushing now, Char, I can see the baby's head,"
0:04:18 > 0:04:21and the cord was wrapped round her neck.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24She then just quickly took the cord off the baby's neck,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27and I thought, "Oh, my gosh." Well, her head was blue.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30They took her out and they had her in an incubator at the side
0:04:30 > 0:04:33and they tried resuscitating her, but it wasn't working.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36And, of course, we're all crying now, thinking, "We've lost her,"
0:04:36 > 0:04:38and...
0:04:38 > 0:04:42finally, then, we heard her cry and they turned round and told us,
0:04:42 > 0:04:45"Oh, she just needs a little bit of oxygen to help her breathe."
0:04:48 > 0:04:50They didn't tell us that she had brain damage
0:04:50 > 0:04:53or there was anything else physically wrong.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58Aleysha is one of approximately 70 children born every year in Wales
0:04:58 > 0:05:01with Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy,
0:05:01 > 0:05:04a condition caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain at birth.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08Oh, there's your belly!
0:05:09 > 0:05:10There it is!
0:05:10 > 0:05:15Aleysha is profoundly disabled and needs tube-feeding four times a day.
0:05:15 > 0:05:20So, what I have to do is attach it and press start.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23'She's been tube-fed, anyway, from the time she was born.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25'She's never had a bottle once.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28'Not even in intensive care, not even when she improved.'
0:05:28 > 0:05:30Is that better, sweetie?
0:05:30 > 0:05:31'Like, for instance, if we...'
0:05:31 > 0:05:34Our brain automatically tells us what to do,
0:05:34 > 0:05:36to chew to swallow, to suck, whatever,
0:05:36 > 0:05:38whereas Aleysha's doesn't.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42Because her brain's not telling her to swallow, it just sits there.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45So, that's why she has to be PEG-fed now.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Look! Ready, steady, go!
0:05:48 > 0:05:50And again!
0:05:50 > 0:05:54Aleysha will require 24-hour care for the rest of her short life.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57'When I look at her, the only thing I think is,
0:05:57 > 0:05:59"Oh, I love you so much."
0:05:59 > 0:06:02'I don't feel sad or anything like that,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05'because she's done really well so far.'
0:06:06 > 0:06:09And again!
0:06:09 > 0:06:11Back about a year ago, we used to go to bed every night
0:06:11 > 0:06:14and every morning you would wake up, walk down,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17look at her to check if she was still here. But that's gone now.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20We don't do that any more, because it just messed your head up too much.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22So, now, I just take it as, you know...
0:06:22 > 0:06:24When she's ready, she's going to be ready,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27and until then, she's still going to be there, smiling in the morning.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29Do you like that noise?
0:06:29 > 0:06:32ALEYSHA GIGGLES
0:06:32 > 0:06:34'I personally think she'll last till about 17.'
0:06:37 > 0:06:40With a push. I think.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44'I don't want her to die in a hospital environment.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46'I'd rather it be here, at home.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49'I just think, basically, when she's ready,
0:06:49 > 0:06:50'she'll just go in a peaceful sleep.'
0:06:50 > 0:06:52- TOY SPEAKS: - 'Ooh, Muffin, snuggly!'
0:06:52 > 0:06:55Muffin, snuggly!
0:06:55 > 0:06:56- TOY SPEAKS: - Tell Muffin story.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58Tell Muffin a story, then.
0:06:58 > 0:07:04Last year, 35,682 babies were born in Wales.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08Charlene's new baby will be one of the very first of 2012.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11After Aleysha was born, I was adamant,
0:07:11 > 0:07:14obviously, everything I went through with her,
0:07:14 > 0:07:17I didn't want any more children, but...
0:07:17 > 0:07:20Obviously, I met Sean and... things changed.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22I thought, "Yeah..."
0:07:22 > 0:07:25So, it took me two years, but it doesn't matter.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30There have been no complications with this pregnancy so far,
0:07:30 > 0:07:34but Charlene is understandably worried about the birth.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38I've basically told them that I want a C-section.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40'I am worried about it.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43'I suppose I have been throughout the pregnancy because, obviously,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46'even with a C-section, things can go wrong.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50'As long as the baby's healthy, that's all I'm concerned about.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53'You know, when everything runs smoothly.'
0:07:53 > 0:07:56We'll be back with Charlene at the birth of her new baby
0:07:56 > 0:07:58later in the programme.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08With the new year comes new hopes and fears.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12And as 2012 begins, for many in Wales,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15the greatest fear is job security.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19Government figures show that the driving force of the Welsh economy
0:08:19 > 0:08:24is not the public sector or large companies, but small businesses.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26There are over 200,000 small businesses
0:08:26 > 0:08:30scattered across every corner of Wales.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32From out-of-town industrial units
0:08:32 > 0:08:36to one man, and woman, bands in terrace back rooms,
0:08:36 > 0:08:40small businesses employ over 600,000 Welsh workers.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44But what effect will the world recession have
0:08:44 > 0:08:46on small businesses in 2012?
0:08:53 > 0:08:56On a cold, dark January morning
0:08:56 > 0:08:58in New Tredegar in the South Wales Valleys,
0:08:58 > 0:09:02the start of the new year means the end of the Christmas holidays
0:09:02 > 0:09:05for 40-year-old small-business owner James Mellor.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10James's factory, AJM Sewing,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13is the largest employer in New Tredegar,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16with a staff of 36 mainly female workers...
0:09:19 > 0:09:23..and behind the walls of this unassuming converted Valleys chapel,
0:09:23 > 0:09:28James and his team manufacture one of Wales's more unusual exports.
0:09:28 > 0:09:29BELL RINGS
0:09:46 > 0:09:50AJM Sewing are Wales's one and only manufacturer
0:09:50 > 0:09:54of luxurious and somewhat risque lingerie.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57But what do James's workers make of it all?
0:09:57 > 0:09:58In the beginning,
0:09:58 > 0:10:02we used to be quite shocked at some of the things we've made, but...
0:10:02 > 0:10:07now it's just a job, and you just get on and do it.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10Some things are nice, some things are quite outrageous.
0:10:12 > 0:10:13Each to their own.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16It sells, that's the main. You know?
0:10:18 > 0:10:22So, what could possibly have drawn a solid Valleys boy like James
0:10:22 > 0:10:26into the flighty, a la mode world of fancy pants?
0:10:27 > 0:10:31The basic truth was, there was a lot of women in the factory
0:10:31 > 0:10:35and, like I said, I was 16, male, and that's where I wanted to be,
0:10:35 > 0:10:38but after that, you know, it was just a fantastic job,
0:10:38 > 0:10:43and I really can't say I've had a bad day, not enjoying what I do.
0:10:43 > 0:10:4612 years ago, James set up on his own,
0:10:46 > 0:10:49risking all of his savings to get AJM off the ground.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52When we initially started the business,
0:10:52 > 0:10:54we had 25 machines in total,
0:10:54 > 0:10:57which was bought from a redundancy package.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00Now, I think, we've got about 100 sewing machines here.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02The normal production run for us
0:11:02 > 0:11:08is probably in the region of 400 to 800 garments for a particular style.
0:11:09 > 0:11:14And 2012 has arrived with a bang for James and his staff.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16They've returned to two big underwear orders,
0:11:16 > 0:11:20and shop floor supervisor Tracey's already under pressure.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22Two big orders to get out now.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25One Lascivious, and the other's the Kitty range.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29So, there's a huge... I think it's 3,000 black
0:11:29 > 0:11:33and... 1,000...something cream.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37You have your slack periods and then, it's all systems go.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40Like, these have just come in now, and they want them out on Friday.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43You've got to make sure you've got the right frill, OK?
0:11:43 > 0:11:45It's all hands to the deck, as usual.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48I need 32 small and 40 medium...
0:11:49 > 0:11:52Less than 15 years ago, six large sewing factories
0:11:52 > 0:11:56employed hundreds of ladies and a small number of men
0:11:56 > 0:11:57throughout the Valleys.
0:11:57 > 0:12:02Household names such as Gossard and Berlei, Bentwood and Cohen's
0:12:02 > 0:12:05churned out high-volume, quality underwear
0:12:05 > 0:12:09for high street stores such as Debenhams, C&A, and M&S.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12You know, when you walk into Marks & Spencer's...
0:12:12 > 0:12:15You know, the majority of what you made was in there.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18Especially the lingerie, because we made all the bras for them.
0:12:18 > 0:12:23And the knickers. You know, suspenders...and all that.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26And it's the same thing. You walk in, think, "Oh, yeah, I made that,"
0:12:26 > 0:12:29and then you check the stitch, then you might pick up another bra,
0:12:29 > 0:12:33which you've got a tendency to do, pick up another bra...
0:12:33 > 0:12:36and you think, made in China, or whatever it is that it's made,
0:12:36 > 0:12:38and then you go, "Oh, yeah,"
0:12:38 > 0:12:42and then you pull it to see the stitching cracks...
0:12:42 > 0:12:45It's just... It's just habit. It's what you do.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49In the late '90s,
0:12:49 > 0:12:53manufacturing began moving to cheaper workshops in the Far East.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56One by one, the Valleys factories closed
0:12:56 > 0:13:00and many of the AJM women found themselves being made redundant
0:13:00 > 0:13:03not once, but several times.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06This is the third, fourth sewing factory I've been in,
0:13:06 > 0:13:08and the rest have gone,
0:13:08 > 0:13:10basically, sending their work abroad.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14And on not necessarily no work. It's just all gone abroad.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17All of us worked for Marks & Spencer's.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21It was such a big company that when they said,
0:13:21 > 0:13:24"We don't want any more. We're taking it abroad..."
0:13:24 > 0:13:29I mean, you were talking hundreds of girls out of jobs. Hundreds.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32It was a nightmare. It was horrible. Horrible.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41With unemployment in the Valleys currently running at around 12%,
0:13:41 > 0:13:46many of these women are the main wage earners in their households.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50You've just got to take each year as it comes, really. So, you know...
0:13:52 > 0:13:55..hopefully, it will get better.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58This leaves James with the constant pressure
0:13:58 > 0:14:00of having to bring in new orders.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03This week, there's a feast of work on the factory floor,
0:14:03 > 0:14:06but there's nothing on the books for the end of the month.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10So, James is heading to the big smoke in search of new clients,
0:14:10 > 0:14:12a task that fills him with dread.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18I go to London once a year, and that's too often, to be honest.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22It's a very daunting experience for myself. I'm not a city person.
0:14:22 > 0:14:24Cardiff, to me, is extreme.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26You know, London is just...
0:14:26 > 0:14:28There we are.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31The more you do it, the more you get used to it, I suppose.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39I have a meeting with Agent Provocateur.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42It's a very important meeting for the business.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45It determines, you know, the work for, well,
0:14:45 > 0:14:48the next six months, for at least 25 of the employees.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51I've got very, very sweaty palms at this moment in time.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53I'm very apprehensive.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57The meeting this afternoon is of great importance to the business
0:14:57 > 0:15:00and the survival of the business.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02James and his sweaty palms hit London
0:15:02 > 0:15:05and head for the officers of Agent Provocateur.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08In the top secret world of international underwear design,
0:15:08 > 0:15:12the cameras are unwelcome and have to remain outside.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20Two hours later, James emerges.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24The meeting went reasonably well.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28Like I say, there's a couple of styles on the table that they are offering.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30There's still a little bit of work to be done
0:15:30 > 0:15:33before we can secure the contracts fully.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36Hopefully, we'll know by the end of next week.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39I don't think we're going to get a full quantity, unfortunately.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46James set aside the uncertainties
0:15:46 > 0:15:50and heads for his second appointment of the day, Selfridge's,
0:15:50 > 0:15:54and a glittering shindig celebrating the UK undie industry.
0:15:56 > 0:15:57James has been invited
0:15:57 > 0:16:02because most of the high-quality, high-priced UK designer lingerie here
0:16:02 > 0:16:05has been cut and stitched by AJM Sewing.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10But whilst the bright young things flash the fruits of the factory's labour,
0:16:10 > 0:16:13James is feeling a touch uncomfortable.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15It's lovely to see but, unfortunately,
0:16:15 > 0:16:19I haven't got the experience of this type of thing to actually,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22you know, intermingle and...
0:16:22 > 0:16:26you know, to approach people, to discuss things and what have you.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29But, you know, I'm sure it'll come in time. I'm trying.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35Then James spots something that might well calm his nerves,
0:16:35 > 0:16:39and three glasses later, he's ready to intermingle.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42Where is the manufacturer located?
0:16:42 > 0:16:44- It's in South Wales. - South Wales? OK.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47- It's in Wales?!- It's in Wales! - I'm half Welsh and I've never been.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49Well, it's easy, for us. Honestly, we go on the train.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51- It's so much easier. - Come up and see us.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53Is it like Coronation Street? Does everyone ask that?
0:16:53 > 0:16:56- The underwear factory? - Yeah, it is like Coronation Street.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59There's no arguments, though. We don't go to the pub so much.
0:16:59 > 0:17:00- No drama? No hotpot?- No.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02What do you have instead? Welsh rarebit?
0:17:02 > 0:17:04HE CHUCKLES
0:17:05 > 0:17:09It's a rare opportunity for James to gauge first-hand
0:17:09 > 0:17:12how London's fashionistas react to his work.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16We wouldn't have it. At the last minute, when we call James and say,
0:17:16 > 0:17:18"James, please, we need three more knickers!"
0:17:18 > 0:17:20And there they are two days later.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24So, without you, this wouldn't have been possible, so thank you.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26Genuinely. Not just for the cameras.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28For James, there's just one downside
0:17:28 > 0:17:31to hobnobbing with the absolutely fabulous.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35After being in the industry so long, you know,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38and going to the trade shows and things like that,
0:17:38 > 0:17:40you don't look at them as women.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43You know, you just look at them for the garments they've got on.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45You know, it's one of those things.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48If it's not quite right, you want to go up and tweak the garment,
0:17:48 > 0:17:51to put it right, but obviously, you can't.
0:17:51 > 0:17:56But I just look at it purely from a professional basis now
0:17:56 > 0:18:01and, after 25 years in the industry, there are some downsides, yeah.
0:18:01 > 0:18:02Underwear doesn't do it for me.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05HE LAUGHS
0:18:07 > 0:18:09James leaves the bright lights behind
0:18:09 > 0:18:11and heads back to the Valleys,
0:18:11 > 0:18:15with the Agent Provocateur contract still unsecured.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18Looks like 2012 could be an up-and-down year
0:18:18 > 0:18:20for Wales's last knicker factory.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34So, what about the nation's health in 2012?
0:18:34 > 0:18:37The good news is that life expectancy in Wales
0:18:37 > 0:18:41continues to climb, and the average male can expect to reach 78,
0:18:41 > 0:18:43the average female, 82.
0:18:44 > 0:18:49The bad news, though, is that a longer life comes at a price,
0:18:49 > 0:18:52and dementia is on the increase.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56In 2012, there are an estimated 42,000 people in Wales
0:18:56 > 0:18:58suffering from dementia,
0:18:58 > 0:19:02a total that is forecast to double over the next 20 years.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06In Merthyr Tydfil,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09the next family whose lives we have filmed throughout 2012
0:19:09 > 0:19:11are living with the consequences of dementia.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16Here, on the sprawling Penydarren estate,
0:19:16 > 0:19:1946-year-old Suzanne Folley is washing the dishes
0:19:19 > 0:19:23for her 77-year-old next-door neighbour Gertrude Sage.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Gertie is suffering from dementia and is registered blind.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30Gertie is also Suzanne's mother.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34'She had a stroke a few years ago, which...'
0:19:34 > 0:19:37took her sight away.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41And then she started forgetting, you know,
0:19:41 > 0:19:43little things, like.
0:19:43 > 0:19:50Took her to the doctors and they said she had the early stages of dementia.
0:19:50 > 0:19:51All right!
0:19:51 > 0:19:55And it's just gradually got worse, the older she's getting.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58What, Mam?
0:19:58 > 0:20:00I said, I've got another cardigan somewhere. Can you find it?
0:20:00 > 0:20:03I can't hear you, Mam. What did you say?
0:20:03 > 0:20:06- I've got another cardigan here somewhere.- You've got two on, Mam.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10- Have I?!- Yeah. You've got your jumper and your cardigan.- Sue?- What?
0:20:10 > 0:20:13- Are there any tissues? - In your pocket.
0:20:13 > 0:20:14Right? You got it?
0:20:14 > 0:20:16- I've got something. - You've got a tissue.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21- All right? - Oh, I've got something, yes.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27- Do you want a drink now?- What? - Do you want a drink?
0:20:28 > 0:20:31- Have I had my breakfast?- Huh?
0:20:31 > 0:20:34- Have I had my breakfast? - Yeah, you had Shredded Wheat.- Right.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39For Suzanne, the demands are non-stop.
0:20:39 > 0:20:4024 hours a day.
0:20:42 > 0:20:4624 hours a day and when she haven't got the sitters in in the night,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49I have to go to sleep with my mobile phone in my hand,
0:20:49 > 0:20:51because she's got an alarm on the bed.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54If she gets out of bed and she wanders
0:20:54 > 0:20:57and she's not back in after, say, ten minutes, Lifeline will ring me.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59She's got an alarm on her front door,
0:20:59 > 0:21:02so if she goes out the door after a certain time of the night,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04and she doesn't come back in, they'll phone me.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07She's got a pendant around her neck which she presses for...
0:21:07 > 0:21:10If she wants to know what time it is, she'll press that,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13and Lifeline ring me, "Oh, we've got your mother on the Lifeline."
0:21:13 > 0:21:16I'll come in here, "What's the matter, Mam?" "What's the time?"
0:21:16 > 0:21:19You know, she's forgotten what that's there for.
0:21:19 > 0:21:20- What, Mam?- Who's there?
0:21:20 > 0:21:24- The ones from the BBC, Mam, talking to me.- Oh.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30It's all right, I'm not talking to myself.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34- Oh, I thought you were going funny.- Huh?
0:21:34 > 0:21:37- I thought you were going bit funny. - You thought I was going cuckoo?
0:21:37 > 0:21:41- I thought you were going funny! - Oh, I am! I've gone funny ages ago.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45Suzanne is one of an estimated 370,000 people in Wales
0:21:45 > 0:21:49who provide unpaid care for their relatives or friends.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54She is also the busy mother of two teenage daughters,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Savannah, who is 17 and studying for her A-levels,
0:21:57 > 0:22:00and Lowri, who is 15 and approaching her GCSEs.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06Right, I'm going to sort my kids out now. Are you all right a minute?
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Yeah, well, I'm all right, why...? Where are you going?
0:22:09 > 0:22:12- Back in my house a minute. - Go on then.- Right?
0:22:12 > 0:22:14Don't go wandering, will you?
0:22:14 > 0:22:16The sole breadwinner in the house,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19Suzanne has had to give up work to care for Gertie.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22Adding to the financial and psychological strain,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25husband Jason suffers from epilepsy,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28and he's been forced to give up his job as a builder.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31Oh, it is hard work. It's hard for her because, like I say,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34the phone will go at two, three, four, five o'clock in the morning
0:22:34 > 0:22:36and, automatically, you've got to go in
0:22:36 > 0:22:39to see if everything is all right, if you know what I mean.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41And it's a 24-hour job, isn't it?
0:22:41 > 0:22:44So, that's what she's got to do.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46Just put up with it. Life goes on, doesn't it?
0:22:48 > 0:22:52Oh, it does tell on her, like, obviously. But, you know, always...
0:22:52 > 0:22:55It wears her down, doesn't it? You know, she's in here one minute.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58The next minute, I'm sitting down watching telly or whatever,
0:22:58 > 0:23:00and no sign of her.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03She's in there, because her mother's wandering out the front.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06- It's a bit awkward...- She seems to do it more in the night, doesn't she?
0:23:06 > 0:23:08The night, she's worst.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10And he keeps telling her, "You don't know who's hanging about."
0:23:10 > 0:23:14There could be anybody out there, she leaves her door open, and she wanders...
0:23:14 > 0:23:17I know it's only from by here to by there, but because she can't see,
0:23:17 > 0:23:20- anybody could just go in the house and...- She's been so lucky now.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23- A couple of kids have fetched her back a few times, haven't they?- Yeah.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25You look at hoodies and these kids, you know,
0:23:25 > 0:23:29they've all got bad names, but there's about five boys,
0:23:29 > 0:23:31they had their hoods up, their baseball caps on,
0:23:31 > 0:23:35and they were outside with her and they were holding her hand and catching round her.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38So, you know, she's lucky that it was a gang of boys like that
0:23:38 > 0:23:39that fetched her back.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42- It could've been anybody, couldn't it?- Yeah.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48There's one big decision facing the family in 2012,
0:23:48 > 0:23:52and it's one Suzanne hopes she'll never be forced to make.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56What I've always been frightened of, when she gets old,
0:23:56 > 0:23:58is going into a nursing home and...
0:23:59 > 0:24:02I've always said, "Oh, I'd never do that to you."
0:24:02 > 0:24:04Perhaps if it comes to the point
0:24:04 > 0:24:07that someone takes the decision out of my hand,
0:24:07 > 0:24:11if social services say, "Yes... She's got to go in, for her own safety,"
0:24:11 > 0:24:15perhaps then... but I can't be the one to...
0:24:15 > 0:24:19make that decision, and say, "Right, put her in a nursing home,"
0:24:19 > 0:24:22because that's the one thing I promised her I would never do,
0:24:22 > 0:24:23put her in a nursing home.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27No, it's my mother.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49Government statistics reveal that 19% of the population,
0:24:49 > 0:24:53just over 560,000 people, are Welsh speakers.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01Well over half of those who are fluent Welsh speakers
0:25:01 > 0:25:03live in just four areas of Wales,
0:25:03 > 0:25:07Anglesey, Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Gwynedd.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17Nestled in the foothills of the Snowdonia National Park,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20Ty Cerrig Farm in Ganllwyd, Gwynedd,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23is a tenanted farm that has been rented and worked
0:25:23 > 0:25:27by the Edwards family for almost 130 years.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32The entire family are first-language Welsh speakers.
0:25:36 > 0:25:3981-year-old Gruffydd Edwards was born on the farm
0:25:39 > 0:25:42and has spent his whole life working it.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44Today, he's bringing some of his 240 sheep
0:25:44 > 0:25:48down from the surrounding hills for their mid-winter MOT.
0:25:50 > 0:25:56Oh, I waited until the lambs are ready for the spring,
0:25:56 > 0:25:59so that I can send them up to the mountain
0:25:59 > 0:26:01when the ewes come down for lambing.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06Sorting out the sheep is a hard task
0:26:06 > 0:26:09for an 81-year-old with a bad knee and arthritic hips,
0:26:09 > 0:26:13but Gruffydd has been joined by his 41-year-old son Ifan
0:26:13 > 0:26:16and his 31-year-old daughter Carys.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18Maybe we should inject it like this...
0:26:21 > 0:26:23Two-year-old granddaughter Heledd
0:26:23 > 0:26:26also appears to have the farming gene.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30A couple of months ago, I was whistling on the dogs,
0:26:30 > 0:26:32and there she was,
0:26:32 > 0:26:35putting two fingers in her mouth, trying to whistle on them...
0:26:35 > 0:26:38Heledd! You're helping out, aren't you?
0:26:42 > 0:26:46These ewes are yearlings, and too young to lamb this spring,
0:26:46 > 0:26:48but they need dosing against disease,
0:26:48 > 0:26:52and their tails need trimming to prevent fly strike and maggots.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56I'm cleaning the...
0:26:57 > 0:26:59between the legs.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04After spring comes, if they get dirty, you get the maggot fly
0:27:04 > 0:27:09and then the sheep are killed by maggots eating them alive.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16The reality of being a tenant hill farmer in 21st-century Wales
0:27:16 > 0:27:20is nobody's vision of the rural good life.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23It's a tough, ill-paid and dying industry,
0:27:23 > 0:27:25and in the last 75 years,
0:27:25 > 0:27:28a period that covers Gruffydd's own working life,
0:27:28 > 0:27:33there has been a 70% decline in the number of Welsh tenant farmers.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36The Williams's farm, Ty Cerrig,
0:27:36 > 0:27:40is now one of just 44 left in the County of Gwynedd,
0:27:40 > 0:27:45and across the whole of Wales, there are now less than 400 tenant farms.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47Watch yourself, Heledd!
0:27:48 > 0:27:50The decline is no surprise.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54Incomes are low, typically as little as 8,000 a year,
0:27:54 > 0:27:57and tenant hill farmers have little chance to modernise and adapt,
0:27:57 > 0:28:01and so every scrap becomes a potential source of cash.
0:28:02 > 0:28:07Here, I'm putting the tail wool in a bag,
0:28:07 > 0:28:11so we can put it to go into the market.
0:28:11 > 0:28:16But put it in a bag for now, then I'll sort it another day.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19Phrase in Welsh.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23"You pick the small wool up and the wool will pick you up."
0:28:23 > 0:28:28Cwyd ti'r gwlan man, mi godith y gwlan chdi 'de.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36It's dinner time now. It's about one o'clock.
0:28:36 > 0:28:37So, we need to....
0:28:38 > 0:28:41especially, get food to the young one.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45Usually, we would have worked through lunch and kept on going.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48Finish work first, then eat, usually.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52It's a well-earned lunch.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54Ti isho bwyd? Oes?
0:28:54 > 0:28:56Between them, they've sheared 50 sheep
0:28:56 > 0:28:59and collected 30 kilos of wool,
0:28:59 > 0:29:02and given the current market value of that wool,
0:29:02 > 0:29:06for their morning's work, the family have made approximately 30p.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09Lots of work for our little pennies
0:29:09 > 0:29:12that we get off the tail wool of the sheep.
0:29:12 > 0:29:17It's only 1p per kilo of that we'll get.
0:29:19 > 0:29:23Last year, many farmers found that it
0:29:23 > 0:29:26was costing the farmer more
0:29:26 > 0:29:30to shear than they were having for the wool.
0:29:30 > 0:29:31And then...
0:29:33 > 0:29:35Hard labour.
0:29:35 > 0:29:40But you've got to shear them, or else the maggots will be on them.
0:29:42 > 0:29:43Ddim isho byta?
0:29:43 > 0:29:45Don't want to eat?
0:29:45 > 0:29:46Tyd 'wan.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52Unsurprisingly, given the current economic climate,
0:29:52 > 0:29:55Gruffydd fears he may be the last generation of his family
0:29:55 > 0:29:56to run the farm.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00His son, Ifan, has already had to make a difficult choice.
0:30:00 > 0:30:04Well, when I was in school, definitely, I wanted to be a farmer,
0:30:04 > 0:30:09but I realised, on a...mountain farm like this, in Snowdonia,
0:30:09 > 0:30:14there wasn't much money, especially on this farm
0:30:14 > 0:30:15to keep my father and myself.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21So, I did my degree in electrical electronic engineering
0:30:21 > 0:30:25and...never turned back, really.
0:30:25 > 0:30:31I miss it, in a way. I enjoy working outside and it's a good life,
0:30:31 > 0:30:34but the financial rewards weren't there, so...
0:30:34 > 0:30:38It's a shame in a way, but that's the way life is.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42These days, Ifan lends a hand on weekends,
0:30:42 > 0:30:47but sees no possibility of ever taking over the farm.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51Meanwhile, Carys spends every spare moment helping out at the farm,
0:30:51 > 0:30:54whilst also holding down a number of part-time jobs.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56Well, I'm the little slave.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58THEY LAUGH
0:30:58 > 0:31:02I'm the little slave that's trying to keep the family going,
0:31:02 > 0:31:05to farm this land, and if I didn't work somewhere else,
0:31:05 > 0:31:07I couldn't survive.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10It's... It's a hard farm to keep,
0:31:10 > 0:31:14and I would like to keep it in the family, but it's hard going.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16Hard going.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20She's very good with the sheep.
0:31:20 > 0:31:25She recognises sheep as if they were children in school with her.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29She's very good in that manner. Much better than me, actually.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35But things are set to come to a head in 2012 for the Edwards family,
0:31:35 > 0:31:37as Gruffydd faces up to an operation
0:31:37 > 0:31:40that might well force him into retirement.
0:31:40 > 0:31:45I was supposed to go in two years last March to do the knee,
0:31:45 > 0:31:49but the specialist prefers to do the hip.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53"You've got arthritis in your hip and in your knee," he told me,
0:31:53 > 0:31:55"but we'd like to do the hip first."
0:31:56 > 0:32:00No, I don't know what the future is, but...
0:32:00 > 0:32:03still, I keep going while I can.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09We'll follow the family in their struggle to hold onto the farm
0:32:09 > 0:32:12throughout the four seasons of 2012.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22Just over 20% of the Welsh population,
0:32:22 > 0:32:26around 620,000 people, were born in England,
0:32:26 > 0:32:29but the cross-border movement is a two-way thing,
0:32:29 > 0:32:34and the exodus in the other direction is some 630,000,
0:32:34 > 0:32:38a net loss to Wales of around 10,000 Welsh-born people.
0:32:44 > 0:32:48Bala in North Wales, home to the famous Bala Lake
0:32:48 > 0:32:51and to the Hickish family.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54English incomers Toby and Stephanie Hickish
0:32:54 > 0:32:57run a catering company with the help of their three children...
0:32:57 > 0:32:59- Could you follow me, please, Evie?- Yep.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01..17-year-old Evie,
0:33:01 > 0:33:03Freddie, 24,
0:33:03 > 0:33:05and 28-year-old George.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07Could be lighter, these things.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10Theirs is a manic, all-encompassing lifestyle.
0:33:10 > 0:33:12STEPHANIE LAUGHS
0:33:12 > 0:33:14I've got courgette balls I've got to stuff with cream!
0:33:14 > 0:33:17No, I've got the stuff the eclairs with cream.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20From their farm house on the outskirts of Bala,
0:33:20 > 0:33:24catering is not the only business they turn their hands to.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27We run five holiday cottages...
0:33:27 > 0:33:30We run a cafe up here.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33We do evening meals for people, we do parties for people,
0:33:33 > 0:33:37and we run a cafe in the leisure centre in Bala. Umm...
0:33:37 > 0:33:40- And we also do a bit of gardening in our spare time.- Mainly catering.
0:33:40 > 0:33:41Mainly catering, I suppose, yes.
0:33:41 > 0:33:45- I'd like it to be mainly gardening, cos that's my passion.- Yes.
0:33:45 > 0:33:47And the aim is to employ lots of people here
0:33:47 > 0:33:49so that I can spend my time wafting around the garden.
0:33:49 > 0:33:51Yes, with a big hat on and a pair of sunglasses.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54With a huge hat and a pair of secateurs... THEY LAUGH
0:33:54 > 0:33:57..and a flowing skirt, but that's a long way off yet.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02Toby and Steph moved here from the Home Counties 17 years ago,
0:34:02 > 0:34:06with warnings of impending doom ringing in their ears.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09People said, "Gosh, you'll never settle in Wales at all,"
0:34:09 > 0:34:11"they don't like the English," and all that rubbish,
0:34:11 > 0:34:13which is absolutely not true, for a start.
0:34:13 > 0:34:18But we had to come here and get into the community immediately,
0:34:18 > 0:34:23because we needed help, and we needed help on so many levels.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26The reason for the move was their son, Rory.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30Rory was born and he had muscular dystrophy
0:34:30 > 0:34:34and it meant both of us, really, had to change our lives somewhat,
0:34:34 > 0:34:37but it was a very good excuse to come here.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40He was given... Oh, sort of two, three years to live,
0:34:40 > 0:34:43and he made it, I think probably thanks to the Welsh air,
0:34:43 > 0:34:44until he until he was 14.
0:34:44 > 0:34:47Everybody adored him,
0:34:47 > 0:34:50and we sort wandered around behind him in Bala High Street
0:34:50 > 0:34:52- with everybody saying hello to HIM. - HE LAUGHS
0:34:52 > 0:34:56He was a really good sort of integration...
0:34:56 > 0:34:59- Icebreaker.- Icebreaker, yes, if you like.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02He was always a huge bonus, wasn't he, really?
0:35:02 > 0:35:05The force of Rory's extraordinary personality
0:35:05 > 0:35:08made him an immediate hit with the local community,
0:35:08 > 0:35:12but his two brothers, Freddie, who was six when they moved to Bala,
0:35:12 > 0:35:14and George, who was 10,
0:35:14 > 0:35:18have mixed feelings about their reception as English incomers.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20We were in the car and I was six years old.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23You were there and you leant over because you in the front seat,
0:35:23 > 0:35:25and you went, "Oh, guess what, we're moving to Wales!"
0:35:25 > 0:35:27And I started wailing. I was like...
0:35:27 > 0:35:31- HE WAILS - "I don't want to move to Wales." I didn't know where it was, I guess.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34I had my group of friends and it wasn't very nice,
0:35:34 > 0:35:38sort of just being told that we're going to move.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41To me, it felt like we were given a week's notice or something,
0:35:41 > 0:35:43and just said, "Right, we're moving next week."
0:35:43 > 0:35:46- But I think there was more time than that.- Must have been.
0:35:46 > 0:35:48A little bit more thought than just doing that, but...
0:35:48 > 0:35:52So, I got moved into a Welsh school, so I could pick up Welsh.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55I thought the headmaster sounded very strange.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58He'd sort of say..."Nyaw, nyaw,"
0:35:58 > 0:36:00which was, "Iawn, iawn,"
0:36:00 > 0:36:02and thought he was doing aeroplane impressions, but he was,
0:36:02 > 0:36:05you know, he was just speaking Welsh
0:36:05 > 0:36:06and then I'd understand it more and more.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09So, I think that probably helped integrate me a bit more.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12I never picked up Welsh, really.
0:36:13 > 0:36:14I...
0:36:15 > 0:36:18It was a very difficult thing for me to have to do,
0:36:18 > 0:36:22to learn Welsh and to pick up this new language...
0:36:22 > 0:36:24and then, obviously, I was different,
0:36:24 > 0:36:28so, in school, you had...
0:36:28 > 0:36:31your half dozen kids who could speak English and not Welsh,
0:36:31 > 0:36:34maybe learning it all right, but they were English kids
0:36:34 > 0:36:36and that was the group I was with.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40Then everybody else was the Welsh lot, and...
0:36:40 > 0:36:43I don't know, children always find something to...
0:36:43 > 0:36:45- Absolutely, yeah. - ..to pick on, isn't it?
0:36:45 > 0:36:49Yeah, I don't think I ever fitted with those guys, either.
0:36:49 > 0:36:51You still had some sort of, like,
0:36:51 > 0:36:55native Welsh speakers as your friends and stuff.
0:36:55 > 0:36:57Well, I'm marrying someone Welsh now,
0:36:57 > 0:36:59so there must be something all right.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03The family are now well-established in the area,
0:37:03 > 0:37:06employing a number of locals across their businesses,
0:37:06 > 0:37:09but 2012 will be a pivotal year for them.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12- Oh, do you think those are done?- Yes.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14Not only have Steph and Toby just taken on the contract
0:37:14 > 0:37:17to run the local leisure centre cafe...
0:37:17 > 0:37:18The potatoes are for you!
0:37:18 > 0:37:21..they've also agreed to host and do the catering
0:37:21 > 0:37:25for their own son Freddie's forthcoming marriage to a local girl.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28I think we're just going to try chucking everything
0:37:28 > 0:37:30and see how it turns out at the last minute.
0:37:30 > 0:37:31Seems quite fun.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35The Hickishes are a close-knit family unit,
0:37:35 > 0:37:40but in 2012, will too many cooks end up spoiling the broth?
0:37:40 > 0:37:41'We're OK.'
0:37:41 > 0:37:44If the Pimms has taken effect, then we should be all right.
0:37:44 > 0:37:45SHE LAUGHS
0:37:45 > 0:37:47CAR HORN BEEPS
0:37:55 > 0:37:57International migration into Wales
0:37:57 > 0:38:00has increased by over 50% in the last decade.
0:38:00 > 0:38:05160,000 people born outside of the UK are now resident in Wales,
0:38:05 > 0:38:11and the largest proportion, around 28,000 people, live in Cardiff.
0:38:12 > 0:38:1744-year-old Cardiff businessman Jahan Abedi is one of them.
0:38:17 > 0:38:19Jahan lives a life of hard work...
0:38:19 > 0:38:20Very busy!
0:38:20 > 0:38:23..and long, long hours.
0:38:23 > 0:38:28My wife keeps telling me off all of the time. All of the time.
0:38:28 > 0:38:29But, you know, I just can't...
0:38:29 > 0:38:31You know, this is who I am, I can't change.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35But as a multi-millionaire,
0:38:35 > 0:38:38Jahan not only knows how to earn big bucks,
0:38:38 > 0:38:40but also how to give them away.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43Thank you, guys. Lovely.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46'You have to give back to your city.'
0:38:46 > 0:38:48You can't just take.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52Whether it's your time, or your money, or your effort,
0:38:52 > 0:38:54you've got to give something back.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56Otherwise, you go your whole life,
0:38:56 > 0:39:00not making an impact on the people around you.
0:39:01 > 0:39:02It's not a great life to have.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06You know, when you're gone, when you're dead, people say, "So what?"
0:39:08 > 0:39:09CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:39:12 > 0:39:17Jahan is one of 22,000 millionaires who call Wales home.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21It's all far cry from the circumstances
0:39:21 > 0:39:24that first brought the Iranian-born refugee to Wales.
0:39:26 > 0:39:31We came here after the Iranian Revolution.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35My father was a university professor,
0:39:35 > 0:39:37so when the Revolution happened,
0:39:37 > 0:39:39they basically sent us out.
0:39:40 > 0:39:41We came to London.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45So, I was in London since the age of nine,
0:39:45 > 0:39:49and then I came to Cardiff University when I was 17.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55Jahan made his millions in the property market.
0:39:55 > 0:39:56It's like a building site.
0:39:56 > 0:40:02I started getting into property after I graduated.
0:40:02 > 0:40:03I couldn't get a job.
0:40:03 > 0:40:07My trade is engineering.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10And...I applied for loads of jobs.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15It was a recession, pretty much like now,
0:40:15 > 0:40:19and I couldn't get a job, so I ended up going into property.
0:40:19 > 0:40:24I opened up a property management company
0:40:24 > 0:40:28and slowly started building my own houses.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30And now this is what I do.
0:40:32 > 0:40:37Jahan has recently expanded his empire beyond property development,
0:40:37 > 0:40:40moving into owning high-end bars, clubs and restaurants
0:40:40 > 0:40:42in Cardiff's bustling city centre.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47The move was not a considered business strategy.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50It was undertaken on a very personal whim.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53Three years ago, my mother came here for weekend.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55I took her out into Cardiff...
0:40:56 > 0:41:00..and I could not think of a decent place to go.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03It's different when you go out with a group of your friends,
0:41:03 > 0:41:06when you're young, you're male, you don't really...
0:41:06 > 0:41:07It doesn't really hit you.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10But when you go with somebody who you're trying to, basically...
0:41:10 > 0:41:13take her to a nice place,
0:41:13 > 0:41:15for the first time ever, it suddenly hit home
0:41:15 > 0:41:19that there is not many nice places in Cardiff.
0:41:19 > 0:41:20CROWD SHOUT AND LAUGH
0:41:21 > 0:41:24And so Jahan's been on a five-year crusade
0:41:24 > 0:41:29to make Cardiff city centre a more exclusive, chic destination,
0:41:29 > 0:41:30worthy of mums.
0:41:32 > 0:41:34You know what, there is a saying. They say,
0:41:34 > 0:41:38"You always get what you pay for." And it's absolutely true.
0:41:39 > 0:41:43Nothing we have is really very expensive,
0:41:43 > 0:41:45but it's not also very cheap.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48And I think for our clientele,
0:41:48 > 0:41:52it's not so much whether this glass of water is, I don't know,
0:41:52 > 0:41:5750 pence cheaper somewhere, it's more who you're surrounded by.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01We'll see you on the dance floor later on!
0:42:01 > 0:42:05- Water?!- I am on water. I'm working tonight. I'm working.
0:42:05 > 0:42:07'People are relaxed and having fun.
0:42:07 > 0:42:12'They come here, they spend time with their friends,'
0:42:12 > 0:42:15and, hopefully, some of them can meet a nice person.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20I actually met my wife in Mocha.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23I got introduced to her there.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28Her...best friend is my neighbour.
0:42:30 > 0:42:3212 months after marrying his wife,
0:42:32 > 0:42:36Jahan begins 2012 with the dawning realisation
0:42:36 > 0:42:41that perhaps there's more to life than hard work and hard cash.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44We did a Muslim ceremony last year.
0:42:44 > 0:42:46I love her.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49She's the best thing in my life.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53It was important, I think, for me, to find the right person.
0:42:53 > 0:42:58My dad died last year, and before he died,
0:42:58 > 0:43:01he kept telling me he wanted to see me married
0:43:01 > 0:43:06with a lovely wife and a baby, so, thank God, it happened.
0:43:06 > 0:43:11Because, when he passed away, my wife was pregnant,
0:43:11 > 0:43:13we knew it was going to be a son,
0:43:13 > 0:43:16and he is actually named after my father,
0:43:16 > 0:43:18so it's all worked out very well.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23'You know, people told me, before it happens,
0:43:23 > 0:43:26'but it doesn't hit you until you have it.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29'You don't know what the feeling is like,
0:43:29 > 0:43:31'and how a little smile makes you happy
0:43:31 > 0:43:34'and how, when you come home tired...'
0:43:34 > 0:43:36You know, it's...
0:43:36 > 0:43:39I'd like to have more. I'm hoping to have more.
0:43:39 > 0:43:40I AM going to have more.
0:43:40 > 0:43:42HE LAUGHS
0:43:42 > 0:43:45HE GROWLS AND BABBLES
0:43:46 > 0:43:47For Jahan,
0:43:47 > 0:43:522012 is going to be all about reassessing his priorities.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56Last night I came home, I saw him for one hour,
0:43:56 > 0:43:58and then I had to go out again.
0:43:58 > 0:44:02It's difficult for my wife. It's very, very difficult.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04It's a very busy time for me now.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07And it's my own fault.
0:44:07 > 0:44:11I shouldn't have picked so many projects to do.
0:44:11 > 0:44:15You know, sometimes people lose sight of what is important.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17So, I'm trying to stop it for next year.
0:44:33 > 0:44:36The amount of food we import into Wales
0:44:36 > 0:44:39is at its highest for 40 years.
0:44:39 > 0:44:44In 2012, only 58% of our diet was grown, reared or caught here.
0:44:49 > 0:44:53On the west coast of Pembrokeshire, Welsh trawler, The Stephanie,
0:44:53 > 0:44:57is leaving Milford Haven docks and setting sail for the Irish Sea.
0:44:57 > 0:45:01Milford Haven Port Control, Milford Haven Port Control - fishing vessel Stephanie.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04- 'Stephanie, Port Control, morning.' - Hi, good morning, ma'am.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06Just leaving Milford Docks,
0:45:06 > 0:45:09am I all clear to enter the haven and proceed out to sea, please?
0:45:11 > 0:45:15'Stephanie, Port Control, all clear to exit the docks.'
0:45:15 > 0:45:18Ah, that's all copied, I'll report in the usual places.
0:45:19 > 0:45:24The Stephanie is one of only two Welsh-owned deep-sea trawlers left in Wales.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27Both her and her sister ship, the Mercurius,
0:45:27 > 0:45:31are operated by Wales' last trawlerman Shaun Ryan.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34Them thicker ones do break if you drop them too much, yeah?
0:45:37 > 0:45:41You've got to go when the weather's good. You can't afford to miss a day.
0:45:41 > 0:45:43If you miss a day you don't get any back.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47It's not like a nine-to-five job, when you go out to sea you're working shifts then.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51You get two or three hours off through the day and that's basically you.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57There's none of this go to bed for seven, eight hours at a time,
0:45:57 > 0:45:59three hours is the most you'll get.
0:46:02 > 0:46:06Less than 60 years ago, Milford Haven was a bustling fishing port
0:46:06 > 0:46:10with 150 deep-sea trawlers operating from its docks.
0:46:10 > 0:46:15Since then, rising costs, declining fish stocks and EU quotas
0:46:15 > 0:46:20have ripped the heart out of the Welsh deep-sea fishing industry.
0:46:20 > 0:46:22A few places are going absolutely ridiculous.
0:46:22 > 0:46:24It's the highest we've...
0:46:24 > 0:46:27I've ever seen... You know, since I've been fishing.
0:46:27 > 0:46:29They've jumped up...
0:46:29 > 0:46:33In the past fortnight they've jumped up another four pence a litre.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35It's going crazy.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38You're coming to a point where it's not worth sending the ships out.
0:46:40 > 0:46:44It's currently costing Shaun an incredible £1,000 a day
0:46:44 > 0:46:46just to run each boat.
0:46:46 > 0:46:47Line her up...
0:46:47 > 0:46:49Bring her on...
0:46:50 > 0:46:52And then let 'em go.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59The captain of the Stephanie, Barry Travis, has seen many changes
0:46:59 > 0:47:01during his 20 years at sea.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03You're never guaranteed a wage.
0:47:03 > 0:47:08If you don't catch anything then you don't get paid anything.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12At one time you could come out here and you'd never do it every trip,
0:47:12 > 0:47:16you wouldn't make a fortune, but there was always that chance of one trip you would do.
0:47:16 > 0:47:18So you came out and you took your chance,
0:47:18 > 0:47:21but now you never see them big trips any more.
0:47:21 > 0:47:23You're catching enough to pay for your fuel
0:47:23 > 0:47:26but you're not earning money for yourself or your crew.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31There's cod restriction everywhere at the moment.
0:47:31 > 0:47:34We have very little cod quota.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38It's a funny one, really, because the rules are being made up
0:47:38 > 0:47:41by people who don't understand the job.
0:47:42 > 0:47:47It's almost as if they don't want a fishing industry in Great Britain any more.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53What we're actually trying to get is two or three baskets of monkfish
0:47:53 > 0:47:56and a couple of baskets of other stuff
0:47:56 > 0:48:00like your lemons, your megrims, Dover soles.
0:48:00 > 0:48:05Like cod of that size, we'll save fish like that.
0:48:05 > 0:48:10But anything smaller than that will have to go back over the side.
0:48:10 > 0:48:11See, that's a codling.
0:48:13 > 0:48:16Well in size, size enough to keep but too small.
0:48:19 > 0:48:24It is a shame and with the likes of cod they have a swim bladder and when
0:48:24 > 0:48:26they come up out of the depths, they're dead.
0:48:26 > 0:48:30No good, back over the side. It's just money wasted, really.
0:48:30 > 0:48:35It is silly, but...that's the law, that's the rule.
0:48:38 > 0:48:43Seems a shame when you're having to dump stuff that is worth money and everybody likes.
0:48:45 > 0:48:49And it's not just wasteful quotas that are crippling the industry.
0:48:49 > 0:48:54Factory ships from Belgium and Spain have been buying up Welsh fishing licences,
0:48:54 > 0:49:00flying THEIR flag out of Milford and squeezing out Shaun and his crews.
0:49:00 > 0:49:03You've got the Belgian fleet that's here working now.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06All the fish on the Belgians' go straight in the wagons.
0:49:06 > 0:49:10They'll go straight back to Belgium. It doesn't even touch the quay.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14It goes straight on the stage in the lorry and that's it gone.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17That's just normal.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20It's just been going on for that many years, you'll never stop it.
0:49:22 > 0:49:27The Welsh fishing industry has always been a tough, dirty and dangerous job.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30Electric ray - give you about 220 volts.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35And it's now facing oblivion.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38It's just pointless, you might as well go and sign the dole
0:49:38 > 0:49:41and get some money back off the government what you've put into 'em.
0:49:41 > 0:49:45It sounds a bit crazy, none of us want to do that sort of thing,
0:49:45 > 0:49:50but then you've got to draw the line of when and where.
0:49:55 > 0:50:00Less than 50 years ago, over 700 men worked on Welsh deep-sea trawlers.
0:50:00 > 0:50:04Today, Shaun employs just eight.
0:50:04 > 0:50:06Will 2012 be the year
0:50:06 > 0:50:10that the Welsh trawler industry is finally scuttled?
0:50:16 > 0:50:21The average gross weekly earnings for an adult employed full-time in Wales is just over...
0:50:24 > 0:50:26Four out of five self-employed people
0:50:26 > 0:50:29take home less than the average wage
0:50:29 > 0:50:34and as the recession bites, the challenges get tougher.
0:50:36 > 0:50:41In Swansea Market, the majority of the 100 plus stallholders
0:50:41 > 0:50:43are self-employed.
0:50:44 > 0:50:48Amongst them is 59-year-old Lynda Colley.
0:50:48 > 0:50:5128, and a Happy New Year to you. Thank you very much.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54Lynda is the fourth generation of her family's women
0:50:54 > 0:50:58to run the Abrahams & Family store.
0:50:58 > 0:51:00Take care. Bye-bye.
0:51:01 > 0:51:05When my great-grandmother Florence James started the business,
0:51:05 > 0:51:08she was left a widow with five children
0:51:08 > 0:51:12and decided that she needed to feed them.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15She came down on a Friday, she'd killed some chickens,
0:51:15 > 0:51:18made some cakes, had some parsley from the garden
0:51:18 > 0:51:22and all she sold on the Friday was one bunch of parsley.
0:51:22 > 0:51:24But she was a determined lady,
0:51:24 > 0:51:27she came back the next day, and she sold out
0:51:27 > 0:51:30and this is how the business was born.
0:51:31 > 0:51:34And luckily for me, it worked.
0:51:34 > 0:51:35Although when I was younger,
0:51:35 > 0:51:37I used to wish that she'd started a hat stall
0:51:37 > 0:51:41because it takes us two hours to put the stall out
0:51:41 > 0:51:44and it takes us two to three hours to put it away!
0:51:44 > 0:51:47And you see some people just pull shutters up and down
0:51:47 > 0:51:49and I used to think, "Why can't we do that?!"
0:51:49 > 0:51:54But I'm glad she didn't, I'm glad it was this kind of business we've gone into, you know.
0:51:54 > 0:51:58Lynda has three grown-up children.
0:51:58 > 0:51:59Laura who is 26,
0:51:59 > 0:52:03Martin, 33 and Stuart who is 31.
0:52:03 > 0:52:07If you don't like it, cook it and bring it back so I can eat it!
0:52:07 > 0:52:11In a radical break with tradition, Laura is a schoolteacher
0:52:11 > 0:52:14and won't be taking on the family business.
0:52:14 > 0:52:18But Martin and Stuart are both on hand to help out their mum.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21Stuart also runs a T-shirt stall on the market.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24It's stressful but he loves it.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27I'm going absolutely flat out, I promise I am.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31I should be done by about half past three at the latest.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34To be honest that's what's great about this place,
0:52:34 > 0:52:36you really don't know what each day is going to be like.
0:52:36 > 0:52:39You don't know what challenges are going to come up,
0:52:39 > 0:52:42but I call that fun. If you can't overcome it,
0:52:42 > 0:52:45you shouldn't be in here in the first place, like.
0:52:45 > 0:52:49Lynda's also incredibly proud of the market
0:52:49 > 0:52:51and what she believes it has to offer.
0:52:51 > 0:52:56As you can see in the market, we've got a tremendous amount of diversity in here.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58You could do all your shopping in here if you want to.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01You can buy clothes, you can buy cards, you can buy food,
0:53:01 > 0:53:04you can buy shoes, there's jewellery...
0:53:04 > 0:53:07Anything that you could possibly buy anywhere in the high street
0:53:07 > 0:53:09you could get in here.
0:53:09 > 0:53:11Morning!
0:53:11 > 0:53:13But like most of the other stallholders,
0:53:13 > 0:53:17Lynda's aware that the market faces challenging times.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20The independent traders are so, so important, you know?
0:53:20 > 0:53:21They are the life and soul.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24They are the blood in the veins of any city, really.
0:53:24 > 0:53:28But I think Swansea has so many... 11 or 12 Tescos around us
0:53:28 > 0:53:31and three or four out-of-town retail parks
0:53:31 > 0:53:33and they will kill the city.
0:53:33 > 0:53:38The importance of retaining some credible building
0:53:38 > 0:53:41and the aura of shopping
0:53:41 > 0:53:43that you feel when you come here... It's a meeting place,
0:53:43 > 0:53:46it's part of the people of Swansea's life.
0:53:46 > 0:53:50We are generations serving generations.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53- Hello, sir.- Good morning. Can I have two slices of that?
0:53:53 > 0:53:55Turkey? Yes, of course you can.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59It's the people in here that give the atmosphere to the market.
0:53:59 > 0:54:04If we weren't, dare I say nice people working in the market,
0:54:04 > 0:54:06we wouldn't have any customers.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09I think there are so many people in here that are so nice
0:54:09 > 0:54:14that people just come back time and time again for that reason.
0:54:14 > 0:54:17Happy New Year to you and your husband. OK, you take care. Bye-bye.
0:54:17 > 0:54:21But nice doesn't put money in the tills and the stark truth is
0:54:21 > 0:54:24that the numbers using the market have slumped.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28In 2012, many of the stallholders - Stuart included -
0:54:28 > 0:54:30will face some very tough decisions.
0:54:30 > 0:54:34It's been touch and go over the last sort of two to three months
0:54:34 > 0:54:36whether or not it's going to be easier for me
0:54:36 > 0:54:39to pack up and go and do something else.
0:54:39 > 0:54:41We certainly can't live like that.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44The way things are in here at the moment,
0:54:44 > 0:54:47things are getting more expensive but the takings are getting less,
0:54:47 > 0:54:50so just have to play it by ear at the moment.
0:55:00 > 0:55:02We have now met all eight families
0:55:02 > 0:55:05who will be taking part in this series.
0:55:05 > 0:55:10They are a wide and varied group - young and old...
0:55:10 > 0:55:12Rich and poor.
0:55:12 > 0:55:16Their hopes and expectations for the year ahead are equally different,
0:55:16 > 0:55:19but as we follow them throughout 2012,
0:55:19 > 0:55:22through all of their triumphs and their heartaches,
0:55:22 > 0:55:28we will discover that there is far more that unites them and us as a nation
0:55:28 > 0:55:30than drives us apart.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32It's a big story!
0:55:37 > 0:55:40But before we begin that journey of discovery,
0:55:40 > 0:55:43let's return to the start.
0:55:43 > 0:55:46To Newport, Gwent, and the promise of new life.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53There's a new addition to the Christensen/Lonergan family.
0:55:53 > 0:55:57Was she born at 11? Six minutes past eleven, wasn't she?
0:55:57 > 0:55:59Six pounds and two ounces.
0:55:59 > 0:56:01Yeah, six pounds, two ounces.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04- Was it...?- Yeah, she was ten.
0:56:04 > 0:56:08- Ten out of ten. - She's doing really, really well.
0:56:08 > 0:56:12She had 60 mils of her bottle and she's only supposed to have 30! She was greedy, yeah.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15She was guzzling it. She is happy, though.
0:56:15 > 0:56:19First-time dad Sean's all smiles now,
0:56:19 > 0:56:21but he wasn't half an hour ago.
0:56:21 > 0:56:23It was terrible.
0:56:23 > 0:56:26I had my fingers crossed on the Saturday.
0:56:27 > 0:56:33- Oh, bless you!- But now dad's grinning from ear to ear.
0:56:33 > 0:56:38I feel great. Amazing. Not a feeling like it. Love it.
0:56:38 > 0:56:42I can't stop looking at her, can't believe it, like.
0:56:42 > 0:56:45Mum Charlene's equally relieved.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48Not only is the baby healthy, she's also a girl.
0:56:48 > 0:56:52As soon as they got 'em, and took her into the other room,
0:56:52 > 0:56:54she was like, "Do you want me to go and check, quickly?"
0:56:54 > 0:56:58I was like, "Yeah, quick. Go and have a look."
0:56:58 > 0:57:01- Oh, I would have died if they had said a boy.- Yeah.
0:57:01 > 0:57:03Yeah. A big yard sale!
0:57:03 > 0:57:07We've spent loads, haven't we, on stuff for a girl from the beginning?
0:57:07 > 0:57:09I would have died.
0:57:09 > 0:57:12And the name of their beautiful baby girl?
0:57:12 > 0:57:15Chealey, Chealey Jay Lonergan.
0:57:19 > 0:57:20I made you.
0:57:24 > 0:57:25Yeah, I done that.
0:57:30 > 0:57:31Ain't you?
0:57:34 > 0:57:38In the next Wales In A Year...
0:57:38 > 0:57:41Is Ty Cerrig Farm about to go up in smoke?
0:57:41 > 0:57:43If it goes out of control
0:57:43 > 0:57:47we could have fires like you do in Australia and America.
0:57:47 > 0:57:48Oggy, oggy, oggy!
0:57:48 > 0:57:50Oi! Oi! Oi!
0:57:50 > 0:57:53In Cardiff, Jahan's Six Nations celebrations
0:57:53 > 0:57:55take an unexpected twist.
0:57:55 > 0:57:57And in Merthyr...
0:57:57 > 0:58:00If I only could have my time over again!
0:58:00 > 0:58:04..Valentine's Day stirs happy memories for Gertie.
0:58:15 > 0:58:18Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd