23/01/2017 Midlands Today

A message from the Chancellor - get the Midlands Engine moving

and business output could rival London.

As an effective marketplace, it will rival and even exceed the power of

London. We'll hear from business leaders

and workers about what they made Five years on from a cardiac arrest,

Ian is still alive, still growing, thanks to one of these, and

hopefully dozens more are on the way.

The beauty of our waterways - in need of volunteer lock keepers

He went with ?10 tennis shirts and returns earning ?134,000.

Dan Evans heads home from the Australian Open.

As soon as I lost, my thoughts turned to home and getting back. It

has been a long time out here. And if warnings for dense freezing

fog once again tonight have left you longing for brilliant blue

skies, join me later to find out later if there's any chance

of seeing them this week. The Midlands could rival London

for business output. That's the encouraging message

from the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, on the day the Government

launched its industrial strategy The Prime Minister is already

committed to growing the Midlands economy by ?34 billion by 2030

and creating an extra 300,000 jobs Today she shared her plans

for how to make it happen. Our business correspondent

Peter Plisner has been assessing With the post-Brexit warning sirens

still sounding and business still cautious about the long-term

impact of leaving the EU, today's industrial strategy couldn't have

come at a better time. It is designed to help

small businesses like this, which makes warning

lights and klaxons, plan for the This employee, who is in charge

of dispatches, is due to retire in a few years' time, but even he thinks

it is the right way forward. I've only four years to go before

I retire, but long-term, for my kids and grandkids,

obviously it is important. Meanwhile, this former

apprentice who turns designs into prototypes elcomes the focus

on training and skills. -- I think I needed that

apprenticeship to help me, guide me needed that apprenticeship

to help me, guide me in the direction that I needed to,

give me the help that I needed. Here, directly or indirectly,

they supply goods to most of the sectors being supported

by this new industrial strategy, and hopefully that will mean further

expansion The new strategy aims

to encourage growth by focusing on investments in science,

upgrading infrastructure and helping increase both exports

and inward investments. But up in the board room,

the company's commercial What is important

for us is to make sure that it has got crossbench

support with Labour, and it doesn't change every four

years when we get a new Government. We want investments

lasting ten, 15 years. Unless we can plan for that,

anything less than Elsewhere, this leading

businesswomen, whose firm makes equipment

for the construction industry, whilst welcoming

the strategy, is worried that today there was no mention

of the Midlands Engine. There is such a great

industry in the Midlands. We've got huge construction

projects, huge manufacturing, so let's

hope they haven't forgotten about us,

because they keep talking about the northern

powerhouse, but have they forgotten Nearly 10% of the UK's

small and medium-sized businesses are based

in the West Midlands, and the success of the new strategy

will be measured in part by More importantly, how

many jobs they will And Peter joins us tonight

from the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry,

which looks set to play a major role in helping

to deliver the new strategy. The industrial strategy

was launched in the North, is there a danger the Midlands

could be overlooked? There certainly is concerns. The

Chancellor was in Stafford and he made it clear that the Midlands had

not been forgotten. We will be We will be announcing our MidlandS

engine strategy in due course, course, and we will be setting out

how we're going to approach in the Midlands that we're

already working on in the In the Midlands area,

there are 11 million people, and if we can get that area

operating as an effective marketplace, it will rival and even

exceed the power of London. perhaps the Chancellor should have

come here to this an advanced training centre. The apprentices of

the future are being trained as we speak. Elsewhere, they are

developing production techniques with Government money and the

private sector, it is run by Clive Hickman. How does this place fit in

with the Government's new strategy? We are working on new technologies

that will be introduced in the coming years. Robotics, artificial

intelligence, digital engineering on a main areas. This place isn't

cheap, will the Government spend money on more of them? I hope so. We

generate 15 million -- ?15 for every lb invested. Sat it was the measure

of the Midlands today, does that bother you? No, I think our time is

coming. We have to remember that anything that is delivered in the

north is good for the north, but anything that is delivered in the

Midlands but is good for the whole of the UK. Willing to deal with the

skills gap? And Lisle. It means I can double the number of apprentices

that I take on. Comments from elsewhere, in the Birmingham Chamber

of Commerce say they are looking for to a regional approach, and other

authorities say it it supports the region 's goals for Chris Barrett A.

-- prosperity. Rail services on a busy commuter

line were badly affected this morning after an articulated lorry

smashed into a bridge, The crash happened at around

7:30 near Blake Street station, in the Sutton Coldfield

area, disrupting services on the Cross City line,

causing delays and some Six army reservists

from the Midlands have completed a 1,100 mile journey

across Antarctica, a feat only ever achieved

by a handful of people. The team called Spear

17, are raising money They finished their

expedition in 66 days. Their journey on foot took

them via the South Pole. This morning one member,

Jamie Facer-Childs, made contact with his sister Elise in Birmingham

on a satellite phone. How is your body feeling

after walking 1,100 miles across It is still holding up,

that's the main thing. Definitely not quite how

I felt before we started. But we've held up, so we have got

something right in what we Ed Doolan is a broadcasting legend

in parts of the West Midlands. The Australian adopted

our region as his home and has built up a legion of loyal

fans since he first took His pre-internet consumer programme

was famous for sorting But Ed was diagnosed

with dementia in 2012. He and his wife Chris have been

talking about how they're both determined to raise

awareness and hope. Born in 1941 in Sydney, Australia,

Ed Doolan always knew he The most wonderful,

glamorous, fabulous job, From the 1970s, he made

a name for himself in Birmingham, before moving to the BBC

in 1982, where he championed The council are charging

three times more... Tackling the right of

the underdog didn't stop him rubbing shoulders

with the famous. In 2012, after

retirement, he received a diagnosis of vascular dementia,

the second most common in the UK, It is a disease that makes

everyday tasks difficult. You do find that the use

of the toilet, the use of different implements in toilets

and other things like that... I don't have two draw

you a picture, do I? Despite the dementia,

ED still broadcasts It is a pre-recorded

show and he needs help, His whole life since a tiny boy has

been about being on radio. And the fact that even

for everything that has happened, he is still able to do

that, is just wonderful. An annual Christmas

show at the ICC is no longer fronted by Ed,

but his appearance in front of an audience of 2,500

peopleis still appreciated. His esteem in the

business is enormous. His hard-won esteem,

and rightfully so, because But he has always had

a twinkle in his eye. He has always had

that sense of humour. Life may have changed for Ed,

but his wife has joined the informal army of carers who have

to look after loved ones. You've got to embrace it

and truly make the best And you can see more of Ed Doolan's

story on Inside Out West Midlands A third of patients being treated

in hospitals in Birmingham and Solihull have dementia

or related illlnesses. That's according to Professor George

Tadros from the Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust,

who joins me now. That percentage seems high,

what problems does it pose for patient and those

caring for them? It is a high proportion of patients

who come with impairment and dementia. It is a big number. What

worries me is a big number of them, about 40%, come to the hospital from

the right reasons, not aware of the problem of dementia in the

background. You also say 40% of those admitted

with some form of dementia, Is that because it's

difficult to diagnose - The problem is we don't have the

expertise in primary care that can pick up this problem early. The best

place to diagnose dementia is in the community, when the patient is in

their own environment, have their family around him, have good

history, good assessment. Hospitals are not the best place to look into

it. What's being done to help

patients with dementia? Batter lack of expertise and shot

time for assessment. There is also a stigma. I hope the programme tonight

will take away some of the stigma. What are the levels of staff

training in hospitals I hope in the next years we will

increase the number of training and the eligibility. We hope everyone

working at such a hospital will be dementia where. Is it happening?

Some of it is as, but not enough. We need to spread the trading, really

the plan is that everyone any hospital should be dementia aware,

some of us to be dementia trained, and if you have is to be dementia

experts. If you're affected by dementia

there are details of organisations offering information and support

available at bbc.co.uk/actionline. You can also call for free,

at any time to hear recorded A charity's begun a campaign

to equip a hundred rural communities It's offering funding to help

pay for defibrillators which can shock the heart back

into life after a cardiac arrest. Ambulance crews were called to deal

with 14,000 cardiac arrests It's thought with the right

equipment close at hand Ian knows he is lucky to be alive,

but there is more to it than luck. His story dramatised in a video has

a happy ending because when he collapsed with a cardiac arrest,

first aiders were on hand, equipped with a defibrillator to bring him

back to life. It means attacking carry on with life as normal. There

is nothing different that I do now that I didn't do prior. Yeah, they

are just fantastic. Ambulance crews and first responders have them, too.

But in remote areas, it can take a lot longer to reach them. Emergency

services called now. To have a distributor available to be able to

train people give them an awareness session of how to a defibrillator is

absolutely beyond belief. A rule or charity is putting up 200 -- ASCII

community is to raise money to pay for 100 new defibrillators. To some

extent they are reliant on first responders getting to an incident

first, and any angle is a rise a little bit later, hopefully not too

much later, and that is why we are backing Hereford and Worcestershire.

This rugby club could be the first to benefit as they are already

raising funds. Hundreds of people want to come down and help

themselves. Spectators can get overexcited, it is a heavy contact

sport. It will protect the players if needed. Ian is into the sixth

year of his extra lease of life, and shoot a crisis and drive, his boat

club is now properly equipped to deal with it. Westminster and Lewis

Evans were called to a scene today where a man was resuscitated from a

cardiac arrest and with an on-site defibrillator.

If you like your news from a different angle,

then we've got a treat for you with some stunning views

of Worcestershire's canal network from the air.

It's to highlight the importance of our lock keepers.

They've been part of life on our waterways for hundreds of years.

But they are in short supply, so today a campaign has been

launched to find volunteers who can help keep the tradition alive.

Nestled in the heart of Worcester, the canals have been an integral

part of city life centuries. Go on, have a go. This is one of a band of

volunteer lock keepers whose job it is to keep the network flowing.

Batter Unita Doctor people, you need to help them find out about what is

happening in the area, some people don't know the area and want to know

when the best curry house is offering the best mirroring is. But

also just generally chatting to people who are walking through. This

is where the canal network meets the river. It is also one area where new

volunteers are needed. This is the first 58 locks across the stretch of

the canal. There are currently 40 volunteer lock keepers here, but

they're hoping to double that number to enhance more people's journey

across the waterways. They get everything, but if you're new to it

it can be quite daunting. Knowing there is a volunteer lock keeper

there to be supportive when you need it. The days of energy might be

gone, not the canaled prosperity comes from a different type of

trade. This cafe relies on the canal, and the owners know what an

important role the lock keepers play. It is very important to

Worcester, so they are helping with that and it helps with the economics

of the area. I would say it is very important. Deprecation steeped in

history and heritage, anyone who would like to volunteer or try their

hand at lock keeping hazards in the end of the month the reply.

We'll turn to the weekend's football shortly - but first tennis.

Dan Evans is flying home from Australia,

A few sponsors queueing up to have a word with him. He's heading for a

place in the top 50. First he achieved... He reached the fourth

round of the scaling open in Melbourne. His best ever run in the

Grand Slam was ended in four sets by the Frenchman. Please welcome from

Great Britain, Daniel Evans. The rise of Birmingham's Dan Evans

has been one of the stories of this His French opponent Jo Wilfried Tson

seed and regularly reaches The first set went to a tie

break and Evans won it. The opening game of

the second set was an epic. But Tsonga finally broke

the Evans serve and with it The frenchman soon levelled the

match winning the second set 6-2. And although Evans

continued to fight hard. But he said afterwards

his body was sore. That the efforts of the past

fortnight were catching up with him. Evans just couldn't break

the frenchman's serve, and after nearly three hours

of tennis he was So Evans didn't quite reach

the quarterfinals but he's enjoyed What has happened here has been a

hell of a ride. As soon as I lost, my thoughts turn to home and getting

back. It has been a long time. I am ready to go home.

Dan Evans has savoured his time in Australia -

even taking in some Big Bash Cricket with free tickets

He's still only 26 and he'll now get invitations to the best

Life may never be the same for Dan Evans.

And before he left for Australia Dan Evans trained

And Nick Clitheroe is there right now.

I bet they've enjoyed the last few weeks.

Absolutely. I am at the indoor tennis Centre at the club. Dan Evans

trains here when he is in the UK, as you can imagine that everyone here

is excited. Let's ask someone who knows him well. How inspirational

has Dan been here? It is so inspiring for everybody here. I have

some like who has trained here and see how well he has done over the

past year, it has been really exciting. Now we have some of the

top 50 in the world who has trained here. It will encourage more kids to

take up tennis. That is what we want. More kids playing in more

often. We have great facilities here, six indoor courts, we worked a

lot with the community. We have outreach programmes with schools. We

see over 800 kids at weekly and it costs ?2000 within the schools. We

really are excited to see him. It'll be great to get him back and get all

the kids this year well he trains. Batter the kids here want to make

sure that one of them could perhaps be the next Dan Evans. Because

couple of controversies at the weekend.

The commitment of the Villa striker Ross McCormack has been

Steve Bruce says McCormack keeps missing training.

He was a big money signing in the summer.

He's scored three goals so far and was dropped

from the squad for Saturday's 2-2 draw with Preston.

Bruce spoke out after the game and said that McCormack's latest

excuse is that his electronic gates wouldn't open.

Alessi 's attitude changes then he won't be picked, because I don't

think he's in the right physical state to contribute. Disciplinary

measures have been made against him because of his attitude and missing

training. for the Wolves goalkeeper Karl Ikeme

is over enthusiasm. A miserable afternoon for him

and Wolves at Norwich on Saturday. At 1-1 he conceded

a penalty with this Ikeme was angry with Hoolahan

pushed him and was duly sent-off. It mean he'll miss the FA

Cup tie at Liverpool. Wolves are now

appealing the red card. And Coventry City's

downward spiral continued. The latest set-back

was a 1-nil defeat at The Sky Blue Trust is holding

a meeting this evening to discuss But the owners SISU maintain

the club is not for sale. If it all sound a bit miserable

good wins for Albion, And Wasps are into the last eight

in Rugby's European Champions Cup. A Worcester family's been reunited

with a memorial bench which was swept out to sea

during storms at It was carried 60 miles

from Port Isaac in Cornwall The woman who found the bench used

social media to track down the family of the teenage boy

commemorated on the seat. Archie Thomas died 32 years ago

today at the age of 15. He came with his family to Port Isaac for

holidays every year and lovely place. He liked nothing better than

to stand with fishermen, chatting for half the day. When he died, we

wanted to have this memorial bench. Somewhere that was important to him.

It was phoned by cafe where she was walking her dogs. Eyed empathy for

the family of the beds because our brother had died a year ago and we

have a bench for him, which is why I knew this had to be somehow found,

whose family belong to. I think there is a miracle. It is brothers

of these wonderful people and also made so many contacts with old

friends. It has reopened our eyes and ears and hearts. It is

wonderful. Help came from another North Devon family with their own

commemoration bench for their daughter. Fermented cider gone would

have been awful. At least they know what has happened, they been able to

bring it back to where it's supposed to be. It really nice. A real sense

of homecoming. It is really lovely. What a journey it has been. It has

been incredible. As each amenity spirit and amazing connections, ITed

bench is back where it belongs. A raw start to the week, let's find

out it's going to stay that way. There is a bit of everything this

week. Fog was a problem this morning, but was it left beaver into

brilliant blue sky and sunshine across much of the region. By this

evening, everywhere was at it. Fiery sunset which turned into smouldering

embers before it turned dark. This is what is keeping things die this

week with the high pressure in control. There is the threat of rain

to the west, but high pressure will find it off by the time beget and to

be ten. The winter are turning not -- south easterly and that will draw

much colder air. This is how it is shaping up this week. It is going to

be cold, frosty and folly to begin with, mostly dry, and Miles by the

weekend. -- milder. For the Fogg tonight, we have a warning in place

for much of the region. This is for freezing fog patches which are

likely to cause tricky driving conditions. Do take care. It is

developing quickly across the west of the region. Got cloudier skies to

the east, and that shifts, the Fogg will become more widespread. There

is also the frost, temperatures dipping to between 0 degrees and

minus four Celsius which makes for a very chilly start. It foggy one as

well, but that Fogg will only gradually left and maternity low

cloud, it will break up together sunshine to round off the day. We

may get another beautiful sunset. Damages are around seven Celsius

with light southerly winds. Tomorrow it will be less foggy, with much

more cloud across the region. That is what we are left with. It is

going to hold those temperatures up above freezing. Not so much frost.

For Wednesday, a cloudy start, some sunshine in the afternoon, cold

biting south easterly wind will take effect.