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Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. the BBC's news teams where you are. | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
The headlines tonight: It's Frantic Friday with travellers | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
hitting roads, rail and airports for the Christmas getaway. | :00:00. | :00:07. | |
With a storm sweeping in from the west, we'll | :00:08. | :00:11. | |
have the very latest on any problems. | :00:12. | :00:16. | |
We are expecting the busiest festive season ever with around half a | :00:17. | :00:21. | |
million passengers travelling out over the two-week Christmas period. | :00:22. | :00:31. | |
We are alive at the network, the nerve centre of the regions motorway | :00:32. | :00:35. | |
network and assessing the impact storm Barbara. | :00:36. | :00:35. | |
Now, 16 months after his body was found by the M54, | :00:36. | :00:40. | |
We just need answers. We need answers and a funeral and really to | :00:41. | :00:46. | |
say goodbye properly. Little festive fun for professional | :00:47. | :00:48. | |
footballers with crucial fixtures Our special guests, | :00:49. | :00:50. | |
the Miltary Wives Choir from Cosford And as the sun sets on storm | :00:51. | :00:59. | |
Barbara, storm Conor is likely to have an impact on our Christmas | :01:00. | :01:11. | |
weather, but will we get any snow? It's been dubbed Frantic Friday | :01:12. | :01:14. | |
as people hit the roads, railways and airports to get away | :01:15. | :01:27. | |
to visit family and Add in the number of people | :01:28. | :01:30. | |
visiting their local shops for last minute presents and groceries | :01:31. | :01:34. | |
and the AA are estimating around 12 million cars will have been | :01:35. | :01:37. | |
on the roads today alone But, as well as congestion, | :01:38. | :01:40. | |
Storm Barbara could be making herself felt in the Midlands | :01:41. | :01:44. | |
with strong winds causing Sarah Bishop is at the | :01:45. | :01:46. | |
Highways England control How's it looking | :01:47. | :01:49. | |
this evening, Sarah? You know, despite the absolutely | :01:50. | :02:00. | |
atrocious weather we have had in the last few hours things haven't been | :02:01. | :02:04. | |
quite as frantic as I think the experts predicted. Behind me is the | :02:05. | :02:09. | |
amp 42. When did you last see it like that on a Friday night? It is | :02:10. | :02:17. | |
probably quieter than usual. Here we have the M6 looking quite clear but | :02:18. | :02:20. | |
the storm has wreaked havoc and we have had problems and it has been | :02:21. | :02:29. | |
really busy on public transport. Morning, how you? Are you for | :02:30. | :02:36. | |
Christmas? We are going to London, to our daughters. Who would fancy | :02:37. | :02:40. | |
driving from Stoke-on-Trent to London on frantic Friday? Many in | :02:41. | :02:45. | |
Staffordshire chose to let the train take the Yuletide strain. I am going | :02:46. | :02:48. | |
away to Hastings to see my family and I haven't seen them since last | :02:49. | :02:52. | |
Christmas. No idea what time I will get there. At Birmingham 's new | :02:53. | :02:58. | |
Street station they expect 200,000 people to pass through over the | :02:59. | :03:02. | |
holiday. The advice for anyone travelling on the train over this | :03:03. | :03:06. | |
period is to plan your journey well in advance and on the day of travel | :03:07. | :03:13. | |
please check before you travel at there are no train services on | :03:14. | :03:17. | |
Christmas Day itself. Network Rail say disruption will be minimal over | :03:18. | :03:21. | |
the holiday but they are warning that on the 27th services between | :03:22. | :03:24. | |
rugby and Stafford will be affected by work on the West Coast mainline. | :03:25. | :03:32. | |
We are going to Blackpool. Because we like it. And it's a nice hotel. I | :03:33. | :03:40. | |
get to spend time with my mum. Birmingham to Blackpool on frantic | :03:41. | :03:43. | |
Friday, no problem. National Express have put on an extra 60,000 seats to | :03:44. | :03:48. | |
cope with the festive influx on Christmas Day is no exception. We | :03:49. | :03:52. | |
have nine services leaving from here on Christmas Day with staff here to | :03:53. | :03:56. | |
support our customers and our drivers as well. We go to | :03:57. | :04:01. | |
destinations such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Heathrow Airport, London | :04:02. | :04:05. | |
Victoria, Bristol, and another of -- a number of other destinations en | :04:06. | :04:09. | |
route. For those driving themselves over 100 roadworks have been lifted | :04:10. | :04:15. | |
across the West Midlands but by mid morning the closure of M1 due to an | :04:16. | :04:19. | |
accident was having an impact. If you're heading to London and the | :04:20. | :04:23. | |
south-east this afternoon and early evening you should use the 40. As | :04:24. | :04:27. | |
well as that our key concern this afternoon and this evening is the | :04:28. | :04:31. | |
strong wind and potentially torrential rain which will be short | :04:32. | :04:38. | |
in duration but extremely heavy. Britain's wintry weather is of no | :04:39. | :04:42. | |
consequence if you are jetting off this Christmas. Birmingham Airport | :04:43. | :04:46. | |
reports a 20% increase in festive flyers and on Christmas Day itself | :04:47. | :04:50. | |
there will be 14,000 air passengers in and out of Birmingham, up an | :04:51. | :04:58. | |
incredible 82% on last year. For the last 15 years we have gone away for | :04:59. | :05:02. | |
Christmas and New Year. It is because of our jobs, it's the best | :05:03. | :05:06. | |
time to have. Christmas is the time to go to these countries and nice | :05:07. | :05:09. | |
warm weather and nice beaches and most people, what can you say. She | :05:10. | :05:15. | |
has got a point, hasn't she? Be a stormy weather has caused quite a | :05:16. | :05:20. | |
few problems. We have this picture of a family in Northfield in | :05:21. | :05:23. | |
Birmingham this afternoon who had quite a lucky escape when this big | :05:24. | :05:27. | |
tree came down in front of them in the storms. There has been quite a | :05:28. | :05:33. | |
serious accident on the M5 going south and thankfully no serious | :05:34. | :05:36. | |
casualties but that is not the end of it, there have been more | :05:37. | :05:40. | |
problems. Yes, there had been trees down on the motorway network as well | :05:41. | :05:43. | |
which we dealt with very quickly. There have been some other issues, | :05:44. | :05:48. | |
the usual bumps and bangs. Fortunately traffic levels have been | :05:49. | :05:51. | |
lied than usual and we would like to thank motorists for their help in | :05:52. | :05:56. | |
making the getaway much more smooth than we anticipated. The earlier | :05:57. | :06:00. | |
problems on the M1, what is the situation now? It has now fully | :06:01. | :06:05. | |
reopened and the Watford Gap services have reopened for business | :06:06. | :06:08. | |
but there is no traffic at the moment or any traffic delays on the | :06:09. | :06:14. | |
M1 southbound. We didn't have quite the frenetic traffic and chaos today | :06:15. | :06:18. | |
and the next spike to look out for is Boxing Day morning with everyone | :06:19. | :06:22. | |
going out shopping and then prior to that Christmas Day we have stormed | :06:23. | :06:27. | |
M1 coming, repeat what we have had today. | :06:28. | :06:27. | |
Thank you. -- storm Conor. But, while others may have | :06:28. | :06:32. | |
struggled to get away, there was some good news in Coventry | :06:33. | :06:34. | |
today with work on the notorious There's been absolute | :06:35. | :06:37. | |
gridlock there on occasions, whilst the junction has | :06:38. | :06:40. | |
been completely re-designed. It's taken major exploration work | :06:41. | :06:42. | |
spanning three years. It's taken major excavation work, | :06:43. | :06:53. | |
spanning three years, and costing more than ?100 million | :06:54. | :06:55. | |
to redesign, Tollbar Island. There have been endless queues | :06:56. | :06:58. | |
and much frustration. A nightmare. I have been here for | :06:59. | :07:03. | |
hours. It took me over an hour to get up the road last night. | :07:04. | :07:05. | |
But at last apart from one lane restriction, | :07:06. | :07:07. | |
Driving through Tollbar during the height of the roadworks | :07:08. | :07:10. | |
could have taken you hours but now, thanks to the new underpass, | :07:11. | :07:13. | |
The project also took six months longer than expected | :07:14. | :07:17. | |
because the wrong concrete was used on new bridges and had | :07:18. | :07:20. | |
It was too much for Lisa Crankshaw from Hinckley who used to travel | :07:21. | :07:25. | |
through the junction on the way to work. | :07:26. | :07:27. | |
Getting back in time for her daughter became almost impossible. | :07:28. | :07:34. | |
Some days I was the last parent to pick their child up and it was just | :07:35. | :07:40. | |
getting so stressful that I just had to, you know, rethink everything and | :07:41. | :07:44. | |
I decided that I was going to leave my job. | :07:45. | :07:45. | |
But at the Midlands Air Museum, which became stranded | :07:46. | :07:47. | |
on the wrong side of the roadworks, they're optimistic. | :07:48. | :07:51. | |
It has been a terrible nightmare. The last three years have been | :07:52. | :07:57. | |
horrendous for us, both fast getting in and for the customers getting | :07:58. | :08:01. | |
air, but it is something that we have had to deal with and thankfully | :08:02. | :08:04. | |
hopefully we are now in a situation where it stood get better. | :08:05. | :08:05. | |
The lane restrictions are due to be removed any time and then | :08:06. | :08:08. | |
the junction will be fully functioning in time | :08:09. | :08:10. | |
Well, wherever you're going over the next few days, | :08:11. | :08:15. | |
you can keep up to date with the travel news by listening | :08:16. | :08:18. | |
Eight years after he went missing, the family of Surjit Takhar | :08:19. | :08:26. | |
from the Black Country are appealing for help to find out | :08:27. | :08:29. | |
His body was found by the side of the M54 near Telford last year. | :08:30. | :08:36. | |
Here's our Special Correspondent Peter Wilson. | :08:37. | :08:41. | |
Surjit Takhar, a father of three, known as Skin to his friends, | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
In August last year his body was found by motorway maintenance | :08:46. | :08:51. | |
workers in a ditch by the side of the M54. | :08:52. | :08:56. | |
His ex-wife and his twin daughters visited the area | :08:57. | :08:59. | |
We just need answers. We need answers and a funeral and it is a | :09:00. | :09:13. | |
goodbye properly. We imagine all sorts in our Ed, I think about what | :09:14. | :09:16. | |
he looks like and what is left of him and we just want to him and let | :09:17. | :09:21. | |
him rest in peace, basically, lay him to rest. | :09:22. | :09:22. | |
The finding of human remains led first to an investigation | :09:23. | :09:25. | |
Once that was discovered police revealed that they're treating | :09:26. | :09:30. | |
At the time of his disappearance he was living alone in a flat in the | :09:31. | :09:42. | |
West Midlands. We know at that time he had been battling alcohol issues | :09:43. | :09:46. | |
and also may have had financial issues. I am keen for people to come | :09:47. | :09:50. | |
forward who may have information regarding the kind of lifestyle you | :09:51. | :09:54. | |
out which may help me formulate an understanding regarding his | :09:55. | :09:55. | |
disappearance. His family gathered at the site | :09:56. | :09:56. | |
where the body was discovered. There are people out there who know | :09:57. | :10:04. | |
something about him and what happened and how he got there and we | :10:05. | :10:07. | |
would appeal to those people to come forward and talk to the police. If | :10:08. | :10:11. | |
it is an anonymous so be about contact the police and let them | :10:12. | :10:14. | |
know, however small it is, contact them let them know. | :10:15. | :10:15. | |
A year ago a man did just that and telephoned the police | :10:16. | :10:18. | |
Detectives say that caller could help unlock | :10:19. | :10:22. | |
the mystery of Surjit Takhar's disappearance and death. | :10:23. | :10:29. | |
An NHS risk summit has been held in Worcestershire, | :10:30. | :10:31. | |
following safety fears over accident and emergency services. | :10:32. | :10:36. | |
The Worcestershire Royal Hospital, which has been running | :10:37. | :10:38. | |
at more than 100% full, has accepted it needs help. | :10:39. | :10:42. | |
The plan will involve stopping all non-urgent operations to ensure | :10:43. | :10:47. | |
that there are enough beds available to treat extremely ill patients. | :10:48. | :10:50. | |
Two men, one from Stoke-on-Trent, have been found guilty of using aid | :10:51. | :10:53. | |
convoys to send cash to extremists in Syria. | :10:54. | :10:56. | |
37-year-old Syed Hoque from the city and a 27-year-old from East London | :10:57. | :10:59. | |
were convicted at the Old Bailey of funding terrorism. | :11:00. | :11:02. | |
The taxi driver kidnapped and murdered by Islamic State | :11:03. | :11:06. | |
fighters, Alan Henning, was a volunteer for | :11:07. | :11:12. | |
The mother of a nine-year-old boy who died after a road accident | :11:13. | :11:19. | |
in Staffordshire has paid tribute to her tremendous son. | :11:20. | :11:23. | |
Zachary Barker died in hospital after the accident, | :11:24. | :11:25. | |
in Spring Gardens in Leek, on Saturday. | :11:26. | :11:26. | |
In a statement issued by Staffordshire Police, | :11:27. | :11:28. | |
his mother Stephanie said he was a lovely lad, | :11:29. | :11:30. | |
full of life and joy, and was always willing to help | :11:31. | :11:33. | |
Officers are searching for a group of men who attacked a man | :11:34. | :11:43. | |
on his driveway in Birmingham before stealing his car. | :11:44. | :11:45. | |
The 41-year-old had parked outside his home in Livingstone Road | :11:46. | :11:50. | |
when he was approached by one of the suspects who asked him | :11:51. | :11:53. | |
if he was OK before demanding his car keys. | :11:54. | :11:55. | |
The thieves eventually drove off in the man's blue Audi SQ5. | :11:56. | :11:58. | |
The owner of the car suffered only minor injuries. | :11:59. | :12:07. | |
A Worcestershire woman who's spent the last year looking | :12:08. | :12:09. | |
for her missing dog says she desperately needs to know | :12:10. | :12:11. | |
Max, an eight-year-old springer spaniel, went missing | :12:12. | :12:14. | |
on Christmas Day last year in Herefordshire. | :12:15. | :12:16. | |
But it's not just Max's family looking for him. | :12:17. | :12:18. | |
A group of complete strangers have given up their year | :12:19. | :12:21. | |
On Christmas Day last year, Max the springer spaniel went missing. | :12:22. | :12:27. | |
His family from Malvern began a desperate search. | :12:28. | :12:35. | |
I don't know if you remember last Christmas Day. It was kind of etched | :12:36. | :12:43. | |
into my head. It hammered it down on Christmas night and I was out | :12:44. | :12:49. | |
walking and looking for him in the Christmas tree feels. I was soaked. | :12:50. | :12:55. | |
It was in these fields around Much Cowarne in Herefordshire | :12:56. | :12:57. | |
Hundreds joined the search as it turned from days, | :12:58. | :13:00. | |
We come out to walk through and think if there was anything that we | :13:01. | :13:11. | |
missed or any pile that we haven't looked in or any in Sherbrooke that | :13:12. | :13:17. | |
we haven't had a look at, but the literary isn't, within five miles, I | :13:18. | :13:21. | |
think we can say that every inch has been uncovered in the last months. | :13:22. | :13:27. | |
Emotionally she is in a time warp and it is very hard to forward from | :13:28. | :13:29. | |
that. Steph Edwards from Hereford | :13:30. | :13:31. | |
and Dawn Smith from Kempsey near Worcester, had never met Max, | :13:32. | :13:33. | |
but became part of team of nine or ten people, | :13:34. | :13:36. | |
all complete strangers to the family, who decided to give | :13:37. | :13:38. | |
up their year to help run Max's Facebook page and try | :13:39. | :13:41. | |
and find him. If you don't love animals that you | :13:42. | :13:51. | |
will probably find it difficult to understand why we would do that. The | :13:52. | :13:56. | |
family on Macs have got to me so I don't have a break from it, it is | :13:57. | :14:00. | |
what I want to do. I constantly look on Facebook and at various rescue | :14:01. | :14:05. | |
site said anything, just to see if there is a glimpse of him. | :14:06. | :14:06. | |
Amanda's slowly coming to terms with the fact that she may | :14:07. | :14:09. | |
never see Max again, but refuses to give up hope. | :14:10. | :14:12. | |
Life has to go on but it doesn't have to, it doesn't ever leave you. | :14:13. | :14:27. | |
My evenings are looking for him. I look on the Internet every night, | :14:28. | :14:33. | |
when I'm not at work, and only closure. | :14:34. | :14:34. | |
For Amanda, her family and all those who run his page, | :14:35. | :14:37. | |
the greatest present they could get this Christmas is an answer | :14:38. | :14:40. | |
Thanks for joining us on this last full BBC | :14:41. | :14:49. | |
Coming up, we have something rather special! | :14:50. | :14:58. | |
It's been a stormy start to the Christmas period but to cheer us up | :14:59. | :15:04. | |
this lot will be back with a real festive treat a little bit later. | :15:05. | :15:11. | |
We all know and love the traditional image of Christmas, | :15:12. | :15:14. | |
snow-dusted landscapes, sparkling decorations and choirs | :15:15. | :15:19. | |
wassailing away under star-spangled winter skies. | :15:20. | :15:23. | |
But how did we arrive at Christmas as we know it today? | :15:24. | :15:29. | |
Well, a Shropshire baker will be returning to TV on Christmas Day, | :15:30. | :15:32. | |
stepping back in time to the Victorian period. | :15:33. | :15:34. | |
Here's our Arts Reporter Satnam Rana. | :15:35. | :15:36. | |
Making mince pies in a more modern way. | :15:37. | :15:38. | |
John Swift is the fifth generation of bakers in his family business | :15:39. | :15:41. | |
Come on, it is Christmas, so you are helping. | :15:42. | :16:01. | |
So when he was asked to take part in BBC Two's programme | :16:02. | :16:04. | |
Victorian Bakers At Xmas, it was another chance | :16:05. | :16:06. | |
Not only are they using meat and alcohol entry also it, it was to | :16:07. | :16:12. | |
begin with 12 days of festive, not just one day, which, to be fair, 12 | :16:13. | :16:17. | |
is better than one, isn't it? It is a lot of mince pies! It is a lot of | :16:18. | :16:21. | |
mince pies. The show was filmed at Blists Hill | :16:22. | :16:21. | |
Victorian Town museum in Telford. Four professional bakers | :16:22. | :16:24. | |
create seasonal treats. Historians Alex Langlands | :16:25. | :16:26. | |
and Annie Gray look at how customss emerged when Queen Victoria came | :16:27. | :16:30. | |
to the thrown in 1837, into what we now see | :16:31. | :16:34. | |
as a traditional British Christmas. The perfect Christmas will be masses | :16:35. | :16:46. | |
of baked goods and even more alcohol. | :16:47. | :16:48. | |
For John it's a follow on from his TV debut in January | :16:49. | :16:51. | |
when he featured in Victorian Bakers. | :16:52. | :16:54. | |
I'm doing public talks in talking to W eyes and doing demos and getting | :16:55. | :17:02. | |
recognised, which is a little bit strange for a baker. | :17:03. | :17:03. | |
So what do the paying public make of their TV star? | :17:04. | :17:09. | |
The grandchildren are very impressed me make a point of watching the | :17:10. | :17:11. | |
programmes swells, so it great. The show will be aired on BBC Two | :17:12. | :17:15. | |
at 9.30pm on Christmas Day. A great accolade. Merry Christmas. I | :17:16. | :17:35. | |
get to eat the pilot help make! Merry Christmas. | :17:36. | :17:37. | |
Football, and West Bromwich Albion have confirmed they've made a bid | :17:38. | :17:40. | |
of around ?13 million for the Manchester United midfielder | :17:41. | :17:42. | |
Any deal would have to wait for the New Year. | :17:43. | :17:45. | |
But Ian Winter has been celebrating the 12 days of Christmas | :17:46. | :17:48. | |
Those loud and proud Stoke City fans who sing | :17:49. | :17:53. | |
Homelessness is a big issue in Stoke on Trent, | :17:54. | :17:56. | |
So the Potters players have been down to the YMCA | :17:57. | :18:00. | |
to dish up a tasty lunch, and raise awareness. | :18:01. | :18:10. | |
It's been great, there have been fantastic lads out there I'd is | :18:11. | :18:15. | |
great to meet them. They are less fortunate position than ourselves so | :18:16. | :18:21. | |
we come along. 11 is the potter 's current position of the Premier | :18:22. | :18:25. | |
League, but that can they get higher after finishing ninth for the last | :18:26. | :18:28. | |
three years. Ten if the number of different | :18:29. | :18:31. | |
nationalities in the Port Vale squad a segment -- assembled by their | :18:32. | :18:33. | |
Portuguese boss. Nine is the number of new managers | :18:34. | :18:34. | |
we've seen during 2016, including two at Villa and Wolves | :18:35. | :18:36. | |
plus one each at Birmingham, Walsall, Port Vale, | :18:37. | :18:40. | |
Shrewsbury, and Coventry. Eight is where the Blues currently | :18:41. | :18:42. | |
lie in the Championship. And it's also the Baggies position | :18:43. | :18:44. | |
in the Premier League. This week, the West Brom players | :18:45. | :18:48. | |
popped into Sandwell Hospital If we can brighten up their day | :18:49. | :19:01. | |
little bit then it is job done for us. Some of the kids are happy to | :19:02. | :19:06. | |
see us and we got a few presents of them as well so everyone is a | :19:07. | :19:08. | |
winner! Seven is the remarkable number | :19:09. | :19:09. | |
of FA Cup rounds that featured Westfields FC, | :19:10. | :19:11. | |
the tiny non-league Their crazy Cup run began in early | :19:12. | :19:13. | |
August against Stourport Swifts, Six points are still up for grabs | :19:14. | :19:16. | |
in the old year before Hogmanay. It's now five home games | :19:17. | :19:20. | |
without defeat for Aston Villa, And this week, the players delivered | :19:21. | :19:23. | |
presents to patients Sadly these young Villa fans | :19:24. | :19:26. | |
would love to be part of a bumper crowd on Boxing Day, | :19:27. | :19:31. | |
but they''ll be there in spirit, hoping for another win | :19:32. | :19:33. | |
for Brucie against Burton. We all remember how excited | :19:34. | :19:41. | |
Christmas was. It is a special time of year to spend time with family | :19:42. | :19:46. | |
and if you're fortunate enough to be at home, so it is nice to come and | :19:47. | :19:49. | |
see the children in hospital and put a smile on their faces. | :19:50. | :19:51. | |
Four clubs in League 1 are all facing a battle | :19:52. | :19:53. | |
Three is a magic number for non-league Stourbridge. | :19:54. | :19:56. | |
They've reached the FA Cup third round for the first time | :19:57. | :19:59. | |
Just two Premier League Clubs still play in our patch. | :20:00. | :20:03. | |
So the one festive wish uniting football fans across the region | :20:04. | :20:09. | |
is that 2017 will be rather more succesful than 2016. | :20:10. | :20:13. | |
Whoever you support, a very Merry Christmas. | :20:14. | :20:25. | |
Did you see the state of him there? Time now for the weather. | :20:26. | :20:29. | |
Now Rebecca, we need to talk about Barbara. | :20:30. | :20:37. | |
Barbara did clear through very quickly today but we have felt the | :20:38. | :20:43. | |
effects of it is days like today that we really need the Weather | :20:44. | :20:47. | |
Watchers to help us tell the story. We had drizzle through the | :20:48. | :20:51. | |
day-to-day and then we saw the storm clouds really gathering. Then we had | :20:52. | :20:55. | |
heavy downpours, really heavy rain today. It wasn't long before it blew | :20:56. | :21:00. | |
through and then we had the back of the storm. We have been left with | :21:01. | :21:04. | |
something calm and clear about this is what it looks like. A very lively | :21:05. | :21:09. | |
band of rain coming through from the West with strong winds on there. | :21:10. | :21:13. | |
Gusts of up to 30 miles an hour recorded. Behind that it has started | :21:14. | :21:18. | |
to clear and for the next few hours we could get spots of rain but it is | :21:19. | :21:23. | |
largely clear out there. There is a chance of a touch of frost and some | :21:24. | :21:27. | |
sheltered spots but only in sheltered spots because the breeze | :21:28. | :21:31. | |
will keep the temperatures between two and 5 degrees. For the Christmas | :21:32. | :21:35. | |
period we are not out of the storms yet. Barbara has cleared but storm, | :21:36. | :21:40. | |
is coming in from the West. On Christmas Day we have a warm sector | :21:41. | :21:44. | |
of our with very mild conditions and then we have a cold front sinking | :21:45. | :21:50. | |
through. For Christmas day it is largely dry to start and then the | :21:51. | :21:55. | |
showers come through. If you still have shopping to do it shouldn't be | :21:56. | :21:59. | |
too bad. Temperatures between eight and nine, still breezy and we keep | :22:00. | :22:03. | |
that breeze from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day and the milder air | :22:04. | :22:08. | |
sinks over the top of us. Our night-time temperatures are the same | :22:09. | :22:11. | |
as our daytime temperatures and on Christmas Day we wake to a cloudy | :22:12. | :22:17. | |
day with a lot of cloud around and it is still breezy. Brighter spells | :22:18. | :22:21. | |
and then the rain works its way down from the north. It is a cold front, | :22:22. | :22:25. | |
introducing some refresher, so Boxing Day she sees high-pressure | :22:26. | :22:29. | |
taking charge and we settled down and we feel a bit fresher. Finally | :22:30. | :22:33. | |
we return to something more seasonal as we start the new working week. | :22:34. | :22:35. | |
Have a Merry Christmas. We'll be joined shortly | :22:36. | :22:40. | |
by the Military Wives They were formed four years | :22:41. | :22:42. | |
ago, and now fundraise But first we caught up with them | :22:43. | :22:45. | |
on camp in Shropshire. I am Kelly Brown my husband is in | :22:46. | :23:16. | |
the air for Sandy has been for nearly 30 years. We watched the | :23:17. | :23:19. | |
Gareth Malone series on TV and we were inspired and I thought we could | :23:20. | :23:23. | |
do this here at Crossford and when I first came here it was hard to mix. | :23:24. | :23:35. | |
I am Flying Officer and I joined the military wide squire in June 2016. | :23:36. | :23:41. | |
Being in such a male dominated environment the opportunities to do | :23:42. | :23:44. | |
something that is just for females was something that was completely | :23:45. | :23:48. | |
different so there is always someone on the end of the phone or on the | :23:49. | :23:52. | |
other side of the Internet that is available to help you and support | :23:53. | :23:59. | |
you through things. I am Flying Officer Cathy Morton and I joined | :24:00. | :24:02. | |
the choir in June this year when I was posted in after initial training | :24:03. | :24:07. | |
and it was nice to meet different people and talk about things that | :24:08. | :24:10. | |
won't work and talk about people's real lives and get a better feel for | :24:11. | :24:15. | |
the wider air force. We have winning their group have been service wives | :24:16. | :24:21. | |
for many years and some of them are currently serving themselves. | :24:22. | :24:24. | |
Getting the benefit of their experience has been invaluable. We | :24:25. | :24:27. | |
were really excited when we heard the BBC Midlands would like to come | :24:28. | :24:31. | |
on film are singing. We have a great group of girls and a really positive | :24:32. | :24:34. | |
atmosphere going so it is a great time to get away from work and get | :24:35. | :24:44. | |
your music on. And Becky and I have come downstairs at the mailbox in | :24:45. | :24:48. | |
Birmingham now because the choir I hear themselves. Thank you for | :24:49. | :24:52. | |
coming in, it is lovely to see you. They will sing us out in a little | :24:53. | :24:56. | |
while. First I will speak to Clare. Why is it great to be a part of this | :24:57. | :25:00. | |
quite? The choir is just a brilliant social experience. I have made so | :25:01. | :25:04. | |
many friends, met new people and build my confidence. It has been | :25:05. | :25:07. | |
fabulous having somewhere to go where you just know people and they | :25:08. | :25:11. | |
will be friendly and welcoming. In your situation you are quite often | :25:12. | :25:16. | |
alone for long periods. Yes, a lot of the ladies have the problem of | :25:17. | :25:20. | |
husbands going away and so having that stability and somewhere to go | :25:21. | :25:24. | |
and people to speak to that know how you feel is just amazing. There are | :25:25. | :25:30. | |
scores of similar choirs, aren't there? There are loads, all over the | :25:31. | :25:36. | |
UK and further afield. Thank you very much indeed. | :25:37. | :25:39. | |
I am with one of the longest serving members of this choir, Lynne, who | :25:40. | :25:43. | |
has been a member for four years. What are the media to be a part of | :25:44. | :25:48. | |
the choir? In means so much. I left the Royal Air Force in 2007 and I | :25:49. | :25:52. | |
just felt that I have lost a lot of the support network that I would had | :25:53. | :25:56. | |
previously said joining the choir has been so important because I have | :25:57. | :26:00. | |
managed to make friends and I just feel I have had that support. My | :26:01. | :26:06. | |
husband is still serving in the Royal Air Force and he goes away | :26:07. | :26:09. | |
offered and then the girls will be around, running around for you and | :26:10. | :26:12. | |
being the support the shoulder to cry on. It has been brilliant. You | :26:13. | :26:15. | |
will all singers out of the programme now so all that is for us | :26:16. | :26:20. | |
now is to say Merry Christmas. Yes, and have a happy New Year when | :26:21. | :26:23. | |
it comes. Thank you for being with us throughout the year. It is the | :26:24. | :26:27. | |
last fully fledged programme of the year. Have a lovely festive season. | :26:28. | :26:36. | |
Christmas is about family. I'll have that. | :26:37. | :28:08. | |
Let's get this Christmas party started! | :28:09. | :28:26. |