Browse content similar to 06/02/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello and welcome to Inside Out North West, | 0:00:03 | 0:00:04 | |
with me Dianne Oxberry. | 0:00:04 | 0:00:07 | |
Tonight, we investigate the support veterans get for addiction | 0:00:07 | 0:00:11 | |
and alcoholism once they've left the forces and revisit the country's | 0:00:11 | 0:00:13 | |
first specialised rehab centre. | 0:00:13 | 0:00:18 | |
While they are in the forces, they find everything | 0:00:18 | 0:00:20 | |
they wanted, really - belonging, purpose, direction. | 0:00:20 | 0:00:22 | |
When they come out, they get lost in the system. | 0:00:22 | 0:00:25 | |
A concrete monstrosity or modern classic? | 0:00:25 | 0:00:32 | |
We ask if that Wall in Manchester's Piccadilly Gardens could come down. | 0:00:32 | 0:00:35 | |
Tadao Ando, the architect of the Pavilion, is a world-class | 0:00:35 | 0:00:37 | |
architect and we should be very proud to have his work in our city. | 0:00:37 | 0:00:41 | |
I don't think many Mancunians would agree with me. | 0:00:41 | 0:00:43 | |
And does the world of theatre reflect our diverse society? | 0:00:43 | 0:00:46 | |
We go behind the scenes of the first fully accessible play | 0:00:46 | 0:00:48 | |
at the Royal Exchange Theatre? | 0:00:48 | 0:00:51 | |
Some people don't lift their arms up, say, higher than this. | 0:00:51 | 0:00:53 | |
So you can't get into the a dress like this. | 0:00:53 | 0:00:58 | |
It's been described as the last taboo in the British military | 0:01:08 | 0:01:11 | |
but the misuse of drugs and alcohol among ex forces personnel is leading | 0:01:11 | 0:01:17 | |
to these once-proud servicemen and women sleeping rough | 0:01:17 | 0:01:19 | |
and serving time in prison. | 0:01:19 | 0:01:21 | |
The problem is being tackled by the country's first | 0:01:21 | 0:01:24 | |
specialised rehab centre, which has been set up in Liverpool. | 0:01:24 | 0:01:28 | |
Thomas Harrison House claims they can succeed where mainstream | 0:01:28 | 0:01:31 | |
treatment centres have failed. | 0:01:31 | 0:01:33 | |
A group of former soldiers enjoying a night out in Liverpool. | 0:01:33 | 0:01:40 | |
But they've more than their past service in common. | 0:01:40 | 0:01:43 | |
They're not drinking, because each one of them is a graduate | 0:01:43 | 0:01:46 | |
of Thomas Harrison House, the UK's first rehab centre | 0:01:46 | 0:01:49 | |
especially for veterans. | 0:01:49 | 0:01:53 | |
Does it bother you that you're not drinking tonight? | 0:01:53 | 0:01:55 | |
Honestly, no. It doesn't. | 0:01:55 | 0:01:59 | |
Because that tastes nicer than alcohol. | 0:01:59 | 0:02:03 | |
The best thing I ever did was put a drink down. | 0:02:03 | 0:02:08 | |
You know, life doesn't revolve around a drink, I don't think, | 0:02:08 | 0:02:11 | |
and I used to think that it did. | 0:02:11 | 0:02:13 | |
But obviously not. | 0:02:13 | 0:02:15 | |
Chris Newton joined the army when he was 17. | 0:02:15 | 0:02:18 | |
He was an infantry soldier in the Kings Own Royal Border regiment. | 0:02:18 | 0:02:22 | |
His five-year career would take him all over the world, | 0:02:22 | 0:02:24 | |
including a tour of Northern Ireland. | 0:02:24 | 0:02:28 | |
But an IRA bombing of his barracks would trigger the end of his career. | 0:02:28 | 0:02:32 | |
I thought I was going to die that night. | 0:02:32 | 0:02:35 | |
I thought I was going to die. | 0:02:35 | 0:02:40 | |
I thought my time, it was up. | 0:02:40 | 0:02:42 | |
I thought, "This is it, I ain't coming out of here alive." | 0:02:42 | 0:02:46 | |
And after that, your career started to fall apart, really? | 0:02:46 | 0:02:49 | |
Within four months. I never had a career. | 0:02:49 | 0:02:53 | |
I never had nowhere to live and I had no job, | 0:02:53 | 0:02:56 | |
I had no financial backing. | 0:02:56 | 0:02:59 | |
I was just put into Civilian Street and told, | 0:02:59 | 0:03:01 | |
"Here you are, get on with it." | 0:03:01 | 0:03:03 | |
How did you leave? What were the circumstances? | 0:03:03 | 0:03:07 | |
I was getting into a lot of trouble, me, | 0:03:07 | 0:03:12 | |
and I wasn't doing as I was told. | 0:03:12 | 0:03:15 | |
I was going in and out of out-of-bounds areas and, um... | 0:03:15 | 0:03:20 | |
they'd had enough of my misbehaviour, so they discharged me. | 0:03:20 | 0:03:24 | |
How did you feel about that? | 0:03:24 | 0:03:26 | |
Very disappointed, actually, after the work I put in. | 0:03:26 | 0:03:30 | |
Were you, to a degree, your own worst enemy, though? | 0:03:30 | 0:03:33 | |
Yeah. When I put a drink inside me. | 0:03:33 | 0:03:35 | |
How did the drinking become a problem? | 0:03:35 | 0:03:40 | |
I don't know, I think the drinking became a problem, | 0:03:40 | 0:03:44 | |
because the thing is, I had nothing to do with my days. | 0:03:44 | 0:03:47 | |
The thing is, I felt let down, you know, and the drink | 0:03:47 | 0:03:50 | |
was just a solution to me. | 0:03:50 | 0:03:55 | |
Chris' drinking took him from proud soldier to street drinker, | 0:03:55 | 0:03:57 | |
with spells in prison. | 0:03:57 | 0:04:00 | |
It's estimated as many as one in ten rough sleepers are ex-forces. | 0:04:00 | 0:04:05 | |
Chris shows me the bench in Liverpool | 0:04:05 | 0:04:07 | |
where he did much of his drinking. | 0:04:07 | 0:04:09 | |
I was drinking with other people I didn't even know, | 0:04:09 | 0:04:12 | |
cos there's a lot of it going on in this city | 0:04:12 | 0:04:14 | |
at the moment and, um, yeah, I was at my lowest, | 0:04:14 | 0:04:18 | |
I didn't really know what I was doing. | 0:04:18 | 0:04:22 | |
I was that drunk, you know! | 0:04:22 | 0:04:24 | |
So what changed? One night, I was stood outside here. | 0:04:24 | 0:04:29 | |
I'd been drinking all day, it was about 11.30 at night | 0:04:29 | 0:04:31 | |
and this guy pulled a trolley round the corner, | 0:04:31 | 0:04:33 | |
his name was Colin Dobie. | 0:04:33 | 0:04:35 | |
He said to me, "Do you want to change? | 0:04:35 | 0:04:40 | |
I work in a place called Tom Harrison House, | 0:04:40 | 0:04:42 | |
"a military rehabilitation centre." | 0:04:42 | 0:04:43 | |
I said, "Yeah, I do," and that was two years ago, | 0:04:43 | 0:04:46 | |
this time of year as well. | 0:04:46 | 0:04:51 | |
And here I am, 20 months sober and clean. | 0:04:51 | 0:04:53 | |
So what was it about that day and that approach that | 0:04:53 | 0:04:56 | |
gelled together perfectly? | 0:04:56 | 0:04:59 | |
I think it was just because I'd never been offered that kind of help | 0:04:59 | 0:05:03 | |
any time in my life. | 0:05:03 | 0:05:04 | |
Someone offered me a lifeline and I could see it. | 0:05:04 | 0:05:06 | |
Someone genuinely offering me a way out. | 0:05:06 | 0:05:08 | |
I did was the right approach, because it was | 0:05:08 | 0:05:10 | |
with other servicemen? | 0:05:10 | 0:05:12 | |
That was it, yeah, with other servicemen. | 0:05:12 | 0:05:16 | |
Rehab relies heavily on group therapy | 0:05:17 | 0:05:21 | |
and the opening up of emotions - a real challenge to servicemen | 0:05:21 | 0:05:24 | |
used to suppressing their feelings. | 0:05:24 | 0:05:26 | |
However, at Thomas Harrison House, this is made easier by them | 0:05:26 | 0:05:29 | |
having a shared experience. | 0:05:29 | 0:05:33 | |
The people I've spoken to, who have tried mainstream treatment centres, | 0:05:34 | 0:05:38 | |
I've asked them why it didn't work for them. | 0:05:38 | 0:05:44 | |
And a lot of the answers they've gave are things | 0:05:44 | 0:05:47 | |
like they just weren't understood, or they didn't feel part of, | 0:05:47 | 0:05:50 | |
and they weren't sure what they could say | 0:05:50 | 0:05:51 | |
in front of civilians. | 0:05:51 | 0:05:57 | |
One guy said he'd joined a treatment centre and he'd done | 0:05:57 | 0:06:01 | |
an exercise where he revealed he'd been in the forces | 0:06:01 | 0:06:03 | |
and then, for the next few days, he just got loads of inappropriate | 0:06:03 | 0:06:08 | |
questions from civilians that he doesn't want to answer. | 0:06:08 | 0:06:10 | |
So that wasn't safe for him? No. | 0:06:10 | 0:06:13 | |
It wasn't a comfortable experience for him? | 0:06:13 | 0:06:14 | |
No, he didn't feel part of the group there. | 0:06:14 | 0:06:18 | |
One way the soldiers are encouraged to open up | 0:06:18 | 0:06:20 | |
is through equine therapy. | 0:06:20 | 0:06:22 | |
Every Wednesday morning, the veterans come to | 0:06:22 | 0:06:26 | |
Shy Lowen Horse Sanctuary, a place for rescued and damaged | 0:06:26 | 0:06:28 | |
horses, where animal and soldier help to heal each other. | 0:06:28 | 0:06:33 | |
Hi, Paul, who's this? This is Muffin. | 0:06:33 | 0:06:36 | |
Muffin, yeah. | 0:06:36 | 0:06:39 | |
Paul was one of the first soldiers to graduate | 0:06:39 | 0:06:41 | |
from Thomas Harrison House 2.5 years ago. | 0:06:41 | 0:06:44 | |
What is it about working with horses that you have kind of taking two? | 0:06:45 | 0:06:49 | |
What is it about working with horses that you have kind of taken two? | 0:06:49 | 0:06:52 | |
Um, cos... | 0:06:52 | 0:06:53 | |
Well, the same kind of mentality, really, I think. | 0:06:53 | 0:06:56 | |
Um, they've got issues, I've got issues. | 0:06:56 | 0:07:00 | |
And, um, we sort of, like, relate to each other. | 0:07:00 | 0:07:03 | |
As you work with them, you find all that stuff. | 0:07:03 | 0:07:06 | |
It's like the mirror image, really, of yourself. | 0:07:06 | 0:07:12 | |
Has it made you become a little more emotionally aware? | 0:07:12 | 0:07:15 | |
Because some men, you know, particularly ex-servicemen, | 0:07:15 | 0:07:17 | |
you might hide your feelings? | 0:07:18 | 0:07:22 | |
You might not be that open about how your feeling about stuff. | 0:07:22 | 0:07:25 | |
Yeah, that's right. | 0:07:25 | 0:07:26 | |
In the services, like, you don't say nothing | 0:07:26 | 0:07:28 | |
about nothing, really. But, um... | 0:07:28 | 0:07:30 | |
Yeah, because, like I said before, it opened me up, because the issues, | 0:07:30 | 0:07:36 | |
it nearly brought me to tears, because I could feel... | 0:07:36 | 0:07:44 | |
I could feel his pain as well. What he had been through. | 0:07:44 | 0:07:47 | |
Because, don't forget, these horses as well, | 0:07:47 | 0:07:48 | |
these are in recovery. | 0:07:48 | 0:07:49 | |
It had me thinking of the things that had happened to me in the past | 0:07:49 | 0:07:53 | |
and stuff like that, and where I am today. | 0:07:53 | 0:07:55 | |
I'm finding, in the two years I've worked here, | 0:07:58 | 0:08:03 | |
that a stereotypical journey from someone into Tom Harrison House | 0:08:03 | 0:08:05 | |
would be, um, an upbringing in a working class area, | 0:08:05 | 0:08:09 | |
where they suffer some form of trauma in the early family life, | 0:08:09 | 0:08:17 | |
they join the forces to get away from that trauma, and, | 0:08:17 | 0:08:20 | |
while they're in the forces, they find everything | 0:08:20 | 0:08:22 | |
that they wanted, really - belonging, purpose, direction - | 0:08:22 | 0:08:29 | |
but then, they suffer more trauma and then, when they come out, | 0:08:29 | 0:08:33 | |
they get lost in the system somewhere, because they're reluctant | 0:08:33 | 0:08:37 | |
to ask for help, so it's quite a lot | 0:08:37 | 0:08:47 | |
-- to ask for help, so it's why a lot | 0:08:48 | 0:08:50 | |
of homeless people are veterans, prison population, and also just | 0:08:50 | 0:08:52 | |
people who've never been involved with the service, | 0:08:52 | 0:08:54 | |
they're just sitting bedsits alone, drinking themselves to death. | 0:08:54 | 0:08:57 | |
It costs ?10,000 to put a veteran through the three-month programme | 0:08:57 | 0:08:59 | |
and funding is a constant challenge for the charity. | 0:08:59 | 0:09:01 | |
Sometimes, what happens is, the chasing the money takes so long | 0:09:01 | 0:09:04 | |
that someone just says, "I'm done, I can't now | 0:09:04 | 0:09:08 | |
"continue to want to come in, I'm good to go back out and use," | 0:09:08 | 0:09:13 | |
"continue to want to come in, I'm going to go back out and use," | 0:09:13 | 0:09:16 | |
and, before we know it, they're back on the street. | 0:09:16 | 0:09:18 | |
What should the MoD be offering former servicemen and women | 0:09:18 | 0:09:21 | |
when they leave the Armed Forces, so that we don't get | 0:09:21 | 0:09:23 | |
in this position? | 0:09:23 | 0:09:24 | |
I think it's more a question of, not when they leave, | 0:09:24 | 0:09:27 | |
but when they start. | 0:09:27 | 0:09:29 | |
It's about shifting the culture of drinking within the Armed Forces, | 0:09:29 | 0:09:32 | |
because the culture has been - and there's evidence to prove this - | 0:09:32 | 0:09:38 | |
that men and women in the Armed Forces are drinking | 0:09:38 | 0:09:41 | |
at dangerously high levels, compared to the UK general public. | 0:09:41 | 0:09:43 | |
It works out over double the rate of substance misuse issues. | 0:09:43 | 0:09:46 | |
Work hard, play hard - we understand that. | 0:09:46 | 0:09:48 | |
We're not saying, you know, soldiers shouldn't drink. | 0:09:48 | 0:09:52 | |
We're saying that they should be able to, but they should be | 0:09:52 | 0:09:59 | |
supported to do that in a way that's healthy, | 0:09:59 | 0:10:03 | |
but I think, if the MoD knows that someone's got a drug or alcohol | 0:10:03 | 0:10:07 | |
problem before they leave, they should be directly | 0:10:07 | 0:10:09 | |
plugging them into us. | 0:10:09 | 0:10:10 | |
Now, the public have a lot of goodwill toward veterans. | 0:10:10 | 0:10:12 | |
Do you think they would be surprised that there is very, | 0:10:12 | 0:10:15 | |
very little ongoing support offered to them when they leave service? | 0:10:15 | 0:10:17 | |
I think so. | 0:10:17 | 0:10:18 | |
I think what we've got now is some great packages of help | 0:10:18 | 0:10:21 | |
and care for veterans. | 0:10:21 | 0:10:22 | |
But those packages focus on the individuals being either | 0:10:22 | 0:10:24 | |
wounded, injured or sick, and that incorporates mental health. | 0:10:24 | 0:10:28 | |
What it doesn't tend to incorporate is addiction and alcoholism. | 0:10:28 | 0:10:32 | |
It's like it's the last taboo for veterans. | 0:10:32 | 0:10:34 | |
That Prince Harry is very much now raising the profile | 0:10:34 | 0:10:37 | |
of mental health, but really, not touching on addiction | 0:10:37 | 0:10:39 | |
or alcoholism. | 0:10:39 | 0:10:42 | |
There are so many issues raised here, not just about funding | 0:10:42 | 0:10:45 | |
for places at Thomas Harrison House, or the role that alcohol | 0:10:45 | 0:10:50 | |
plays in forces life, but also what the servicemen that | 0:10:50 | 0:10:52 | |
I spoke to see as a lack of support when they are discharged. | 0:10:52 | 0:10:58 | |
I wanted to put these points to a government minister, | 0:10:58 | 0:11:00 | |
but sadly, our request for an interview was denied | 0:11:00 | 0:11:03 | |
by the Ministry of Defence. | 0:11:03 | 0:11:04 | |
LAUGHTER AND CHATTER. | 0:11:04 | 0:11:07 | |
With an 85% success rate, Thomas Harrison House hopes | 0:11:07 | 0:11:10 | |
to continue its work changing the lives of veterans like Chris | 0:11:10 | 0:11:13 | |
and his fellow graduates. | 0:11:13 | 0:11:15 | |
They did a lot for me, you know, they offered me a lifeline | 0:11:15 | 0:11:18 | |
when I came out of prison this year that nobody else did, | 0:11:18 | 0:11:21 | |
so I took that lifeline, like. | 0:11:21 | 0:11:23 | |
Piccadilly Gardens is one of the first things that visitors | 0:11:28 | 0:11:32 | |
to Manchester see when they come to the city centre. | 0:11:32 | 0:11:35 | |
Yet, to many Mancunians, it's considered an eyesore, | 0:11:35 | 0:11:38 | |
an architectural disaster and even a waste of public money. | 0:11:38 | 0:11:42 | |
But like it or loathe it, it's about to get a revamp, | 0:11:42 | 0:11:45 | |
as Jacey Normand investigates. | 0:11:45 | 0:11:48 | |
Manchester's public spaces were under the spotlight this summer | 0:11:48 | 0:11:51 | |
after the local newspaper, the Manchester Evening news, | 0:11:51 | 0:11:54 | |
began a campaign on the state of Piccadilly Gardens - | 0:11:54 | 0:11:58 | |
the large open space in the middle of a busy transport interchange. | 0:11:58 | 0:12:03 | |
They highlighted the perceived decline from its former glory days | 0:12:03 | 0:12:05 | |
of the 1950s and '60s and they challenged the council | 0:12:05 | 0:12:09 | |
to step in and restore Mancunians pride and a lot of people agreed. | 0:12:09 | 0:12:14 | |
I don't think it's particularly beautiful as it is at the moment. | 0:12:14 | 0:12:17 | |
It's not as nice as it used to be, that's for sure. | 0:12:17 | 0:12:20 | |
I don't think this helps. | 0:12:20 | 0:12:23 | |
You used to be able to see everything when you got off | 0:12:23 | 0:12:27 | |
the tram, it was very open, but it's not now. | 0:12:27 | 0:12:29 | |
It needs smartening up. It's a bit of a dump, really. | 0:12:29 | 0:12:35 | |
It led to a call for the gardens to be given a major facelift | 0:12:35 | 0:12:38 | |
and to demolish the love it or loathe it concrete wall. | 0:12:38 | 0:12:41 | |
A petition was started and needed 4,000 signatures to be debated | 0:12:41 | 0:12:45 | |
by the city council and, by April, it had reached 20,000 | 0:12:45 | 0:12:47 | |
and the council took notice. | 0:12:47 | 0:12:52 | |
It was a well-intentioned, but ultramodernist revamp and, | 0:12:52 | 0:13:01 | |
in my view, many Mancunians say it was a missed opportunity... | 0:13:01 | 0:13:04 | |
They debated the issues and promised to ensure the gardens | 0:13:04 | 0:13:06 | |
would not go to seed. But how could we have come to this? | 0:13:06 | 0:13:09 | |
The gardens were very different in the Victoria era. | 0:13:09 | 0:13:12 | |
The space was a hospital and the site of the | 0:13:12 | 0:13:20 | |
Royal Manchester Infirmary, which was demolished in 1914. | 0:13:20 | 0:13:22 | |
The area remained empty for a few years whilst different | 0:13:22 | 0:13:24 | |
uses were discussed, including an art gallery, | 0:13:24 | 0:13:27 | |
but it ended up being left and made into the largest open green space | 0:13:27 | 0:13:30 | |
in the city centre. | 0:13:30 | 0:13:33 | |
As the hospital had a basement, the gardens became the sunken | 0:13:33 | 0:13:35 | |
gardens most people remember. | 0:13:35 | 0:13:39 | |
And many have called for a return to the gardens of the past. | 0:13:39 | 0:13:42 | |
But like them or loathe them, not everybody shares this | 0:13:42 | 0:13:46 | |
nostalgic view of how Piccadilly Gardens once were. | 0:13:46 | 0:13:49 | |
Some of us think we should be looking forward | 0:13:49 | 0:13:52 | |
instead of looking back. | 0:13:52 | 0:13:56 | |
A lot of it is to do with fashion. | 0:13:56 | 0:13:58 | |
People just need to get used to buildings, and it's unsustainable | 0:13:58 | 0:14:02 | |
for a building to be up 10-15 years, it falls out of fashion | 0:14:02 | 0:14:05 | |
and to knock it down. | 0:14:05 | 0:14:08 | |
You know, there were probably people who hated the town hall | 0:14:08 | 0:14:11 | |
when it was first built, but they wouldn't have knocked it | 0:14:11 | 0:14:14 | |
down within 10-15 years, because of public opinion. | 0:14:14 | 0:14:15 | |
Give it 20-30 years' time, people might learn to love | 0:14:15 | 0:14:21 | |
the Pavilion in Piccadilly Gardens. | 0:14:21 | 0:14:25 | |
It was over 20 years ago, in November 1995, that | 0:14:25 | 0:14:27 | |
Manchester won their bid to host the Commonwealth Games and plans | 0:14:27 | 0:14:30 | |
started for a major revamp of sites in the city centre. | 0:14:30 | 0:14:33 | |
This reconstruction had to be drastically expanded seven months | 0:14:33 | 0:14:37 | |
later, when the IRA bomb exploded and meant major works would be | 0:14:37 | 0:14:40 | |
necessary to not just return Manchester to how it was, | 0:14:40 | 0:14:44 | |
but create a city and a space for the 21st century. | 0:14:44 | 0:14:51 | |
Piccadilly Gardens was part of that expansion and renowned Japanese | 0:14:51 | 0:14:53 | |
architect, Tadao Ando, was employed to design a space | 0:14:53 | 0:14:55 | |
for the next generation. | 0:14:55 | 0:15:01 | |
Although applauded at the time, today, attitudes may be changing | 0:15:01 | 0:15:04 | |
and the Piccadilly Wall has, in some quarters, been | 0:15:04 | 0:15:06 | |
likened to the Berlin Wall. | 0:15:06 | 0:15:10 | |
Tadao Ando, the architect of the Pavilion, is a world-class | 0:15:11 | 0:15:14 | |
architect and we should be very proud to have his work in our city. | 0:15:14 | 0:15:19 | |
But I don't think many Mancunians would agree with me. | 0:15:19 | 0:15:22 | |
It's very easy to blame architecture for society's problems | 0:15:22 | 0:15:26 | |
and especially local authorities are very quick to condemn spaces | 0:15:26 | 0:15:31 | |
for their architecture, when really it's a management issue. | 0:15:31 | 0:15:37 | |
If you dig down into people's complaints about Piccadilly Gardens, | 0:15:37 | 0:15:39 | |
it's often not about the space or the architecture. | 0:15:39 | 0:15:42 | |
It's often about anti-social behaviour or drug dealing | 0:15:42 | 0:15:44 | |
or something or the maintenance. | 0:15:44 | 0:15:50 | |
But the city council will come along and say, "Right, | 0:15:50 | 0:15:52 | |
"we need to do something about this." | 0:15:52 | 0:15:55 | |
It's easier just to knock it all down and | 0:15:55 | 0:15:57 | |
start again than actually deal with the real problems. | 0:15:57 | 0:16:00 | |
Anti-social behaviour has been an issue in the Gardens. | 0:16:00 | 0:16:03 | |
Its notoriety in the city as a crime hotspot was cemented when police | 0:16:03 | 0:16:08 | |
made a number of arrests in November as part of a crackdown | 0:16:08 | 0:16:11 | |
on drug dealers. | 0:16:11 | 0:16:14 | |
But in fact, these have always been issues for the authorities, | 0:16:14 | 0:16:16 | |
even when they were the Gardens we all knew and loved. | 0:16:16 | 0:16:20 | |
We're not going to put back a sunken garden that is full | 0:16:20 | 0:16:24 | |
of drunks and drug addicts, which nobody would go | 0:16:24 | 0:16:26 | |
through at night. | 0:16:26 | 0:16:31 | |
And we are going to do anything we do to recognise that, simply, | 0:16:31 | 0:16:34 | |
there are tens of thousands of people go through that space | 0:16:34 | 0:16:37 | |
every day and it's got to be able to cope with tens | 0:16:37 | 0:16:40 | |
of thousands of people. | 0:16:40 | 0:16:43 | |
I think the criticism about maintenance is legitimate criticism. | 0:16:43 | 0:16:46 | |
I don't think it's been maintained in the way it should've been. | 0:16:46 | 0:16:53 | |
What we have to do is I think find a way of maintaining the greenness | 0:16:53 | 0:16:56 | |
of the Gardens and make that compatible with the really | 0:16:56 | 0:16:59 | |
heavy usage that it's always going to have. | 0:16:59 | 0:17:01 | |
Prior to 2002, when the current version was created, | 0:17:01 | 0:17:04 | |
nobody used to use Piccadilly Gardens. | 0:17:04 | 0:17:12 | |
Since 2002, if anything, Piccadilly Gardens has | 0:17:12 | 0:17:14 | |
been a victim of their own success. | 0:17:14 | 0:17:15 | |
And whether you like the architecture or not, | 0:17:15 | 0:17:17 | |
the discussion around Piccadilly Gardens | 0:17:17 | 0:17:19 | |
has also highlighted another important issue - | 0:17:19 | 0:17:20 | |
the selling off of our public spaces. | 0:17:20 | 0:17:26 | |
If any major changes were to be made to the Gardens, | 0:17:27 | 0:17:30 | |
it would cost money. | 0:17:30 | 0:17:32 | |
In 2002, renovating the Gardens cost ?10 million. | 0:17:32 | 0:17:36 | |
The council got that money by leasing off part of the Gardens | 0:17:36 | 0:17:39 | |
to private investors. | 0:17:39 | 0:17:42 | |
The area of the Pavilion, Number 1 Piccadilly and the Wall | 0:17:42 | 0:17:46 | |
are all in private hands and Emma Curtin, a lecturer | 0:17:46 | 0:17:49 | |
in architecture, thinks Manchester lost out in the sell off. | 0:17:49 | 0:17:52 | |
We lost the rights of way in Piccadilly Gardens, | 0:17:52 | 0:17:55 | |
over ten years ago now. | 0:17:55 | 0:17:58 | |
In order to allow this development and Number 1 Piccadilly Gardens, | 0:17:58 | 0:18:02 | |
the rights of way were extinguished and it became essentially | 0:18:02 | 0:18:05 | |
private private land, so now, we're only... | 0:18:05 | 0:18:09 | |
We can continue to use it, like a public space, | 0:18:09 | 0:18:11 | |
but that's permitted access. We don't have the right to be here. | 0:18:11 | 0:18:16 | |
The new owners of 1 Piccadilly and the Pavilion | 0:18:16 | 0:18:19 | |
are Legal General. | 0:18:20 | 0:18:23 | |
They finally released their new vision for the site | 0:18:23 | 0:18:25 | |
in November and their proposals include the removal | 0:18:25 | 0:18:27 | |
of the concrete wall. | 0:18:27 | 0:18:30 | |
The council say they had taken public opinion into account | 0:18:30 | 0:18:33 | |
to remove the current wall and would also improve | 0:18:33 | 0:18:35 | |
the gardens in a multimillion pound investment plan. | 0:18:35 | 0:18:40 | |
And even the architect, Tadoo Ando, when told | 0:18:40 | 0:18:43 | |
that his wall could come down, gave this very | 0:18:43 | 0:18:45 | |
matter-of-fact response... | 0:18:45 | 0:18:50 | |
One of the proposals around the Wall seems to be that there could be | 0:18:57 | 0:19:00 | |
shops placed on both sides of it or even above it, so that will be | 0:19:00 | 0:19:04 | |
taking away more of the open space and enclosing it into commercial | 0:19:04 | 0:19:06 | |
space and that's only possible, because we've already lost | 0:19:06 | 0:19:10 | |
the universal right to use this as a public space and, actually, | 0:19:10 | 0:19:13 | |
that's something that we could see happening in other spaces | 0:19:13 | 0:19:15 | |
around the city. | 0:19:15 | 0:19:18 | |
In the past, public spaces like Piccadilly Gardens | 0:19:18 | 0:19:20 | |
would be a place to meet people, relax and to discuss | 0:19:20 | 0:19:23 | |
the issues of the day. | 0:19:23 | 0:19:25 | |
They were places where we met future husbands and wives. | 0:19:25 | 0:19:28 | |
They were the focus of a city and a community. | 0:19:28 | 0:19:33 | |
We're hardwired as a people to want to spend time together, | 0:19:33 | 0:19:36 | |
but in the internet age - where we can access everything | 0:19:36 | 0:19:39 | |
at the click of a button - it's unsurprising that we've | 0:19:39 | 0:19:41 | |
overlooked the importance of public places today. | 0:19:41 | 0:19:46 | |
So whether you like the Wall, or you hate the Wall, | 0:19:46 | 0:19:49 | |
or you choose to spend time in the Gardens or simply pass | 0:19:49 | 0:19:52 | |
through, one thing's for certain - Piccadilly Gardens is at the heart | 0:19:52 | 0:19:54 | |
of Manchester city centre. | 0:19:55 | 0:19:59 | |
And generations of us will continue to use it | 0:19:59 | 0:20:01 | |
for a long time to come. | 0:20:01 | 0:20:05 | |
Now, does the world of theatre reflect our diverse society? | 0:20:06 | 0:20:09 | |
The BBC's disability news correspondent, Nikki Fox, | 0:20:09 | 0:20:11 | |
has been behind the scenes of the first fully accessible | 0:20:11 | 0:20:14 | |
play at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre, | 0:20:14 | 0:20:17 | |
where the majority of the cast is disabled. | 0:20:17 | 0:20:20 | |
I said silence. | 0:20:20 | 0:20:25 | |
APPLAUSE. | 0:20:28 | 0:20:31 | |
These actors have taken on an almighty task. | 0:20:31 | 0:20:36 | |
Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba is a notoriously | 0:20:36 | 0:20:38 | |
tricky one to get right. | 0:20:38 | 0:20:41 | |
The show has just come to an end here at Manchester's | 0:20:41 | 0:20:44 | |
Royal Exchange Theatre, a treasured venue for many | 0:20:44 | 0:20:46 | |
who live in the North West. | 0:20:46 | 0:20:51 | |
for some, this place is as important as the city's | 0:20:51 | 0:20:53 | |
two main football clubs. | 0:20:53 | 0:20:54 | |
Now, it's just gone down a storm in there. | 0:20:54 | 0:20:57 | |
So I'm going to tell you how we got to this point | 0:20:57 | 0:21:00 | |
and take you behind the scenes. | 0:21:00 | 0:21:03 | |
How is everyone? All right? | 0:21:08 | 0:21:10 | |
Yeah. | 0:21:10 | 0:21:16 | |
So there's just over a week to go until opening night and the cast | 0:21:16 | 0:21:20 | |
are here busy rehearsing and there's no mucking around. | 0:21:20 | 0:21:22 | |
We cannot get in the way. | 0:21:22 | 0:21:23 | |
Don't look at me! | 0:21:23 | 0:21:24 | |
It's all going on at the theatre, and it's a big job | 0:21:24 | 0:21:27 | |
for the cast and crew. | 0:21:27 | 0:21:28 | |
So you're going to put it in here, you're going to put it in here, | 0:21:28 | 0:21:32 | |
and we're going to slide across. | 0:21:32 | 0:21:33 | |
This production features an all female and pretty much | 0:21:33 | 0:21:36 | |
all deaf and disabled cast. | 0:21:36 | 0:21:37 | |
How I had to suffer... | 0:21:37 | 0:21:38 | |
The play is about a mother's suffocating grip on her five | 0:21:38 | 0:21:41 | |
daughters, and it's as intense as it is challenging. | 0:21:41 | 0:21:43 | |
I'd rather sweep the streets... | 0:21:43 | 0:21:45 | |
And every little detail has to be thought of. | 0:21:45 | 0:21:47 | |
So I've just been told about this area here. | 0:21:47 | 0:21:52 | |
It's the costume department, where the magic happens. | 0:21:52 | 0:21:57 | |
The ladies inside here are going to be making costumes | 0:21:57 | 0:22:00 | |
for all the actors on stage and, apparently, everything's | 0:22:00 | 0:22:02 | |
changing and evolving. | 0:22:02 | 0:22:03 | |
It's all very exciting, only a couple of days to go, | 0:22:03 | 0:22:06 | |
so I'm going to have a little look and see what it's like. | 0:22:06 | 0:22:09 | |
Is it like Strictly Come Dancing? Who knows? | 0:22:09 | 0:22:12 | |
This is bigger than I thought. | 0:22:12 | 0:22:13 | |
There's some big frocks! | 0:22:13 | 0:22:16 | |
We've got to think about how some people don't lift their arms, | 0:22:16 | 0:22:22 | |
say, higher than this. Mm-hm. | 0:22:22 | 0:22:23 | |
So you can't get into a dress like this. | 0:22:23 | 0:22:28 | |
So you have to think about everything a little bit more | 0:22:28 | 0:22:31 | |
and from everybody's point of view. | 0:22:31 | 0:22:32 | |
From if your eyes work or if your ears work, | 0:22:32 | 0:22:35 | |
or if your body works, and you've got to take | 0:22:35 | 0:22:37 | |
all that in as well. | 0:22:37 | 0:22:40 | |
For the player's director Jenny, working with a cast | 0:22:40 | 0:22:42 | |
of actors with different disabilities isn't unusual. | 0:22:42 | 0:22:46 | |
It's those reactions that have been massive, but they have... | 0:22:46 | 0:22:50 | |
You have to hear it in your head and you have to feel it. | 0:22:50 | 0:22:56 | |
It's this passion she puts into running Greaeae, | 0:22:56 | 0:22:59 | |
a theatre company all about putting deaf and disabled | 0:22:59 | 0:23:01 | |
talent centrestage. | 0:23:01 | 0:23:02 | |
It's a necessity, I think. | 0:23:02 | 0:23:04 | |
There are so few opportunities out there for deaf and disabled people. | 0:23:04 | 0:23:09 | |
It is 2017, we are and we have been - for many, many, many years - | 0:23:09 | 0:23:13 | |
part of society, so theatre is the best place to demonstrate | 0:23:13 | 0:23:18 | |
who we are, what we do and what we are about | 0:23:18 | 0:23:21 | |
and that we are people. | 0:23:21 | 0:23:31 | |
Using a space to challenge perceptions of disability | 0:23:33 | 0:23:36 | |
is what Jenny is all about. | 0:23:36 | 0:23:37 | |
As the driving force behind the opening ceremony of | 0:23:37 | 0:23:39 | |
the London 2012 Paralympic Games, she showed the world what | 0:23:39 | 0:23:41 | |
deaf and disabled people can do. | 0:23:41 | 0:23:43 | |
This time, her stage is smaller, but the scale | 0:23:43 | 0:23:45 | |
of the task is just as great. | 0:23:45 | 0:23:47 | |
It's terrifying, actually. I am scared! | 0:23:47 | 0:23:48 | |
I think it's because you're so exposed. | 0:23:48 | 0:23:51 | |
So that's why we're so disciplined with the girls. | 0:23:51 | 0:23:54 | |
How they sit, how they move, everything! | 0:23:54 | 0:23:56 | |
Which is important when this is your stage. | 0:23:56 | 0:24:00 | |
And the transformation is underway. | 0:24:01 | 0:24:06 | |
When it comes to physical access, this place is sorted. | 0:24:10 | 0:24:16 | |
Lifts and ramps are already part of the theatre. | 0:24:16 | 0:24:19 | |
But to help deaf audience members, screens are being put up and changes | 0:24:19 | 0:24:22 | |
to the script will help blind people understand the action. | 0:24:22 | 0:24:28 | |
The production is constantly evolving, | 0:24:28 | 0:24:30 | |
because it has to incorporate the actors' different disabilities. | 0:24:30 | 0:24:32 | |
What's your sister saying? | 0:24:32 | 0:24:33 | |
Peeking at the men througha crack in the gate! | 0:24:33 | 0:24:36 | |
Peeking at the men through a crack in the gate! | 0:24:36 | 0:24:38 | |
You, come here! | 0:24:38 | 0:24:39 | |
I said do you think it's decent for a woman of your class to go | 0:24:39 | 0:24:43 | |
running after men the day of her father's funeral? | 0:24:43 | 0:24:45 | |
Answer me! Who were you looking at? | 0:24:45 | 0:24:47 | |
I... I was looking... | 0:24:47 | 0:24:48 | |
Who? | 0:24:48 | 0:24:50 | |
In fact, the signers even form part of the play itself, | 0:24:50 | 0:24:53 | |
and they help the actors understand each other. | 0:24:53 | 0:24:57 | |
These challenges have been to work on the show to make it work | 0:24:57 | 0:25:00 | |
for deaf and disabled actors. | 0:25:00 | 0:25:01 | |
That's been the most amazing, fascinating challenge of all. | 0:25:01 | 0:25:04 | |
And I think the changes that I've had to make have actually improved | 0:25:04 | 0:25:07 | |
the play in many ways. | 0:25:07 | 0:25:10 | |
They've added a whole new dimension of richness and meaning to the text. | 0:25:10 | 0:25:17 | |
Back in rehearsals, Jenny is working through the intricacies of each | 0:25:17 | 0:25:22 | |
scene, and the cast can't afford to waste any time. | 0:25:22 | 0:25:26 | |
No, don't go and sit down, straight in there. | 0:25:26 | 0:25:28 | |
For Jenny, this has to be right. | 0:25:28 | 0:25:30 | |
I started thinking about Lorca and somebody there said, "I'm sorry, | 0:25:30 | 0:25:34 | |
"but Lorca did not write plays for you lot to be in!" | 0:25:34 | 0:25:38 | |
Boom! | 0:25:38 | 0:25:41 | |
You know, that is, for me, that's a red rag to bull. | 0:25:41 | 0:25:44 | |
I was like, "Right, we are doing Lorca! | 0:25:44 | 0:25:48 | |
"Many times, we are doing Lorca!" | 0:25:48 | 0:25:51 | |
Who has the right to say what plays we can and cannot do? | 0:25:51 | 0:25:55 | |
This attitude may be one of the reasons why latest research | 0:25:55 | 0:25:58 | |
suggests there aren't any deaf or disabled students in some | 0:25:58 | 0:26:01 | |
of the top drama schools in the UK. | 0:26:01 | 0:26:03 | |
Ladies, taking a break from rehearsals? | 0:26:03 | 0:26:06 | |
What's wrong? | 0:26:07 | 0:26:10 | |
Philip, who has a prosthetic leg, has been acting for several years. | 0:26:10 | 0:26:12 | |
I don't know, I sleep like a log! | 0:26:12 | 0:26:14 | |
Have you found any barriers to do with having a disability? | 0:26:14 | 0:26:17 | |
I did find, when I started auditioning for drama schools, | 0:26:17 | 0:26:21 | |
that the big elephant in the room was my disability, and, | 0:26:21 | 0:26:25 | |
when I did end up managing to get a place at a drama school, | 0:26:25 | 0:26:28 | |
it was never discussed, because I think I felt at the end | 0:26:28 | 0:26:31 | |
of my tether and didn't declare it. | 0:26:31 | 0:26:33 | |
And with my disability, I can hide it or I can make it known. | 0:26:33 | 0:26:37 | |
And that day, I think I was so fed up, I just kept it | 0:26:37 | 0:26:40 | |
covered and just performed. | 0:26:40 | 0:26:42 | |
The Arts Council knows there is a problem. | 0:26:42 | 0:26:46 | |
Their own research suggests just 4% working in the industry | 0:26:46 | 0:26:48 | |
have said they have a disability. | 0:26:48 | 0:26:50 | |
I don't get it. Maybe I'm just being thick. | 0:26:50 | 0:26:52 | |
I just don't understand what the problem is. | 0:26:52 | 0:26:56 | |
You're at theatre, for God's sake! Use your imagination! | 0:26:56 | 0:26:59 | |
Sorry, it just makes me so cross! | 0:26:59 | 0:27:03 | |
And this is what imagination can achieve. | 0:27:03 | 0:27:08 | |
It's showtime. | 0:27:08 | 0:27:11 | |
So what do the audience think of the opening night? | 0:27:11 | 0:27:13 | |
What do you make of the fact the cast are majority deaf or disabled? | 0:27:13 | 0:27:17 | |
Did it kind of enhance the experience for you? | 0:27:17 | 0:27:19 | |
Definitely, I think it worked really well with the story as well, | 0:27:19 | 0:27:22 | |
it fitted so well, and yeah, it completely enhanced it, | 0:27:22 | 0:27:24 | |
it give it another level. | 0:27:24 | 0:27:26 | |
Right, now I need to find a man, because this cast | 0:27:26 | 0:27:29 | |
is just full of women. It's just women, women, women! | 0:27:29 | 0:27:32 | |
We need a man. Man! | 0:27:32 | 0:27:35 | |
Hello! | 0:27:35 | 0:27:36 | |
It's so immersive. | 0:27:36 | 0:27:41 | |
Yeah, I haven't seen any Lorca plays played out like this before. | 0:27:41 | 0:27:44 | |
Perhaps, but it's better this way, now sit down! | 0:27:44 | 0:27:50 | |
We will know true equality when writers don't have to write | 0:27:51 | 0:27:56 | |
plays that have disabled characters. | 0:27:56 | 0:27:59 | |
We can play many, many, many, many roles! | 0:27:59 | 0:28:03 | |
And I hate saying this, because it means I won't have a job, | 0:28:03 | 0:28:06 | |
but for me, true equality will mean when we don't need Greaeae any more. | 0:28:06 | 0:28:12 | |
I said silence. | 0:28:12 | 0:28:17 | |
Well, that play looks fantastic. | 0:28:21 | 0:28:24 | |
Now, that's all from us for this week, | 0:28:24 | 0:28:26 | |
but Inside Out is back next Monday at 7.30. | 0:28:26 | 0:28:29 | |
Until then, goodbye. | 0:28:29 | 0:28:32 | |
Next week, we report on dark skies and discover why our region | 0:28:38 | 0:28:41 | |
is becoming a tourist destination for stargazers. | 0:28:41 | 0:28:44 | |
The legends of the stars and the history and the spectacular | 0:28:44 | 0:28:47 | |
things we get to see over the years, they all make an important asset | 0:28:47 | 0:28:50 | |
that we need to protect. | 0:28:50 | 0:28:55 | |
Hello, I'm Riz Lateef with your 90-second update. | 0:29:04 | 0:29:07 |