:00:03. > :00:06.Hello, welcome to Inside Out. This week, we have come to Leamington
:00:06. > :00:12.Spa to bring you three surprising stories from right across the West
:00:12. > :00:18.Midlands. On the programme tonight: We go undercover to find out about
:00:18. > :00:22.the company deceiving the old and the vulnerable. Mr Gebbett. It is
:00:22. > :00:28.John Cuttell from BBC Inside Out. Can I ask you why your company
:00:28. > :00:31.continues to cash cheques of vulnerable people?
:00:31. > :00:39.Also on the show, the sickening attacks on the best of man's best
:00:39. > :00:44.friends. He just locked on to Scrumpy under his neck. I could not
:00:44. > :00:48.see properly to see what was going on. I did know that the dog had
:00:48. > :00:54.locked on. And in our final story, can the
:00:54. > :00:56.Olympic and Paralympic dream become a reality here in the Midlands?
:00:56. > :00:59.would be disastrous if the funding was suddenly stopped because we
:00:59. > :01:05.couldn't win, because that isn't what the national spirit is all
:01:05. > :01:15.about. That's all coming up on tonight's Inside Out with me, Mary
:01:15. > :01:22.
:01:22. > :01:25.First tonight, they are promised prizes that never materialise and
:01:25. > :01:31.when they write to ask for help, their letters are thrown away
:01:31. > :01:33.unread. John Cuttell goes undercover to find out more about
:01:33. > :01:41.the company deceiving elderly and vulnerable people across the
:01:41. > :01:48.Earlier this year, 84-year-old Margaret from Stoke on Trent
:01:48. > :01:55.thought all her dreams had come true. The leaflet was through my
:01:55. > :01:58.door and I looked at it. You made a purchase, you chose your goods.
:01:58. > :02:04.They were then promising that you were going to get this wonderful
:02:04. > :02:10.gift which would be 30,000 to 40,000. What an amount for a senior
:02:10. > :02:15.citizen. She wants us to disguise her identity and we have changed
:02:15. > :02:20.her name to protect her from more targeting. She bought �500 worth of
:02:20. > :02:24.beauty products on the promise that the prize money would follow.
:02:24. > :02:29.a large amount of money for a senior citizen. There was no way
:02:29. > :02:35.that you were going to get that money back. You have a loss that
:02:35. > :02:39.you can't afford. Margaret wrote to the address in Hampshire asking
:02:39. > :02:47.when her cheque would arrive and never got a reply. Just more post
:02:47. > :02:49.requesting more orders and promising prizes. We have uncovered
:02:49. > :02:51.evidence showing while cheques are cashed, letters from confused
:02:51. > :02:58.pensioners asking them what has happened to their promised prizes
:02:58. > :03:02.are thrown away unread. People from all over the country have fallen
:03:02. > :03:09.for this, and in every case, it can be traced back to one address, the
:03:09. > :03:14.UK nerve centre for a huge mail- order scam, Emery Ltd in Hampshire.
:03:14. > :03:17.They are clearly not reading their letters, time to give them a voice.
:03:17. > :03:24."Dear friends, I enclose my order cheque and forms, hope you can read
:03:24. > :03:28.my order because I am 90 years old last June. I'm in a wheelchair,
:03:28. > :03:33.can't walk, had a two heart attacks, and a diabetic and got angina. Very
:03:33. > :03:36.lonely now." Our loud hailer is going down a storm. Neighbouring
:03:36. > :03:44.businesses come out to listen to the letters from confused customers
:03:44. > :03:47.which is more that can be said for the company that throws them away.
:03:47. > :03:50.One employee whose job it was to bin the customers' letters, was so
:03:50. > :03:59.appalled in the part of a UK business plays in this deception,
:03:59. > :04:02.is she went undercover to show what happens. The mail handling company
:04:02. > :04:12.works for a Frenchman who runs a number of businesses in Europe,
:04:12. > :04:15.
:04:15. > :04:19.promising prices in return for I started working there and opening
:04:19. > :04:23.these letters and thinking, wow, several people have won. It had me
:04:23. > :04:27.convinced. The more I opened, I thought, this cannot be right. Not
:04:27. > :04:35.everyone can be a winner. The letters that people write in are
:04:35. > :04:40.quite sad. People sort of confused, generally asking about the prize,
:04:40. > :04:50.why haven't they got it yet. A lot of people said they would need the
:04:50. > :04:52.money and asking about it. All these I have to throw away. This is
:04:53. > :05:02.Jessica Look, a victim of the trickery facilitated by Emery in
:05:02. > :05:05.Romsey. A sticker here if you have been selected to receive one.
:05:05. > :05:09.has since passed away but her daughter, Marilyn Baldwin, has run
:05:09. > :05:15.a campaign from the Midlands to try and end mail-order scams. Together,
:05:15. > :05:19.we looked at just a handful of letters. Dear friends, I enclose my
:05:19. > :05:24.order cheque and forms, I hope you can read my order. I do not see
:05:24. > :05:31.anyone as I am at the end of the lane. I look forward to getting the
:05:31. > :05:36.cheque from you. I will buy a little dog... And pay for some
:05:36. > :05:45.treatment to help me walk so I can use my left arm. I just keep my
:05:45. > :05:52.fingers crossed, yours sincerely. Isn't that terrible? That is awful,
:05:53. > :06:00.isn't it? How can they do it? Here is just some of the mail that my
:06:00. > :06:03.mother has been receiving. Marilyn has spoken to thousands of victims,
:06:03. > :06:10.who, like her mother, truly believe they have been singled out to win a
:06:10. > :06:14.cash prize. In their mind, there is still this chance that it is going
:06:14. > :06:19.to come so if you pull out, it is definitely not going to come so you
:06:19. > :06:22.have to go along with it. The bait of the carrots that they use, like
:06:22. > :06:25.the phone calls, the more the letters come, they are exciting,
:06:25. > :06:28.suddenly you are special, you are important, somebody has sat at a
:06:28. > :06:35.typewriter they think, writing these letters. They do not
:06:35. > :06:39.understand mass-marketing. Time to go and see some of the people
:06:39. > :06:42.behind this very nasty business. Many of the mail-order companies
:06:42. > :06:46.are owned by the same person, a wealthy Frenchman who needs a UK-
:06:46. > :06:51.based postal address in order to operate. This is where Emery comes
:06:51. > :06:55.in, based in Romsey in Hampshire and owned by Nick and David Gebbett.
:06:55. > :06:59.You might know David if you are a member of the Royal Southampton
:06:59. > :07:05.Yacht Club or the Royal Southern Yacht Club, based in Hamble. He is
:07:05. > :07:10.a very keen sailor. He has a yacht over there and he lives in the
:07:10. > :07:14.spitting distance of this marina. That is when he is not swanning
:07:14. > :07:18.around New Zealand for six months a year. His son, Nick Gebbett lives
:07:18. > :07:23.in Norfolk. He is into skiing and also tweeting. His latest tweet is
:07:23. > :07:27.a bit dull, something about taking a cat to the vet. But nothing about
:07:27. > :07:31.running a company involved in a mass marketing scam. While the
:07:31. > :07:36.customers may be left all at sea, the Gebbetts appear to be riding
:07:36. > :07:40.high on a wave of success. Here is dad David who often pops in for a
:07:40. > :07:48.chat at the company and his son, Nick, who appears to be in charge.
:07:48. > :07:51.He keeps a much lower profile. It is not the best photo. While they
:07:51. > :07:55.throw away most letters they receive, Nick Gebbett did read the
:07:55. > :08:01.one we sent him. He replied they would only answer our questions,
:08:01. > :08:05.with a statement if we used it in full and unedited. Obviously, we
:08:05. > :08:09.want to hear their side of the story but cannot go giving promises
:08:09. > :08:13.like that to anyone. I still needed to know why they think it is OK to
:08:13. > :08:16.do the dirty work for a French scammer and what were the chances
:08:16. > :08:24.of that, I managed to bump into David Gebbett at his waterside home.
:08:24. > :08:29.Mr Gebbett? Yes. It is John Cuttell from BBC Inside Out. Can I ask why
:08:29. > :08:34.your company continues to cash cheques of vulnerable people? You
:08:34. > :08:38.know what is going on. I cannot answer any questions. We have sent
:08:38. > :08:40.a statement to go and that is all there is to it. Your staff have
:08:40. > :08:45.been instructed to shred their letters. That is not very good
:08:45. > :08:48.customer service. I cannot comment on that. Why do you continue to
:08:48. > :08:55.have dealings with the company that is ripping these people off?
:08:55. > :08:58.can't comment on that. Sorry. I have to go. What do you say to
:08:58. > :09:04.these people who are taken for a ride by this company. You can stop
:09:04. > :09:09.it happening. Your company can stop it happening. If we did, some other
:09:09. > :09:15.company would do it. But that doesn't make it right. You have
:09:15. > :09:22.nothing to say to these people at all? Surely you owe them something,
:09:22. > :09:28.Mr Gebbett. There we go. His reply, no comment but if they didn't do it,
:09:28. > :09:33.someone else would. Does that make it right?
:09:33. > :09:38."Thank you for exciting news of a large cheque win..." The National
:09:38. > :09:41.Fraud Intelligence Bureau has asked to see our evidence. They say they
:09:41. > :09:46.are keen to take action against any companies which operate to deceive
:09:46. > :09:50.members of the public. My message to companies working as a third
:09:50. > :09:54.party to a criminal enterprise, is yes, you're on borrowed time. My
:09:54. > :09:57.job is to close in as quickly as we can to stop you operating, to bring
:09:57. > :10:07.you to justice and to make sure you are seen as part of that criminal
:10:07. > :10:10.
:10:10. > :10:14.conspiracy. "As my number was the winning number, I am hoping you
:10:14. > :10:20.mean to pay me. At this moment in time, I am living on just that,
:10:20. > :10:26.hope." I think our work here is done, I think we have truly given
:10:26. > :10:30.them a voice. You are watching Inside Out for the
:10:30. > :10:34.West Midlands. Don't forget, you can let us know your thoughts about
:10:34. > :10:39.any of tonight's films on our Facebook page. That is
:10:39. > :10:46.Facebook.com/bbcinsideout. Or you can drop a an email to
:10:46. > :10:51.Mary.rhodes@bbc.co.uk. I would love to hear from you.
:10:51. > :10:56.Did you know more than 4,500 guide dogs are working in the UK? Many of
:10:56. > :11:01.them are trained here in Leamington Spa. But attacks on guide dogs are
:11:01. > :11:05.on the increase. Eight a month are being targeted by other dogs. We
:11:05. > :11:15.sent Phil Upton to find out why. Just a warning, this film does
:11:15. > :11:15.
:11:15. > :11:18.contain some disturbing images. Richard Wise and his guide dog
:11:18. > :11:22.Scrumpy were paying a routine visit to their local post office in
:11:22. > :11:30.Coventry. It was a journey they have made many times. They were not
:11:30. > :11:35.prepared for what was about to happen. Get that dog off!
:11:35. > :11:40.It just locked on to Scrumpy, under his neck. It seemed an eternity, it
:11:40. > :11:44.seemed he was locked on for an eternity. The stress that was
:11:44. > :11:49.causing me was considerable. Obviously, Scrumpy was under a lot
:11:49. > :11:55.of stress as well. I could not see properly to see what was going on
:11:55. > :12:01.but I did know that the dog had locked on. These attacks are taking
:12:01. > :12:05.place all over the country. Here, captured on CCTV, a pit bull has
:12:05. > :12:08.locked his teeth into a Labrador guide dog called Neela. In a frenzy
:12:08. > :12:13.of kicks and punches, the pit bull owner eventually apprises his dog
:12:13. > :12:18.away. In Southampton, Jemma Brown has
:12:18. > :12:24.suffered six attacks on her guide dog, Gus. The worst one happened
:12:24. > :12:30.right outside this coffee shop in the town centre. All of a sudden, I
:12:30. > :12:34.was aware that there was a dog charging towards us. I saw it quite
:12:34. > :12:38.late because I have only got a limited amount of sight. I tried to
:12:38. > :12:42.step in front it between the dog and Gus but I totally failed. It
:12:42. > :12:46.grabbed Gus by the throat. The owners of the dog could not get
:12:46. > :12:51.their dog to let go, they could not get it back under control so they
:12:51. > :12:57.started punching their dog in the head to get it to let go. They, in
:12:57. > :13:00.the process punched Gus in the head several times. They sound
:13:00. > :13:07.incredible, but the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association says since
:13:07. > :13:14.2010, there have been over 180 attacks on guide dogs. Last year
:13:14. > :13:18.alone, six dogs had to be retired because of these incidents. We know
:13:18. > :13:21.as an organisation we were absolutely shocked and appalled.
:13:21. > :13:26.How can dog owners be so irresponsible in relation to the
:13:26. > :13:32.control of their dogs? These attacks not only cause physical
:13:32. > :13:35.scarring where dogs are concerned but also a psychological scarring.
:13:35. > :13:38.Not only that, whilst our dogs are not working, the guide dogs owners
:13:38. > :13:43.cannot go out, cannot work their dogs, are not mobile, they are
:13:44. > :13:47.close to being prisoners in their own home. It costs around �50,000
:13:47. > :13:53.to train a pup like this to be a guide dog and all that investment
:13:53. > :13:59.can be lost with one single attack. Lottie is one of the casualties,
:13:59. > :14:05.now retired after an attack which changed her temperament. She became
:14:05. > :14:11.aggressive and now has to be muzzled in public. She was lost as
:14:11. > :14:18.a working dog right when she was in her prime. It has cost Guide Dogs
:14:18. > :14:20.�136,000. That is all money which has been hard earned through our
:14:20. > :14:25.fundraisers, collectors and people who have donated through their
:14:25. > :14:29.hard-earned cash. These attacks leave a deep psychological scar on
:14:29. > :14:37.both the guide dog and the owner. They live in constant fear of
:14:37. > :14:43.Whenever I go out, or go into the city centre, I am living
:14:43. > :14:51.permanently with the fear of being attacked. But the knock-on effect
:14:51. > :14:56.of that is it is affecting my mobility. Richard has recently
:14:56. > :15:03.suffered a second attack, knocking him and Scrumpy to the ground. It
:15:03. > :15:07.has left Scrumpy understandably very nervous. As you can see now,
:15:07. > :15:10.he has stopped working now because he has seen a dog. In this
:15:10. > :15:16.situation, what I would normally do, I stop, ask the person who is
:15:16. > :15:25.holding the dog, if it is on a lead. If I know it is on a lead, I work
:15:25. > :15:30.him through slowly. That allows him to get the confidence back to work
:15:30. > :15:36.into a normal routine again. That has only happened since the
:15:36. > :15:40.attacks? He has only behaved like that since the attack. When he is
:15:40. > :15:44.on the harness and sees another dog, he sees that as a threat. Every dog
:15:44. > :15:48.he sees, he thinks he is going to be attacked. We have to work
:15:48. > :15:53.through that together. Jemma Brown's dog, Gus, is recovering
:15:53. > :16:00.well but he still needs regular check-ups at the vet's. Let's have
:16:00. > :16:05.a look at the eye where he had a bite. He was treated here after one
:16:05. > :16:08.of the six attacks he has suffered. With Gus's job as a guide dog, if
:16:08. > :16:13.the wound had been deeper it could have injured the eyeball itself and
:16:13. > :16:18.that could have been a career- ending injury for him. It would
:16:18. > :16:20.have been tragic. It is thought what makes dogs like Gus so good at
:16:20. > :16:29.their job, being passive, submissive and caring, is also what
:16:29. > :16:32.makes them vulnerable to an attack. I think because he has been
:16:32. > :16:35.attacked on a number of occasions, his body language is such that he
:16:35. > :16:40.projects not being very confident around other dogs and maybe that is
:16:40. > :16:43.why they keep picking on him and attacking him. The Guide Dogs for
:16:43. > :16:46.the Blind Association is calling for an urgent change in the law to
:16:47. > :16:54.try and stop these attacks which they say are creating a climate of
:16:54. > :16:59.fear. We would like to see changes in the law to allow authorities to
:16:59. > :17:02.treat an attack on assistance dogs like an attack on a person. We
:17:02. > :17:05.would like the police to be more proactive, to press charges where
:17:05. > :17:15.dangerous dogs which are out of control attack guide dogs or
:17:15. > :17:19.
:17:19. > :17:22.assistance dogs. The police say their hands are tied. They can
:17:22. > :17:26.seize illegal fighting dogs like these held in the West Midlands at
:17:26. > :17:29.a secret kennels dubbed death-row. But attacks on guide dogs mostly
:17:29. > :17:34.fall outside the law because it is a dog on dog attack, not on the
:17:34. > :17:37.person. Only very rarely do these cases end up in court. This man
:17:37. > :17:40.filmed kicking and punching his dog was sentenced, fined and banned
:17:40. > :17:45.from owning another dog in 10 years, but only because his pit bull was
:17:45. > :17:52.one of a banned breed. Now the police are promising a crack down,
:17:53. > :17:55.using the existing law. It will not be tolerated. We will use the
:17:55. > :17:58.legislation we currently have and any further legislation to bring
:17:58. > :18:04.these people to task and ensure these people have the trust and
:18:04. > :18:07.confidence in the police. The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association
:18:07. > :18:12.would welcome more action like that, but for the moment, they are left
:18:12. > :18:16.to pick up the pieces, rehabilitating dogs like Scrumpy.
:18:16. > :18:19.Today, he and his owner Richard are being taken back to the scene of
:18:19. > :18:27.the original attack, guided by the man who helped train Scrumpy when
:18:27. > :18:33.he was a puppy. It is quite soul- destroying to see Scrumpy attacked
:18:33. > :18:36.like that. I think he will get over coming to the Post Office. I think
:18:36. > :18:39.he will be fine doing that as long as there aren't other dogs around
:18:39. > :18:43.but I think the long-term effects of Scrumpy's confidence around
:18:43. > :18:47.other dogs, will probably be for the rest of his life. He will be
:18:47. > :18:52.affected by that for the rest of his life. If there were another
:18:52. > :18:56.attack, Richard fears he might lose Scrumpy. It has been a great
:18:56. > :19:04.relationship from day one. I don't know what I do without him. It
:19:05. > :19:07.really is a great partnership. Organisers of the London Olympics
:19:08. > :19:13.and Paralympics promised the Games would turn us into a fitter nation
:19:13. > :19:16.and inspire a new wave of budding sports stars. But with memories of
:19:16. > :19:26.a golden summer fading and money tight, can we really turn this
:19:26. > :19:34.
:19:34. > :19:38.dream into a reality? Richie $$NEWLINEa grand stage. Moments of
:19:38. > :19:41.unforgettable magic. A summer when Britain was besotted by sport. The
:19:41. > :19:46.2012 Games may have been in London, but across the country, people were
:19:46. > :19:52.gripped. Here in the Midlands, we were touched by the gold dust in
:19:52. > :19:56.more ways than one. Birmingham people, we have to give you respect.
:19:56. > :20:02.They were extremely great to us. They showed us a lot of love and
:20:02. > :20:07.thank you guys, you help us to come out and do our best. Several weeks
:20:07. > :20:11.on, the dust has settled. The games have gone. And the nation has moved
:20:11. > :20:19.on. But now the big question is, what will be the legacy of London
:20:19. > :20:22.2012? Well done, that's it, good! For many sports, the impact of the
:20:22. > :20:28.Olympics has been huge. Here at the Cannock Olympia Handball Club, they
:20:28. > :20:33.have loads of new members thanks to the Games. We have 40 people here
:20:33. > :20:37.tonight and we are expecting 80 overall. And you think that is
:20:37. > :20:40.solely because of the Olympic Games? Absolutely. The requests
:20:40. > :20:44.have come from outside this area, from 15/20 miles away. People are
:20:44. > :20:48.willing to travel in to try the experience. We know once they try
:20:48. > :20:52.it, they will be hooked. I have been hooked for 38 years and still
:20:52. > :20:56.hooked. Everything may look rosy at this level, but at the top, things
:20:56. > :21:00.are not so bright. There is a chance only sports likely to get a
:21:00. > :21:03.medal in Rio in 2016, will get Government or Lottery cash. As our
:21:03. > :21:08.handball team did not win a match in London, there are concerns about
:21:08. > :21:12.the future. I'm a little bit worried about that, because at the
:21:12. > :21:17.end of the day, it does not send out the right message to the
:21:17. > :21:20.players. We have, as a nation gone from category E to category B. We
:21:20. > :21:24.are on the way. It would be disastrous if the funding was
:21:24. > :21:31.suddenly stopped because we could not win. That is not what the
:21:31. > :21:36.national spirit is all about. have warmed up. You've seen what I
:21:36. > :21:40.can do, any chance of a game? think we can take you on board and
:21:40. > :21:44.we will look after you in the game. We will deliver you there and
:21:44. > :21:51.hopefully, a podium place might be yours in 2020. Come on and we will
:21:51. > :21:54.sort you out. Let's go! But while they may be sweating on getting
:21:54. > :22:03.funding for handball, for the more successful sports it is a different
:22:03. > :22:09.story. Last time, athletics got a big share of the money. It is
:22:09. > :22:12.likely to do well in the run-up to Rio. I was lucky enough to go to
:22:12. > :22:17.the Olympic Stadium on Monday evening and watch the 400 metre
:22:17. > :22:22.final. The atmosphere there was incredible. It gives you a real
:22:22. > :22:27.hunger to go there and compete on that stage. For people like Jarryd
:22:27. > :22:31.Dunn, that could be good news. He is one young athlete with a chance
:22:31. > :22:35.of going to Brazil. But that will cost money and he needs all the
:22:35. > :22:39.help he can get. I get sponsorship from my university, Wolverhampton,
:22:39. > :22:47.I get a sports grant through them, I am on the Lloyds TSB Local Heroes
:22:47. > :22:51.programme. As for the rest of it, it is funded through my mum. Jarryd
:22:51. > :22:55.is in the mix for the government and lottery funding. �125 million a
:22:55. > :23:02.year is going to be spent on our Olympic hopefuls. It will be
:23:02. > :23:07.competitive. We are in a results orientated sport. All sports is in
:23:07. > :23:10.fact. The government wants to see success and see results. The better
:23:10. > :23:15.the athlete performs, the better Jarryd performs, the more he can
:23:15. > :23:20.expect to get some support. He has got to perform at the very best. He
:23:20. > :23:24.is striving to be the best. He would not expect anything less.
:23:24. > :23:28.This is competition at the highest level. What about the rest of us?
:23:28. > :23:35.Will we see any long-term benefit from the Olympic games? As you can
:23:35. > :23:39.see, this is the new build. That is the school. That will be the admin
:23:39. > :23:43.block and sports facilities. London 2012 promise was to inspire
:23:43. > :23:47.a generation and make us all fitter. To help, support projects like this
:23:47. > :23:51.one in Telford have received Olympic legacy cash. But council
:23:51. > :23:57.budgets are under pressure. Can they afford all the leisure
:23:57. > :24:01.services we need to get fit and healthy. The funding is here as
:24:01. > :24:05.such for the facilities. The funding for the staff that run them,
:24:05. > :24:08.yes, the court that we have been able to retain, but we have not
:24:08. > :24:13.mentioned volunteers. We have not mentioned clubs yet, who helped
:24:13. > :24:17.train you. Were they funded by the council? No. We have to build on
:24:17. > :24:20.that as well. We have to ensure the clubs have the facilities to work
:24:20. > :24:27.in but that they continue with their share of the burden, to
:24:27. > :24:32.enable the training and coaching. So that council thinks it can still
:24:32. > :24:34.do its bit for the legacy. But what about those local clubs? The Earls
:24:34. > :24:41.Gymnastics Club in Halesowen, produced an Olympic gold medallist,
:24:41. > :24:46.Kristian Thomas, and it has inspired a new generation. After
:24:46. > :24:51.the Olympics, I did get a bit of a kick start. I realised this is what
:24:51. > :24:59.I want to do, where I want to get. I'm going to the Olympics and I
:24:59. > :25:04.will make Great Britain proud. hadn't really want to do a hand
:25:04. > :25:08.spring but now I can do one quite easy. I just need to stop bending
:25:08. > :25:11.my legs. While these youngsters may be buoyant, the management is far
:25:11. > :25:17.from upbeat. The club needs to expand to generate membership cash,
:25:17. > :25:20.but it cannot afford to move. The problems specifically with us is
:25:20. > :25:26.quite a simple one, and that is that we have quite large overheads,
:25:26. > :25:31.and a limited income. That income is limited purely and simply by the
:25:31. > :25:37.fact we have limited opening times. Therefore, we cannot get those
:25:37. > :25:40.children in through the doors. our overheads continue to increase,
:25:40. > :25:49.and our revenue is limited, the problem is only going to get larger
:25:49. > :25:52.and larger over a period of time. It is a similar story across the
:25:52. > :25:58.country. A recent survey showed local sports clubs' income has
:25:58. > :26:03.fallen by 50 % since 2004. The feeling here is they may not see
:26:03. > :26:06.another Olympics unless things change. Ultimately, if things stay
:26:06. > :26:10.the same, if things don't change from this point on, the club will
:26:10. > :26:18.close. If we don't get funding for running costs in our current
:26:18. > :26:21.situation, there is not a future. The desire is there to build the
:26:21. > :26:24.legacy to local level, but not necessarily the cash. Added to this,
:26:24. > :26:27.the government has been criticised for approving the sale of playing
:26:27. > :26:33.fields, as well as making cuts to council funding and a scheme
:26:33. > :26:37.linking schools to sports clubs. Are we really going to achieve this
:26:37. > :26:40.post-Olympic dream? We asked to speak to a minister from the
:26:40. > :26:50.Department for Culture, Media and Sport, but we were told there was
:26:50. > :26:51.
:26:51. > :26:54.no one available for interview. Instead, they sent us the statement.
:26:54. > :26:57.It said: We are attempting to harness the power of the Olympics
:26:57. > :27:01.and Paralympics to create a deep and lasting legacy for sports
:27:01. > :27:03.participation in every community. It stressed it had introduced
:27:03. > :27:06.measures to encourage youth sport and competitive school sport, and
:27:06. > :27:12.only approve sales of playing fields if they were replaced or
:27:12. > :27:17.schools had closed or merged. It added: We launched the Places
:27:17. > :27:20.People Play programme. This has already seen improvements to
:27:20. > :27:27.grassroots sport. More than 1,000 local sports clubs to be improved,
:27:27. > :27:30.playing fields to be protected, and 40,000 new community sports leaders.
:27:30. > :27:33.There will be some kind of legacy from the London Games and for
:27:33. > :27:37.people like Jarryd, who are already on the road to Olympic success,
:27:37. > :27:41.that could mean the chance to really shine. But, with money tight,
:27:41. > :27:47.there is a risk some of them starting on that journey may not
:27:47. > :27:53.get the same opportunity. People talk about the legacy of 2012. You
:27:53. > :27:55.can look around you go and see the legacy of 2012 is here. It is up to
:27:55. > :28:00.other people whether they allow that legacy to be realised or
:28:00. > :28:05.snubbed out. We hopefully will have gymnasts who will represent us, not
:28:06. > :28:15.just at the next Olympic Games, but the one after that as well. We need
:28:16. > :28:18.
:28:18. > :28:27.Well, that is it for tonight. As ever, if you have got a story you
:28:27. > :28:29.think we should know about, to drop me an e-mail: Mary.rhodes@bbc.co.uk.
:28:29. > :28:36.Coming up for next week's inside out: We investigate the
:28:36. > :28:38.prescription mistakes that could cost lives. And Richie Woodhall is