:00:15. > :00:17.Good evening. club turned out to be a stalemate.
:00:18. > :00:20.Good evening. The Northern Rock Foundation, which
:00:21. > :00:23.has handed out more than ?2 million to hundreds of charities, is to
:00:24. > :00:26.close. It says it can't strhke a deal with Virgin Money, which bought
:00:27. > :00:33.Northern Rock, for future long`term funding.
:00:34. > :00:36.From premature babies in Newcastle to a theatre group in Blyth, over
:00:37. > :00:39.the last 16 years the Northdrn Rock Foundation has helped them `ll. Over
:00:40. > :00:48.1000 charities benefited from grants. But today the news that it
:00:49. > :00:51.is being wound up. Although Virgin Money's Sir Richard Branson gave the
:00:52. > :00:54.Foundation his backing when he took over Northern Rock, negotiations
:00:55. > :00:59.over future funding between the bank and foundation have broken down It
:01:00. > :01:03.is the end of the road. It was an absolute jewel of the
:01:04. > :01:07.North East. It is difficult to explain just how wonderful ht was.
:01:08. > :01:10.No other company I can think of in corporate history has devotdd such a
:01:11. > :01:13.high proportion of its profhts to this particular activity. It was
:01:14. > :01:19.doing wonderful things, so ht is a sad day.
:01:20. > :01:23.The Northern Rock Foundation was originally set up in 1997. The Rock
:01:24. > :01:30.collapsed in 2008 with the financial crisis. While a buyer was found an
:01:31. > :01:34.interim arrangement kept thd fundation going for the next two
:01:35. > :01:37.years. Virgin Money took ovdr the Rock in January 2012 and signed a
:01:38. > :01:42.deal to fund the foundation until December last year. After months of
:01:43. > :01:45.negotiations though, today ht announced it's closing.
:01:46. > :01:49.For people like Stuart, who runs a mental health charity in thd North
:01:50. > :01:53.East and has just had a grant from the foundation, it is a sad day
:01:54. > :01:56.I know many charities nowad`ys spend their reserves, just to survive
:01:57. > :02:02.Unfortunately I think we will see many charities closing. There just
:02:03. > :02:05.isn't the money to sustain them any more. Northern Rock going is another
:02:06. > :02:09.blow to the charity sector. Virgin Money wants to continue to
:02:10. > :02:15.fund the foundation, just not to the same extent.
:02:16. > :02:20.We have made more than one proposal about joint projects and thdy
:02:21. > :02:24.involve significant funding. One of those was equal to the amount we
:02:25. > :02:32.have committed in 2014, ?1 lillion, so not insignificant. What we were
:02:33. > :02:35.not able to do was commit to the levels of funding that the
:02:36. > :02:42.foundation said they would require to continue their grant`givhng
:02:43. > :02:44.programme. With local councils also cutting
:02:45. > :02:47.financial support, today's news could leave some charities `cross
:02:48. > :03:08.the region with new questions about their future.
:03:09. > :03:13.A campaign to save Durham Tdes Valley Airport is to be takdn to ten
:03:14. > :03:16.Downing Street. A 4,500`signature petition will be handed in later
:03:17. > :03:19.this week, with campaigners calling for investment and a greater effort
:03:20. > :03:23.to attract flights and passdngers. It looks like an airport, it just
:03:24. > :03:30.rarely feels like one. Dailx flights to Aberdeen and Amsterdam offer some
:03:31. > :03:33.activity. But the recession and the decision by low`cost airlinds to
:03:34. > :03:37.move elsewhere have clearly been damaging. This couple believe not
:03:38. > :03:39.enough of a fight has been put up to save the airport and attract
:03:40. > :03:42.carriers back here. I think it is absolutely
:03:43. > :03:46.devastating. It is like havhng an empty shop. You go in and there is
:03:47. > :03:52.nothing to buy, so you are obviously not going to use it. We havd nothing
:03:53. > :03:55.there. In 2006, just short of one lillion
:03:56. > :03:59.passengers used the airport. But that tally has been falling steadily
:04:00. > :04:02.since, so by last year just over 160,000 people used Durham Tees
:04:03. > :04:05.Valley. So the airport's owners have drawn up a master plan. Thex want to
:04:06. > :04:12.build hundreds of homes herd and business parks for the aviation
:04:13. > :04:16.industry. Many airports are having to look at
:04:17. > :04:23.widening the base of their `ctivity. Very few are surviving on aviation
:04:24. > :04:26.and flying income alone. Thdy are all looking at the potentials within
:04:27. > :04:29.their estates. Many other ahrports are similarly looking at property
:04:30. > :04:37.development that brings valte to the airport.
:04:38. > :04:41.The low`level nuclear waste store at Drigg in West Cumbria will continue
:04:42. > :04:45.to operate, despite fears that the site will eventually be eroded by
:04:46. > :04:48.rising sea levels. The oper`tors say that even in the worst case scenario
:04:49. > :04:57.the impact on life and the environment will be insignificant.
:04:58. > :05:02.The operator of the low`levdl waste repository in Drigg assumes that in
:05:03. > :05:05.the next few hundred to 1000 years the site will disappear bendath the
:05:06. > :05:09.advancing waves. It also assumes that no one will do anything about
:05:10. > :05:12.it. Even so, it says that in this scenario, radiation levels will be
:05:13. > :05:20.lower than the levels we ard already exposed to buy the environmdnt.
:05:21. > :05:24.Nuclear waste is a diminishhng hazard. It decays over time and most
:05:25. > :05:28.of the waste which is stored here will decay over time. So thd waste
:05:29. > :05:38.any hazard go away. 20 microsieverts is really insignificant.
:05:39. > :05:43.However, the Environment Agdncy says that the repository would not be
:05:44. > :05:47.built on the site today. If somebody came to us now `nd said
:05:48. > :05:50.that we want to put a site here we would say, from our current
:05:51. > :05:55.understanding this is not the best place for it. If you can make a case
:05:56. > :06:02.for it, then we will allow ht, but this is not the best place.
:06:03. > :06:06.However, the Cumbrian environmental pressure group CORE says it is not
:06:07. > :06:13.surprised that the issue is being played down. In a statement, it says
:06:14. > :06:16.that this should be a wake`tp call to the nuclear industry's plans for
:06:17. > :06:17.new build expansions and underground dumps in threatened coastal areas
:06:18. > :06:26.throughout the UK. Football ` and one result from the
:06:27. > :06:30.Championship tonight: Reading 2`0 Middlesbrough. No it looks like a
:06:31. > :06:34.mid`table finish to the season for the Boro. Reading still in the hunt
:06:35. > :06:39.for a play`off spot. That's all from us. After a
:06:40. > :06:45.surprisingly lovely Easter weekend, let's get the weather prospdcts
:06:46. > :07:07.Good evening. The night. A lot of cloud around. We will see some sunny
:07:08. > :07:12.spells developing as we head into the afternoon. The code will thicken
:07:13. > :07:17.in the West at the tail end of the day. We may see some misty
:07:18. > :07:27.conditions along parts of the North East coast. Top temperature is 7
:07:28. > :07:35.Celsius. The best of the brhght spells will be in the West.
:07:36. > :07:43.is not looking too bad. That's weather front.
:07:44. > :07:48.It is never too early to think about next weekend and I will be doing
:07:49. > :07:53.that in a couple of minutes. But we have a sizeable chunk of this
:07:54. > :07:58.week's whether to go first. There are more showers, but there will be
:07:59. > :07:59.spells of warm sunshine around as well,