17/01/2017 Midlands Today

Good evening. for the news where you are.

The funeral took place today of Jill Saward,

the sexual violence campaigner who used her own experiences

to change the law surrounding rape cases.

The 51-year-old from Hednesford in Staffordshire was the first

person to waive her legal right to anonymity after

she survived what became known as the Ealing Vicarage Rape

Today's service at Lichfield Cathedral was a celebration

of the life of a woman described as

"very loving, very caring, and absolutely beautiful".

Doing what she did best, speaking out.

People often say that they feel like they have been raped again

Jill Saward was only 21 when she was raped by two men in 1986

during a burglary at her father's London vicarage.

Incredibly, the perpetrators received much shorter sentences

than the man who had committed the burglary.

That set in motion what was to become her life's work -

campaigning for victims of sexual assault and for changes in the law.

Her identical twin sister Sue Lancaster and Jill's

husband Gavin Drake knew how special she was and

But we have been supported by so many thousands of people

She knew she was making a difference but she couldn't take

the compliments always because to her she wasn't

Sue is not sure if she can never follow in her sister's footsteps.

I have thought about whether I should step up and try

and take her place but I just don't think I can.

Jill was involved with Lichfield Diocese for many years.

She was very courageous, she was very humble and she did

a great deal and stuck at things with a great deal of determination.

As the service got underway, eulogies echoed around

I know there are many, many people alive today

We looked after each other as best we could over the years

Jill was a survivor and used her traumatic

Very loving and very caring and very, very beautiful.

The Chairman of Staffordshire digger maker JCB

is one of the first of our business leaders to give his reaction

to the Prime Minister's speech today about leaving the EU.

Lord Bamford, who backed the leave campaign, says he was

"very encouraged" by what he heard today

and is now calling on other businesses to

But what do smaller businesses feel about the plan

At the time of the referendum we talked to a panel of viewers,

both leavers and remainers, about their thoughts

Joanne Writtle has been back to two of them,

to see what they made of the Prime

Then you want a ?5 pack of pork chops.

Bridgnorth Butchers, Mike and Sarah Pearce,

We filmed as they waited for the Prime Minister

to explain more about how the country will do that.

I voted Conservative for the first time in

my life two years ago and then I voted Leave.

Then I felt cheated that Cameron gave up his post and

now I'm hoping today she gets things straight.

I'm hoping we will be off to govern ourselves like we used to

As Theresa May spoke the butchers reacted.

I want this United Kingdom to emerge from this

period of change stronger, fairer, more united.

We will take back control of our laws and bring

an end to the jurisdiction of the European Court

She's going for the country wants so it is good.

I was much in favour of getting out of Europe.

I voted to stay in so I'm not happy about the situation at all.

I am very, very worried actually about

This family owned engineering company in Shrewsbury

is celebrating its 50th year in business this week.

In the last five years they have been exporting

15% of what they make to Germany and America.

Personally, for us, I would like to go over to America,

do a trade mission and that is our biggest export opportunity to grow

I think they would look at us uncertainty to

start with but I think really, again, we have got the chance.

We are world-class leaders in manufacturing and they will come to

100 people work here making parts for

the likes of Nissan and Jaguar Land Rover.

It might be little bit of the unknown but I think the

opportunities are there for advancement.

We will work hard as a country and I think we will be OK.

Businesses like this say they want to continue closing deals in

Europe and further field and will be watching the twists

Two disability-rights campaigners from South Shropshire have failed

in their second attempt to persuade judges to reconsider changes

Merv and Nikki Kenward, from Aston on Clun, are worried

proposed reforms could lead to unscrupulous health-care

But they've been refused leave to go to the Court of Appeal.

The trust which runs Worcestershire's hospitals

has been criticised, for making ?20,000 available for its new chief

The Trust is in special measures and has been struggling to keep

Michelle McKay is arriving from Australia in March

and the money has been set aside to help with relocation costs.

More than two years after the Staffordshire based firm

Phones4u went bust, around 400 former employees have

A group of workers took their case to an employment tribunal

because it failed to consult staff before making mass redundancies.

Each claimant has received compensation of more than ?3,500.

Severn Trent Water has made a stretch of the River Severn

from Tewkesbury to Shrewsbury a pollution priority.

So it's working with farmers on ways to reduce the impact

of water from their farms, when it enters the river.

Education sessions, like this one for student farmers

from Walford College are being held to show the younger

generation how reducing run off from pesticides and fertilizer can

Most farmers, especially if they have got riverside land, do love

their river and they have noticed the changes over the years.

So, slowly, as water quality improves they are noticing

fish coming back and other wildlife coming back to the river.

A celebrity reception was held in Birmingham this evening,

to launch a million pound appeal for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

It's to expand the facilities available to leukaemia patients.

Sporting stars have already lent their names to the project

to develop and offer new treatments for blood cancer.

Our reporter Ben Godfrey is near the hospital for us now.

The Centre for Clinical Haemotology opened in 2006 and gave patients

access to more than 25 trials not normally available in

But success in saving lives has had a big impact,

they're running at capacity and need to expand.

It will cost ?3.5 million, two thirds of which is coming

So they still need a drive for ?1 million.

I say drive but really we should say cycle because one of their patrons,

the former Wolves and England footballer Geoff Thomas,

will cycle more than 6,000 miles later this year to raise money.

The NHS has always been lambasted for bad things

and we want to celebrate what's happening on the good side.

The haematology centre with Charlie Craddock and his team

are leaders in their field and we want to support them

to accelarate the good work they're doing.

The expansion would double the centre's space and double

the number of drug trials they can do, creating around 100 jobs

Helping people like Jaymz Goodman from Telford, who was treated

at the centre after a 14cm tumour was detected in his lungs.

I value everything that was given to me because it saved my life.

Without the clinical trial I was on, without the Centre for Haematology,

Others supporting the fundraising campaign are the broadcaster

Adrian Chiles, cricketer Jonathan Trott and business

Worcester City council has put forward plans

The city held its first 10k race in 2014

and hosting a half marathon would put it on a par

with cities including Cardiff, Leeds and Birmingham.

The council is hoping the event will help attract more visitors.

Finally, Warwick and its surrounding districts have bee

declared the most vibrant place in the Midlands in a survey

carried out by the accountantcy firm Grant Thornton.

The area was singled out because of its high employment,

low crime rate and good GSCE results.

Stratford-upon-Avon also ranked highly.

That's all from me, have a good night.

I'll leave you with the weather from Shefali.

Good evening. It was another day that can seriously drag down your

mood but we had the weather watchers pictures to offer aid burst of

colour on what was eight grade date with the fairer amount of rain

around. You will see from this picture in Dudley just the couple of

hours ago committed looking drier we've got dry weather to come. This

is after tonight and tomorrow. It will remain cloudy and that is

because once this friend that is producing although it might rain and

drizzle slips out of that it is going to leave us with high pressure

across us. Not Owain to stir up the clan break it up, but unfortunately.

-- not Owain. It is going to be fairly mild as with lows of around

3-5 C with the few spots of rain tonight which should die away. It is

going to be cloudy day, allows lastly died with temperatures rising

to eight Celsius so it is going to be little milder than today. Better

brightness as that cloud thins. The national forecast is next.

from time to time. Staying settled still. Nick has the national

forecast this evening. Hello. If you are watching the

football earlier it turned out to be an evening for football fans in

Lincolnshire. This is how it looked at the start of the day. No idea

whether this weather watcher is a football fan, it's a fan of weather

that matters here. All sorts of weather, from 13 in Aberdeenshire to

two, despite the sunshine in Kent. I wonder if