08/11/2017 Look North (Yorkshire)

That's all from the BBC News at One

- so it's goodbye from me -

Welcome to Look North.

- so it's goodbye from me -

The main news from around

Yorkshire today...

Marriages of convenience -

why gay and lesbian people

from Yorkshire's Asian community

are marrying to avoid shame

from their families.

And the pioneering treatment using

water to ease the body and the mind.

Gay men and women from

Yorkshire's Asian community

are marrying each other in a bid

to avoid hostility

from their family and friends.

A BBC investigation has found

they're using online forums to enter

into so-called marriages

of convenience to appear

heterosexual to the wider community.

Sabbiyah Pervez met one Leeds

man to hear his story.

I wanted my family to

have the wedding that they wanted,

to make them happy.

Khalid is a gay Muslim

living in Leeds.

For eight years he was married

to a lesbian in a marriage

of convenience that allowed them

both to hide their sexuality.

Their families believed

it was a typical heterosexual

marriage, but in reality,

the couple lived apart and led

entirely separate lives.

We'd meet up on the M62 and go

in the same car to see the family.

On an emotional level,

because you are living an additional

lie on the top of the lie

of being gay, it does get to you.

The pressures do get to you.

Marriages of convenience

are not new.

But whereas before, Asians

who are lesbians or gay might find

it difficult to find potential

partners, now the Internet makes it

easier and provides them

with the anonymity they need.

One online forum we have

seen has over 1000 posts

about marriages of convenience.

Whilst another site has almost 300

current members from the UK, mostly

from Hindu and Muslim religions.

I would recommend to those

people who are doing this,

do not do two wrongs.

Two wrongs will not make it right.

If you're struggling

with your faith, that's your

personal journey with God.

However, deceiving other people

is in itself a moral problem.

Karma Nirvana Helpline,

how can I help you?

Karma Nirvana is a human rights

charity based in Yorkshire.

They say they have seen a rapid

increase over the past two years

in the number of calls they get

from Asian LGBT people.

We are dealing with

the tip of the iceberg.

I believe this story

of the marriages of convenience

and the issues of the LGBTQ

communities, is very much

a hidden issue out there.

The extent of the problem

is going to be far more

than what we are seeing and hearing.

Khalid now regrets his marriage

and says he wouldn't do it again.

But he doesn't believe his family

would be upset by his deception.

I don't think they would be shocked.

I almost think my mother

would be proud that I did it

to save the family's name,

and their standing

within the community.

But they wouldn't understand

the reason why I couldn't do it any

more and why I felt I wanted to get

a divorce and live

the life I wanted to live.

We will have more on that tonight at

6:30pm.

A Huddersfield player accused

of biting the captain

of the Lebanese team

at the Rugby League World Cup

in Australia has been

found not guilty.

This is the moment Jermaine

McGillvary allegedly bit

Robbie Farah during Saturday's win.

The disciplinary hearing in Sydney

earlier this morning found him not

guilty and he's been cleared

to remain with the England Squad.

Patients say a pioneering form

of underwater treatment for mental

health needs to be made

available outside Wakefield.

Watsu treatment has been trialled

at Pinderfields hospital and has had

100% positive feedback

from patients.

It's thought the unusual form

of treatment isn't available

anywhere else in the UK.

Ali Fortescue reports.

It's hospital treatment as you

probably haven't seen it before.

Watsu involves stretching

and massaging patients

in a pool of warm water.

Unusual, perhaps, but this

is a treatment that

appears to be working.

Nothing has had the

impact like Watsu has.

Because it's more than words -

it's practical, it's physical.

There's a huge amount of trust

involved, and you have to be

totally submissive to it,

just let yourself go.

It improves sleep, it induces

relaxation, it brings

down anxiety levels.

It improves lung function.

Through the gentle movements

and the warmth and buoyancy

of the water, as health

practitioners we can treat any part

of the body in a very safe

and very gentle way.

All mental health patients

are different, but Watsu treatment

has had just positive treatment

from around 60 patients,

many of whom have identified

it as a turning point

in their recovery.

Pinderfields is the only hospital

that offers this treatment

to mental health patients

on the NHS in Yorkshire.

But the problem isn't just access,

it's what happens when patients

leave the hospital.

Because funding stops

at the hospital doors,

patients say recovery at home

without Watsu can be tough.

But since we raised the issue,

the trust are now reviewing

their current after-care plans.

If you have a mental

illness, a lot of the time

you become socially isolated.

It's very difficult anywhere

to actually open up for the fear

of being ridiculed and dismissed.

But here, there's none of that.

Here, we are still part of it

and we're made feel worthwhile.

It's very life-changing.

The hope is that success

in Wakefield will inspire

hospitals across the country,

and that more patients

like Michael can leave the scars

of mental health behind them.

Ali Fortescue, BBC

Look North, Wakefield.

Finally this lunchtime,

if you're thinking about getting

the Christmas decorations out

of the attic,

well, Chatsworth House

has beaten you to it.

Their halls are decked,

their firs are spruced.

Today we had a special

invitation to take a look

at their festive preparations.

Tom Ingall went along.

If you're somebody who loves

to count down the days to Christmas,

this is no doubt a day ringed in red

on your calendar, because it's

the day Chatsworth House

reveals its Christmas 2017 theme.

We are in the chapel,

where the tree and the baubles

and lights are glittering,

although I'm assured

there are still quite a few shopping

days left until the big day.

Someone who can tell us

about the scene they have

Someone who can tell us

about the theme they have

chosen is Janet Bitton,

the housekeeper at Chatsworth.

What have you gone with this year?

This year we have gone

with,

"Oh, Dickens, It's

Christmas At Chatsworth."

How does that translate

from the pages of the book, then,

to a roomful of decorations?

We have been thinking about doing

Dickens for quite some time,

because it's so atmospheric.

Everybody thinks of

A Christmas Carol and Christmas

stories to do with Dickens.

It's something we

really wanted to do.

We have tried to liven it up a bit

because obviously Dickens can be

a little bit sad in places.

And we have just taken it

into each of the rooms,

taken the main stories and given it

a bit of pizzazz.

So you have plucked your favourite

characters from the books, have you?

Who have you chosen to represent?

We particularly focused

on A Christmas Carol,

just because of its familarity with

Christmas.

And we also have some actors

in this year as well,

starring as Fagin and Miss Havisham.

We have the Green Man,

who will be sitting behind me here.

That's to do with Christmas present

and presents itself.

How many people does it take to put

your decorations up every year?

It must take a while!

We have two main teams who get

involved, coming under

the decorations team.

There's probably about 20 of us

altogether, although we don't

work at the same time.

We have a shift system.

We start early in the morning

and finish mid-afternoon,

and the second shift comes

on until the night.

Thank you very much indeed.

And if you think it takes a long

time to put your decorations up,

spare a thought for these guys.

Not only that, they've got to take

them all down again in January.

Have you got your sprouts on for

Christmas Day yet?

I'm not a huge

fan of sprouts. I think they are gag

inducing. I'm not a fan.

The weather has been feeling good

today, but cool and chilly, but

fairly good across the whole of

Yorkshire. Temperatures around nine

or ten, but it will remain dry. Not

much going on on the map, which is

good news. If you like the dry

weather and sunshine. But

temperatures still disappointing,

eight or nine pretty much across the

board. As we move through the

afternoon and into the evening, the

sunshine tends to turn more hazy.

That's ahead of this weather front

moving in from the West. Parts of

north Yorkshire remaining mostly

dry, breezy at times. HIV-1,

temperatures down to three or four

Celsius tonight. A very different

feel. -- quite a chilly one,

temperatures down to three or four

Celsius. We'll see brighter spells

as we had through the day and into

tomorrow afternoon. Temperatures

higher than today, I think 12 or 13

Celsius. Looking mostly dry as we

had to the end of the week. The

weekend will be looking pretty good.

I will be doing the Christmas lights

switch on in York next week. With

that big plunger.