:01:18. > :01:22.By now many of us will have started a January detox, but can you
:01:22. > :01:25.imagine going the whole of December without a single alcoholic drink?
:01:25. > :01:30.Imagine the office Christmas party, Christmas Day or New Year's Eve,
:01:30. > :01:38.without a single tipple. Well, that is exactly what Toby Foster who
:01:38. > :01:41.enjoys a drink decided to do and here is how he got on. Now I work
:01:41. > :01:45.in the entertainment business. The crowds are usually well oiled by
:01:45. > :01:50.the time I take to the stage. Frankly, that is half the battle,
:01:50. > :01:58.if you want to make them laugh. I like to join in with a few glasses
:01:58. > :02:05.myself. It is rude not to! I was a brewery manager in a former life
:02:05. > :02:10.and these days I live next door to a pub. So you can see alcohol does
:02:11. > :02:14.feature fairly prominently in my life. But like many of you, if you
:02:14. > :02:21.are honest, I reckon I have been pretty blase about the harm it
:02:21. > :02:26.might be doing to me. And so many others. 20% of people who drink
:02:26. > :02:34.have a problem. That problem is liver failure and death. One in
:02:34. > :02:38.five people who drink. They can end up dying because of liver disease.
:02:38. > :02:41.You don't know what is going to happen next. People like me and my
:02:41. > :02:49.colleagues at the hospital and paramedics here and they will be
:02:49. > :02:55.picking up the mess. BBC Radio Sheffield. I have been issued a
:02:55. > :03:00.challenge. I. Not going to drink through December. The pub. It will
:03:00. > :03:03.be shut down. It is November 25th and tonight I will compare for a
:03:03. > :03:09.sell-out crowd. The booze is already flowing. The night starts
:03:09. > :03:12.with the same ritual. Vicky, my box office manager loads up the fridge
:03:12. > :03:16.for tonight's acts. When I heard he was going to have a challenge to
:03:16. > :03:24.stop drinking, for December, considering how much shows we have
:03:24. > :03:30.got, I think that will be one heck of a challenge for him. Can he do
:03:30. > :03:37.it? I would like to say yes. And I am behind him to quit, but I don't
:03:37. > :03:43.think he will. I've been working. She said were you drinking, I said
:03:43. > :03:52.no, working. What is his usual tipple? Red wine. How many does he
:03:52. > :03:55.drink? On a typical night, probably a bottle. Maybe? Possibly more.
:03:56. > :04:01.you have a drink. I went no, I was at work. He went fair enough. The
:04:01. > :04:09.most I have drunk on one of these nights is too much. I am relatively
:04:09. > :04:14.professional. I don't get so I can't talk. A whistle there. Come
:04:14. > :04:18.buy. They are having a drink. I'm having a drink. Probably three
:04:19. > :04:22.bottles of wine was my worse. Which is ridiculous. Are you ready to see
:04:22. > :04:27.the second act? The last act is on stage and that is my last drink at
:04:27. > :04:35.the comedy club for a month now, until 2000 126789 everybody I have
:04:35. > :04:41.spoken to said I won't do it. And I think I will. I'm 43 next. My dad
:04:41. > :04:47.died at 52. I have got two kids. I don't want do that to them. So I am
:04:47. > :04:54.going to use this as an opportunity to get a handle on it. But I must
:04:54. > :04:57.say every time I have decided I won't drink I've failed. This is
:04:57. > :05:02.the bit I don't like. I is have come to Barnsley hospital to
:05:02. > :05:06.undergo some test, to see if drinking has damaged my body. Over
:05:06. > :05:16.one million hospital admissions every year are due to excessive
:05:16. > :05:18.
:05:18. > :05:22.alcohol. Costing the NHS more than �2.7 billion. The last time I saw
:05:22. > :05:25.one of these I was going to be a dad.. We are looking for
:05:25. > :05:30.abnormalitys in the liver. The various tubes that are plumbed in,
:05:30. > :05:37.the blood vessels. So I have been poked, prodded and bled. Now the
:05:37. > :05:43.time to get the results. Which if I am honest I am nervous about. First
:05:43. > :05:48.it seems a bit more prodding is needed. People can have liver
:05:48. > :05:51.problem, and feel nothing until it is quite late. If you could feel
:05:51. > :05:57.something there I would be in trouble. Yes, so it is really good
:05:57. > :06:01.news that blood tests is fine. The ultrasound scan is fine. The
:06:01. > :06:06.examination is fine. No signs of: nick liver disease, but, you
:06:06. > :06:12.probably in the medium risk group and you have to just make sure when
:06:12. > :06:16.you drink, and how you drink. is a relief! Best have a drink to
:06:16. > :06:20.celebrate! Tonight I am joining Inside Out presenters from all over
:06:20. > :06:25.who are doing the same as me. And just to encourage us in our attempt
:06:25. > :06:29.at dry December they have arranged shock tactics. Would you like to
:06:29. > :06:38.see how you are going to look in ten years time. I wouldn't. If you
:06:38. > :06:48.carry on drinking as much as you do. That is jab bah the Hut. That is
:06:48. > :06:52.not me. This is my last drink of the year. In November. Not everyone
:06:52. > :06:58.it seems has faith in my staying power. Ever since I have known him
:06:58. > :07:04.he has had a drink. I think he will have trouble sleeping, and take it
:07:04. > :07:09.out on the rest of the family. have been up since six clock. I
:07:09. > :07:13.have written the proposal for next year's comedy festival in Sheffield.
:07:13. > :07:19.Sent confirmation off for the comedians this week and now here we
:07:19. > :07:23.are in the rain. Ready for a drink. He has been very good. He is
:07:23. > :07:28.getting through it really well. He gets a bit bored and restless but
:07:28. > :07:33.that is general Toby, without a drink. When people come to me and
:07:33. > :07:35.ask me how I'm going on, they are not asking about me, they are
:07:35. > :07:39.asking about themselves, you can see the fear in their lives. People
:07:39. > :07:47.think it is strange I have stopped drinking and they think they
:07:47. > :07:52.couldn't do it. But it is odd. I'm one week in, still sober. But
:07:52. > :07:59.tonight will be my centreest test of resolve so far. It's the 16th
:07:59. > :08:02.December and 450 people are in here to watch the ukulele band I'm in.
:08:02. > :08:08.They will be drinking and I wish I was. Still the lads will support me.
:08:08. > :08:15.Won't they? What is going on. are drinking beer? Are we not all
:08:15. > :08:20.in this together? No, we are not! The support band is on stage. I am
:08:20. > :08:25.stone cold sober and taking serious stick. What is that you are
:08:25. > :08:35.drinking. Diet coke. That is wrong. He has only siebededed up to not
:08:35. > :08:41.drink all through December. -- decided. What a (BLEEP).
:08:41. > :08:45.# And the way you like to kiss # Experts have predicted as many as
:08:45. > :08:48.250,000 of people will die from alcohol abuse over the next 20
:08:49. > :08:58.years unless the Government takes the problem as seriously as it kid
:08:59. > :09:00.
:09:00. > :09:05.smoking. Now that is a sobering thought. It is the night before
:09:05. > :09:09.Christmas Eve in Barnsley. The town where this happened. This lass was
:09:09. > :09:13.so drunk she fell under the train she had just staggered off.
:09:13. > :09:18.Thankfully she was OK. And the town's braced for another bout of
:09:18. > :09:24.binge drinking. On hand at the tax payers' expense San impressives for
:09:24. > :09:28.of emergency worker, waiting to pick up the pieces. Dr Julian
:09:28. > :09:33.Humphrey will be stationed here in a parked ambulance in the town
:09:33. > :09:36.centre. They call it the drunk tab tank. You don't know what is going
:09:36. > :09:40.to happen next. We would rather have a nice quiet night. The
:09:40. > :09:44.reality is that will not be the case. The main purpose is to divert
:09:44. > :09:49.people away from the emergency department up at the hospital. When
:09:49. > :09:54.patients go up there they tend to take their friends wo have a few
:09:54. > :09:57.drinks and you can have confrontations. Through no fault of
:09:58. > :10:03.their own, having an accident or being a by stander in a fight that
:10:03. > :10:07.goes off in a club. Right on cue his first casualty is a victim of
:10:07. > :10:12.an unprovoked attack. It hurts. It winds me up, it is why does
:10:12. > :10:20.everybody, even when you are drinking you know not to start
:10:20. > :10:25.trouble. It has not been Christmas, it has been rubbish. It is
:10:25. > :10:35.Christmas Day lunch. There is my wife's drink. There is my drink.
:10:35. > :10:39.Nothing. Any way. Cheers. So hello and happy New Year. Happy New Year.
:10:39. > :10:45.It is the first January 2012 and I had a drink last night. And it was
:10:45. > :10:49.OK, I have a sore head this morning, I don't know really. I didn't miss
:10:49. > :10:54.it too much. The last week, between Christmas and New Year I have
:10:54. > :10:59.missed it more than ever. But the first three weeks were a breeze.
:10:59. > :11:09.What? So I'm going to stop drinking now. I think it may be I pack it in
:11:09. > :11:10.
:11:10. > :11:16.for a bit. See how much I get done. So thank you very much indeed. Bye.
:11:16. > :11:26.Coming up. Making a come back. We go in search of elusive otter
:11:26. > :11:31.
:11:31. > :11:36.13-year-old Rosie came from Wakefield has Asperger's syndrome.
:11:36. > :11:39.She has a brother and sister her post disabled. We asked her to
:11:39. > :11:49.explain to us what it was like growing up in a family that is a
:11:49. > :11:49.
:11:50. > :11:59.little bit different. I am rosy. I am 13 years old. I
:11:59. > :12:09.have a brother and sister. Daisy is 10. Lenny is a nine. I have a
:12:09. > :12:13.
:12:13. > :12:17.lovely money. She is called Sharon. I have a dad who is equally as good.
:12:17. > :12:26.We have a loss of the artistic spectrum in our life. I have
:12:26. > :12:32.Asperger's. And by brother and sister are also disabled. What do
:12:32. > :12:38.you think of that one? You can think of what it is in your mind,
:12:38. > :12:44.but it is almost impossible to put down in words. You would have to
:12:44. > :12:52.see through the eyes of an autistic child to know exactly what cities.
:12:52. > :13:00.I can see that, but it is hard to put into words. We are looking at
:13:00. > :13:05.busy's uniform so that she can go to high school in 10 days' time.
:13:05. > :13:10.While our own, everything is great. It is when we are right, you have
:13:10. > :13:15.to be 100% alert to what they're doing. They are not aware of any
:13:15. > :13:21.dangers. I'm just making sure they're not doing anything they
:13:21. > :13:25.should not be doing. I can get so stressed sometimes. I get these
:13:25. > :13:34.little tics. I sometimes scream for no reason at all or just want to
:13:34. > :13:37.run. I would just changed from extremely happy to extremely sad.
:13:37. > :13:44.People would just think I'm being like this on purpose and they would
:13:44. > :13:49.laugh. They would make fun of me. For someone like Rosie, who is
:13:49. > :13:56.bright and academic, it is also important for people to sometimes
:13:56. > :14:02.make allowances for her. Her socialisation does not come as
:14:02. > :14:06.naturally as other people's. She has had to learn things like how
:14:06. > :14:10.far to stand away from someone when you are talking to them. She has
:14:10. > :14:20.had to learn to maintain eye contact when people are talking to
:14:20. > :14:26.her. These things can be mistaken as rudeness or naughtiness. Daisy
:14:26. > :14:33.is a lot different. She has kabuki syndrome and not autism. That
:14:33. > :14:38.mixture quite small for her age and her brain his way back in a two
:14:38. > :14:45.year-old's. In many ways, she is a two-year-old in a 10-year-old's
:14:45. > :14:48.body. Daisy has some physical differences as well. Generally,
:14:48. > :14:53.strangers will see her and will know that she has a learning
:14:53. > :14:58.disability. With Lenny, it is a different matter. His features are
:14:58. > :15:06.regular. He looks like any other boy. But he might be acting
:15:06. > :15:09.differently. When I was eight years old, I got diagnosed with
:15:09. > :15:16.Asperger's syndrome. Now I am going to meet someone who got diagnosed
:15:16. > :15:22.when he was 40. He got a book called the Little Rain man, of
:15:22. > :15:30.which taught adults about autism. I read the book to understand more
:15:30. > :15:38.about Lenny. I find a lot of symptoms in their that just
:15:38. > :15:44.described to me and I told mum. I went to a diagnosis and then it
:15:44. > :15:50.turned out I had Asperger's syndrome. How are you dealing with
:15:50. > :15:58.it at school? It is OK. I used to get bullied at school when I was
:15:58. > :16:05.your age. Basically, people did not understand me, they did not
:16:05. > :16:12.understand what was going on with me. I did not like school. I did
:16:12. > :16:17.not have many friends at school. I find it hard to get on. I felt as
:16:17. > :16:21.though I did not belong on this earth, because you just feel like
:16:22. > :16:28.you think differently and you look at things differently. Basically, I
:16:28. > :16:35.found it hard. Are you working? have worked at four places and 22
:16:35. > :16:41.years. It was hard work. People did not understanding. I would get on
:16:41. > :16:48.with the job and then somebody would hide my brush when I was
:16:49. > :16:55.speaking -- sweeping up. My brother sometimes messes up my room and
:16:55. > :17:00.that annoys me. Alike my room very neat. But I do not really let my
:17:00. > :17:05.mum tidy my room because she puts things in the wrong places. -- I
:17:05. > :17:11.like my room. I had a really nice experience meeting Tony. He is one
:17:11. > :17:18.of the best people I have ever met. He should be given a really massive
:17:18. > :17:26.award for being Tony. I have learnt a lot of strategies and a lot of
:17:26. > :17:30.very good things from meeting him. For Asperger's and autism in
:17:30. > :17:36.particular, at the more people understand about the traits, at the
:17:36. > :17:43.more unlikely people hour to get a diagnosis. Once the shame is taken
:17:43. > :17:49.away, I also think people are much more likely to see -- seek counter
:17:49. > :17:54.diagnoses so they can get the help and advice they need. A lot of
:17:55. > :17:59.people have learned from dizzy, a lot of people in mainstream schools.
:17:59. > :18:04.-- daisies. She cannot go to my school because there is so much
:18:04. > :18:09.moving around and she has difficulty walking. We are taking
:18:09. > :18:19.her to Cockfield Park and she will enjoy it there, hopefully. --
:18:19. > :18:26.Cockfield Park. This is his school for children with severe and
:18:26. > :18:35.complex learning disabilities. They stay from 11-19. One-third of them
:18:35. > :18:41.have a diagnosis of autism. I said good morning to everybody here and
:18:41. > :18:51.now we're going to saying hello to everybody in our new class one.
:18:51. > :18:54.
:18:55. > :19:00.Hallow, Dizzy! -- how low, Daisy! It filled me with excitement for
:19:00. > :19:10.her. The school is geared towards independence and branching out. I
:19:10. > :19:10.
:19:10. > :19:15.think she will be very happy. has enjoyed being in class,
:19:15. > :19:25.exploring the school, being outside at playtime. You can tell she is a
:19:25. > :19:31.
:19:31. > :19:35.bit tired. Every family has the challenges. Our Rosie is happy and
:19:35. > :19:42.outgoing. For most Asperger's people, their social skills are a
:19:43. > :19:49.problem. With her, her social skills a fantastic! And the fact
:19:49. > :19:55.that we're all disabled, and that could make it any buddy's life
:19:56. > :19:59.really difficult. We are very happy family. A lot of families like us,
:19:59. > :20:09.they have difficult lives. But we just get on with it and our lives
:20:09. > :20:12.
:20:12. > :20:16.In recent years, and Occupy Wall Street have made an astonishing
:20:16. > :20:26.comeback after their numbers were almost wiped out in the 1970s and
:20:26. > :20:26.
:20:26. > :20:33.1980s. -- otters have made a comeback. We tried to film a family
:20:33. > :20:37.of Potter's and we knew it would not be easy. -- a family of otters.
:20:37. > :20:41.Hidden away in the corner of East Yorkshire is an unlikely nature
:20:41. > :20:47.reserve. It is a place where modern industrial man comes face-to-face
:20:47. > :20:51.with a spectacular array of wildlife. This little known site on
:20:51. > :20:57.the River Hall is part nature reserve and part water treatment
:20:57. > :21:02.works. The 300 acre facility has a mix of woodland, marshes and
:21:02. > :21:07.lagoons that are surrounded on all sides by intensely farmed land.
:21:07. > :21:14.This place supplies about 85% of our drinking water. But it also
:21:14. > :21:19.plays host to a vast array of wildlife. It is best known for its
:21:19. > :21:24.birds, with over 160 species regularly seen each year. But there
:21:24. > :21:30.are plenty of other animals hiding away. One of the most prized assets
:21:30. > :21:35.is a family of extremely camera-shy otters. We're going to try and fill
:21:35. > :21:40.done. These daylight pictures of offers were filmed in Somerset and
:21:40. > :21:44.a rare because the animals are mostly nocturnal and wary of humans.
:21:44. > :21:49.Otter numbers are now back any increase after reaching an all-time
:21:49. > :21:54.low in the 1970s due to pollution and the loss of habitat. With only
:21:54. > :22:00.one family living at the top of this river, they will be hard to
:22:00. > :22:08.find. Luckily, the site Ranger is something of an expert. Haiti you
:22:08. > :22:13.know that otters are using this area? -- How do you know? They will
:22:13. > :22:21.always use the same routes. This trail is one of them. They're
:22:21. > :22:31.making a very regular report. They have virtually wore no it out. --
:22:31. > :22:32.
:22:32. > :22:38.warned it out. -- warned it out. This is offer faeces. It is quite
:22:38. > :22:46.brittle but filled with tiny little fish bones. This is a giveaway that
:22:46. > :22:49.they have been using this area? This is proof positive. To try and
:22:49. > :22:55.encourage otters to settle in the nature reserve, they are being
:22:55. > :23:00.given a helping hand. Houses are being dug into suitable sites.
:23:01. > :23:06.Otters like to nest in underground chambers. They like easy access to
:23:06. > :23:11.water. It is quite a quiet area where nobody normally walks. It is
:23:11. > :23:17.a nice quiet spot. It might need to go one diagonally. And we will
:23:17. > :23:25.shifted round a bid to match that all up there. -- shift it round a
:23:25. > :23:29.bit. It could take two years until they get used to it. They're not
:23:29. > :23:39.going to be too sure about a new feature. They could view it as a
:23:39. > :23:40.
:23:40. > :23:48.trap. For an offer that finds this, it is a pretty good home, isn't it?
:23:49. > :23:54.It is, yes. So the best thing we can do is just leave it be? Yes.
:23:54. > :24:00.and down to business. Our aim is to try and get these otters on camera.
:24:00. > :24:07.How do you propose we film These Animal Mike? One option is to film
:24:07. > :24:11.at the old fashioned way with night vision gear. The other option is to
:24:11. > :24:18.use camera traps which take a picture every time the subject used
:24:18. > :24:22.-- moves past it. Fingers crossed, it will be quite tricky. It will
:24:23. > :24:30.pick anything up to a 10 metre range. Hopefully, anything that
:24:30. > :24:36.does go past, we should have a reasonable chance of getting it. So,
:24:36. > :24:41.all we have to do is wait for the dark and hope for some otters.
:24:41. > :24:46.we start to use the light, or are we have the use of these night-
:24:46. > :24:56.vision binoculars. We can use these to get a view after the hours of
:24:56. > :24:59.
:24:59. > :25:03.darkness. It could be about 10:30pm. The light has pretty much gone. We
:25:03. > :25:09.are switching to infra-red cameras. Hopefully we can see things going
:25:09. > :25:17.past. We scour the marsh area for any signs that otters might be
:25:17. > :25:22.about. After several hours, nothing. There is nothing tonight,
:25:22. > :25:26.unfortunately. Let's go and check the camera trap. We pick our way
:25:26. > :25:31.back through the dark to where we set the camera, but sadly, the only
:25:31. > :25:35.thing it has captured his us coming to check it. We have not seen
:25:35. > :25:38.anything tonight, but we will not give up. We're going to be said
:25:38. > :25:46.that traps and come back at a later date and hopefully pick something
:25:46. > :25:51.up. -- reset the traps. It has been about two months since we were last
:25:51. > :25:54.here. In that time, there have been some reported sightings of offers.
:25:55. > :26:04.We just have to hope that one of them has been through one of our
:26:04. > :26:09.camera traps. A loaf. Hello. Good to see you again. We are going to
:26:09. > :26:14.NT become a track -- trap and see what it has picked up in the last
:26:14. > :26:24.couple of months. Quite a few of our regulars are very keen and have
:26:24. > :26:24.
:26:24. > :26:31.been very successful with sightings. Fingers crossed. Let's see what we
:26:31. > :26:40.have got. We load the camera's card on to a computer, and it is just a
:26:40. > :26:46.question of what it has seen. There's the tale of a pheasant.
:26:46. > :26:51.There is a our offer! There is another one. Look at that! Probably
:26:51. > :26:57.one of the cubs, I would think. This is probably one of the
:26:57. > :27:01.youngsters on film. He is probably about six months old. It is just
:27:01. > :27:07.one glimpse from two months of filming, but it proves there fear
:27:07. > :27:17.still on the reserve. The NDC some other footage from when they were
:27:17. > :27:19.
:27:19. > :27:24.younger. -- then we see. Here are three cubs. That is fantastic. To
:27:24. > :27:30.get if you like that, it does not matter how many hours we need to
:27:30. > :27:36.put in. Richard has also managed to get some rare footage of otters in
:27:36. > :27:41.daylight on his video camera. can just see them preaching like a
:27:41. > :27:49.group of dolphins. It is the same family from the camera trap. That
:27:49. > :27:56.is fantastic. They are actively hunting the reed bed. I suppose you
:27:56. > :28:00.have to be prepared night after night after night. Proof positive
:28:00. > :28:10.that the Offer's exist. If you want to see them, you need to have a lot
:28:10. > :28:29.
:28:29. > :28:33.If you want to contact us about any of tonight's stories, you can do
:28:33. > :28:40.via Facebook or Twitter. That is all from here in Yorkshire. Please