22/10/2012 Inside Out North West

This week we are in Ulverston. We will be discovering the role this

time played in the foundation of a religious movement 400 years ago.

Tonight, with tattoos becoming more popular, we investigate the dangers

of cheap, unlicensed tattooists. They could have any ingredients,

from Wed to sulphur. After disabled factories are closed down, we fall

of three former workers as they attempt to find new jobs. This is

going to get harder and harder, especially with the climate as it

is. Able-bodied people are struggling. And we discover the

amazing legacy of the Quaker movement, founded in Cumbria.

Dean was a Quaker, Barclays Bank The last two years has seen a

worrying increase in the cases of people getting a licence tattoos --

unlicensed. We have been investigating the health risk posed

by this. I'm at the Museum of Tattoos in Southport, home to over

5000 exhibits of tattoos. In Victorian times, tattoos were seen

as a curiosity, the preserve of the strange and a mark of someone

Today, tattoos are mainstream, seen here at the Tattoo Exhibition in

Manchester. Popularised by celebrities like David Beckham and

Angelina Joile, around one-fifth of people in the UK are thought to now

sport a tattoo. Even the Prime Minister's wife has a dolphin on

her ankle! And the rise in demand for body art has led to some people

getting tattoos from unlicensed tattooists, known as "scratchers",

using cheap kits bought from the internet. We've been investigating

how they've been causing pain, spreading the risk of disease and

causing permanent damage to people across the region. I've always

wanted a tattoo but it was a case of I'm not old enough yet, but I'm

a teenager and I'm going to do it no matter what. In the UK, the

legal age for getting a tattoo is 18, but many of Charlotte Makin's

tattoos were done by scratchers when she was only 17. She told me

just how easy that was. If you know people or even if you want to try

it for yourself, go on eBay, if you've got �30 you can get yourself

a tattoo kit. You can get your tattoo machine, your ink and do it

to yourself. It's worrying how easy it is. You have a mixture of

tattoos, what problems have you had? They proper hurt when they're

doing it, and you know that they're going in too deep. You get really

bad scarring and even now, three years on, I've got ones that still

hurt and the ink just bleeds out and doesn't look like what you got

done. It's scarily easy. I was sat in his bedroom on his bed, sticker

on, he does it, done, bit of Vaseline and that's pretty much it.

It's nothing like when you go to a tattoo studio at all. Did you worry

about infections? I thought about it but because I saw him open the

needle I thought it was all clean. That's the last thing on your mind.

It's just, "I'm getting a tattoo and it's going to be awesome." You

can get terrible things from tattoos. One of the people on the

frontline trying to combat scratchers is Helen Williams, an

environmental health officer in St Helens. She tells me why it's

imperative that if you are going to get a tattoo you use a registered

parlour. A studio complies with bylaws, it also has standards for

cleaning. It understands that wash- hand basins are required. All the

floors, walls, ceilings, everything can be cleaned, but if you're going

in someone's bedroom, there could be smoking or carpets. Anything

that can't be cleaned. How big a problem is this? They're a big

problem in St Helens. They don't have the same standards of

tattooists. We're getting more and more reports of them operating from

registered premises. It seems to be because of cheaper kits they can

buy from auction sites, they're easier to get hold of now but

they're undercutting our registered studios and the health and hygiene

standards aren't at the same standard. We looked online to see

how easy it would be to buy tattooing equipment and it turns

out it's simple. It arrived, no questions asked. We showed our

legally-purchased kit to Sween, a registered tattoo artist to find

out just how safe it is. It does look quite professional, really.

Everything you would need to do a tattoo of sorts is there. These

needles, they could have anything in them, they could have lead

solder being used, which is harmful to the body. These inks don't have

any EC regulation on them so basically they could have any

ingredients in there, from lead to arsenic, sulphur. You name it. In

the ingredients listing it has "stuff". Stuff?! So it doesn't

specifically say what that stuff is, it just says "Stuff, Japan".

wouldn't put them anywhere near my body to be honest. The machines

look the part but they haven't been built by a tattoo artist or anyone

who knows how to create a tattoo, so these could be hard-hitting or

create damage to the skin instead of puncturing the skin. What I can

say is it takes many years of practice and mentorship to be able

to create a tattoo where you're not actually putting people at harm.

Charlotte has arrived at Sween's studio to get one of her home-made

tattoos reworked by the professionals. I'm trying to smooth

out where it was a bit jagged and just basically trying to make the

best of a bad job. Are you seeing a lot of this kind of tattoo work

where you're seeing people whose mates have done it? Yeah, more than

I'd like, to be honest. I do a lot of reworks and cover ups. In severe

cases, you can contract hepatitis, which is the most severe, or HIV,

it's blood-borne diseases, we are essentially messing around with a

hazardous material, really, blood - and if you don't know how to

control that, you are opening people up to diseases and

infections. Do you think the regulations are strict enough?

There will never be a regulatory body in tattooing as such, it's an

artform and art is subjective so it's hard to bring in set standards

into this industry, but local authories need to take charge when

they hear about people being tattooed illegally from home, and

there needs to be some sort of legislation that stops the sale of

professional equipment to non- professionals. You wouldn't sell

surgical equipment to people who weren't surgeons so in the same way,

you shouldn't really be providing people who don't tattoo people

professionally with tattoo If you do find yourself with a

dodgy tattoo you may end up speaking to a dermatologist like Dr

Caroline Owen. She conducted a survey to find out how tattoos

impacted people's lives. People feel stigmatised by attack to they

do not like any more, it can affect their relationships. They feel it

can affect job prospects. It can really have an impact on people's

psychological well-being. We got responses from about 600 patients

with tattoos and the main findings were that while the majority of

people remain happy with their tattoos, a significant minority -

so, just over a third of patients - did actually regret ever having the

tattoos done. 14% of the patients we'd surveyed had had an amateur

tattoo rather than a professional tattoo. And they were significantly

more likely to regret it. I think more than 50% of those who had an

amateur tattoo did end up regretting it. If you are unhappy

with your tattoo you may think about laser removal, but that is

not always the simple option. it's extremely difficult to get rid

of a tattoo. You can fade the tattoo, but you often get left with

a ghost outline so it's very difficult to get total complete

removal. Laser tattoo removal can be done, but it's not available on

the NHS. You often have to have treatment over several months so

you maybe would need to have several treatments over 18 months

to two years and, obviously, that costs hundreds of pounds. You want

to have a look at it? I'm so happy. I've been walking around with it in

a bit of a mess for three years and now I've got it sorted and

beautiful. Charlotte's pleased with her new professional tattoo and now

wants others to think before they ink. Just don't do it, hang on,

wait till you're 18 and you've got your money. Make sure you know what

you want and go to a proper place. Don't be that guy that does, "I

went to my friend and I've got this!" Just don't be that guy, be

Coming up, how the Quaker movement is still going strong today. We are

perhaps unique in fighting and winning. Losing your job is bad

enough for anybody, but after hundreds of disabled workers lost

their jobs when their factories close down, many feared they would

never work again. Over the last four months, Inside Out has been

falling workers as they face an uncertain future. They were amongst

thousands protesting at a demonstration in London this

The message from sacked workers to the government was loud and clear.

13 of the 27 factories to close around the North of England,

including Wigan, Durham and Leeds. Over the last four months, Inside

Out has been following the lives of three of them as they face up to

the closure. This is their story. have no idea what I'm going to do

when I leave here. It makes me feel very upset at how they are treating

disabled people. I feel that we are being used as scapegoats. I have

never been on benefits and it is quite daunting to think at my age

that I am going to be unemployed. The factories teach new jobs. Men

who would otherwise be forced to remain idle. The first factory was

opened in 1945 to provide work for up unemployed servicemen who were

injured in the war. At the start of 2012, they employed more than 2000

disabled people. They make a variety of product that the 54

factories, ranging from protective clothing from the emergency

services to car components. The government says the factories are

not cost-effective. Last year, they made a combined loss of �68 million,

and in March, they announced plans to close half of them. It is July,

and after months of uncertainty the workers at Wigan Remploy have

received confirmation that they're factory is one of those to shut.

Stephen Rigby is a team leader and has worked for Remploy for 30 years.

The reaction was one of shock. We knew that a lot of them would close,

but we were in shock when the news came. Quite a few got really upset,

obviously. A lot of people have worked there for many years, some

for 30 years, 20 years. There were In County Durham Chris and Clare

have found out their fact I have also on the list of those to close.

Chris, who's deaf and partially sighted, is one of 41 people being

made redundant. TRANSLATION: My boss gave me a

paiper to read all about the redundancy and about the money and

the reasons why we were being made redundant. That was all. It's a

double blow for Clare and Chris. They met while working at Remploy

and this year celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. Clare was

forced to stop work because of ill health in 2007. She hasn't worked

since. Just couldn't believe that after all the hard work we, as a

community, had made Remploy what it had become. One of the biggest

factories to close is at Leeds. 60 workers will lose their jobs when

it shuts its doors for the last time in three weeks. Office

equipment has already been removed in preparation for the closure.

David Charles is one of those being made redundant. His father was

Leeds United legend John Charles. David suffered a stroke sen years

ago and feared he would never work again -- ten. I thought to myself,

I've gotd to do something to get myself motivated again. With the

ill Iness and the time I had to recover from my illness., I've

still got the illness, it will be there for the rest of my life. But

I couldn't bear not to do nothing. The workforce in Leeds makes

packaging and labelling for a food distribution company. They say

they're busier than ever and can't understand the decision to close

the site. Wer inundated with work here for the people to do. We have

a lot of work we've had to turn away. It's all been done too fast.

Clare and Chris have a meeting with union represent Kenny. He has bad

news for them. The closure of the factory is in just two weeks' time.

Some people like myself, near retirement age, we have to face the

fact that we won't do anything constructive with our lives,

basically retiring early. Those people who are younger will have to

look for work, you know, and the bottom line is once people are out

of these factories and a year's gone by, nobody's going to care for

them. They will wash their hands of It's Stephen's last week at Remploy.

And he and wife Michelle try to put the factory closure to the back of

their minds, watching their son play for the local wheelchair rugby

team. Yes boys! Do you feel proud to

watch him play? Yeah, yeah, I can't tell you how proud I am of him.

It's been a very emotional week. The factories are gearing up to

close down, you know, a lot of the machinery is being stacked up and

ready for transporting. A lot of the work's dais peered. So

basically we just are saying goodbyes and getting ready for

Thursday when we actually leave the factory. It's the final day at

Wigan, after 60 years the factory is shutting. It's an emotional

moment for all the staff. It means a lot, struggling on me own with

two kids. It's not fair. I've made lots of friends and the way they've

treated us is a disgrace. It's really upsetting. Really emotional,

you know, it's just a really sad day. End of an era. I can't explain

the emotions that have been going on all morning, you know, we've

been trying to keep our chins up. But nothing would ever prepare you

for what's happened today. It's like a bereavement in the family.

And it's a similar scene at Durham where Chris and 40 other workers

have just completed their last shift. The Government insists

keeping the factories open isn't a viable option and resources will be

better spent helping disabled people find jobs with mainstream

employers. At the moment there are 6.9 million disabled people of

working age and Remploy factories that only accounts for 2200. Yet a

fifth of the 320 million budget is going there to those. We're saying,

how do we best spend that money to help all of those people? The

employment services part of Remploy had found to 2010 in the last year,

35,000 people jobs. What we're saying is it is possible. We can

help people into mainstream work and a lot of those disability

organisations, a lot of disabled people said actually we would like

to work in mainstream employment. But back in Wigan, Stephen's search

for work has so far proved fruitless. Even though I have lots

of skills behind me from employ, you know, you can't always take

those skills into the outside world. I try to keep optimistic. I always

think yeah, you know, something will come along eventually. As each

time I get a rejection that instils in my mind that this is going to

get harder and harder, especially with the climate as it is at the

moment and you know, there are able pf bodied people that are

Ulverston is well known as the birthplace of Stan Laurel. But I

bet you didn't know that a major religious movement was founded

right here as well. Stuart Maconie has been finding out about the

birth of the Quaker movement here in Cumbria - and its effects on our

everyday lives. It may look like a fairly modest and unassuming house

- but this 16th-century building holds a special significance for

Quakers - as this is where it all began. It was here at Swarthmoor

Hall near Ulverston that Judge Thomas Fell and his wife Margaret

received a strange and unconventional visitor, who was to

change their lives, and the lives of thousands of people forever.

George Fox was a charismatic firebrand from Leicestershire with

strong views about religion. In the mid 1600s he rebelled against the

state-run Church of England and travelled the country preaching the

then-controversial message that God is within us all and therefore we

have no need for priests, organised religion or religious buildings.

Having had a divine vision at the top of Pendle Hill in Lancashire,

George Fox made his way to Swarthmoor Hall where he would go

on to found the Quaker movement with the help of the local people.

What he knows about Swarthmoor Hall is it is the home of a judge,

Thomas Fell, and his wife Margaret. They are sincere Puritans. Judge

Fell is quite a bigwig, he's a lawyer, he's a friend of Cromwell's,

a former MP. And he uses this house, Judge Fell, as a sort of open house

for travelling Puritan preachers. So it's natural I think that Fox

would have made his way here. the Fells taking a great risk in

sheltering and protecting Fox? it is threatening from the very

beginning. It's threatening because it challenges the status quo.

That's socially, religiously, politically. To that extent they

are taking a risk. George Fox travelled extensively.

He always returned to Swarthmoor Hall. The quakers still hold

meetings here, held in silence. drop the cares of the world,

concentrate on the spirit. If somebody is moved to speak, they

can stand and speak. There's no kergey, fixed Liturgy. It's using

the silence as a way of worship. The hall is still a focal point.

All kinds of activities take place here, like this, 17th century dress

making class. This period in history has very little information

that we could find when we researched it as the typical

garments that people wore, every day people. We found this painting,

we have used this as a base. We have used that to create this red

jacket. Would that have been for best, it looks like it would have

been? I think it would be for every day really. Really? What we've

aimed at is to create garments which are for everyday wear,

roughly about 1660, ten years after quakerism started. All the plain

dress and things like that have come later. Would you fancy wearing

that every day? Is it comfortable? Yeah, but I'd probably not wear it

every day. I had no experience this morning until a quaker meeting and

far from finding it. It seemed both quiet and reflective

and the most natural thing in the world. Members of the Religious

Society of Friends - which is another name for The Quakers - have

made quite a name for themselves. The movie star James Dean was a

Quaker, Barclays Bank was founded by Quakers, but perhaps the family

who have had the biggest impact on us is the Cadbury family - who, in

the 1800s, built a chocolate factory on the outskirts of

Birmingham in a town they created and named Bournville. The town was

named Bournville to give it a continental sounding name as French

chocolate was at that time thought to be the best in the world. George

Cadbury built the town as a model community for the people of

Birmingham, and with its beautiful architecture and spacious gardens

it still regularly tops the poll of best place to live in Britain. And

did they establish their factory and this community along Quaker

lines? The factory was very much run off Quaker lines - although

they were astute businessmen, the Quaker principles were very much

there - the way they treated their workers, the facilities they

provided for them, the pension, the day release for extended education,

the sports facilities, that was very much the Quaker influence, and

of course the way they treated their customers that was very much

Why did so many Quakers like the Cadburys go into manufacturing?

the time Quakers started, they were shunned, in fact, persecuted and

imprisoned at times. And the Cadbury family came from the West

Country to here because they were welcomed here. You don't have to be

a Quaker, or indeed work at Cadbury's to live in Bournville,

but the Friends' Meeting House still stands at the centre of the

community. Where I meet Anne Giles - a third-generation Quaker who's

spent most of her life here. What is it about Quakerism that you find

meaningful? I think it's an approach to life that we show our

faith through the way we live, that we try and care for people and the

environment we live in and we don't see ourselves as superior in any

way and we don't wish to do harm to - it all sounds a bit pious - it's

a hard thing to live up to, but George Fox, the founder of

Quakerism, said "let your lives speak". So we try to treat people

and the world as we would also like I think we're perhaps unique in

winning against Tesco, cos the Quaker principles of the village

are that there would be no alcohol. At the time when it was built,

alcohol was a huge problem and Cadbury wanted his workers to be

The only licenses are to members clubs and there are two of those.

So when a Tesco outlet wanted to sell alcohol and the whole

community came together - not just the Quakers - to oppose this, they

want a nice life. Bournville has attracted families who want a nice

life. Do you think the Quaker principles are imbued in the

village? I think they must do, cos there was such an outcry and Tesco

have tried again and been turned down. There's very strong public

feeling about that cos although the village can look very quaint and

twee, it's full of normal ordinary people who want the best for their

families and want to live a decent life. So from those wild and

windswept beginnings at Swarthmoor Hall, on the Furness peninsula and

up in the hills of the Pennines, Quakerism has grown and spread to

become a world religion and the basis of even global businesses.

But at the heart of it, the same quiet and human principles that

George Fox formulated 400 years ago. That's all from me this week. Can

you watch again on the BBCi player. I'm back next Monday, 7.30pm, BBC