07/01/2013 Inside Out East Midlands

Hello. Inside Out East Midlands is at Ilkeston in Derbyshire where

later we'll be investigating mobility scooter safety. Coming up

in the next half hour: From Leicester to Malawi - how the

medicines we don't want are saving lives. It's heartbreaking. I have

found myself in tears many times in Africa.

We meet the people who've had close calls with dangerous drivers on the

pavement. Even when you're on the ground, the scooter was still

bumping into you. Where can you be safe if not on a pavement?

And why the East Midlands is at the heart of a British wrestling

comeback. Each year �300 million worth of

medicines prescribed to us but not used, are either destroyed or

dumped. There is nothing wrong with them, they're not even out of date.

But as soon as you walk out of the pharmacy the rules say they can't

be used by anyone else. For over 30 years now, a charity in Leicester,

started by a couple of GPs shocked at the waste, have been doing

something about it. Tony Roe travelled with InterCare to Malawi

to find out how the drugs we don't want are reaching those who need

This is how we get around. It's not an ambulance we'd recognise at home.

We're bouncing around in the back of a pick-up truck in the hours

between medical centres. Roads are rough tracks, unfinished, or empty

highways. Only the very wealthy can drive. People walk or cycle for

miles to get the medicines we take for granted. It's the basic

medicines that we are dealing with. And if we can keep sending them the

basic medicines, we can make a That includes painkillers we pay

pennies for. Pills which would cost a day's pay for most in Malawi,

Our lives in a way are about novelty and stimulation but here

it's about survival. We shouldn't forget we're in one of the poorest

countries in the world. So any medicines they can get are not

going to be wasted in Malawi. you very much. Thank you. That's

great. All right then, bye. Bye. John Graham is a volunteer

collecting returned, unused drugs from doctors' surgeries in

Loughborough. Over 1,000 surgeries now help InterCare. It's a very

slick operation. The medicines that go out are clearly needed in each

clinic. They use them, they know Darkness comes rapidly in Africa.

Our first medical centre is Nzama. It's in the south of the country

near the Mozambique border. We've of given up on this one and we'll

do tomorrow morning because they haven't got any electricity.

There's a power cut. There's a power cut most days. When you get

more patients in November? It is the rainy season. More malaria.

We use the camera light to look around. It's a bit different to a

labour ward in the UK! We find three women about to give birth.

Two have walked from Mozambique. The coats are made by the Cosby

Quilters. And the teddy bears are donated by a Lutterworth Rotary

Club. And these ladies will give birth in the next day or two?

They have started already, A warehouse near Leicester is the

hub for InterCare. Crammed with rescued drug supplies, staffed with

volunteers including pharmacists and doctors. A charity which exists

because a couple of Leicester GPs back in the '70s realised how

stupid it is to throw useable drugs away. It is a crying shame because

the need is as great as ever in Africa and in the Third World

generally. Here we are in England looking at this subject very

closely to see whether we can be of InterCare sends drugs direct to

clinics in six of Africas poorest countries.

So this is Malawi-bound? Yes. Direct means posted to an

Some walk 45 kilometeres to be treated at this clinic, Alan and

Carol have stuffed their cases with teddies and quilts for babies born

here. Small luxuries at a place with great need.

The purpose of the visit is to assess if the right drugs are being

sent. What would it be like if you did

not get assistance? It would be a disaster. Because if you visited

the hospital, you would see the people coming. So if you don't have

those medicines then people will They use the kangaroo method with a

mother keeps it close to them because they have not got

incubators. The quilts and teddies for the

newborns go quickly. Not everyone can get one. Is that symbolical the

whole thing? Yes, but it does not necessarily make it easier. When

you have handed it out, there are We head north to Malawi's second

city, Blantyre. Nearby is St Joseph's at Limbe. It's a big

hospital. They don't have enough Do you do prescriptions for

outpatients? Yes, we have a dispensary. This mother is low on

energy and sucking on nut solution. Her baby is tiny - perhaps too tiny,

It is heartbreaking, I have cried many times in Africa. Situations

like that little baby. Yes, they bring me to tears on a regular

basis. How can I do it? Even in less rural areas, poor

nutrition malaria and AIDS all contribute to a high mortality rate

among children. The need is apparent everywhere because one is

a lot bigger and offers a wider range of services but that does not

mean that there are both catering to very real needs.

Another day bouncing down the road How are you? Fine, and you? Here

there is a small medical centre awaiting a rush of patients when

the rainy season starts and malaria Do you get any medicine or drugs?

No. There's a community here, a Back in Leicestershire, a volunteer

for InterCare is applauding themselves. This is the highest

award given to volunteer groups across the UK.

Their work has been recognised with the Queen's Award for Volunteering.

It's wonderful we can help people with so much need out there and who

have no opportunity for getting It's a powerful welcome from the

orphans at Malanje. There are over 800,000 orphans in Malawi, many a

consequence of AIDs. At this place there is no government help for the

sick. They have saved our lives, InterCare soap, InterCare, he must

Alan and Carol spent two weeks on the road visiting hospitals and

medical centres InterCare supply They were able to see what was

needed. And in some places, what wasn't. The important thing is to

get the drugs used. This is very important. This is very important.

We need it. InterCare is sending more medicine's than ever before.

We have spent �10 million worth. Most of the charity's costs are

postage. The certain way of making sure that essential supplies arrive.

Yet InterCare only use a fraction of the medicine's that we as a

nation Burn in incinerators or Berry in landfill while others

remain without. The need is very dramatic and we

can do all we can but we can do so much more if we get some more money

to fund us. The award-winning and life saving

work of Leicester charity, InterCare. Now mobility scooters

give freedom to disabled people who might otherwise be stuck at home.

But as more people are using them, accidents are on the rise. Now

campaigners are calling for compulsory training to help prevent

It's the boy racers who get the bad press and face sky high insurance

costs. But there's a smaller machine on the roads which is

causing chaos in some parts of the Many have no insurance and the

drivers are completely untrained. It is the rise of the mobility

This mobility scooter owned by Wayne Rogers from Leicestershire

wouldn't be legal if he took it on the road, but could this be the

future of travel as sales of mobility scooters soar? We see

these every day, they do around four mph. Myself and some friends

thought it would be a good birdie at to see if we could get as much

out of date as possible. I am absolutely convinced this is

Let's be serious - it's unlikely we'll see scooters on our streets

reaching this speed. But for many, mobility scooters have become

essential. They can only reach a top speed of 8mph, but dangerous

driving by some riders has caused I do need a licence or training or

even insurance. I don't need a licence. Maybe that is why sales

are booming and more than 500 million on our pavements around our

country. I have come to Ilkeston with somebody who had a close call

and lived to tell the tale - just. Joyce Steeples was run down by a

mobility scooter and its driver while out shopping. It's taken her

months to recover. First she was in hospital and then she was

housebound. Now she's finally So you were out shopping minding

your own business? Yes, I was on a very wide pavement. What exactly

happened? The traffic was busy so why did not hear this lady saying

"excuse me, I need to pass" and she ran into my back. She knocked me

down. And so I couldn't get up, I was just days to. And I think the

police car that was passing, they phone for the ambulance.

competent the person is on the scooter is a big question because

even when you're on the ground, the scooter was still bumping into you.

Where can you be safe if it is not So what's changed? Why's this

become such a problem? Well, it could be down to the sheer number

of scooters out there. It's said there's one for almost every 20

people in Britain, but we can't be sure. For many they've become a

lifeline, and while most people ride them responsibly, some don't.

It's likely more and more scooters will mean more scooter related

accidents here in the East Midlands. Caren Jephson had a scooter scare

when her son was run over by one in Derby city centre.

Our City in the back office are at work, under a herd of date of

Offiah and commercially, my staff say he has been hit. My thought it

was a car. Every parent's worst nightmare.

Before Christmas, Isaac was knocked down outside the shop where his mum

works. Caren's shock turned to surprise when she discovered it was

indeed a mobility scooter which had run Isaac over, and not a car.

I was quite relieved, I thought thank Christ it was not a car. But

when I thought -- .net injuries, there was not much difference from

a car. Isaac was battered, bruised and

badly shaken. He says he didn't see the scooter coming. It came across

the road out of nowhere, so I went this side of the window and it went

over my foot and bashed into the window.

The driver did apologise, it was an accident. But as Caren found out,

collisions with pedestrians aren't uncommon. When I was taking Isaac

to the doctors, and when I went to the police, I was shocked by every

person I spoke to that new somebody that had been injured by a mobility

scooter. How many people had been hit by them, and nothing is being

done. So are pedestrians safe? Some

critics point to the many "grey areas" with mobility scooters.

If it's possible for anyone to hop on and ride one without any lesson

or safety checks, isn't it time to change the law? We must be careful

that we do not introduce laws which prevent people from using the

abilities gritters, because then they end up housebound. We think it

is more about providing education and training. There is no overall

responsibility for training, so at the moment some of the

organisations selling the scooters provide it, and occasionally a

police force, but generally it is that retailers, so there is a

variety on the training and what sort of training it is.

One such responsible retailer is KMA Mobility, a Derbyshire company

which has sold hundreds of mobility scooters over the years. They think

driver training isn't enough - there should be some bigger changes

to improve scooter safety. Here they are in all shapes and sizes!

These are a real lifeline, aren't they? Yes, a lot of people would be

stuck indoors if they do not have them. So they come in different

sizes and different powers, this one looks are par for one. This is

eight miles an hour. You are able to use that on the road. A but all

of these can be used on the pavement? There is Baswich to move

it took four miles an hour on the pavement., -- there is a switch.

drive one of these, I do not need a licence, training or insurance? Is

that might? Bay should all be a legal requirement, there should be

a meat -- legal regulation. Should there be some changes to the law?

Yes, I believe there should be some regulation from our level we should

be regulated on how we sell a scooter, and it should be chased up

on by somebody like Trading Standards.

It's not just pedestrians at risk. Scooter drivers are in danger too.

Just weeks ago an elderly lady from Derby was killed after her mobility

scooter collided with a lorry. Last year, on average, there were two

accidents a week across the country. These pictures, taken after another

accident, highlight the damage that can be done. But some riders have

no choice but use the road, and that's created its own challenges.

It is a lifeline, a would not be able to go out of my flat without

Scott Moy would be lost without his scooter. He's had one for eight

years, and he's never had an accident - but if he wants to go

above 4 mph, and many scooters go twice as fast, the Highway Code

says he must take it on the road, and it needs to be registered with

the DVLA. I will use a bus lane or cycle path, but at eight miles an

hour, you have to go on the road. So you have people honking their

due, get off the road! Where do you stand? What do you do?

A special test like the one for driving a car or riding a motorbike

may reduce the risks of riding a scooter on the road. The Department

for Transport says it's exploring the idea, and that would certainly

please Caren Jephson. She's started a petition calling for improved

scooter safety. She wants to make sure any irresponsible drivers face

the consequences. Or I think there should be some sort of Locke put

into place, like a proficiency test, and also be able to identify the

mobility scoters, because I have had loads of e-mails were people

have been hit but they cannot identify the person. And I think we

should be more vigilant on the pavements, the streets and shopping

centres. Finally tonight, remember Big Daddy,

Giant Haystacks and Kendo Nagasaki? Those larger than life characters

who brought wrestling into our living rooms back in the '60s, '70s

and '80s? Now, a brand-new breed of professional wrestlers is

attracting a big following from all ages, and they're hoping to revive

the glory days when men wearing It's 1988 - the last big fight

night at the De Montfort Hall in Leicester. Audiences are dwindling,

and television is about to pull the plug on professional British

The sport all but died and American wrestling - more athletic,

glamorous and violent - took over. But after a gap of almost a quarter

of a century, British professional wrestlers are back in British rings.

A lot has been done in 20 years, so Risley is no different. We have

just got to move with the times. -- wrestling. It could definitely come

back and be bigger than it is. Wrestling is the perfect think for

the family. Kids are excited, and the adults have bigger smiles on

their faces than the kids! Venues like Leicester are regularly

sold out. John Shipley is the promoter here - he doubles up as a

wrestler, the bad boy Hired Gun John Dunn. Wrestling is making a

comeback, because we are putting good family entertainment into it.

It appeals to all generations. At this show we have children from

four years old up to people of 70 and older.

On John Shipley's bill tonight is Xander, one of only 20 or so

professional wrestlers in this country.

I don't need music! He's been studying for a degree in

advertising. But his mind is rarely on books and essays. He gets his

kicks in the wrestling ring. Since a very young age, wrestling

has been my passion. Ever since I saw it when I was 12 years old, it

is all I have ever wanted to do. The reason why I went into studying

advertising, was because I wanted a back-up plan in case wrestling fell

through, like if I ever got injured badly or wrestling did not take off

for me. Stixx from Nottingham is the second

professional on the bill. Most of his opponents have day jobs - he

doesn't. MUSIC: "We Will Rock You" by Queen.

I normally play the bad guy. And it is a lot of fun to almost

manipulate the audience, to make them act like you want them to act.

If you want them to boo you, you can get them to boo you. If you

want them to cheer the other guy, they will. It is a strange sense of

accomplishment, controlling that Stixx knows the outcome before he

enters the ring. He usually wins. Kayfabe is the art of portraying

something as real when it's not. Everyone knows the fights are

choreographed - but it's not important for the enjoyment of the

I used to work in an office, and I would come in and say did anyone

see the resting last night? Bay would say, it is not real. Then

somebody would say it who saw EastEnders last night, like it was

a real thing. What is the difference? We call it escapist

entertainment. People do not worry whether it is fate of real, people

just come to have fun. -- fake or real.

A month later, the biggest show is at the Bonus Arena in Hull. The

guest of honour is the old King of Mystery and Mayhem, Kendo Nagasaki,

now 66 years old. Kendo is a Samurai warrior and mystic who was

born in Stoke on Trent. He has never uttered a word in public, yet

he was perhaps the most famous wrestler of the golden era.

When I was young, I remember my father and yelling and screaming at

the television set watching Kendo Nagasaki vessel. -- wrestling.

is the master of mystery and mayhem! Ben I've finally went to a

wrestling match in at Wolverhampton, and I could not believe what it was

like. As soon as he appeared, the audience exploded, and I thought

the building was going to come down. Outside is Kendo's stretch limo.

Present-day wrestlers have a long way to go before they acquire the

wealth of the old stars. The Hull show, featuring Xander and

Stixx, may be a template of the future of British wrestling -

keeping the old British sense of fun, but adding glamour and glitz,

Today Alpha Female is one of the big draws. It's a contest between

Beauty, known in the sport as Beauty takes a battering - but

Basie me and they feel sorry for my opponent, so they automatically boo

me. As I am from Germany, everybody hates Germany, but the people have

to be happy after the match, so they'd love the Babyface more.

For modern professional wrestlers, life is hard. Nathan Cruz is on the

bill, and astonishingly this is his fourth fight of the weekend.

couple of our guys next week will be working 12 bookings per week, so

wrestling 12 times in one week. We that the bookings, they cannot live

the life of a professional wrestler. Even when they're not fighting, the

wrestlers' bodies are constantly getting a hammering. The next day

Stixx and Xander are back in the gym, coaching aspiring young

We trained very hard to do what we do, and we practised relentlessly

to make sure we can do it spot on it each time. So there is that

athletic nature to wrestling that is essential, but it is also a but

looking the part as well. Dive straight over. 1, 2, very nice.

even if it goes right, it is still painful. There is no such thing as

fake gravity. If you throw a 250lb man and they land the wrong way, it

is going to hurt! With audiences on the rise, the

next aims are to attract bigger sponsorship deals and get British

professional wrestling back on television. For new professionals

like Xander and Stixx, the dream is to become as big as the titans of

British wrestling making a comeback here in the East Midlands. That's

it from Ilkeston for this week, thanks for watching. Goodbye.

Next week - what's it like living on the street of shame?