20/04/2012 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Welcome to Friday's Look North. In tonight's headlines - the big

giveaway. A millionaire businessman passes his fortune over to the

community. His daughters will not inherit the

company. Of course I thought a bit about it

and what it meant to me, but it is the right thing to do. It is a

fantastic thing to do. Investigations after a 16-year-old

girl was found at this house and died shortly afterwards.

A new heart for Lana - then it stopped for 63 minutes.

This baby's a fighter and now she's heading home. And a '60s classic is

revived for the stage. We speak to celebrated playwright

Lee Hall about Close The Coalhouse Door.

In sport, it's crunch time for Newcastle Falcons in their battle

for premiership survival. And we meet the men winning awards

on the pitch, but not for their It has been called the �30 million

giveaway. A North East multi- millionaire has decided to invest

his riches in his local community rather than passing on his fortune

to his children. John Elliot is the boss of Ebac in County Durham. This

afternoon, he signed away his business. Andy Smythe joins us live

now from Newton Aycliffe. Andy, tell us more.

The production line is not moving. The machines have been switched off.

But it is only for this weekend because the future for this company

it is a cure for generations to come. Ebac is a business which is

worth around �30 million, but today, its owner, John Elliott, assigned

the whole they are a way for nothing to a trust. Let's have a

look at the moment the business was signed over.

This is John Elliott signing away his life's work and his personal

fortune. These are his workers, for whom it means total job security.

In the current job climate, we are all very happy the way he is

handling things. Eggar's as job security. It is a big relief to

know that our jobs are safe. E back makes de humidifiers and water

coolers. The trustees will have to make sure it is never sold now.

There are people who work here and they made this business what it is.

It's such a fairytale that even former business minister Lord Digby

Jones came along for a look. not every day that you hear of an

entrepreneur giving all his money away. If a business is going to

succeed, it has to persuade society that it is sustainable within the

community. There is nothing wrong with creating wealth, it is what

you do with that. Make no mistake, John Elliott's

vision is all about business growth. But it's some watercooler

conversation - did you hear the one about the multi-millionaire who

gave away his fortune? Thanks, Andy. But what do his

daughters to be a think about it? That is the big question. One of

his daughters is the managing director here. What do you think

about it. I think it is fantastic. What we are doing is securing the

future of Ebac. It will be run in the way that we wanted to run.

you discuss it with your family? Not directly. But I have no doubt

it is the right thing. What will the foundation actually do?

objectives are to run this business well in this part of County Durham.

But you are keen to keep manufacturing in this area.

Manufacturing is something that we need to do more of in the North

East and in the UK. That is the one thing that is going to strengthen

our our economy. It is your job to keep pressing forward and bring

their Ebac Foundation on a bed. Do you feel the pressure of this?

has always been the case. It is what we have to do to keep the

people here employed and busy and productive and making a profit.

That does not really changed and best not to worry about that too

much and just concentrate on getting the job done. The next

thing they want to make your is washing-machines. There are no

washing machines it made in the United Kingdom any more. To do that,

they will have to get government funding from the regional growth

fund. If they do that, they may be able to double the And you can see

what people are saying about this story on our Facebook page.

A care home worker's been charged with the assault and neglect of an

elderly woman in York. The charges relate to the treatment of an 85-

year-old resident of The Lodge in Heslington. A 54-year-old woman's

due before York Magistrates court on May the 9th charged with assault

by beating and wilfully neglecting a person without capacity.

Two people are being questioned by the police tonight after the death

of a teenager in York. It's thought she may have taken drugs. She has

been named as 16-year-old Poppy Rodgers. Police say a 21-year-old

man is also in a serious condition in York Hospital. He is also being

linked with the death. Phil Bodmer has more.

A police committee support officer stands behind a cordon as inquiries

continue into death of a 16-year- old girl last night. Police were

called to this terraced house at around half past midnight after

being contacted by the ambulance service to report a critically ill

teenager. She was rushed to your cost what will but died in the

early hours of this morning despite the best efforts of medical staff

who tried to resuscitate her. The victim has been named as popular

Rodgers who was a student at York College. -- probably Rodgers. --

Poppy. First thing I knew about it is when my wife shouted to tell me

that there was police activity outside the house. It was all take

off quo stop now I have heard what has happened, it is tragic. If it

is drugs-related, should we have noticed more? It is absolutely

tragic. The poor child's parents it must be distraught. This afternoon,

police have revealed that a 21- year-old is also in a serious but

stable condition at your -- York hospital. A 26-year-old woman was

arrested this afternoon and is being questioned along with a 23-

year-old man on suspicion of supplying a controlled drug.

The Prime Minister has been in Cumbria today where he promised to

tackle what he described as snobbery against vocational

education. David Cameron wants to make apprenticeships a more

attractive alternative to university for young people. He was

speaking to Conservative party members near Carlisle and

reiterated the Government's commitment to apprenticeships to

address youth unemployment. Emily Unia reports.

On the local election campaign trail. The Prime Minister rallied

party members near Carlisle with a renewed commitment to

apprenticeships There's absolutely no complacency, we've got to step

up the pace of job creation, boost training and we've got to really

drive up the standards that that training involves. Mr Cameron

attacked what he called alphabetti spaghetti courses for wasting time

and money and said his government was strong on creating a real job

opportunities. The government has massively expanded apprenticeships.

There is an extra �1.5 billion going into apprenticeships. Even at

a time when we have had to make difficult decisions elsewhere. And

our work programme will help every young person who has been out of

work find them opportunities and the jobs they need. With his

Government under fire from all directions, David Cameron was keen

to highlight some Government success stories today. But with the

local elections just around the corner, his critics are not hard to

find. The number of schemes that this government has rolled out

gives me no confidence whatsoever in this government, whether it is

in employment or any other area. They certainly have no awareness of

the needs of the people of Carlisle, either locally or nationally.

But other city politicians were rather more keen to share ownership

of the drive to increase vocational training. We have increased it by

50% in 2010-11, as compared with the previous years and Liberal

Democrats did push for this policy, it was one of their main planks, so

we've had some success in that regard.

The Labour leader visited Carlisle at the start of the month and hot

on his heels comes the Prime Minister. With less than a

fortnight to go until the local elections, the battle to control

Carlisle City Council is clearly intensifying. Emily Unia BBC Look

North Carlisle. She's been through so much in her

short life. The wait for a heart transplant. Then the operation.

Then a setback when her new heart stopped for 63 minutes. But now

Llana Qazi, whose family is from She is only 11 months old, but

seven of those moms have been spent in need of a new heart. But now she

has got it and will soon be going home, but that is an you challenge

for her. She knows that the staff here, if I am not here, she does

not mind at all. It will be strange for her when we take her home

because she just knows this as her family. They have been marvellous.

Another success story for Freeman Hospital, but what if the unit that

saved her was too close? Would it be met same success, different

location? No. You would need about 10 or 20 years to create the same

team that we have here. She has been through a lot. She has been in

so many bad places, such a bad situation. She was very poorly. But

now, yes. Yes, see for yourself. A Government decision to sell off

council houses at a reduced rate in our region has been criticised.

From this month, thousands of tenants here are able to buy their

council homes more cheaply. Ministers say reviving the Right to

Buy policy will encourage more people onto the property ladder.

But Darlington Council is worried the move will worsen the housing

shortage. Our political reporter Luke Walton has more.

1987. Madonna was in the charts. Mrs Thatcher won a third term. And

the Goodchilds bought their Middlesbrough council house. It was

about security, about getting on the property ladder and the fact

that I loved were arrested. I love it here other wanted to buy a house

here. -- I loved where I stayed. But after its '80s and '90s heyday,

the numbers using their right to buy have fallen. So the Coalition

Government wants to give the policy another lease of life. They are

increasing the discount for buyers from �22,000 in the north east to

�75,000 below the market value. Ministers talk of encouraging more

people on to the property ladder. But here in Darlington, the council

worries that the homes sold will be hard to replace.

We have 15 or 18 properties we advertise every week and we get

about 400 people applying for those properties. If we are going to sell

our most popular properties, that will cause problems.

Ministers promise for every council house sold, a new affordable home

will be built. But in the past, Right to Buy has been blamed for

worsening the housing shortage. And there remains a fear that the

policy's revival will make the situation worse. Luke Walton, BBC

Look North, Darlington. There's more on this story in

Sunday Politics this week, on at the later time of 2pm on BBC One.

There's plenty more to come in tonight's Look North. Dawn's here

with the weekend sport. There's national awards for Carlisle and

Middlesbrough despite disappointing results.

And make the most of the bright spells while the last and try to

avoid those big, black shower clouds.

It's a play about gutsy, northern spirit and strikes at the very

heart of the North East. Alan Plater's classic work Close The

Coalhouse Door made its debut more than four decades ago and has now

been revived for the Tyneside stage by two leading lights of British

theatre. Here's our arts reporter Sharuna Sagar. My man is a union

man. This isn't history, this is family.

Alan Plater's celebrated 1968 play Close the Coal House Door runs

through the North East like a rich The latest version, a co-production

between Newcastle's Northern Stage and Live Theatre, is in memory of

the late playwright, a friend and mentor of Lee Hall of Billy Elliot

and The Pitmen Painters fame, he was brought in to bring the play up

to date. It is one of the first place that I came across that

really expressed what it is like to be a Geordie. It is funny. It is

really funny. The people are like people that you know. There will be

someone in your family who is like one of the characters. It is smart,

it is intelligent, it is witty and moving. It's a story based in a

mining community, but it isn't just about pitmen. And as art imitates

life and life imitates art, the play has great relevance today.

When we started this play, we thought it would be a proper way of

remembering and honouring a disappearing and murdered industry.

But also, the same thing seems to be happening nowadays that was

happening at the time. People exploiting those who work hardest

for least. It is a play dealing with austerity, political control

that comes from down south and from Westminster, and it deals with how

people up here resisted that. us is not just a story for the

people who lived here, it is a way of life, it is a memory and it is

# Close the coalhouse door, lad. There's bairns inside. #

Time for sport and a very important night for Newcastle Falcons but,

first, what's with the silly glasses, Dawn?

Yes, they're not the latest fashion accessory, clearly, but you'll need

a pair of these if you're going to be reading the Newcastle programme

this weekend because it's in 3D. They are the first Premier League

club to produce their programme in this format. It's just a one off,

but it's actually quite effective. Well, Newcastle could find

themselves in a Champions League spot this time tomorrow if they

beat Stoke on Tyneside. As you can see, Arsenal's defeat on Monday has

left the Magpies handily placed for Europe's top table. Of course,

fourth might still not be enough to guarantee it. After five wins in a

row, United are on a roll, but after watching Stoke this season,

they appreciate only too well what effect European football could have

on their next league season. They have done exceptionally well. You

cannot say that that Europa League has not put paid to a position, a

better position in their Premier League. Stoker would be higher in

the leak. In some ways, we are trying to go past their

achievements. But this European qualification is about as

complicated as it gets. Martin O'Neill is confident he can

achieve with Sunderland what he did at Aston Villa and establish them

as a top-six club. O'Neill tomorrow returns to Villa Park for the first

time since his untimely exit just five days before the start of the

Premier League season in August 2010. The 4th here turned a little

bit sour, I must admit, and that is unfortunate. Ironically, it

happened to be our most successful year as well. I have very fond

memories of the police, but I am part of Aston Villa's past now and

they hope to be part of Sunderland's future.

Meanwhile Sunderland have been fined �30,000 by the FA for

misconduct after several players surrounded the referee during the

3-all draw at Manchester City. Elsewhere mid-table Hartlepool are

at Tranmere. And it's an away day in the Conference Premier for play-

off hopefuls York City and Gateshead.

Disappointing midweek results have left their promotion play-off hopes

hanging by a thread. But both Middlesbrough and Carlisle have

been able to boast national awards - for their groundsmen. Mark Tulip

explains. With Carlisle at high-flying

Sheffield Wednesday tomorrow, the groundsman of the year Dave

Mitchell and his team have a bet of respite to prepare the pitch for

the final game of the season. The winter was not as bad as feared,

but David is staring at the finishing line of a long campaign.

It can be a long haul. But we knuckle down as a team and get on

with it and work with the manager. But as you can see here today, we

have just about got here. Whether that is in league one or the

Championship remains endowed. Middlesbrough may have blown their

promotion prospects, but they cannot blame the pitch. When they

give this award, things like location are taken into

consideration. We are in the North East of England, we often get snow

and it is not always very pleasant. But these things we have to deal

with as groundsman -- groundsmen. The Falcons last home game of the

season tonight will be a real nailbiter. Off the back of their

first victory at Gloucester in 14 years, the league's bottom club

take on reigning champions Saracens. But momentum and belief might not

be enough if Newcastle don't do at least as well as relegation rivals

Wasps, as the teams play each other on the final day of the season.

Bottom of the league, four points adrift, you might expect doom and

gloom, but not at all! New kit, new shirt sponsor, new belief - the

mood is upbeat. The future is looking very bright at Newcastle.

It is a good team to be a part of. We have to make sure that we are in

the right place next year to go forward in the Premiership.

They are a team transformed under Gary Gold and the others, but they

can't afford to dwell on last weekend's victory at Kingsholm.

Although external factors may yet save their premiership status, the

Falcons would rather save themselves and they are hoping the

Kingston Park factor might make a difference. It is a very difficult

place to come a way to, it is a long distance for the London boys

to come to. We have got a fantastic crowd to get behind us. It is

normally not warm in Newcastle on a Friday night, so those are fighters

they will have to deal with. -- those are factors. It is only a

tenner a ticket, so we hope to get 10,000 into the park. That will be

massive of -- of massive it. Cricket and after rain prevented

any play yesterday, Durham had a fantastic start this morning to

their County Championship game against Middlesex - reducing the

home side to three for three at one stage before they steadied the ship.

And Yorkshire have taken a commanding lead in their game

against Essex. If it the look behind us here, that

is a clue about the weather forecast. We have sent Paul up on

I have managed it to avoid the showers so far. If you are out and

about over the weekend, you must factor the showers into your plans.

The meeting at Newcastle Racecourse has been postponed. Sunday, there

will be our charity football match and family day... There will be

some sunshine over the weekend, but more of these heavy showers that we

have seen over the last few days. This evening and overnight, there

are some heavy showers around. Some big black clouds around. And it

will be a chilly night. 5 or six Celsius in the cities, two or three

degrees in outlying areas. Some brightness first thing in the

morning, but the shower clouds will soon get going again and they will

be widespread showers. That will also be a slow-moving and there

could be some thunder and hail in amongst them. Temperatures up to

about 12 Celsius. The low pressure that has kept this changeable

weather is gradually starting to move to the east through the course

of the weekend. So the showers might die away, but by Monday, the

next Atlantic Lord moves in with its weather front and the rain.

Monday stars of dry but becomes wet and windy from the south-west of

throughout the course of the day. Keep the umbrella handy.

Thanks Paul. Now for a last look at tonight's headlines. The Bahraini

government and Formula One bosses have insisted this weekend's Grand

Prix will go ahead despite renewed clashes between security forces and

anti-government protestors. And a North East millionaire has