:00:04. > :00:08.Hello. Tonight we're in Cheltenham to see how budget cuts are having
:00:09. > :00:12.an impact on frontline policing. Here in Gloucestershire, most of
:00:12. > :00:22.the county's police stations are being closed down, but does it
:00:22. > :00:24.
:00:24. > :00:32.really matter? It is not ideal. We want a local police station with
:00:32. > :00:35.police officers available all day. Also tonight, how a spot of DIY
:00:35. > :00:42.could be just the thing to get former prisoners onto the straight
:00:42. > :00:46.and narroW. It is keeping us out of trouble otherwise we would be on
:00:46. > :00:56.the streets defending again. And,the long long road to London
:00:56. > :01:00.
:01:00. > :01:03.2012. We meet the Bath athlete dreaming of gold. A want people to
:01:03. > :01:06.see disability in a different way. With revealing stories from the
:01:06. > :01:10.West of EnglanD, this is Inside Out West.
:01:10. > :01:13.The thin blue line is getting thinner. As budget cuts begin to
:01:13. > :01:16.bite, our police forces are having to make some difficult decisions
:01:16. > :01:20.about how best to keep us safe. Here in Gloucestershire, they're
:01:20. > :01:26.closing most of the county's police stations. So should we be
:01:26. > :01:35.concerned? It's a police force, but not as we
:01:35. > :01:37.know it. Cuts of �800 million mean 13,000 fewer officers. But it's the
:01:37. > :01:44.threat to community policing, responsible for making our
:01:44. > :01:50.neighbourhoods so much safer, that's causing most concern.
:01:50. > :01:52.cannot and are not able to deliver the service that we used to. It's a
:01:53. > :01:59.downward spiral that makes community policing and therefore
:01:59. > :02:03.effective policing across the board more difficult to happen. This is
:02:03. > :02:06.Whaddon in Cheltenham. In a town famous for its Regency opulence,
:02:06. > :02:09.Whaddon is something of an exception - a traditional working-
:02:09. > :02:15.class community that's had its problems in the past, but more
:02:15. > :02:18.recently has enjoyed years of falling crime. That said, the
:02:18. > :02:23.current economic climate hasn't been kind to Whaddon, bringing high
:02:23. > :02:28.unemployment, particularly among young people. And with that, a
:02:28. > :02:32.return to worries about crime. At the Parklands Community Centre, I'm
:02:32. > :02:40.talking to bar manager Fred Powell. He's seen the changes in Whaddon
:02:40. > :02:43.over the last 10 years. Going back it had a very bad reputation. Went
:02:44. > :02:53.through a period of badness drugs, things like that, children running
:02:53. > :02:56.the streets. It did improve pick time, of this do when the police
:02:56. > :03:03.made more effort to patrol the areas. For years, Whaddon has
:03:03. > :03:08.benefitted from an emphasis on community policing. Gloucestershire
:03:08. > :03:13.was one of the forces that kept its police stations open. There was a
:03:13. > :03:18.lot of operational pressure nastily to close police stations but
:03:18. > :03:22.Gloucestershire, over the decades, has committed itself to local,
:03:22. > :03:29.community-based policing. It has far more community stations than
:03:29. > :03:32.anywhere else. The settlement will seek a fall of 4% each year...
:03:32. > :03:34.spending cuts announced in November 2010 left most police forces facing
:03:34. > :03:38.total cuts of 20%. For Gloucestershire, that meant finding
:03:38. > :03:42.savings of �18 million. And so the force set about a swift programme
:03:42. > :03:46.of police station closures. So far, 17 of the county's 29 police
:03:46. > :03:51.stations have been shut down. And last week, the closure of another
:03:51. > :03:54.three was announced. Whaddon police station closed last July. The
:03:54. > :03:59.patrolling officers would now be based at another station on the
:03:59. > :04:09.other side of town, four miles away. It wasn't long before concerns in
:04:09. > :04:10.
:04:10. > :04:14.the community began to surface. There has been some minor increase
:04:14. > :04:20.in the anti-social behaviour within this community and concerns that
:04:20. > :04:27.because there are not police officers being seen on patrol, that
:04:27. > :04:30.that growth in anti-social behaviour may continue to develop.
:04:30. > :04:36.Police figures also show an increase in burglary in Whaddon for
:04:36. > :04:41.the period immediately following the station closure. We are feeling
:04:41. > :04:45.that we are being pushed to one side, I suppose, with the police
:04:45. > :04:49.officers being based somewhere else and not in our community. It feels
:04:49. > :04:53.as though we are being sidelined. In the rural town of Newent, on the
:04:53. > :04:57.edge of the Forest of Dean, there's half the level of crime they have
:04:57. > :05:04.in Whaddon. Still, the news they were to lose their police station
:05:04. > :05:09.was no less of a concern. I think aghast would be the best way of
:05:09. > :05:14.putting it. They were very upset. To think our police station was
:05:14. > :05:19.closing was a mighty shock to all. We were concerned to know what was
:05:19. > :05:29.going to happen to our officers and how would I our town be policed.
:05:29. > :05:34.The solution was one that the whole community helped to come up with. A
:05:34. > :05:38.lockable room in the library that local people can use to meet the
:05:39. > :05:42.police. Just because we do not have the traditional station does not
:05:42. > :05:46.mean our commitment to policing is any less. We think this will help
:05:46. > :05:56.with content because lots of people come into his busy library and they
:05:56. > :05:56.
:05:56. > :06:00.now have opportunity to see the police point and have conversations
:06:00. > :06:04.with the officers. Even without its station, Newent is promised regular
:06:04. > :06:09.foot patrols, even if they do to drive in from the nearest station
:06:09. > :06:13.14 miles away. And the town council has put up the money for a brand
:06:13. > :06:16.new state-of-the-art CCTV network, which the police are plugged into.
:06:16. > :06:25.Not enough, says the organisation which supports police officers in
:06:25. > :06:30.Gloucestershire. It is not ideal. The chief constable under police
:06:30. > :06:34.officers and I'm sure the community want a local police station with
:06:34. > :06:37.police officers there. If it is second best. But the chief
:06:37. > :06:40.constable and the service to not have a choice because of the
:06:40. > :06:43.government cutbacks. Of even more concern to the Police Federation
:06:43. > :06:47.are the cuts to police numbers. Across the region, Wiltshire is
:06:47. > :06:51.losing 125 officers. In Dorset, 169 have already gone and there could
:06:51. > :06:56.be more. Avon & Somerset will lose an estimated 400 police officers.
:06:56. > :07:04.While in Gloucestershire 200 police officers' posts will go. Nearly a
:07:04. > :07:09.sixth of the force. It will be impossible to deliver what we used
:07:09. > :07:13.to deliver. You do think it is impossible? How can we deliver the
:07:13. > :07:17.same amount of service with that number of officers being taken
:07:17. > :07:21.away? With fewer officers on the ground, new tactics are being
:07:21. > :07:31.sought to ease the strain. One technique, known as "surge", was
:07:31. > :07:35.
:07:35. > :07:40.employed during the riots in Bristol last year. There's a lot of
:07:40. > :07:46.talk about introducing surge tactics National. This is about
:07:46. > :07:50.flooding officers if there is an extreme problem in an area. Surge
:07:50. > :07:54.brings intense concentration for a short period of time. After it has
:07:54. > :07:59.all gone away, it is down to local police sink to ensure that the
:07:59. > :08:02.ground that is taking is literally held for the future. Back in
:08:02. > :08:08.Whaddon, six months on from their community police station closing,
:08:08. > :08:12.worries about street crime won't go away.
:08:12. > :08:14.I report something, and I say it is happening here and now... At a
:08:14. > :08:22.neighbourhood residents meeting, three Police Community Support
:08:22. > :08:26.Officers are being given a polite grilling by locals. I was quite
:08:26. > :08:30.concerned in the autumn when there was quite a bit more anti-social
:08:30. > :08:37.behaviour finding its way in. We did not know to what extent that
:08:37. > :08:44.was not having the police station. There is also discussion about
:08:44. > :08:48.finding a new permanent base for the police in Whaddon. Without the
:08:48. > :08:54.police being here permanently, you might not expect to see something
:08:54. > :08:58.in the first year but it there is a slow drift back to what there was
:08:59. > :09:02.in previous times, that is a reason for concern. Talk to any police
:09:02. > :09:05.officer and they'll tell you it's impossible for the sort of cuts
:09:06. > :09:09.they're being forced to endure not to have an impact. What's happened,
:09:09. > :09:17.of course, is that the community have stepped in to help k. Whether
:09:17. > :09:21.that is enough in the long term is the real burning issue now. We have
:09:21. > :09:26.to take �80 million out of our budget every former killers, which
:09:26. > :09:31.is issued in May to money. For us to maintain unity challenging while
:09:31. > :09:36.doing that is a challenge, but we are confident we can do it. Cracks
:09:36. > :09:40.are starting to appear. Within the last few weeks, an unprecedented
:09:40. > :09:45.open letter written on behalf of senior police officers in
:09:45. > :09:49.Gloucester should beg to be spared any further cuts. Paying a police
:09:49. > :09:53.force to keep our streets safe is an expensive business, and does the
:09:53. > :09:56.cuts continue to bite, the job of protecting us will not get any
:09:56. > :10:02.easier. And if there's something you'd like
:10:02. > :10:05.us to investigate, then why not drop me an e-mail.
:10:05. > :10:15.Later in the programme, turning silver into gold - how London's
:10:15. > :10:21.
:10:21. > :10:25.Next we're heading to Bristol for a kind of DIY SOS with a twist. On
:10:25. > :10:29.this one, the guys doing the hard work are former prisoners. It's all
:10:29. > :10:38.part of an innovative scheme to try to make sure that none of them
:10:38. > :10:43.return to crime. This is a house that needs a lot of
:10:43. > :10:53.care and rehabilitation. There are not many houses were you can pick
:10:53. > :10:58.
:10:58. > :11:03.blackberries out of the first-floor window. When you are faced with a
:11:03. > :11:07.job this big, it is probably time to get some blokes in. This is the
:11:07. > :11:15.first time these blokes have met, but they have one thing in common.
:11:15. > :11:21.They are all ex-offenders. initial observations? You are all
:11:21. > :11:28.speechless! I was unemployed for a year. If you have a criminal record,
:11:28. > :11:32.they are not going to give you a job. This is probably the best sort
:11:32. > :11:37.of job for me. These guys are very keen, very enthusiastic, they are
:11:37. > :11:41.looking for a second chance in life. I'm hoping to fulfil that ambition
:11:41. > :11:45.for them. They had been brought together to clear out and renovate
:11:45. > :11:49.the house in order to sell it at a profit, but there is a tight
:11:49. > :11:52.schedule. The housing market is not as strong as it used to be so the
:11:52. > :11:56.longer that they take getting this place spruced-up and back on the
:11:56. > :12:06.market, the more of the profit will be eaten up. Time is very much
:12:06. > :12:12.
:12:12. > :12:20.against them. The house was bought by a Bristol Together, a new
:12:20. > :12:25.charity with the unique approach to restoration and rehabilitation. The
:12:25. > :12:27.idea is to create employment for people with an X offending
:12:27. > :12:33.background or long-term unemployment to give them
:12:33. > :12:37.sustainable employment opportunities. It is quite a job in
:12:37. > :12:42.this one, as you will have noticed. We then sell the properties back on
:12:42. > :12:47.and recycle the money, so we are able to offer guaranteed employment
:12:47. > :12:51.for people who would otherwise find it difficult to axe s work. This is
:12:51. > :12:56.the first group at the charity has taken on. Some already have
:12:56. > :13:00.building skills and others are learning on the job. Alan is in
:13:00. > :13:05.charge of helping them transformed his house into a desirable and
:13:05. > :13:09.profitable family home. To be honest, if I had not been told they
:13:09. > :13:13.were ex-offenders, I would not know. They seemed a good bunch of lads,
:13:13. > :13:17.they get on well together. It is early days but early thoughts are
:13:17. > :13:24.that they are a good team and I think they're going to do
:13:24. > :13:29.themselves proud. The workforce has recruited through the Probation
:13:29. > :13:39.Service via eight not-for-profit company which trains ex-offenders
:13:39. > :13:42.
:13:42. > :13:47.The site manager we have got working alongside them is multi-
:13:47. > :13:52.trade qualified. He will bring them through, drain them on placement.
:13:52. > :13:58.They will do everything from cleaning up rubbish, painting walls,
:13:58. > :14:01.replacing windows and everything that needs to be done. Last year at
:14:01. > :14:11.youth unemployment hit the one million mark. For anyone with a
:14:11. > :14:11.
:14:12. > :14:16.criminal record it is very hard to get a job. We would not be earning
:14:16. > :14:20.any money and we would probably end up the offending just to get money.
:14:20. > :14:29.It keeps us out of trouble I suppose. Other than that we would
:14:29. > :14:35.just be on the streets and end up the offending again. Some people
:14:35. > :14:44.just want to do their time and come out. Well in prison everything is
:14:44. > :14:50.free, isn't it? But I would personally not want to spend my
:14:50. > :14:57.life there. Having you freedom is something I actually do enjoy now.
:14:57. > :15:01.It is weird. One month in and the renovation is well under way
:15:01. > :15:06.revealing the full scale of the challenge facing them. It is an old
:15:06. > :15:11.house and it obviously has got some subsidence, there is movement in
:15:11. > :15:16.the property. The cooking area in the kitchen is very small, it is
:15:16. > :15:26.very cluttered and the wallpaper damaged. This is what we have got
:15:26. > :15:27.
:15:27. > :15:32.to resort to. However, we are very optimistic. Certainly, if it is
:15:33. > :15:38.left to the team, these boys, I am sure they will do everything in
:15:38. > :15:42.their power to ensure it is finished on time. Despite this
:15:42. > :15:46.first project running a little behind schedule the charity has
:15:47. > :15:52.already invested in a second property but should ex offenders be
:15:52. > :15:59.given jobs when the Iran already so many people out of work? Some say
:15:59. > :16:07.we should not be given this chance but we all have to start somewhere.
:16:07. > :16:12.To get us back into work. It helps you get a scale. With the offending
:16:12. > :16:17.rates running as high as 68 % here in the West the probation service
:16:17. > :16:22.fully supports this charity. Is it possible to put a figure on the
:16:22. > :16:27.cost of the offending? I think there is not a cost, there is there
:16:27. > :16:31.real cost to the community and the fat you are having victims of crime,
:16:31. > :16:36.you have also got the criminal justice system, people being
:16:36. > :16:40.arrested and put before the courts, then you have the prison service
:16:40. > :16:46.and probation service. When somebody the Defence and goes
:16:46. > :16:51.through the system it is extremely costly to the taxpayer. It is the
:16:51. > :16:56.end of November and the house is still no where near completed.
:16:56. > :17:01.have a couple of days to do these nagging. I am very confident it
:17:02. > :17:09.will be done in time. Having said that, we are still awaiting the
:17:09. > :17:15.final preparations about what has to be done outside. So long as we
:17:15. > :17:20.can get to Christmas, that is where we are. The question is, have they
:17:20. > :17:25.been too ambitious? When I first came here this place was looking
:17:25. > :17:31.pretty derelict, now, three months on, have they done enough to make
:17:31. > :17:37.somebody want it as their own family home? Let's have a look. New
:17:37. > :17:44.windows. New garden. No picking blackberries out of the upstairs
:17:44. > :17:49.windows any more, that is probably a good thing! The way this charity
:17:49. > :17:59.is funded means there must be a prophet in every property they put
:17:59. > :18:04.on the market. This one was bought for �250,000. What would you
:18:04. > :18:12.consider putting it on the market for? I would say for a house of
:18:12. > :18:17.this type and dislocation we would be looking in the region of 325 to
:18:17. > :18:26.340,000. That sounds pretty good. It is a testament to the work they
:18:26. > :18:31.have done. It is fantastic. We are looking at a modest profit which is
:18:31. > :18:36.the aim. We want to be able to recycle capital to do it all over
:18:36. > :18:41.again. We will make a profit but it is less than we were hoping for at
:18:41. > :18:45.the start. It is very hard to properly invest in these guys and
:18:45. > :18:50.give then be experience they deserve on the job and yet also
:18:50. > :18:57.make enough money to reinvest in the next boys. It is a challenge.
:18:57. > :19:00.But if it was not hard, it would not be worth doing. Did you feel
:19:00. > :19:06.before you embark on this project that it was a struggle for somebody
:19:06. > :19:13.with a record to try to get their life going? Yes, people just look
:19:13. > :19:21.at you and do not give you a chance. If this helps them see that people
:19:21. > :19:26.like us are nice people and can change. Hopefully it will be easier
:19:26. > :19:34.to find work. Do you think this is a huge improvement on being on
:19:34. > :19:42.benefits? Definitely. It is hard but I would rather be Xantia doing
:19:42. > :19:49.work than being inside. All the boys are guaranteed an interview
:19:49. > :19:53.with a building company which could lead to a permanent job. I cannot
:19:54. > :19:58.believe how far we have come within such a short period of time. I
:19:58. > :20:08.would like to say thank you for all your efforts, for your honesty and
:20:08. > :20:12.
:20:12. > :20:15.for doing a good job. ALL: Cheers. In our final film tonight, we are
:20:15. > :20:18.meeting an athlete from Bath who has had more of a challenge than
:20:19. > :20:21.most. Ben Rushgrove has already won a silver medal at the Beijing
:20:21. > :20:28.Paralympics and this year, in London, he is after the gold.
:20:28. > :20:32.Alistair Durden has been to meet him. In Sport and in life really
:20:32. > :20:35.it's about being the best that you can be. I want people to see
:20:35. > :20:38.disability in a different way. That is slowly being achieved through
:20:38. > :20:41.examples that I am setting and that other people are setting in British
:20:41. > :20:45.sport at the moment. Paralympian, public speaker and now even a movie
:20:45. > :20:55.star on the silver screen. Since winning his medal in Beijing, Ben
:20:55. > :21:04.Rushgrove has become more than just An independent film-maker has spent
:21:04. > :21:08.the last three years following Ben. Tonight, his movie is getting its
:21:08. > :21:18.premier. It's quite a personal film if that makes sense. A lot of
:21:18. > :21:18.
:21:18. > :21:22.people don't know this side of me at all. All the know is the kind of
:21:23. > :21:31.hard core athlete mentality who would stop at nothing to win. I
:21:31. > :21:35.think this is going to be a real eye opener. Ben's friends and
:21:35. > :21:45.family are gathering in his home city of Bath. As we head up to meet
:21:45. > :21:50.him there is a chance to ask him what he hopes the film will say.
:21:50. > :21:56.want people to go away from this film feeling up lifted and inspired
:21:56. > :22:06.by it. I want them to get a real sense that disability support is
:22:06. > :22:09.
:22:09. > :22:14.moving on in a big way. He has a massive personality. He is a guy
:22:14. > :22:20.with a real mission. I discovered he had this great story to tell,
:22:20. > :22:30.you only have to be with them a short while to see that he has the
:22:30. > :22:35.
:22:35. > :22:39.kind of personality and audience would go for. I want to say thanks
:22:40. > :22:43.for turning up. Obviously you are going to see a lot of me in this
:22:43. > :22:45.film and I just hope that you enjoy it. Ben's story is compelling
:22:45. > :22:48.subject matter. Born with cerebral palsy and virtually deaf, his
:22:48. > :22:51.childhood was a challenge. A move to a special boarding school
:22:51. > :22:56.transformed his education and unearthed his hidden talent.
:22:56. > :22:59.would run everywhere. There was once I asked him to got to collect
:22:59. > :23:04.something from the laundry, it was right at the other side up this big
:23:04. > :23:14.school, when he went. I thought, I will ring them up to tell them he
:23:14. > :23:18.is on the way, but by the time I picked up the phone, he was there.
:23:18. > :23:23.One question remains for him, what made him stand out? We reunited Ben
:23:23. > :23:33.with the talent scout who spotted him 10 years ago. How did you
:23:33. > :23:36.
:23:37. > :23:46.choose me over all other people? is about attitude and spirit.
:23:46. > :23:51.Qualities other than purely athletic qualities. Ability to work,
:23:51. > :23:56.application, coach ability. In your case and probably it was the
:23:56. > :24:01.outstanding characteristic that you had, you were not content with
:24:01. > :24:11.anything but being at the front and winning. It was that determination
:24:11. > :24:12.
:24:12. > :24:16.and the wholeheartedness with which you threw yourself into the process.
:24:16. > :24:22.If you did not know Ben you would not know he was disabled, a lot of
:24:22. > :24:30.the time you would not know he is an athlete really but for 10
:24:30. > :24:38.seconds of the year or whatever he makes magic happen. Beijing was the
:24:38. > :24:42.first time I really sob Ben run and that was my brother on the same
:24:42. > :24:49.track that Usain Bolt had gone down and he had the opportunity to do
:24:49. > :24:57.that. That was pretty special. about the silver medal? The prize
:24:57. > :25:02.possession? It sits here just above the television. You had a broken
:25:02. > :25:07.foot, it seems ridiculous to run a race with a broken foot. I would
:25:07. > :25:12.not recommend it to anybody but having said that I would not change
:25:12. > :25:17.it for the world. The way I saw it was that I had one opportunity and
:25:17. > :25:21.had to make the most of it. I had to take that opportunity because
:25:21. > :25:26.you just never know if you are going to get anything like that
:25:26. > :25:36.again. Except he will this year with the potential to better
:25:36. > :25:37.
:25:37. > :25:41.Beijing. Then we'll win more land one medal at the London Olympics. -
:25:41. > :25:51.- more than one. I will not tell you what colours they will be but
:25:51. > :25:53.
:25:53. > :25:58.he will when a more than one medal at the Paralympics in London.
:25:58. > :26:03.Secretly this is my little hobby on the side. I am really looking
:26:03. > :26:09.forward to talking to this good bunch of kids today and hopefully
:26:09. > :26:14.it will be really engaging for them and for me. Paralympian is have the
:26:14. > :26:19.power to inspire young people even more than Olympians because of
:26:20. > :26:24.where they have got to and what they have gone through. Ben is an
:26:24. > :26:28.absolute delight, to hear him talking about his training and
:26:28. > :26:33.lifestyle, to the students, his disability becomes a material. It
:26:33. > :26:38.is just about the person and what he has been through to get where he
:26:38. > :26:46.has. How have you ever had anyone who has inspired you to do what you
:26:46. > :26:52.do? I am driven by an idea rather than a person. The idea is that I
:26:52. > :26:59.want to get to a point where society accepts this ability in the
:26:59. > :27:08.same way that they accept ability, if that makes sense. Sport gives me
:27:08. > :27:13.as a platform to do that from. heard his idea about how he once
:27:13. > :27:19.paralympian has to be seen the same as able-bodied athletes. That is
:27:19. > :27:24.quite inspiring to hear him talk about that and the passion.
:27:24. > :27:34.Movie Premiere has been a success. I am feeling detention like you
:27:34. > :27:37.
:27:37. > :27:42.guys are. -- feeling the tension. His message has been a powerful one.
:27:42. > :27:49.I had to wipe away a tear from my life. I hope no one saw that. As a
:27:49. > :27:55.parent it is amazing to hear your child talking like that. He will go
:27:55. > :28:01.on in life to achieve whatever he puts his mind to. I saw these
:28:01. > :28:06.people with a little peer in their eye. It touched every emotion. It
:28:06. > :28:12.is a really strong basis to come from when you have been watching
:28:12. > :28:22.this film. This star of the silver screen might also end up with gold
:28:22. > :28:26.
:28:26. > :28:29.this year. Fingers crossed for Ben over the coming months. And we'll
:28:29. > :28:32.all be rooting for him in London. Well, that's just about it for
:28:32. > :28:35.tonight but you can keep in touch with what we're up to off on
:28:35. > :28:37.Twitter and Facebook. Next week, I'm investigating an increase in
:28:37. > :28:40.scrap-metal thefts. And after the crisis about faulty breast implants,
:28:40. > :28:45.we meet some local women making the difficult decision whether or not