03/02/2014 Inside Out West


03/02/2014

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Hello from Gloucester, where we re on the hunt for affordable homes.

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Tonight: Demand for social housing is on the rise, so why are

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developers tearing up their agreements to build more? With the

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housing market being depressed, the viability has gone down. We've had

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some sites that have gone down to no affordable housing just to get the

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site back into use. Also tonight: The clever pilot

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project helping to get Somerset s old people online. Hello Jean. At

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first I thought, I will never too it and now I'm glad I tried.

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And? taking to the sky with Europe's first ever disabled balloon pilot.

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There is no reason why disabled people shouldn't be able to fly

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balloons. Once you are in the air, there is no distinction.

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I'm Alastair McKee and this is Inside Out West.

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First tonight, recent reports that house prices are creeping up again

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might be good news to some people. But if you're looking for an

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affordable home, whether to rent or buy, things just keep getting

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tougher. Now, to make matters worse, we've discovered house builders and

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councils across the West ripping up commitments to build cheaper homes.

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As the after ram cost of a home rose by more than 8% in 2013... The Bank

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of England is being urged to limit the average increase in house

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prices... Prices across the country are 3. 8% higher than they were a

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year ago... House prices are going up again in the West, but they are

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already 11 times the average salary here, meaning the hope of one day

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owning your own home remains for many people just a dream. If you

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can't buy, your only option is to rent, but rents are going up too. In

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fact private sector rents in the West are expected to rise by 62 in

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the next decade. For some people the only option is affordable housing.

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That's accommodation which is sold or rented below the market value,

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but not enough of this type of housing is being built to satisfy

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demand. Local authorities have traditionally use Section 106 of the

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planning laws to try and make developers build more. Take this new

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development in yejly in Gloucestershire. The `` Quedgely in

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Gloucestershire. The council made developers sign a legal commitment

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to make 30% of what they build here affordable. It is something all our

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councils have been doing for decades as a way of tackling homelessness.

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But we've discovered house builders and councils across the West are

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tearing up these Section 106 agreements and failing to comply

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with their affordable housing targets. There was a time when the

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Government was firmly committed to building social housing. The first

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two people's houses are ready for the Minister of housing, Harold

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Macmillan, to view with the architect. Tens of thousands were

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constructed in the '40s to house a population devastated by two world

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wars. By the 1970s a third of Britain's population lived in

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council properties like these. But in the '`80s under the Thatcher

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Government's right to buy scheme, local authorities were forced to

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sell off much of this housing stock, which was not replaced. Successive

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Governments have since failed to build enough social housing to plug

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the gap. I've come to Higbridge in Somerset to meet a family who are

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suffering as a result. Hello little guy, what's your name? It is Oscar.

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How old is little Oscar then? He's eight months today. Eight months

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today! How many others have you got? I've got two more ` Leah, who is

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two, and Charlie who is five. The Hectors are squeezed into this

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two`bedroom council flat. Fiona and Ken both work but can't afford to

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buy or rent a home on the open market. This looks like your room,

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but there's another bed there, that looks like Leah's bed. How do you

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find sharing with your little girl? It is not nice. She really needs to

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be in her own bedroom. We make do with what we've got. You don't get

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much sleep? No. No. And you need your sleep when you are a family, a

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big family. That's pretty tough isn't it? Two beds and a cot in here

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and cupboards and things. There is no room. I suppose if the bed wasn't

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there, it would be the perfect space to have extra storage or at least a

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bedside table or room to get dressed or something. They've been stuck on

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a waiting list for a more suitable property for a year now. I can see

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that cocompromise you are struggling with `` to compromise you are

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struggling with space. What impact does it have on you? Particularly

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you two? It is difficult. I'm not here most of the time. We have our

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ups and downs, especially as it took two`and`a`half years to get this

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one. It is difficult to settle on it being a sense that it is your home,

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you want your home to be for keeps don't you? What's the point of

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putting my energy into ago that this a home and then fork out to have to

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do it again. I think Charlie might be ready for his tea. Are you

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hungry? In 2011, the number of families in the South West on social

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housing waiting lists rose by a quarter to nearly 200,000. Bye? . It

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was the largest increase in the country. The Housing Federation

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represents the UK's housing associations. It is concerned about

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the scale of the problem. Everybody now knows somebody, those really

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struggling with the cost of housing had, whether they are a family who

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are living in private rented accommodation and want to save for a

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mortgage, whether they are on a council housing waiting list and are

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never going to get to the top of that list, or whether they are in an

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unsuitable property. This issue with affordable housing is right the way

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across the board and cuts across the social classes. So, affordable

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housing is everyone's problems, not just families like the Hectors. It

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has been left to our local authorities to encourage private

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developers to build them. As guardians of the planning laws,

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councils were able to use Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning

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Act to do this. It is obliged developers building 15 or more

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properties on a site to make a percentage of them affordable,

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according to local needs. Mr Secretary Pickles... But in 201 ,

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the Government changed the rules, relaxing these constraints. We'll

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make it easier for developers to change unrealistic Section 106

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agreements negotiated at the height of Labour's unsustainable economic

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boom. The changes were divined to northern regeneration, but `` to

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encourage regeneration, but critics say they provide a loophole for

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developers. This part of Gloucester senior badly in need of some of that

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regeneration, burr with 5,000 people on the council housing waiting list

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there's also an urgent need for affordable homes. This is the

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boundary wall of what used to be Gloucester college of arts and

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technology. Two years ago Lindsay was given `` Linden Homes was given

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permission to build homes on condition that a quarter of it as

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affordable. They are build ng 2 0 homes had here. 64 were supposed to

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be affordable, but that has been halved to 52, as Linden Homes says

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they can't make enough profit. It sounds as if the developers have got

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you over a barrel really. We want to build fewer. We do check their

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costings. We have a team in the City Council that look over them. They

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make sure that what the developer is saying is true. At the moment with

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the housing market being depressed, viability has gone down. How typical

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is the situation here where the amount of affordable housing has

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been cut by half. Is that reflected across the city? We are seeing it

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more and more in applications where they are coming back. Whilst we are

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concerned, we would rather see the city being regenerated than be left

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with empty, derelict build pension. We've had some sites where we've

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gone down to no affordable housing to get the site back into use.

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Linden Homes told us in a statement that the recession had impacted on

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their predicted revenues. They also said that new building and energy

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efficiency regulations had made it more costly to build here. What s

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happened at this site is by no means an isolated case. A we asked local

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authorities across the West how many of the large last housing

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developments met their own affordable housing targets. Of those

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that provided information, the answer was less than half. Bristol

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had the worst result. Only two of its six largest developments met

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their affordable housing targets. Bath and North East Somerset was the

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best performer but still only eight out of ten met their target. I'm not

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surprised but I am concerned. This is a real problem. A lot of local

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authorities recently have been missing their targets on the

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percentage of affordable homes that they want to deliver. There are a

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lot of reasons for that. One of them being the stagnation of the housing

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market as a whole. But now we've seen that recovery is starting to

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come through we would want to see that percentage going up and more

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affordable houses being built and targets being met and possibly

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exceeded in some areas. For an increasing number of families like

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the Hectors the rise in house prices is disastrous. It means that

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generations will never be able to rent in the private sector, let

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alone afford to buy their own home. Coming up: The sky's the limit for

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Europe's first ever disabled balloon pilot.

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. Social media sites like Facebook,

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Skype and Twitter have already revolutionised many of our lives.

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But what about those who might benefit from it most ` older people

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isolated from their friends and family? We've been to meet some of

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them trying it out for very the first time. `` for the very first

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time. The Val Nash has lived in a care home in Shepton Mallet for

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three`and`a`half years since she became unable to take care of

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herself. Sometimes I wake up ten o'clock in the morning and have a

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late breakfast. Then they get me tressed and I sit in my chair and

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wait for the coffee trolley to come round. Then there's lunch and in the

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afternoon I sometimes have a nap. The South West is home to the

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highest proportion of over 65s in the country. And the numbers are

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rising. We care for the type of people that the rest of the

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country's going to see in about 15`20, 50 years, depending on which

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area you compare us with. A lot of the rest of the country is looking

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to us to see what some of the future solutions will be to make care

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needs. Up to a fifth of over 75s describe themselves as isolated Cut

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off from family and friends. All human beings need to feel included,

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to feel a part of a group. We all have this desire. It is really

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important for all of us to feel that we are part of our family networks.

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Because older people tend to not be able to leave their house, maybe

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can't drive any more, it can really have negative impacts on their

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general wellbeing and happiness Val's lucky. Her husband lives judge

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US a few minutes drive from her care home. Alright? Lovely. I come in

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twice a day. Val can't feed herself. If she had a knife and fork, her

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fork would be over here and her mouth's over here, so I come in and

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feed her. I feel very blessed. I've got two lovely sons. And a lovely

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husband. But she sees a lot less of the rest of her family. I like to be

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in touch with my sister of course, and my brother, who lives in Ascot.

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This is where it is hoped social media could help. From her room in

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Somerset, Val could make video calls to friends and family around the

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world. But getting online can be a bewildering experience for anyone

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not used to using computers. I've forgotten, I used to do our accounts

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on them, so it will come back. I've got to make this work. She's been

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selected to take part in a research project set up to find out if some

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older people might benefit from being trained to use social media.

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It is a European`funded project to see if using technology can improve

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someone's quality of life, by connecting them via Skype and

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e`mail. Rosemary Hodgson has already taken part in the research. She

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moved no a care home in Wells to be with her husband. He died last year,

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leaving Rosemary isolated from many of her family and friends. I kept in

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touch with my relatives by postcard, birthday card, Christmas card, that

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sort of thing. But you don't have a lot of room to say what you want to

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say and all the thoughts that come into your mind, they don't get put

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down on paper. Rosemary was given three months training to find her

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way around Facebook, e`mail and sore social media. I hadn't even heard of

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the word Skype, so that was an I opener. I realised I would be able

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to see people while I talked to them. I thought that the would

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probably make it more intimate and fun, and it has done. Rosemary, I'm

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going to ask you a few questions about how you file generally. Once

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somebody signs up to be part of this they go through an initial interview

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process. This is us collecting data about a range of things, so we look

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at how their mind works, different areas of cognitive function, and we

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ask about their general wellbeing and how they feel about computers

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and their attitudes to computers,s and their feelings in that way.

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How often would you say you feel left out of things? Would you say

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never, rarely... Never. We interview them again after their training is

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over. We are interested if there've been any changes, and her general

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wellbeing and how she feels. How often do you feel you can find

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companionship when you wanted? When you are in the mood for someone to

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be around... I would say always That Everyone taking part in the

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research is given their own modified computer to learn on. All we've done

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is simplified the front screen and arranged the icons to make it look

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like they are but thetons. When someone turns a PC on, if they

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wanted to get to the internet, they know straight away where to go. Back

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in Shepton Mallet Val is about to get her first training session on

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her computer, joined by husband Keith. I'm going to teach both of

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you how to use Skype by doing a test call to Jason. This is the screen

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you will see when the computer comes up. You've only got six options to

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worry about. There's not lots of small icons. So if I want to open

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science, I just touch it. It is a tap with your finger. `` if I want

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to open Skype we tap it with your finger. For contacts you have your

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friend Jean, and Field House, the care home. To call Field House we

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click on Field House. There we go. Hi Keith. Hi Jason. How are you We

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are fine. We've got a clear picture of you. Are you with it so far,

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dear? Yes. There is a worry that video calls might replace a visit.

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Thank God that hasn't happened. We found the technology drawing people

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in. It gives people something to share when they are here, so they

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are bringing their iPads and laptops and it is a conservation piece with

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their relatives. And there are other potential health benefits arising

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from older people using social media. We'll be able to look at how

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we can use it to prompt people, so there's evidence there's evidence

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about what we call medicines optimisation, so that means people

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take their when they need to, and compliant, another word we use, and

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that they are enabled to take their medication on time. At first I

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thought, I will never do it. Now I'm glad I tried. I would advise people,

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however worried they might be about not catching on, you can try it and

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it is not as difficult as you think it is. It is the moment of truth for

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Val, as she and Keith attempt to make their very first video call, to

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a relative in America. And I press that? Yes. And now it is dialling.

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." Hello?" Hello Jean. Hello Bernie. Good to see you, you're looking

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great. And you. Thank you. Val is at the beginning of her training. But

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already she has seen how she can keep in touch with friend and family

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from the comfort of her own room. You will be able to see if I'm

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online and you can just press your video call button and I can see it

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and answer and then you can see me. Yes! OK. God bless, Jean. God bless,

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Bernie. Bye! That was brilliant Absolutely brilliant! And to see her

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blowing a kiss and she blew one back. Unbelievable all this sky and

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stuff between us. Wonderful. He's famous for being the first ever

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balloonist to fly non`stop around the world. But now Somerset's Brian

:20:14.:20:17.

Jones has been on a new mission to teach Europe's first disabled

:20:18.:20:21.

balloon pilot how to fly. Will Glennon followed him to Italy.

:20:22.:20:33.

This is Monday Monday in Mondovi in northern Italy, surrounded by the

:20:34.:20:45.

drama of the Alps. The mountains protect the area from extreme

:20:46.:20:50.

weather. It is a perfect place to fly hot`air balloons. You can get

:20:51.:20:54.

airborne all year round and all day in winter. So where better for

:20:55.:21:02.

Europe's first disable pilot to get his wings? With the sun just up we

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arrived on the outskirts of town. Balloon pilot and instructor Brian

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Jones has made the long journey from Somerset. With the help of local

:21:19.:21:23.

Italian balloonists he will be training pilot Tim Ellison. Wind

:21:24.:21:29.

direction this morning is crucial. A trainee needs a minimum of 16 hours

:21:30.:21:34.

flying in order to qualify, so they need to get airborne. Conditions are

:21:35.:21:40.

really nice actually. Hardly any wind. From a training point of view

:21:41.:21:44.

it is great. Tim's a fast learner and is already picking up the

:21:45.:21:50.

basics. So we turn the bottle on to the side you are going to light

:21:51.:21:55.

initially. One it is on you have a listen. He is Brian's first ever

:21:56.:22:01.

disabled student. This is a new experience, and completely different

:22:02.:22:05.

to any type of flying I've done before. Burning. Brian was born in

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Bristol and has flown balloons for decades. He's best known for his

:22:12.:22:16.

record`breaking nonstop round the world flight in the Breitling

:22:17.:22:24.

orbiter three. Ed a he and co`pilot Bertrand Pickard made headlines

:22:25.:22:27.

everywhere. Now an instructor and examiner it was Brian's idea to get

:22:28.:22:32.

disabled pilots into the sport. There is no reason why disabled

:22:33.:22:37.

people shouldn't be able to fly balloons. They fly aeroplanes and

:22:38.:22:42.

other things. I thought, why aren't there more people? I thought, it is

:22:43.:22:49.

a nice project. The first hurtle was creating the right accessible

:22:50.:22:54.

equipment. A twishl wicker basket can fly disailed passengers but

:22:55.:22:57.

pilots need to reach all the controls and see where they are

:22:58.:23:01.

going. This double chair is a specially adapted design. If Tim is

:23:02.:23:05.

to be a pilot, it is essential he can inflate the balloon on his own.

:23:06.:23:09.

It is a tricky manoeuvre but he s got it. They are almost ready to go.

:23:10.:23:16.

It is all about burner control. The aim is to take off and stay low

:23:17.:23:21.

Then we'll climb and do practise emergencies and do some practise

:23:22.:23:25.

approaches. I would think that's probably enough for one day. It is a

:23:26.:23:29.

fairly reasonable day in terms of the weather and I think we'll have a

:23:30.:23:31.

good morning's flying. Conditions today may not have looked

:23:32.:23:47.

that great. It is overcast and pretty cold, but it is OK for

:23:48.:23:51.

balloon flying. The winds are light. That's the main thing. It has given

:23:52.:23:55.

Tim and Brian the chance to cram in the hours they need. Tim may look

:23:56.:24:00.

relaxed in the air, but it was a serious flying accident in 199 `` in

:24:01.:24:09.

1992 when an RAF pilot that put him in a wheelchair. I was bringing a

:24:10.:24:16.

Harrier into land vertically. You hover over a concrete pad and just

:24:17.:24:23.

as I stabilised the engine failed catastrophically. It exploded. With

:24:24.:24:31.

no thrust you drop like a brick Anything perpendicular to the ground

:24:32.:24:36.

was broken, so my lower legs and ankles and spine. The impact was so

:24:37.:24:44.

hard it broke my ribs and burst both lungs. At the time in my hospital

:24:45.:24:49.

bed it seemed a minor thing that I wouldn't walk again. Itch was happy

:24:50.:24:53.

to be alive and I still had the things that were precious to me

:24:54.:24:57.

Doctors said he would never fly again, but two years later he was

:24:58.:25:01.

airborne and has never looked back. For Tim and all disabled pilots the

:25:02.:25:06.

biggest danger is landing. As well as the usual hazards, he has to

:25:07.:25:10.

avoid tipping over and potentially getting trapped. At good ground crew

:25:11.:25:17.

has to be on hand. Another safe landing a. They made it down in one

:25:18.:25:22.

piece. Hopping the balloon to the corner of the field so Tim can get

:25:23.:25:25.

out. That was really good. There were lots of different wind

:25:26.:25:29.

conditions. It is not fast, so it is not incredibly challenging but it

:25:30.:25:33.

does make you think a bit. A great flight this morning. A bit cold but

:25:34.:25:38.

Tim is extraordinary. I've never had a student who got it quite this

:25:39.:25:43.

quickly. It is not all flying though. With five exams to pass

:25:44.:25:49.

there's also classroom time. Airman Tim breezes through. But news of his

:25:50.:25:56.

challenge has got around. Hello Tim? Hi Stefano. Welcome. The whole town

:25:57.:26:03.

is excited and the Mayor of Mondovi came to give his personal backing.

:26:04.:26:11.

Tim is special. He is someone who has managed to get over his

:26:12.:26:16.

disability and has shown you can have a full life and practising what

:26:17.:26:19.

you really love. We are so happy to have the first European to become an

:26:20.:26:24.

air balloon pilot as a disabled On the launch field it is a crucial

:26:25.:26:31.

day. Tim's only got an hour or so of flying left to do before he gets the

:26:32.:26:34.

chance to go solo. Very important. Luckily for him conditions today are

:26:35.:26:42.

great. Once you are in the chair sitting

:26:43.:26:47.

next to an able`bodied person purr exactly, that gives you a great

:26:48.:26:51.

feeling of freedom. You don't get that feeling of freedom every day

:26:52.:26:55.

when you are on the ground. Airborne gives you a fantastic sense of

:26:56.:26:58.

achievement. With everything looking good it is the last big challenge.

:26:59.:27:02.

Tim is just one flight away from his licence. This time he's on his own.

:27:03.:27:09.

OK Tim, that's your flight check done. Well done, it was brilliant.

:27:10.:27:13.

Thank you. I have no problem sending you solo. Thanks. You need to fly

:27:14.:27:18.

for 30 minutes. Are you happy? Great.

:27:19.:27:36.

He's done it! Back on terra firma, safe, sound and successful. Thank

:27:37.:27:46.

you. I made it. It was really good. A beautiful day. A beautiful flight.

:27:47.:27:51.

I enjoyed it. It is a special moment for any pilot to do their first solo

:27:52.:27:57.

and Tim was perfect. I'm proud of him. My first disabled student. Who

:27:58.:28:03.

wouldn't be? And the first qualified disabled balloon pilot. In the

:28:04.:28:08.

tradition of the great balloon flights, it is all finished with a

:28:09.:28:13.

glass of champagne. CHEERING

:28:14.:28:19.

Cheers, Tim. That's just about it for this week,

:28:20.:28:27.

but if you'd like to keep in touch with what we're up to, you can find

:28:28.:28:32.

us on Twitter. Or you can email us at: [email protected]. But

:28:33.:28:34.

from all of us here in Gloucester, thanks for watching. Goodnight.

:28:35.:28:45.

Next week, with much of the Somerset levels still underwater, we go to

:28:46.:28:52.

Holland to look at more radical solutions to the problem.

:28:53.:29:10.

A longer day, more exams and tougher discipline. That is what the

:29:11.:29:15.

government wants for pupils in England's state schools. Ministers

:29:16.:29:19.

believe it would bring standards closer to those in private schools.

:29:20.:29:24.

There is a warning over a social network raise after it was linked to

:29:25.:29:29.

guess in Ireland. It involves drinking and filming a stun. The

:29:30.:29:32.

body of the young man was found in the River. Tributes have poured in

:29:33.:29:37.

for the actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. It is thought he died from

:29:38.:29:42.

a heroin overdose. More of us are undergoing plastic

:29:43.:29:47.

surgery. The number of operations jumped 17% last year. Most were for

:29:48.:29:50.

breast implants, but the biggest rise was for liposuction.

:29:51.:29:54.

Imagine parking your car outside your house and waking up to this

:29:55.:29:56.

dash a Hello, I'm Will Glennon, the latest

:29:57.:30:02.

in the West. A man from the Forest of Dean's been

:30:03.:30:06.

jailed for two and a half years after taking police on two high

:30:07.:30:09.

speed chases in a few months. A judge told Christopher Wright it was

:30:10.:30:14.

pure luck no`one was killed. A landslip has left a house near

:30:15.:30:15.

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