15/05/2014 Midlands Today


15/05/2014

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missing. That's all from the BBC News at Six - so it's

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Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines tonight:

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We'll be at Stephen's former school in his hometown of Burntwood

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I feel as if someone has lied about Park View School. People doing that

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doesn't make you feel good. Our cameras have had an exclusive

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look in style at the school. We speak to the film`maker who

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captured the last year of Stephen Sutton's life.

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Fears that access to schools in rural areas could cost ?900. This

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kind of increase means that, for some parents, access will be denied.

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We have the world premiere of the video starring the people of

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Birmingham and the Black Country. You will see a few more of those in

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the days ahead in what should prove to be a cracking end to the week.

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Teachers and pupils fight back against allegations that teachers

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and pupils are trying to take over the education. It has dominated the

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national media for months. Today, our cameras went inside Park View

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School for the first time. In March, a letter detailing a so`called

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"Trojan horse" plot appeared. Birmingham City Council confirmed it

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had been contacted by dozens of parents, some claimed pupils were

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taught separately ` boys and girls. Our special correspondent has been

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given exclusive access to the school today.

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The gates and fences surrounding the school can seem intimidating but it

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is exactly the same as any modern school as they take security

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seriously. We are the first TV camera team to be allowed inside to

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see the school for ourselves. Park View School is in one of the

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most deprived areas are Birmingham. At one time, the exam results were

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amongst the poorest in Britain. Now these children are getting top

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grades. But this academy school has also been accused by some of

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becoming increasingly strict along Islamic principles. These year eight

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pupils appear to be segregated ` girls separated from the boys.

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Children sit where they want to sit. Girls and boys will automatically

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sit with the girls and boys with boys. I don't stop them sitting

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anywhere. As far as the headscarves go, it is more of a tradition with

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the culture. Nobody forces them to wear a scarf. Do they? No. The white

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headscarves are the approved but it is not canned `` compulsory. We are

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not forced to wear it. We are treated equally. This science

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teacher wears a purple headscarf. The school is being investigated by

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the city council, Ofsted and the government. The teenagers claimed

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the allegations of extremism could affect their job prospects in the

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future. I am proud of the school in that we have done so well in a harsh

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environment, a deprived area but all of a sudden it got bad publicity. I

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feel people will stereotype me. There are no extremists. All

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religions are taught equally. We do community cohesion and people of

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different cultures are together. For months, allegations have been

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rolling around this school. The best way for our pupils to avoid becoming

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extremists if to give them a proper appreciation of their faith. Why are

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we hearing about Christianity `` Christianity being denigrated in

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assemblies? I have no idea why people would want to make those

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allegations. Some people along the way will feel uncomfortable from the

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improvements we have made. The chair of governors was asked directly

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about the serious allegations that, at an assembly, extremism was

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promoted and the guest speaker `` speaker praised a member of

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Al`Qaeda. These things have never happened at these `` this school and

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the people who made those allegations are anonymous. So, in

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spite of all these things, they have been published in the media and have

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generated a completely false image of our school. One teacher has been

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here for 26 years and is passionate about what has been achieved here.

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But what if Ofsted decide the schools should be placed in special

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measures? We are arguably the best school in our country of our type

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and people are talking about is going into special measures. How can

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you talk about that or how can it be a possibility? Park View School has

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become the symbol of the whole Trojan horse saga. 25 Birmingham

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schools are being investigated with 21 of them currently waiting for

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inspection reports from Ofsted. Children and staff today were

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ignoring all that and trying to concentrate on passing their exams.

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Peter is here now. You spent a long time bed today. What is your

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personal impression? I was allowed to go wherever I wanted and ask

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whatever I wanted to ask. In the past, as a reporter, more

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by the police or Home Office as part by the police or Home Office as part

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of my work. The school was trying to be transparent and they seemed to

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say that if they have got into trouble it is because they have been

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listening to parents and have changed the school to match parents

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wishes. 98% of children there are from Muslim families. What next?

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There is no police investigation into the "Trojan" plot affair.

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Ofsted will be reporting on about 21 schools early next month.

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In just 24 hours, the fund started by Stephen Sutton has raised an

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under ?400,000. The cancer he battled against for so long finally

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took his life yesterday. We report on how his hometown is coming to

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terms with his death. Across Burntwood, yellow ribbons

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have appeared overnight to remember him but it is at his old school

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where there is a focal point for tributes. Although he insisted his

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life be measured by achievement and not time, across an hour, Burntwood

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shared their thoughts on there now famous son. He has been awesome. We

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are so proud of him. He lived his life to the full and tried to raise

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as much money as possible for Teenage Cancer Trust. I have come

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from Worcester. I couldn't have given those extra few miles `` I

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couldn't not have driven. We keep going because we know that is what

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he would have wanted us to do. His impact is clear. It has changed our

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attitude to life. We are privileged to have seen a lot of Stephen and to

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really get to know him and understand him. It makes me want to

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get up and get going now. It has inspired me to do things I want to

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do. There are plans for the tag too that Stephen insisted on to become

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an unofficial symbol for fundraising in Burntwood. But today was about

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remembering the local lad to save so much. I am hoping he is happy and

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proud of him as we are. He has united the place. He has brought it

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back together. Hopefully, it will be for the good, you know what I mean?

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He won't be forgotten about. Throughout our time, the message

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from Burntwood was the same, Stephen Sutton inspired many and made his

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hometown crowd. `` proud. We are now joined by a German

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film`maker who captured the last year of Stephen's live on camera.

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Good evening. How did you meet Stephen? Me and my team were hired

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last year to film the opening ceremony of the champions league

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final and he was part of a large group of drummers who performed in

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front of 90,000 people. I was introduced to him by the director of

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the ceremony and that is where things started. What were your first

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impressions of him? The first minute and a half I talk to him I wasn't

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sure because it was just days after he had been diagnosed with incurable

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cancer. I wasn't sure how to approach him about it. He looked me

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in the eyes and said, don't worry about any of this. It's my burden.

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I'm happy where I am right now so you shouldn't worry and then he just

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smiled. That smile lasted for the next 12 months. That is how I want

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us to remember him and I think everyone will. You got some very

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personal stuff ` you and others, including his holiday pictures from

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Ibiza. He has got some of the best friends you can imagine. We were

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privileged. We gave him a few cameras and that holiday was on his

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bucket list. It was his last vacation with his best friends in

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Ibiza. They got some incredible footage. I watched it last week and

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I just keep smiling, it was so beautiful. What will you do with the

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film you have shot? It is an open`ended project, or was, until he

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passes. We are just slowing down a bit and leaving his family and

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friends to grieve. In a few months, hopefully, we can pick it up again

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and do something beautiful with this footage and turn it into an amazing,

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beautiful documentary that he can be proud of and everybody he knows

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untouched can be proud of and say, yes, that is the message Stephen

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wanted all of us to carry for ever. He changed the world.

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Thank you very much. Our top story tonight: Teachers and

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pupils hit back at claims that Muslims and extremists are trying to

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take over their school. Then the weather forecast and also: Charting

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the history of generations of Chinese people who made their home

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in and around Birmingham. Dancing in the street, why scores of

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people have been throwing some super shapes across Birmingham and the

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Black Country. Access to sixth form education in

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Shropshire could be denied to many students in rural areas ` that is

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the fears of one teacher after Shropshire Council set out plans to

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reduce travel subsidies for 16 to 18`year`olds. From September,

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parents could have to pay up to ?900 in fares.

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These sixth formers board a train each morning. Their college is 15

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miles away. It is a lot of money just to go to college. Their rail

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passes are subsidised by Shropshire Council. In 2010, parents

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contributed up to ?262 per child per year towards the cost. Last year,

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the fee had gone up to ?550 and from this September they want to raise it

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to ?876. A 59% increase in a year is enormous. You either have to pay the

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money or forget to find for not sending your child to school. It is

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madness. `` or get fined. This is about a local authority trying to

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save ?18 million. No one from this council was available. A statement

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says that a final decision hasn't been made. They say they are

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sensitive to the needs of local communities and they add the changes

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offer good value for money for students. The move has angered some

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headteachers preparing teenagers for life at just a handful of sixth form

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colleges in the area. It is incumbent upon the authorities to

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allow the transport to be accessible. This kind of increase

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means that, for some parents, access will be denied. Shropshire Council

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is promising reduced charges for families on low incomes but only

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where parents earn less than ?16,000 a year.

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It is estimated there are some 20,000 ethnic Chinese people living

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in and around Birmingham. A new exhibition has been put together to

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chart their history. Our reporter joins us from the exhibition launch.

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The launch is happening right now. It marks the culmination of a year

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's hard work by the Chinese community Centre in Birmingham which

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has been hearing personal stories of those who've been living here and

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how they came settle here. Married for 60 years, this married

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couple are in Vietnamese Chinese. When war broke out in Vietnam they

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escaped by boat to Hong Kong and came to Birmingham in the early 90s.

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They have adapted to local life. At 91, she has noticed significant

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changes. TRANSLATION: I have lived in the UK

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for 30 years. Birmingham has changed a lot. You couldn't find Chinese

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people before and now there are a lot. Shops have everything here as

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well. Transport, street cars have changed as well.

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The couple's history is featured in an exhibition called the British

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Chinese Heritage Project about Chinese migrants who've come to live

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here over the past 60 years. Among them is the Chinese catering tycoon

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who moved here in the 60s. The local people have been to Asia on holiday

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and they have changed their way of thinking slightly. A lot of them

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have got TV and they see Bombay, cart `` Bombay, Hong Kong and sinker

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for. Before they would say, where is Hong Kong? `` Singapore. The centre

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has received over ?35,000 from the Heritage lottery fund. This is

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important for the younger generation because many of these memories have

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not been recorded. Through this project we will be able to make a

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record. Preserving memories to inspire and inform future

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generations. I am joined by the `` one of the

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coordinators of this project. We heard how important it is for

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younger generations and you yourself are in your 20s. How have you been

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inspired? It has been a privilege to be part of this meaningful project

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and leave a legacy for Birmingham city. It was created as part of the

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Hidden Stories project. A lot of people have fascinating tales to

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tell of poverty, determination and grit. It has been so inspirational.

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How well do you think this exhibition will be received by the

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Chinese community living in Birmingham? Not just the Chinese

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community, I think it will be well received by the public in Birmingham

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as well. The Chinese community have called Birmingham home for over six

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decades. There are 20,000 ethnic Chinese in the city and there is not

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much more that people know about the culture and heritage. It will be on

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from Saturday. Thank you. Thank you, Amy. She is up there on

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the eighth floor. We will keep the Chinese connection

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going. Half a mile from here is the Chinese quarter in Birmingham. Ben

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Sidwell is standing there. If recently you've seen loads of people

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gyrating outrageously in Birmingham and the Black Country and will

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explain why. Thank you. I would join in but my

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pad the dirt is not what it used to be!

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This is a collaboration. It is all about celebrating the Heritage and

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music of Birmingham and the Black Country and the people as well.

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We'll see the video in a minute but you are the choreographer. How happy

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are you with it? I am delighted. It is an amazing showcase of the talent

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in the West Midlands. It is difficult to choreographed, isn't

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it? We had to do 13 different dance `` dance tracks to the music and we

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went to goodness knows how many locations and we worked with youth

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groups, professional than nonprofessionals. Let us meet one of

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the dancers. Tell us about what has been so good about this. The best

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bit about this project was that I managed to meet different dancers

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from different ages, cultures which reflect Birmingham now. I teach

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loads of different dancers to communities and to be able to learn

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different dancers from the community as well. That was fantastic.

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Now for the video. Indeed. This is it. A collaboration between the

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International dance Festival and BBC W M radio, celebrating everything

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good about Birmingham and the West Country `` Black Country.

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It is a great place to live. The people are genuine and it is like a

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community. So friendly. We love it. It is our town. Multicultural and I

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am proud of that. I love where I live and I would never change it for

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anything. It is another beautiful day across to Birmingham and the

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Black Country on BBC W M. I am exhausted watching that! My bit

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was mercifully short. Part two will be on tomorrow. The whole thing is

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on our Facebook page. It is cloudy out there. How is it looking for the

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next few days? It will actually be quite sunny. It

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is a tonic the weather at the moment. As always the usual warnings

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apply. High UV levels and pollen levels will rise, particularly at

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the weekend when the sun will be strong. Even today we have had some

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cloud milling around and not unfettered sunshine. Temperatures

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have been impressive. This evening and overnight, today we

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had cloud streaming down from the North. We will continue to see this

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tonight. A mixture of cloud and clear spells but temperatures will

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still be comfortable at double temperatures.

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The cloud will melt away brilliantly tomorrow morning so there will be

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bags of sunshine to start off with. Then, we will see cloud bubbling

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up. Temperatures will rise to possibly 22 Celsius during the

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latter half of the day. Very light winds from the south`west so maybe a

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day of bangers and barbecues but not bathing suits. A beautiful weekend

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ahead. Before we go, he arrived to a mother

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called Five. Meet the first baby elephant to be born at West Midland

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Safari Park in its history. It weighed in at 100 kilograms. His

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mother went through 822 month pregnancy following artificial

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insemination. The dad lives in a reserve in South Africa. This is

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just the second elephant calf in the world to be using this technique.

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That is all for today. Good evening. at the European elections

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on May the 22nd. even though that would wreck

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the recovery and destroy jobs.

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