Browse content similar to 21/03/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines tonight. Inaddquate ` | :00:00. | :00:08. | |
a scathing verdict on Coventry's children's services after the death | :00:09. | :00:16. | |
of four`year`old Daniel Pelka. I was expecting we would find ourselves in | :00:17. | :00:19. | |
difficulty. It was a great disappointment that we get the final | :00:20. | :00:22. | |
judgement. But the shadow children's minister says that the council | :00:23. | :00:25. | |
should be given time to turn things around. Also tonight, they lay be | :00:26. | :00:29. | |
vital to farmers, but plans in the air to stop wind turbines cropping | :00:30. | :00:34. | |
up on our most stunning scenery It is spoiling the Vista for pdople. It | :00:35. | :00:39. | |
is spoiling the moorlands as Despair over plans to close the reghon's | :00:40. | :00:41. | |
only Olympic`size swimming pool A whole. We are jumping with joy for | :00:42. | :00:53. | |
Sport Relief 2014. Join me live in Halesowen. Spring may have sprung | :00:54. | :00:55. | |
but it will feel more like winter this weekend, with ice warnhngs and | :00:56. | :01:00. | |
the possibility of snow over higher ground. The full forecast coming up | :01:01. | :01:02. | |
later. Good evening. Inadequate ` that s | :01:03. | :01:11. | |
how government inspectors h`ve described children's servicds at | :01:12. | :01:15. | |
Coventry City Council. The department was inspected following | :01:16. | :01:17. | |
the murder of four`year`old Daniel Pelka in 2012 and a Serious Case | :01:18. | :01:20. | |
Review that claimed that thdre'd been a number of "missed | :01:21. | :01:23. | |
opportunities" leading up to his death. In December last year, nearly | :01:24. | :01:29. | |
4,500 children were being hdlped by the service, but that had increased | :01:30. | :01:33. | |
by more than 1,000 from the previous March. However, Ofsted found there | :01:34. | :01:39. | |
were are serious failures whthin the service that could leave chhldren at | :01:40. | :01:49. | |
risk of harm. Joan Cummins reports. Daniel Pelka was just four xears old | :01:50. | :01:53. | |
when he was murdered, following months of systematic abuse `t the | :01:54. | :01:56. | |
hands of his mother and stepfather. The Serious Case Review into his | :01:57. | :02:00. | |
death highlighted a number of missed opportunities by all agencids and | :02:01. | :02:04. | |
made recommendations to improve communication. Six months after this | :02:05. | :02:11. | |
and two years after Daniel's death, and Ofsted save the children's | :02:12. | :02:14. | |
services in Coventry are in`dequate. It is very disappointing, it is what | :02:15. | :02:22. | |
I expected when I took over as executive director in December. I | :02:23. | :02:25. | |
was clear about the challenges because of Daniel and the w`y we had | :02:26. | :02:29. | |
increased referrals into chhldren's social care, so I was expecting we | :02:30. | :02:34. | |
would find ourselves in difficulty. It is with great disappointlent that | :02:35. | :02:38. | |
we get the final judgement. Brian Walsh is the man whose job ht is to | :02:39. | :02:42. | |
protect the 4300 children identified as being in need of specialhst | :02:43. | :02:48. | |
services in the city. But Ofsted say there are still children left at | :02:49. | :02:53. | |
risk of harm. I can never, dver guarantee that every single child in | :02:54. | :02:57. | |
Coventry will be safe. I can never do that. All I can say is what we | :02:58. | :03:01. | |
have learned from Serious C`se Reviews, from Daniel and Ofsted we | :03:02. | :03:06. | |
are doing our very best with our partners to provide a safe service | :03:07. | :03:10. | |
for children in Coventry. The Daniel effect has resulted in an almost 50% | :03:11. | :03:15. | |
increase in referrals to social services, increasing the caseload on | :03:16. | :03:19. | |
social workers. The council say they investigate extra ?5.6 millhon in | :03:20. | :03:24. | |
children's services and on recruiting, but Ofsted say there are | :03:25. | :03:30. | |
still weaknesses. Clearly wd are accepting those judgements, but we | :03:31. | :03:33. | |
are doing something about it. We are doing something about it in terms of | :03:34. | :03:37. | |
resources and we are doing something about it in terms of the wax that | :03:38. | :03:44. | |
the work is actually carried out. Leadership, management and | :03:45. | :03:47. | |
governance are inadequate. Lanagers have not yet sufficiently t`ckled | :03:48. | :03:51. | |
weaknesses. How does that m`ke you feel? This does not happen | :03:52. | :03:57. | |
overnight. There clearly is in the Ofsted judgement and inerti` or | :03:58. | :04:00. | |
slowness in the way the council responded, not only to the serious | :04:01. | :04:05. | |
Review but the review last Larch that perhaps did not have as much | :04:06. | :04:09. | |
pace as it should have been, not to get to the position we find | :04:10. | :04:13. | |
ourselves in today. The Dep`rtment of education said they accepted that | :04:14. | :04:17. | |
improvement takes time but said this report demonstrates that thd rate of | :04:18. | :04:21. | |
change has not been good enough They are now considering thdir | :04:22. | :04:25. | |
actions to ensure that all vulnerable children are protected in | :04:26. | :04:28. | |
the city. Ofsted also ruled that the Local | :04:29. | :04:31. | |
Safeguarding Board was inaddquate and insufficient progress h`d been | :04:32. | :04:33. | |
made in improving multi`agency working. The Chair of the Board said | :04:34. | :04:40. | |
they remained determined to deliver rapid improvement over the coming | :04:41. | :04:44. | |
months. Earlier I spoke to Steve McCabe, the MP for Birmingh`m Selly | :04:45. | :04:47. | |
Oak, who's the shadow children's minister. I asked what was his | :04:48. | :04:55. | |
reaction to the Ofsted findhngs Well, they are pretty grim. I don't | :04:56. | :05:00. | |
think anyone could be at all satisfied to hear some of the things | :05:01. | :05:06. | |
they describe. I don't think it s at all unexpected. People have known | :05:07. | :05:10. | |
for some time this inspection took place in January, and early | :05:11. | :05:15. | |
February, so they have been aware of it for some time, but clearly it is | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
not good enough and that is what we see. There are three childrdn's | :05:20. | :05:25. | |
services, Birmingham, Coventry and Sandwell, inadequate. What hs going | :05:26. | :05:29. | |
wrong? Well, I don't think there is a single thing going wrong. That is | :05:30. | :05:33. | |
the first thing to note. Thdre are things that the local authorities | :05:34. | :05:38. | |
have to do, Coventry have actually, the Ofsted report acknowledges that | :05:39. | :05:44. | |
Coventry have made some progress, they have to strengthen thehr | :05:45. | :05:49. | |
leadership, they have two ilproves liaison with other agencies, like | :05:50. | :05:55. | |
the police for example, havd to play a much clearer role. That is what | :05:56. | :05:58. | |
the authorities have to do. There is an issue about the calibre of people | :05:59. | :06:04. | |
going into social work and H think we do have to raise that a bit. The | :06:05. | :06:08. | |
social workers themselves are toiling with the most enormous | :06:09. | :06:13. | |
caseloads that `` and that comes through in the Ofsted report. No one | :06:14. | :06:20. | |
can do social work with casdloads of that size. The Department of | :06:21. | :06:23. | |
education have said that thdy are going to take action of somd sort. | :06:24. | :06:27. | |
Just over a year from now you could be in government, you could be | :06:28. | :06:30. | |
responsible for taking some sort of action. What would you do? Ht is | :06:31. | :06:35. | |
important to acknowledge th`t the Ofsted report actually says that | :06:36. | :06:39. | |
Coventry themselves are takhng some quite decisive steps and thdy | :06:40. | :06:46. | |
praised the new director, they acknowledge the effort to ilprove. | :06:47. | :06:49. | |
My own instinct is we should work with them and see if we can turn | :06:50. | :06:53. | |
this around, but ultimately obviously Michael Gove has the power | :06:54. | :06:59. | |
to send in his own team. But I say you only do that if you are | :07:00. | :07:02. | |
absolutely convinced that there is no other option because that is the | :07:03. | :07:08. | |
final opportunity. Steve McCabe thank you. And there's more on this | :07:09. | :07:11. | |
and reaction on the Sunday Politics Show with Patrick Burns at 01:0 am | :07:12. | :07:15. | |
here on BBC One. Coming up later in the programme ` changing lanes, as | :07:16. | :07:18. | |
work begins this weekend to dismantle some of Coventry's | :07:19. | :07:19. | |
notorious ring road. New measures could be brought in to | :07:20. | :07:30. | |
stop wind turbines being buhlt in some of the highest and most | :07:31. | :07:33. | |
picturesque parts of the Midlands. But there are worries it'll cut off | :07:34. | :07:36. | |
much needed income for farmdrs. Here's BBC Radio Stoke's political | :07:37. | :07:44. | |
reporter Phil McCann. Robert Gosling's family has been | :07:45. | :07:49. | |
dairy farming for 50 years, but his energy costs have doubled over the | :07:50. | :07:53. | |
last five years. So he is h`ving a turbine installed. If we can cut the | :07:54. | :07:58. | |
?20,000 electric cost, we c`n use that money to invest in the | :07:59. | :08:02. | |
business. We employ people locally, so it should have a big effdct not | :08:03. | :08:05. | |
only on our own business but the local economy as well. Robert is | :08:06. | :08:10. | |
lucky that his turbine is jtst over one mile outside Staffordshhre in | :08:11. | :08:15. | |
Derbyshire, because in the Staffordshire Moorlands District | :08:16. | :08:18. | |
Council wants to use new powers to all but banned them if they are over | :08:19. | :08:22. | |
15 metres tall and in open countryside. But the Staffordshire | :08:23. | :08:25. | |
countryside that is installhng this turbine says it is all an | :08:26. | :08:30. | |
overreaction. There is a lot of worry around wind turbines but most | :08:31. | :08:33. | |
people are broadly supportive as long as they are sensibly shted and | :08:34. | :08:38. | |
done in a way which does not impose themselves to drastically. But the | :08:39. | :08:42. | |
council insists farmers don't have a right to ruin the landscape. Here in | :08:43. | :08:46. | |
the Staffordshire Moorlands we have some of the most beautiful | :08:47. | :08:49. | |
countryside in the UK, but unfortunately we have been hnundated | :08:50. | :08:54. | |
with applications for wind turbines and this is having a detrimdntal | :08:55. | :08:58. | |
effect on the openness of the countryside. And that stancd has | :08:59. | :09:01. | |
some support from those who live in the highest parts of the Midlands. | :09:02. | :09:06. | |
The council has a right to dnquire into these things because it is for | :09:07. | :09:09. | |
the benefit of the Staffordshire Moorlands. If they stick thdm where | :09:10. | :09:15. | |
they have done, there are three or four around now, I don't thhnk there | :09:16. | :09:19. | |
is any consideration given to the siting of them. They are all right | :09:20. | :09:23. | |
from a distance. Wind turbines are seen as essential for the ftture of | :09:24. | :09:26. | |
farming but farming is not the only industry in a plate `` in a place | :09:27. | :09:31. | |
like this. There is also totrism and the thinking is that tourists and | :09:32. | :09:34. | |
voters don't want to see wind turbines, but the government and | :09:35. | :09:37. | |
planning inspectors will get the final say over the council's | :09:38. | :09:43. | |
proposals. Use just coming in, signallhng | :09:44. | :09:48. | |
problems at Birmingham's new Street Station are causing disrupthon for | :09:49. | :09:51. | |
travellers this evening. Arriva trains, Wales, cross countrx, Virgin | :09:52. | :09:56. | |
Trains are all operating on a reduced service, delays of half an | :09:57. | :09:59. | |
hour and others being cancelled Bridgnorth Aluminium is cre`ting 65 | :10:00. | :10:02. | |
new jobs and investing ?41 lillion into its plant in the Shropshire | :10:03. | :10:07. | |
town. The company, which makes coiled aluminium for food, graphics | :10:08. | :10:09. | |
and pharmaceutical products, says the investment will double the | :10:10. | :10:15. | |
capacity of the plant. The new production line is due to bd in | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
operation by the end of next year. But more than 200 jobs are to go at | :10:21. | :10:24. | |
a food company in Wolverhampton Freshway Chilled Foods says it'll | :10:25. | :10:27. | |
have to close its site on the Stafford Road in June, after losing | :10:28. | :10:31. | |
a major contract. Some staff may be relocated to other parts of the | :10:32. | :10:36. | |
company. Plans have been approved by councillors in Stoke on Trent to | :10:37. | :10:40. | |
spend ?800,000 on a bid for a high speed railway station in thd city. | :10:41. | :10:46. | |
Part of the money will be spent gathering expert opinion as the city | :10:47. | :10:48. | |
council tries to persuade the company behind HS2 to develop a | :10:49. | :10:51. | |
station in Stoke on Trent r`ther than the current preferred location | :10:52. | :10:56. | |
at Crewe. And Stoke on Trent's favourite son Robbie Willials is to | :10:57. | :11:00. | |
be granted the Freedom of the City. Councillors voted unanimously to | :11:01. | :11:03. | |
bestow him with the honour for his charity work, and raising the city's | :11:04. | :11:07. | |
profile. It coincides with celebrations for the star's 40th | :11:08. | :11:11. | |
birthday, last month. The Stoke Sentinel newspaper ` now in its | :11:12. | :11:14. | |
160th year ` is also being granted Freeman status. Joy for somd, dismay | :11:15. | :11:21. | |
for others this weekend as lajor work gets underway on dismantling | :11:22. | :11:24. | |
part of Coventry's infamous ring road. The aim's to make the city | :11:25. | :11:29. | |
centre more accessible, but, as Kevin Reide reports, there's a mixed | :11:30. | :11:38. | |
reaction to the plans. Though it took a total of 14 years to build | :11:39. | :11:42. | |
one was heralded as a new era for road travel with nine juncthons | :11:43. | :11:46. | |
flyovers and underpasses, it became loved by some and loathed bx | :11:47. | :11:50. | |
others. Today, the concrete is looking tired and this weekdnd work | :11:51. | :11:55. | |
starts taking down some of the ugliest parts. The aim is to make | :11:56. | :11:59. | |
Coventry more inviting to vhsitors from the city's railway station and | :12:00. | :12:01. | |
that means this section of the ring road will also be taken down. That | :12:02. | :12:06. | |
will mean the end of this d`rk underpass. It is all part of the | :12:07. | :12:10. | |
Friargate development which will see many 60s buildings engulfing the | :12:11. | :12:14. | |
city's railway station demolished, eventually the section of rhng road | :12:15. | :12:17. | |
in the centre of the screen will be covered over creating what the | :12:18. | :12:21. | |
council are calling a boulevard When you come out of Coventry | :12:22. | :12:25. | |
station, a station which has grown over 140% in the last ten ydars you | :12:26. | :12:31. | |
walk into a car park. We nedd to link our station with our f`bulous | :12:32. | :12:35. | |
city, so it will be tree`lined, open space, green, it will be a fantastic | :12:36. | :12:43. | |
first impression. But some feel the changes will damage the ring road's | :12:44. | :12:45. | |
integrity and force heavy traffic into surrounding areas. We `re not | :12:46. | :12:49. | |
objecting to the development. What is wrong is the trust back `` the | :12:50. | :12:52. | |
traffic aspects have not bedn planned and there will be not enough | :12:53. | :12:56. | |
capacity to take the additional traffic generated by the development | :12:57. | :13:00. | |
and as a result of that hugd amounts of traffic are going to be driven | :13:01. | :13:02. | |
through residential areas, which will seriously degrade them. The | :13:03. | :13:06. | |
work begins tomorrow and various road closures schemes will be put in | :13:07. | :13:15. | |
place over the next year. Otr top story tonight. Inadequate, ` | :13:16. | :13:21. | |
scathing verdict on Coventrx's children's services after the death | :13:22. | :13:24. | |
of four`year`old Daniel Pelka. Rebecca will be here with the | :13:25. | :13:27. | |
weekend weather forecasting a moment. Not too thrilling, H am | :13:28. | :13:33. | |
afraid! Also, a daunting ch`llenge, the former cancer patient trapped | :13:34. | :13:37. | |
planning to travel 32,000 mhles around the world by bike and boat. | :13:38. | :13:41. | |
And not everyone's favouritd amphibian, but we are about to see | :13:42. | :13:44. | |
an explosion in the frog population. Find out why. | :13:45. | :13:50. | |
The head coach of one of thd region's biggest swimming clubs says | :13:51. | :13:55. | |
they may have to turn children away, if the only 50 metre pool in the | :13:56. | :13:59. | |
West Midlands closes. Coventry Council's planning to shut the city | :14:00. | :14:02. | |
sports centre because it's losing money. But figures from the Amateur | :14:03. | :14:08. | |
Swimming Association show that half of all children aged between seven | :14:09. | :14:11. | |
and 11 are unable to swim 24 metres, one in five adults can't swhm at | :14:12. | :14:15. | |
all, and there are only 17 fifty metre pools across England. But a | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
significant number of local authorities are struggling to keep | :14:21. | :14:23. | |
pools open, as Nick Clitheroe reports. | :14:24. | :14:32. | |
Training night at the city of Coventry training club and the pool | :14:33. | :14:36. | |
is full. Some are potential Olympians, others are learnhng to | :14:37. | :14:40. | |
swim, but they all come togdther at the only indoor 50 metre pool in the | :14:41. | :14:43. | |
West Midlands. For how much longer, because the city council has | :14:44. | :14:46. | |
proposed shutting this pool and replacing it with a new one half the | :14:47. | :14:51. | |
size. This building is not fit for purpose any longer and we are losing | :14:52. | :14:57. | |
up to ?2000 a day, which is ?70 ,000 a year, in terms of subsidising it. | :14:58. | :15:01. | |
The Coventry sports Centre hs showing its age, with nets `cross | :15:02. | :15:05. | |
the ceiling to stop roof tiles falling on the swimmers below. But | :15:06. | :15:09. | |
it is vital to the club, so they invited a delegation from the | :15:10. | :15:12. | |
council down to see their work. We couldn't pick up what we do in the | :15:13. | :15:17. | |
50 metre pool here and put ht into the proposed six lane and 24 metres, | :15:18. | :15:21. | |
there would not be enough room. We would have to either cut down | :15:22. | :15:25. | |
drastically the amount we do with each swimmer, or we have to ask a | :15:26. | :15:29. | |
certain amount of swimmers to go somewhere else, which would be a | :15:30. | :15:34. | |
tragedy. And you 50 metre pool will be opened on this site in Bhrmingham | :15:35. | :15:38. | |
in 2016, but it has been buhlt by the university and not the City | :15:39. | :15:43. | |
Council `` a new 50 readabld. Birmingham City Council abandoned | :15:44. | :15:47. | |
their plans to build a 50 mdtre pool several years ago. Budget ctts mean | :15:48. | :15:50. | |
they are trying to reduce spending generally. Those pools under threat | :15:51. | :15:54. | |
include this one, in Selly Oak, where users demonstrated earlier | :15:55. | :15:59. | |
this month. So why does it latter so much? When I investigated the | :16:00. | :16:04. | |
Olympic legacy last year, one experienced coach warned sqtandering | :16:05. | :16:07. | |
talent was not the only danger. There will not be people talk to | :16:08. | :16:11. | |
swim, the children will start drowning. They will go for ` swim in | :16:12. | :16:15. | |
the local lake, which will be cold, they will get cramp, they whll | :16:16. | :16:19. | |
drown. There is some more positive news. A new rescue plan for | :16:20. | :16:24. | |
Wolverhampton Central bus whll go to the Council on Monday and even in | :16:25. | :16:27. | |
Coventry they haven't compldtely ruled out making the new pool 5 | :16:28. | :16:35. | |
metres long as well. It is Sport Relief today. Thousands | :16:36. | :16:40. | |
of people have been raising money by tackling sporting challenges. In | :16:41. | :16:43. | |
2012 the West Midlands raisdd around ?1.8 million, which helps 360 | :16:44. | :16:51. | |
projects here. Dan Pallett hs that one challenge tonight and things are | :16:52. | :16:56. | |
up and down there, Daniel? Ola`macro you could say that. I am at least | :16:57. | :16:59. | |
those high school in Halesowen. The challenge, nonstop 24`hour | :17:00. | :17:05. | |
trampolining. Easy for me to say, not so easy to do. We will have a | :17:06. | :17:11. | |
word with an organiser but host of events taking across `` a host of | :17:12. | :17:14. | |
events taking place across our region today. When the order from | :17:15. | :17:17. | |
the boss is, "Get on your bhke, you might panic ` but BBC Radio Coventry | :17:18. | :17:20. | |
and Warwickshire presenter Phil Upton loves it. He rode 100 miles | :17:21. | :17:27. | |
without going an inch. I fedl very tired but triumphant. It's ` | :17:28. | :17:30. | |
fantastic achievement. My friend like Tim here came and supported me | :17:31. | :17:34. | |
so that's helped knock the liles off and the texts and tweets of support | :17:35. | :17:40. | |
has encouraged me over the line In Shrewsbury Sainsbury's staff from | :17:41. | :17:43. | |
across the Midlands gathered to run a mile. They'll be whizzing down | :17:44. | :17:48. | |
those aisles. St Andrew's Primary School in Nescliffe Shropshhre paid | :17:49. | :17:52. | |
homage to Mo Farah, creating a Mobot out of coins. Bannersgate Primary | :17:53. | :17:56. | |
School in Sutton Coldfield have been getting their skates on. Thdy all | :17:57. | :18:02. | |
did a mile. They were thrown in the stocks in Q3 Academy in Birlingham. | :18:03. | :18:06. | |
Is that really still a sport? Did you hear the one about football | :18:07. | :18:09. | |
managers telling jokes? There's a guy going to the doctors, s`id, | :18:10. | :18:13. | |
"Doctor, I can't stop stealhng things." He said, "OK, I'm going to | :18:14. | :18:18. | |
give you a prescription and if they don't work, can you get me ` colour | :18:19. | :18:24. | |
television?" LAUGHTER | :18:25. | :18:30. | |
He might be laughing, but look at that, he hasn't got over 16 hours of | :18:31. | :18:35. | |
trampolining to do. But they have here. Let's t`lk too | :18:36. | :18:40. | |
picky, one of the organisers. You have one hell of a challengd on | :18:41. | :18:46. | |
here, haven't you? We have hndeed. Who has been taking part? Ldase over | :18:47. | :18:50. | |
high school has taken over during the day, and another group `t 5pm. | :18:51. | :18:57. | |
This is a big thing for the children. It is, but they are all | :18:58. | :19:02. | |
really excited so it is good. How will you keep them going through the | :19:03. | :19:06. | |
night? They have enough energy to keep going. When I tried | :19:07. | :19:09. | |
trampolining you think it is great fun but after awhile your ldgs get | :19:10. | :19:14. | |
tired. It is physically dem`nding. It is, but most kids I used to it | :19:15. | :19:19. | |
because they do four sessions a week. They are used to it. How much | :19:20. | :19:24. | |
money are you hoping to raise? 500 more. God, how many members have you | :19:25. | :19:33. | |
got? 93 members, I am not stre how many children took part in the day | :19:34. | :19:40. | |
but 93 members plus staff. Whose idea was this? Chris Bennett, who | :19:41. | :19:45. | |
came to me with the idea. I said, yes, we have got to do it. The | :19:46. | :19:52. | |
children carry on until 9am? Yes, well some children are going home at | :19:53. | :19:57. | |
10p a month and the over chhlled `` the older children will stax and | :19:58. | :20:02. | |
finish at 9am the next day. You have volunteers to help? We have, the | :20:03. | :20:07. | |
parents, the staff of the sports centre who have been fabulots. | :20:08. | :20:12. | |
Everyone is pulling together. Yes, it has been overwhelming with | :20:13. | :20:15. | |
support. The best of luck whth it. It is one of so many events taking | :20:16. | :20:25. | |
place. 16 hours, 13 minutes left and I am feeling tired after behng here | :20:26. | :20:29. | |
for 20 minutes. Best of luck to them. | :20:30. | :20:33. | |
Sport Relief begins on BBC One just after Midlands Today with their | :20:34. | :20:34. | |
special programme from the Olympic Park. | :20:35. | :20:38. | |
A former cancer patient is getting ready for an epic journey bx bike | :20:39. | :20:44. | |
and boat. It will take 32,000 miles around the world. Sam Greatrex from | :20:45. | :20:46. | |
Halesowen wants to become the fastest person ever to | :20:47. | :20:50. | |
circumnavigate the globe by human power alone. He is also hophng to | :20:51. | :20:56. | |
raise nearly ?250,000 for M`cmillan Cancer Support. Bob Hockenhtll | :20:57. | :20:59. | |
reports. The rowing machine has been routine | :21:00. | :21:03. | |
exercise for Sam Greatrex for two years. It is all preparation for | :21:04. | :21:06. | |
crossing the world's two largest oceans. It is still incredible to | :21:07. | :21:12. | |
think we will be running for 12 hours a day for almost two lonths | :21:13. | :21:17. | |
and crossing the Atlantic in three months, rowing across the P`cific | :21:18. | :21:20. | |
Ocean. In August, some will leave his home in Halesowen by bike, so he | :21:21. | :21:27. | |
can lap the world. Besides his ocean adventure, he will cycle through 26 | :21:28. | :21:31. | |
countries, only two other pdople have ever done it. The fastdst took | :21:32. | :21:36. | |
five years. Some aims to do it in just 18 months. It is going to hurt. | :21:37. | :21:42. | |
It will be by far the hardest thing I will ever do, but I am sure I will | :21:43. | :21:47. | |
make it back to Birmingham with a huge amount of records. The charity | :21:48. | :21:51. | |
worker is no stranger to difficulty. As a ten`year`old he was di`gnosed | :21:52. | :21:55. | |
with cancer and he is using his world challenge to raise ?240,0 0 | :21:56. | :22:02. | |
for Macmillan. I am amazed `nd shocked. Talking to other pdople | :22:03. | :22:08. | |
with cancer, I think it changes your perspective on life and I think that | :22:09. | :22:14. | |
is what must have happened with Sam. From Halesowen via Paris and | :22:15. | :22:18. | |
Gibraltar, Sam will row the Atlantic to South America, then the Pacific | :22:19. | :22:23. | |
to Australia. In Darwin did Joe with `` the journey home begins via | :22:24. | :22:29. | |
Singapore, Istanbul and Parhs. Three strokes, turn. Today, Sam w`s up | :22:30. | :22:34. | |
Edgbaston reservoir to get professional tips but unlikd today | :22:35. | :22:38. | |
he will be part of an eight`man crew when he is on the ocean for real. A | :22:39. | :22:42. | |
few times we have not been `ble to get out because of the wind and it | :22:43. | :22:47. | |
is like rowing on the sea. Some of those waves will be pretty | :22:48. | :22:53. | |
horrendous! Having rowed for two years on indoor rowing machhnes it | :22:54. | :22:56. | |
is really nice to get out on the water. Or, in it, if you make a | :22:57. | :23:02. | |
false move. Sam's epic trip begins in August so there is plentx more | :23:03. | :23:08. | |
time for practice. Goodness, what an astonishing | :23:09. | :23:12. | |
challenge. Good luck. Do yot like frogs? Not everyone's cup of tea but | :23:13. | :23:16. | |
wildlife experts in the reghon say the mild wet weather this whnter | :23:17. | :23:22. | |
will lead to an explosion of the frog population. There is m`sses of | :23:23. | :23:25. | |
frogspawn. Young frogs will hatch earlier. | :23:26. | :23:31. | |
The common frog and another, and another. He lives up to his name all | :23:32. | :23:37. | |
right and that community garden in Nuneaton at 2014 looks like being | :23:38. | :23:41. | |
fantastic. There are thousands of rocks. There is so much noise from | :23:42. | :23:47. | |
them croaking. I had a volunteer here this week and he said ht was | :23:48. | :23:51. | |
like standing next to a motorway, the amount of noise they were | :23:52. | :23:57. | |
making. That is the male frog's courtship croaking. It came around | :23:58. | :24:00. | |
ten days earlier this year `nd this was the result. Down here wd have | :24:01. | :24:05. | |
tens of thousands of little frogs in the making. Look at this mass of | :24:06. | :24:09. | |
frogspawn here! Jelly everywhere. This slightly blue collar you can | :24:10. | :24:13. | |
see on the top is newly laid frogspawn and underneath, this has | :24:14. | :24:18. | |
been here a couple of weeks but when they do all hatch they have the | :24:19. | :24:24. | |
perfect habitat. At this old railway line in Rugby, teams of voltnteers | :24:25. | :24:29. | |
have been working hard to hdlp their amphibian friends. This is `n area | :24:30. | :24:33. | |
we have recently cleared ovdr the winter when animals have bedn | :24:34. | :24:36. | |
inactive and in hibernation and you can see it has opened up thd whole | :24:37. | :24:41. | |
area, letting in much more light. Over the summer this will increase | :24:42. | :24:44. | |
the amount of vegetation th`t will grow in and around the ponds and the | :24:45. | :24:48. | |
amount of insects that are found in there. If you have frogspawn in your | :24:49. | :24:53. | |
garden, a word of warning. Xour goldfish will eat them and hf they | :24:54. | :24:57. | |
get to the tadpole stage, you might witness some cannibalism. It is | :24:58. | :25:02. | |
survival of the fittest and of 000 Lakes, only around five will become | :25:03. | :25:13. | |
fully formed frogs `` of 2000 eggs. Will they be jumping for jox when | :25:14. | :25:16. | |
they hear the weekend weathdr forecast? | :25:17. | :25:19. | |
they hear I can offer you wet conditions. Last | :25:20. | :25:24. | |
weekend temperatures were in the mid to high teens. This weekend, we will | :25:25. | :25:28. | |
struggle to get into mid to high single fingers. `` single fhgures. A | :25:29. | :25:35. | |
cold couple of days. We havd frosty nights, wintry showers posshble as | :25:36. | :25:39. | |
we head into tomorrow morning. Hard to believe but spring startdd this | :25:40. | :25:45. | |
week. Tonight, we contend whth heavy rain. It is this front, which is | :25:46. | :25:49. | |
working through. There is a possible deal some showers ahead of that as | :25:50. | :25:54. | |
well. We start off with the showers rattling through. We have a keen | :25:55. | :25:58. | |
breeze tonight. The front m`kes its way through, heavy at times. Quite | :25:59. | :26:02. | |
persistent. Behind that thing clear away and asked the skies cldar | :26:03. | :26:06. | |
temperatures fall away. Any showers could turn wintry over highdr | :26:07. | :26:10. | |
ground. The Met Office has ` yellow warning in place across the North | :26:11. | :26:14. | |
West Midlands. We could see some icy stretches as we wake up tomorrow. It | :26:15. | :26:19. | |
is going to be a rather chilly start to our Saturday. Saturday starts off | :26:20. | :26:23. | |
with wintry showers continuhng, particularly over the higher ground, | :26:24. | :26:26. | |
they pushed their way through. The wind blows them through quickly It | :26:27. | :26:32. | |
starts to brighten up. Showdrs never really too far away. Temper`tures | :26:33. | :26:35. | |
are going to struggle tomorrow. We are only looking at highs of seven, | :26:36. | :26:40. | |
maybe a nine Celsius. Much colder than last week. The showers continue | :26:41. | :26:45. | |
through the end of Saturday and things start to clear overnhght | :26:46. | :26:48. | |
Temperatures dropping away once again but the wind is going to help | :26:49. | :26:53. | |
once again to keep a frost largely at bay. Our temperatures dropping | :26:54. | :26:58. | |
down to minus one Celsius in towns and cities, so it will conthnue to | :26:59. | :27:02. | |
feel chilly. Sunday, not a particularly bad day. Some showers | :27:03. | :27:05. | |
here and there. Some good spells of brightness to come through the day. | :27:06. | :27:10. | |
Overnight, Sunday into Mond`y, temperatures of `2`macro, two minus | :27:11. | :27:18. | |
three Celsius. A cold start, but largely settled. | :27:19. | :27:20. | |
The headlines from the BBC. largely settled. | :27:21. | :27:26. | |
The headlines Europe agrees closer ties with Ukraine on the dax Premier | :27:27. | :27:31. | |
becomes part of Russia. And inadequate, a scathing verdhct on | :27:32. | :27:35. | |
Coventry's children's services, after the death of four`year`old | :27:36. | :27:39. | |
Daniel Pelka. That was the Lidlands Today. We are back at 10pm with the | :27:40. | :27:44. | |
latest update. We leave you with the intrepid trampolinists in H`lesowen. | :27:45. | :27:46. | |
Goodbye for now. | :27:47. | :27:47. |