26/10/2011 Midlands Today

Hello and welcome to Midlands Today with Mary Rhodes and Michael Collie.

The headlines tonight: Concerns for our hospices - could

they be the big loser in the new Health Lottery. Without them, a lot

of families would not be able to cope.

The epilepsy patient forced to move after being refused a vital

operation in Staffordshire. I think is wrong what they are doing in

Stoke-on-Trent. It shouldn't happen, not to a child, anyway.

The latest move to find legal sites for gypsies but where should the

travellers rest? And another charge from the Bulls.

Hereford United continue their Good evening and welcome to

Wednesday's Midlands Today from the BBC. Tonight, there are concerns

that local hospices' fundraising could be hit by the new Health

Lottery. The Chief Executives of two our region's hospices have

admitted they're worried about local supermarkets giving the

lottery a high profile. The National Lottery, which has been

going for 17 years, gives 28 pence from every pound to good causes.

The new Health Lottery will give just over 20p. But many hospices

here in the Midlands also run their own lotteries, with tickets being

sold alongside the other two in local shops, and now many are

worried their sales will fall. Caring for life limited children.

It cost seven-and-a-half �1,000 a day to run this hospice in

Worcester, the same again at each of their other two sites. Some of

that comes from their own lottery but now there is this - the health

lottery is a national draw which is feared could damage local campaigns.

Our contention is we are genuinely a local not free. It is a source of

income we need, �70,000 a year, and, thirdly, the amount of money that

actually comes to us through our own lottery arrangements is usually

greater than that offered by the Health Lottery. Families benefiting

from acorns have expressed concern. This baby received and of life care

until his death. His mother is worried at the hospice could lose

income. It would be a terrible shame to everyone that use this

ospreys because without them a lot of families would not be able to

cope. It runs its local lottery in conjunction with St Richard's

husband's -- Hospice. They also worried about it. They are only

giving 20 p in the pound to charity. The National Lottery gives 28 p. We

pay 50 p. It does pay money to good causes but the other lotteries give

more and I would urge in Worcester City Centre there was a mixture of

concern and support. At it is a good thing, definitely. The health

could be improved. I am not going to try it because I would rather

help the hospices and the other charities, because I know where

they are going, then. It is wrong, not generating as much for charity.

In a statement, the People's Health Trust, distributing cash from the

new lottery, said it believed the money would be a credible injection

of funding for the charitable sector and it said it didn't

believe it would be detrimental to existing hospice income. That

remains to be seen as the likes of this hospice and other hospices wit

to find out what the true impact of a lottery set up to support the

health service actually turns out to be.

Joining us now from London is Ralph Mitchell from the Association of

Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations. Do you feel the

Health Lottery will damage income for hospices, or do you recognise

that some of the money being spent on tickets will be "new money",

which could raise income for hospices?

The fear is very much that it will deprive charities of money. You

heard the maths. The advertising that the new Health Lottery is

doing is very explicitly trying to attract people away from the

National Lottery to what's this new Health Lottery, so it is highly

likely that less money will go to good causes. We help -- we heard

the statement from the Health Lottery, saying they are work -

were working with hospices, and there are happy the lottery will

not be detrimental to existing hospice income. They might be right,

more people might play at. Well, they might be like -- they might be

right, but it is highly unlikely because this lottery is marketing

itself as a competitor to other lotteries that give more to charity.

The simple fact, it seems to me, is highly likely that if you play this

lottery, less money goes to charity, more money goes to Richard Desmond.

In your view, we heard from two hospices, what are they don't have

to do now? They are in a very difficult situation. There is not

much they can do beyond telling the public that they have this choice.

Either they play the existing hospice lotteries, which will

support those hospices substantially, or they play the

people's Health Lottery and the result is those hospices have

difficulties. So those hospices are in a critical situation. People

that can play either lottery have a very clear choice to make, and I

actually think the government has a choice to make, too. One of the

things we have asked them to do is to look at whether this new lottery

is exploiting a loophole in the law, because it is highly unlikely that

Parliament, when it legislated for these lotteries, intended for this

kind of outcome. And for less money going to charities. Thank you very

much indeed. So, do you think there's room for

this extra lottery, and have you changed which one you play every

week? Join the debate on our Facebook page and we'll read some

of your comments out at the end of the programme.

Still to come on tonight's programme... Happy Diwali. Happy --

Habiba Seoul. We will be finding out why this year's Diwali has

brought a much-needed economic boost.

A postcode lottery for care. That's the claim after a teenager was

refused an operation three times in North Staffordshire, but was

offered it at the first attempt in Nottingham. Ryan Lomas suffers from

a severe form of epilepsy which means he can have several fits a

day. Here's our Health correspondent, Michele Paduano.

14-year-old Ryan Lomas has a severe form of epilepsy. He takes a

cocktail of drugs. Ryan's fits can be life-threatening and he has

already broken an eye socket and lost a tooth. When he lived in

Biddulph, he was refused an operation for a vagal nerve

stimulator which might reduce his fitting, but the NHS in Nottingham

has said yes. First time we got refused, and then the second time

and then the third time. There was no chance he was going to have it

done. It was something to do with where we were in Stoke-on-Trent. It

was stupid, really. Ridiculous. used to leave -- used to live in

Biddulph, but if he lived a couple of miles up the road, he would have

been far more likely to have got the funding. In fact, in a year in

North Staffordshire they thundered just 5% of all special requests,

wears in Stoke-on-Trent -- Stoke in Trent they funded more than 50%.

Just half a mile away in Biddulph lives seven-year-old William Merron.

His moods change rapidly. He too was refused an operation by NHS

North Staffordshire so his parents raised the money. Terrible. Why

they don't funded here where they funded everywhere else, we struggle.

We didn't have the money at hand, so the only way to do that was to

raise the money. William's fits are beginning to return. The stimulator

will take up to six months to start working. A vagal nerve stimulator

is a type of pacemaker which sends mild electrical pulses to the vagus

nerve. The signals travel into parts of the brain thought to cause

the seizures. Trials show the vagal nerve stimulator can halve the

number of fits in 40% of patients. We think this is not an isolated

case but is happening to lots of families, and, therefore, epilepsy

services, it is a postcode lottery as to whether or not you get the

treatment you need. In a statement, Ryan will have his operation next

month. More patients may move in future to get the treatment they

need. West Midlands Police Authority has

received more than 300 claims against it for damage to property

caused during the August riots. Under laws dating back more than

100 years, the force is liable to pay compensation. The claims mount

to more than �5 million. The issue is being discussed at tomorrow's

Police Authority meeting and we'll have a full report on that on

Midlands Today. The Stoke-on-Trent pottery firm

Jesse Shirley has ceased trading, and made its staff redundant. The

190-year-old firm went into administration in 2009 because one

of its biggest customers was Wedgwood. But it was saved by a

management buy-out. Now the company's confirmed it's ceased

trading, but hasn't revealed why. Its 27 staff were made redundant

last week, and administrators are due to be appointed.

MPs have been debating the future of BBC Local Radio. The 40 English

local radio stations are being asked to make cuts to their budgets

that'll result in changes to programming and job losses. One

Midlands MP suggested that local radio was vital to communities and

should be treated sensitively by BBC bosses, but the Culture

Minister said it wasn't for him to tell the BBC what to do.

Most importantly, local radio is the part of the BBC which has was

genuinely local and based in the communities it serves. More so than

television and online, the 40 radio local stations are often the only

representation of the BBC's service in our constituencies. It is not my

job to tell the BBC what to do. I think that would be quite wrong for

a minister to order the BBC to close down a particular service or

saved another service. That is the job for BBC management.

And you can have your say on the proposed BBC cuts by visiting the

BBC Trust's website. Just 24 hours after the gypsy site

in Meriden was deemed illegal, it seems plans for new legal

travellers sites in North Worcestershire are proving just as

controversial. Some residents in the Wyre Forest area of north

Worcestershire say they're worried that proposals for small sites

could attract more travellers than they're being built for. Tonight,

the latest consultation meeting takes place in Cookley, near

Kidderminster. Jackie Kabler has been looking at what's being

proposed. This is the 250 acre old Lea Castle

Hospital site in Cookley near Kidderminster. Derelict for years

and earmarked as a possible site for 15 traveller pitches. But it's

surrounded by residential areas, and locals had hoped there'd be a

housing and leisure development here. We were very surprised when a

few months later, this was suddenly identified as a site Ford gypsies,

travellers and travelling show people. But the site would only

take up a tiny corner of this huge plot, so what's the problem?

could have an effect on selling the rest of the land and if they were...

If there was a gypsy site nearby, that could put people off. Gypsies

have to live somewhere. Is this a case of Not In My backyard? Mare.

We think the site is unsuitable and we are few -- fearful that the

gypsies could be affected by illegal set-up of camps on the rest

of the site. Just a few minutes' drive away, the other site. An old

score, right next to a residential area, and under the proposals,

there would be 10 pitches here. But the Council says it's under

pressure from the Government to find new sites.. The latest

government -- the latest government guidance says we have to meet unmet

demand which is what we're doing, but it is a consultation and we are

listening to the public, and all of those fees will be taken into

account. The eviction of illegal travellers at Dale Farm in Essex

hit the headlines, while yesterday the site at Meriden in Warwickshire

was also declared illegal. But gypsies say the public perception

of their community is simply wrong. 90% of planning applications made

by gypsies and travellers are turned down, which explains why so

many people living legally. They are a nice bunch of people that a

trust discriminated against. They are just an ethnic minority.

public consultation in Worcestershire continues, as will

the arguments. The consultation finishes in November and we will

keep abreast of that one. Thousands of Hindus, Sikhs and

Jains are celebrating Diwali today, the Festival of Lights. And for

many of our shopping areas, that means business is booming. Our

reporter Sarah Falkland has spent today in Birmingham's Soho Road,

where most of the shops are independent, family-run businesses.

Happy Diwali! Happy Diwali to everyone!

There's a party atmosphere on the Soho Road. For many, Diwali is all

about food. They've been queuing up for sweets, or jalebi, at this shop

since 8 o'clock. So, with the recession and job losses, is anyone

cutting back this year? What will they be spending this Diwali?

-- Unlimited. More than several hundred? Maybe. Oh... It can come

up to about �400. Years. And that's music to the ears of traders.

been a difficult year with the recession and the riots and so we

need Diwali to give us an upward, a bruised, psychologically and

financially. -- a boost. This sweet shop suffered a 20% drop in trade

this year so it's gone into overdrive for Diwali and produced

35 more sweets in the hope it can claw back some profit. -- 35% more

suites. It changed his moods. It is about giving and receiving, just

like Christmas is. But it does change the mood, so hopefully it is

a turning point. Because of the high price of silver, there aren't

many silver foil sweets, because a kilo of those will set you back �70.

But this festival isn't just about food and fireworks. Bringing the

community together. Happiness. And we all feel good. And, you know,

tonight is going to be lights. Diwali means literally "rows of

lights". Candles will be lit tonight in thousands of homes.

And Sarah's now at the Geeta Bhavan Mandir building in Handsworth,

where festivities are getting in full swing, so what's happening now

Sarah? Well, I'm at Europe's bigger Sikh

temple. The hive of activity. Lots of people here for prayers. Out in

the precinct, you can see everybody wants to light a candle. Diwali, in

the Hindu religion, but in Sikh favour, it is something else, isn't

it? It celebrates the 6th gurus liberating kings. What is the

significance of the Campbells? candles represent the light in God

that was in all of the kings and humanity and it is about spreading

that light, recognising that in everyone and remembering that

everyone, because they have that light, they are entitled to the

same freedom and liberation. What does it mean to you as a young Sikh

was made it reminds me of human rights and all of these sorts of

things, and it is a reminder of the importance of being true to what

people are entitled to and caring for them. There is a lovely warm

atmosphere, not just from the candles. What will you do tonight?

I will be praying, and spend it with my family and reflecting on

what it means to be a Sikh, and to help humanity, in general. You can

probably hear the bangs of the rockets and fireworks. There is

more candles been lit. We will review with a message from the

people at the temple. Everybody... Happy Diwali!

Still to come in tonight's programme:

The humble apple finally gets the recognition it deserves in the

Onto football, and Stoke City and Wolves are both hoping to make it

through to the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup tonight. Stoke

start as favourites to beat Liverpool at the Britannia Stadium,

but Wolves face a Manchester City team who won 6-1 at Manchester

United on Sunday. However, manager Mick McCarthy is confident his side

We understand we haven't enjoyed the best five weeks, players

understand it, and they are desperate to make it better. The

good thing is we have got the quality and spirit to make it

better. And we will. We will get better.

There's full commentary on both those matches on your BBC local

radio station from seven o'clock this evening and you can see all

the goals in the League Cup Show on BBC One at 11:20pm.

Three weeks ago, Hereford United fans must have feared their team

was heading out of the Football League. Six games without a win had

left them in the relegation zone. But last night's victory at

Northampton was just the latest step in a thrilling revival. Nick

were second bottom of the entire Football League and the fans were

worried about the future. Four weeks on and it all looks so much

healthier. Last night's victory at Northampton was their third in a

row, untold riches for a club who'd only won once in the League

previously this season. And the luck even seems to be going their

way as Steven Leslie's heavily deflected free-kick doubled the

lead given them by Nathan Elder. Even a goal back for Northampton

didn't throw them out of their stride and Hereford's night was

complete when Harry Pell headed home a third to move the Bulls well

up the table and four points clear up the table and four points clear

of the bottom two. Everyone is ecstatic with the winds we have got

but we want to keep our feet on the grounds. We are still at the bottom

or near the bottom, so we want to suffered their own heartbreak in

recent seasons. Twice in three years they've seen promotion slip

away in the play-offs. So last night's 1-0 home victory over

Accrington Stanley was all the sweeter as Tom Bradshaw's goals

lifted them into the automatic promotion places. Cheltenham Town

stay in the play-off positions despite losing 1-0 at home to Crewe,

their first defeat in eight games. But Port Vale bounced back from

Saturday's heavy home defeat by Morecambe with a swashbuckling

victory at Bristol Rovers. Sean Rigg's thunderbolt the pick of

their three goals. Walsall continue to struggle in League One. Alex

Nicholls' goal unable to prevent them losing 2-1 at home to Exeter

and leave them just one point above Worrying times.

Now, a reminder that you've got just four more days left to

nominate your BBC Midlands' Sports Unsung Hero. The closing date is

this Sunday. The Award is aimed at rewarding those who dedicate their

lives to helping others take part in sport, and to help in the search

for your nominations we've enlisted the help of a famous Warwickshire

and England cricketer. I am Ian Bell and by unsung hero

was the Warwickshire coach, Neil Abberley. It is time to nominate

Please, get your nomination form today and say thank you to your

unsung hero. That his this Sunday.

The Midlands has a long and glorious tradition of apple growing,

especially this year when there have been rather a lot! So for

Autumnwatch, our Environment Correspondent David Gregory has

been investigating the history of this humble fruit. And he joins us

now live from the centre of Birmingham. I have to say, David,

that's not the most impressive apple tree I've ever seen. You mean

my tiny Apple tree? Every day, I walk past it on the

way to work and ask: is this the remains of some long forgotten

orchard? Just one tree on a bit of wasteground in central Birmingham?

So when the president of the Royal Horticultural Society, no less,

invited Midlands Today to a special apple event, it presented a chance

to learn more about the history of apples in the Midlands. And perhaps

Kington on the Herefordshire-Wales boarder. And at Hergest Croft

Gardens, a celebration of the county's rich history or apples and

orchards. What are you doing with them at this time of the years?

collect them and to reduce them, and we are trying to do a great

deal more with the apples. In fact, this festival here has made a huge

difference to our attitude of the Apple. This festival is just one of

many events celebrating Herefordshire's Year in the Orchard

marking 200 years since this man, Thomas Andrew Knight, wrote the

first book to try and record all the apples and pears of the county.

And with so many apple experts on hand, it's also a chance to see if

that tree in your garden is actually a long lost apple variety.

So, I've brought one sad Apple from a sad and lonely Apple tree in

central Birmingham. Is there something special? This is from

central Birmingham. It's not the nicest Apple, but... It is hard to

be certain. It has got some of the colours and appearance at Worcester,

which is quite widely grown from the 19th century onwards. It has

been around a long time. So not a rare variety? Unfortunately, I'm

afraid not. Disappointment for me, but joy for others as the Royal

Horticultural Society hands out its first ever awards for orchards. The

awards were created for Herefordshire's Year in the Orchard

and to honour Thomas Andrew Knight's great achievement. But

there is one more coincidence here linking Herefordshire, the RHS,

apples and two people two centuries apart. Thomas Andrew Knight was the

founder of the Horticultural Society in 1,800 for. -- 1804. I am

the second career for Diame to be President, so that is why we are

here today and we are looking at all the apples of Thomas Antrim. --

Thomas Andrew Knight. Perhaps today we take the humble apple a bit for

granted. But this autumn has provided both a bumper harvest and

a chance to reconsider and celebrate Herefordshire's crowning

glory. So not a long lost variety. But if it grew from a seedling,

then it is at least unique. Because any apple tree, just like you and

me, that grows like that is a mix of both parents. So, not special,

but unique. And it does make an excellent crumble.

Tomorrow, meet the film maker who's been capturing the wildlife of

Shropshire for decades. And, as far as we know, he's also the only

wildlife cameraman who's also a Well, beautiful celebrating the

apples, but what about the weather? Maybe after tomorrow. We had a pure

showers today. Not too many, but now we are on the brink of wetter

weather. Rain is heading our way in the second half of tonight, coming

up from the South, heading up to the South coast, but the amounts

are adding up and by the time it reaches us, it is not going to be

as heavy. If we do get a sizable amount tonight, it is due to the

persistence the the rain and the length of time it is going to be

with us. Temperatures down to 8-9. That rain is still with us,

spreading further northwards. It looks as though the rain will be

airing on the side of the West, and the darker colours indicate the

heavier bursts, and then through the afternoon it eases away from

the West, becoming patchy. It is going to be a grim, grey and wet

day, and quite cold. The winds he's down, but the temperatures only up

to 10-11, so it is quite chilly for this time of year. That rain moves

away during tomorrow night, and as it clears, because it keeps

dampness, we will see a widespread fog developing. It is a bit chilly

with temperatures down to six. But fog clears through tomorrow or

Friday morning, meaning it will be brighter and drier after that with

the sunshine continuing through Saturday. The weekend will be

largely dry. So, some good stuff to come?

Years for. A look at tonight's main headlines:

It's now or never. The warning to European leaders as they gather in

Brussels for a crucial summit on the Eurozone debt crisis.

And concerns for our hospices - could they be the big loser in the

new Health Lottery? Before we go, we were talking

earlier about concerns some local hospices have about the Health

Lottery, worrying that it'll actually take money away from them.

Thanks for your thoughts on Facebook. James Craib says, "I

support our local Severn Hospice via their lottery then I know where

the money goes." Glen Watson says health care should be fully funded

through taxation. But Cheryl Aston says, "In the Healthy Lottery, 20p

goes to a good cause and the rest to winners; it's helping us our

help own country." Thank you for your thoughts.