04/04/2017 Look East

Hello and welcome to Look East. and now on BBC One, let's

In the programme tonight: troops from this region could soon be

heading to Estonia to help the UK stand against "Russian aggression".

Calls to stop people with disabilities being treated

We've got mines and brains and we don't need to be talked down to. We

are still here, we are still people -- minds.

Getting ready for the Commonwealth Games.

And why a ground-breaking musical has come to Cambridge before the

West End. Troops from this region have been

getting ready to be part of the biggest military deployment

to Europe since the end Soldiers from the UK began arriving

in Estonia last month. Part of what the government's

described as a deterrent And today, as hundreds

of troops from this region were on their biggest

training exercise of the year, it's emerged that they are likely

to be heading there, too. 16 Air Assault is the army's

rapid reaction force. Leigh Milner has been watching them

train today in Suffolk and Norfolk. And just handing in the middle of

the training ground, surrounded by 80 or so soldiers who have just

disappeared beyond the trees. All afternoon they have been falling

from 100 feet in the sky as part of an exercise and what the display we

have had. To see the Hercules along the skyline as they drop one by one

in a line, you can actually hear them calling to each other, over the

huge engine of the Hercules. This exercise we have been invited to, we

have been able to watch as the day unfolds.

Preparing to jump from 800 feet in the sky, these soldiers from the 2nd

Battalion Parachute Regiment are part of the 16 aerosol the grade,

the British Army's rapid response unit -- 16 air assault. Family jumps

at the done? Only four. This will be my fifth. -- how many. Are you

nervous? Yes, you are nervous, but looking forward to it. Trained to be

deployed any time anywhere they are about to fly 39 miles to Thetford

for a fictional yet credible scenario. It is a country that looks

like the UK and we have been asked to come in because they have a

problem with insurgency terrorists and their police forces do not have

the Billy Kee to deal with those insurgents and so they have gone to

a third party -- they do not have the ability to deal with. Today's

mission is part of the three-week exercise which takes place twice a

year, testing how the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force work

together with Allied forces. Only last month the first of 800 UK

troops were sent to Estonia as part of Nato's response to concerns over

Russia, and these soldiers training today could be next. We are one of

the high readiness response forces and so we could go anywhere that the

government would like us to go and we train for all contingencies and

we could go to Estonia, Africa, the Middle East, anywhere that is

completely unexpected. Above the training ground soldiers are closing

in. And here it comes. The Hercules. This aircraft can carry up to 80

personnel which is double the amount of a helicopter and it can go a lot

further, as well, travelling up to 1000 miles at the sign, exactly what

you need when transporting a rapid response force -- at a time. One by

one they jump, 800 feet above the drop zone which stretches a couple

of kilometres from north to south, and as soon as they touch the ground

they pack away their parachutes and head towards the shelter of the

trees. I've been told that the last couple of soldiers have touched

ground and the Hercules are heading back to base. But what a display

behind me, a couple of helicopter tall now heading back to base which

will start again at eight o'clock tonight -- helicopters now heading

back. Thanks for joining us. Campaigners in this region say

people with disabilities are still being treated

as second class citizens. 20 years after the Disability

Discrimination Act was passed. A new report by the Equality

and Human Rights Commission says disabled people are more likely

to be affected by poverty, get paid a lower wage,

and have poor life chances. This from our Suffolk

reporter Kevin Burch. Linda Bowles has MS and her husband

is a full-time carer. They remain positive and resilient

despite the unexpected obstacles People talking on mobile phones

as they walk and they don't And they more or less

sit on her head. And then they go, "Oh, sorry",

and pat me on the head. And I've had so many

strangers pat me on the head. Which is really demeaning,

because they wouldn't They used to run pubs

but the diagnosis 17 years Just getting around and getting

access and getting on holiday now can be complex and for so many

in their situation, For us it has really

affected my retirement future because I gave up a pensioned job

to look after Linda and that affects you and you end up spending your

savings which we did For them, no surprises in this

new report, the general feeling progress on equality hasn't just

stalled, in many ways it This government has got to realise

there is a lot of untapped potential amongst disabled people

and that we are useful And we have a very rich

part to play in society. So it's a matter of education,

I think, as much as anything else. The government says it is committed

to making things better, adding in the last year alone almost

300,000 disabled people We've got minds and brains and we

don't need to be talked down to. We are still here,

we are still people. And if you are aware of what your

saying, make life a bit easier. She questions whether that is really too

much to ask, in this day and age, it surely can't be.

Let's speak to Ruby Blyth Smith from Norfolk.

She's 21 years old and has lost 85% of her vision.

That is why you have your lovely guide dog. Do you ever feel you are

ever treated like a second-class citizen? Yes, sadly, predominant by

the general public, nobody I know would treat me like that, but I have

had issues in the workplace and at university. What kind of issues?

What do people say or do? The one I get the most, you don't look like a

man that is because I'm younger and because I look a certain way, and

people say you can't do your make-up, you are not blind if you

can do that kind of thing. The worst one is people assuming that I don't

need the guide dog and I have her for what ever reason. People are

actually accusing you? Yeah, or at least exaggerating, which is

strange, because I would rather be in any other position than the one

I'm in. When you started to lose your vision you hid it for quite a

while, from your friends. I did not want to be any different from them,

knowing how disabled people are treated I worried that what happens

me, but since having the guide dog I can't hide it any more. She is a big

beacon to show that I'm disabled. My friends and everybody, they have

been very accepting and I wish I'd been more open about it previously.

Having the guide dog is a positive thing. But you say sometimes it was

attention away from you because everyone makes a beeline for the

dog. People remember the guide dog which is nice because I love her to

pieces, but people forget there is a person behind her. And I have good

qualities, I'm intelligent and I think I've got good things to say.

But they just remember the guide dog. You want to study to be a

lawyer. Have you always wanted that? Before I lost my site I did not

really have a direction as to where I was going, and I did a variety of

things like health and social care and hairdressing, but when I lost my

site I felt I had a greater purpose, to influence and help other people

mostly, to educate, and make them more aware. And I want to go into

I'm environmental law because that is somewhere where I feel I can be

put to good use. That sounds fantastic. Well done for everything

that you're doing and to your studies. Thank you very much. Thanks

for coming in. Two men who were accused

of the attempted rape and kidnap of a woman in Ipswich have pleaded

not guilty to the charges The woman was attacked and left

unconscious in a car park George Hari Constan-tinescu

and Danut George The Duchess of Cambridge

is attending the opening of a West End musical this evening

as part of her role as the patron of The charity is trying to raise

?10 million to build She will be joined at the opening

of 42nd Street by young people who have benefited

from the charity's work. The musical stars

singer Sheena Easton. Each has outgrown its current

Norfolk hospice in Quidenham. The Old Cottage Hospital

in Southwold could soon be getting But no decision has been

made about its future. Now a group called

"Save Our Southwold" wants to buy it and turn it into low cost homes,

a public library, and Weeds are growing around the front

door of South Ward Hospital, the doctors and nurses and patients are

all long gone, but the fight to keep it for the community is only just

beginning. This is the old building which is the 1903 ordering. Lawrence

is the chair of save our Southwold, which would like to turn it into a

community cafe and a library. It was built by the community for the

community and we continue to subsidise it and expand it, even way

after the time when the NHS took it over in 1948. The site is still

owned by the NHS, and in a statement NHS property services told us:

the fear for the campaign is that the old hospital might become more

second homes. And the group is hoping to access a government grant

designed to provide more affordable housing in towns like Southwold. 59%

of properties are owned by people with second homes. The money that is

available which is ?684,000 can have a significant impact on that,

through delivering much more affordable housing. The hospital was

opened in 1903 but by 2015 it was part of an NHS reorganisation and

despite organisation the hospital closed. So the big question now, how

much is the whole hospital work? -- old. If it was to be sold for

housing would be worth a huge amount of money, but we don't know how much

it is worth at the moment and we are seeking advice on that. There is a

public meeting to discuss the future of the hospital, in the town, on

April the 20th. And, a year until Australia: getting

ready for the Commonwealth games. Eople often think of autism

as something that usually But lots of women

and girls are autistic Experts say females with autism

can present differently Laura James is a successful

writer from Norfolk. And a happily married

mother of four. She was diagnosed with autism

just two years ago. She's now written a book

called Odd Girl Out This is where Laura feels

comfortable, writing in her home. I love researching and learning things

and I'm obsessed with facts, and if I come across something I want to

know everything about it. If it's box my interest. I like doing

solitary things. -- if it's box. Her autism makes a simple shopping

expedition almost unbearable. The low ceiling and the shiny floors

makes me feel slightly dizzy, and then I can hear every single noise,

so I can hear the buzzing of that fridge and the things being run

through the till, I can hear snatches of conversation. Everything

is just kind of overloading my senses and I can't separate out

those noises. Then you have something like the yoghurt and there

are so many different yoghurt scum and if I don't know what I want and

it is hidden, I become overwhelmed -- there are so many different

yoghurts. I become overwhelmed by how many yoghurts there are in the

world. She had spent her life feeling different and was diagnosed

with autism at the age of 45. Despite being bright she could not

do exams and despite a successful career and marriage and four

children she lives with a sense of unease and a need for order and

predictability. I have to think in advance of where I'm going to go and

so I think my way around the aisles and I have to have a list and I need

to tick it off in order, but sometimes there is the thing called

autistic inertia, where people have the need to do something but they

become paralysed in the moment and can't do it. I have gone to a

supermarket and sat in the car for an hour, trying to psyche myself up

and not being able to and going home. Tom works for the National

Autistic Society and he hopes that Laura's openness about her autism

will improve people's understanding. There is a huge awareness of autism

but not a week understanding of what it means on a day-to-day basis for

autistic people, so what we need is more examples being put out of

people's day-to-day experience of places like supermarkets, leisure

centres, the workplace, which really brings to life the experience of

autism. And that is why Laura has written her book, to shed light on

what autism is like especially for women and girls, who can mask their

traits as they tried to fit in. Women and girls who could not put

their finger on something, they just wanted it to be out there, and if

they stumbled across it and found it was then, I hope it would make their

life easier. Now you are a couple of years down the line, from your

diagnosis, are you happier? I know my place in the world. And I feel

often I can be less hard on myself. Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.

That was Laura talking to me earlier.

In a year's time athletes from across our region

will be heading down under for the Commonwealth Games.

They'll take place on the Gold Coast in Australia.

Three years ago in Glasgow we did very well.

Max Whitlock won three gold medals in the gymnastics

and Ellen Faulkner won gold in the bowls.

She's working hard to get to Australia.

But she still makes time to help the stars of the future.

Our sports editor Jonathan Park has been to see her.

The more successful you get the smaller it will make the target.

There are few better to listen to in the sport of bowls

She spent hour upon hour perfecting her game and now

she is passing on her pearls of wisdom to one of England's

She started in the clubs a few years ago and ever since I started

she's always been there, something to aim towards, someone

If I didn't have her I think I'd be struggling a bit more.

Rebecca is 17 and is an England junior international.

Hoping to follow in Ellen's footsteps and one day become

This will be Ella's 25th year in the sport.

She's gone to four Commonwealth Games so far and the Gold Coast 2018

will be her fifth Commonwealth Games.

Previously she has won three gold medals.

She started in Manchester in 2002 and the last time in Glasgow she won

Love playing at the highest level and still as hungry

Are you a better player now than you were ten years ago?

I think better is kind of quite difficult to analyse but I would say

is that I do continually try to improve how I'm performing

and I try different things, new things in the sport marketplace.

It's all about trying to be the best that I can be.

From Glasgow to the Gold Coast, just a year to go until another

Commonwealth Festival sport, and Team England will do well to

174 medals won, 23 of them from our region.

With Essex duo Max Whitlock and Alex Dowsett amongst

It's amazing, almost life changing experience, to be honest.

To be part of Team England, the most successful team in England,

That camaraderie and friendship, being with athletes that have worked

equally as hard to try and achieve their dreams

For bowlers like Rebecca and Ellen, the Commonwealth Games represents

the pinnacle of their sport, and the countdown

The story of a wrestler from this region has captured

The life of WWE wrestler Paige from Norwich is to be a film

directed by Stephen Merchant, who co-created the Office.

Over the past few days, those stars have been in Norfolk

It's hoped it could put the county on the filming map.

Vanessa Baffoe is in Great Yarmouth now where they're

Absolutely. The crew started arriving at four o'clock and filming

is beginning in the next half an hour. Just a few yards away from

where I'm standing is a wrestling venue, this is a place where Paige

and her family visit regularly. I've got a little secret, we will keep it

between us, the owners of the venue, I've been speaking to them and they

tell me that Paige visited here just in February with her partner who

proposed to her in the ring. The cover from Paige fuss you can take

the girl out of Norfolk but... Well, you know the rest, and this time,

Paige is bringing Hollywood to the region. A comedy drama about her

life has been written and directed by Stephen Merchant. He was filming

in Norwich yesterday and today it is Great Yarmouth. It's fantastic for

the area. I can't quite believe it, Hollywood in Great Yarmouth,

fantastic. Anything that puts Great Yarmouth on the map is a good thing

but if we are all going to Hollywood, who knows? We might get

tourists from America and all over the world. Is Brad Pitt in it? No,

but producing and starring is actor and former wrestler Dwayne Johnson,

also known as the ruck. But this was the only rock on show today, along

with props and securities, ready for filming later this evening. Fighting

with my family is based on Paige's real family who are all professional

wrestlers from Norwich. Her father has been speaking to radio Norfolk.

To have a film crew in Norwich, little old Norwich, really fantastic

for the city. We are a little family from a council house in Norwich and

we are making a name for ourselves and for Norwich itself. Earlier she

put this picture out on Twitter alongside the actress playing her in

the movie. Known for its golden sands and amusement arcades, now

Great Yarmouth can add Hollywood film location to its list of

attractions. And these locals certainly approve. We are Great

Yarmouth! It is set to be a very busy night for the crew and they are

here until around 11 o'clock tonight. This movie is set to be

released sometime next year. STUDIO: Vanessa, thanks for joining us.

Now if you like a visit to the theatre to include

This could be just the thing for you.

It's based on the film La Strada which won an Oscar in 1954.

The show is set just after the 2nd World War

and is the story of a young Italian girl

It will open in the West End next month.

But right now it's at the Arts Theatre in Cambridge.

Louise Hubball joined the cast getting ready for

The high energy and dazzling lights of the circus brought to Cambridge.

In rehearsals today, the cast ensuring precision movement

and perfect timing for one of the show's complex songs.

But the production, also sparse and haunting,

the traits which won the 1954 film an Oscar.

The sadistic strongman taking centre stage.

One reviewer said ridiculously masculine.

So he represents that patriarch, the fierce man who doesn't

show his feelings and who's pretty inconsiderate to everybody.

This is a unique production with musicians on stage the whole

time, being a string quartet or jazz band, and plenty of

dance, and, of course, the all-important circus skills.

And another main character is the fool.

An extremely demanding role, the Canadian actor playing him

grew up in a circus, the son of acrobats.

My parents would train and before and after training

we would basically play at circus, you know.

Even my character for me is very close to who I am.

The play has come to Cambridge before the West End

because it is being co-produced with Cambridge Arts Theatre.

The artistic and financial support invaluable.

Theatre is a difficult industry, difficult to get things moving in,

especially if you want to take something to the West End

and are looking to get great production values.

Moving from a small workshop environment and scaling up like that

can be very difficult, so we are really very grateful

and reliant on forward-thinking and positive houses like Cambridge

Arts Theatre to get involved and make things happen.

The run here finishes on Saturday night.

The last chance to see a West End production in this intimate theatre.

Louise Hubball, BBC Look East, Cambridge.

Cloudy conditions, so you might need reminding of the sunshine from early

this morning, this fantastic picture. This photograph was taken

in Bedford, and we have at the weather front pushing cloud across

the area. Some light drizzle but generally dry, and as we go through

the evening and night, the cloud will break up, so we will be left

with clear spells, and that doesn't -- does mean it could be a bit

colder compared to last night. Some areas might get down as low as two

Celsius, bringing the risk of frost. High pressure from the South West,

that could mean we are in the sunshine, but unfortunately we have

cloud around. Expect a bright start, quite cold, but the cloud in

crouching across all parts, and a north-westerly wind, that will make

things a bit cooler at times, and with the cloud cover temperatures

probably not climbing higher than around 11-12 stop it looks as though

it will stay largely dry, if rather cloudy. Beyond that, looking to the

end of the week, the high pressure starts to get squeezed to the east

and that will mean a southerly wind. A complete switch in wind direction

and that will bring a lot of warm air by the weekend. Good news in

time for the weekend, but before then expect a lot of clout,

hopefully bright spells, maybe sunshine if you are lucky on

Thursday and Friday -- cloud. At the weekend, temperatures of around 17,

possibly higher. Lovely.