27/01/2017 South Today - Oxford

Hello, and welcome to South Today. There is continuing coverages of the

Russell Brand talks about his experience of growing up

with mental health problems - as he launches a new approach

to treatment for young people in Buckinghamshire.

And if I don't think the person I'm talking to knows what it

in Oxfordshire sports awards are about start. We are live with some

of the live -- nervous nominees. It's claimed an independent

inquiry should be held into how a business set up

by Buckinghamshire County Council to run adult social services lost

millions of pounds - and was criticised for

the quality of its care. Healthwatch Buckinghamshire

wants answers as to how Buckinghamshire Care

was run and how vulnerable Brennan Nicholls has

this exclusive report. Damning report after damning report

- Buckinghamshire Care was supposed to look after some of the most

vulnerable members of the community. The company was set up by Bucks

county council back in 2013. contract to run services cross

the county - in peoples homes, a network of community centres,

a farm near Milton Keynes and a respite care

home in Beaconsfield. Its managing director

was paid ?140,000 a year. The council said the firm

would save taxpayers more The financial accounts

of Buckinghamshire Care Over the last three

years the business has What makes even worse

reading though is this, from the Care

Quality Commission. A report into Seeleys Respite Care

in Beaconsfield, which And the combination

of these two means that Buckinghamshire County Council

pulled the plug on the business and It's now trying to learn

the mistakes of what When we began to identify that

things weren't going right, both in terms of finances

and the quality of care, at that point the governance had

to be ramped up and began to take

a much closer interest. But it was really only when

the report on Seeleys came out that the full extent of the

failings became clear. The council took decisive

and quick action which was Not everyone though is convinced

by the council's approach. Healthwatch Buckinghamshire

want more, much more. The public don't know

what's going on. They just think it was just

another care home contract They don't realise that

it was wholly owned by How do you think that process

should be investigated? I think it should be a public

enquiry into what happened. The county council

has now taken full control of Buckinghamshire Care's

services once again. It believes all services

are running well. The council says it will work

with Healthwatch Buckinghamshire Its been confirmed that more

than 20 jobs are to go The team ceased

trading this morning. The firm was placed in

administration earlier this month. David Lumb has been

following the story - and told me what it means for Manor

and the staff: Manor's operating company

Just Racing Services has been in administration for about three

weeks but they've been The firm employed 212

members of staff. We understand more or less all of

them are going to be made redundant. They were sent home earlier

and we expect all but a handful of them to be officially made

redundant in the next few days. I've got a statement

here from the joint administrators. It says it's "deeply regretable"

the team has had to close its doors. It said it has has a very successful

two years and its priority now will be working with the staff affected

to make sure they get their redundancy payments as soon as

possible. The team started in 2012 called Virgin Racing. It's not the

first time it's been in administration.

It went into administration in 2015 but a new investor was found

But even if that were to happen, the move makes it much harder

for Manor to make it to the start of the season in Australia

A man's died after a two-car crash near Banbury.

It happened in Cropredy on Tuesday morning.

A Ford Fiesta ended up on its side in a hedgerow.

More than a month after the death of George Michael at his home

in South Oxfordshire, his body is yet to be

Police say they're still waiting for toxicology

reports to come back, which means the inquest into his

The star's body was found at his home in Goring on Christmas Day.

Services have been held to mark Holocaust memorial

In Oxford members of the public and councillors gathered

for a special ceremony at the town hall, marking the anniversary

of the liberation of Auschwitz at the end of the Second World War.

John Fieldsend, who now lives in Thame, remembers Hitler coming

People of all faiths gathered at Oxford town Hall for Holocaust

Memorial Day. It has been more than 70 years since the genocide which

claimed more than 6 million Jewish lives. It gives us an opportunity to

member what happened in the context of the Second World War, to remember

the absolutely appalling industrialisation of killing. The

total lack of humanity in dealing with people. John witnessed this

first hand. As a young Jewish boy living in Germany he heard Adolf

Hitler address a rally. I can still remember that voice, ... That

memory. It's firmly locked in the back of my head as I can't find the

off switch. John now lives in tame. During the Second World War he and

his black brother fled to Britain from Nazi, occupied Czechoslovakia.

Their parents were taken to and chips. John still has the final

letter they sent him. We want to say farewell to you who wear our dearest

possession in the world. And only for a short time were we able to

keep you. Don't forget us and be good. I come to, thank all the good

people who have accepted you so nobly. Today photographs from the

Holocaust went on display at the town Hall. The pictures of those

emaciated bodies, the lines going to the gas chambers, yes, they are

powerful images and ones that should inspire us to make sure it never

happens again. Victims of genocide is in Cambodia, Rwanda and Bosnia

were also remembered, along with those still being subjected to

racism and intolerance. The actor, author and activist

Russell Brand has helped to launch a new service for people living

with mental health issues. Buckinghamshire Recovery College

runs educational workshops in Aylesbury It now hopes people

who have experienced troubles It now hopes people who have

experienced troubles in their past will mentor

those in need of help. We can't help everyone but everyone

can help someone. A famous saying which encapsulates the ethos of a

brand-new institution launched in Aylesbury this morning.

Buckinghamshire Recovery College holds classes the people struggling

with mental health will stop at today's event one man who has openly

struggled with his was keen to lend his voice. Mental health is a

disease of perspective. It is impossible for a person to attain

that perspective in solitude, they report quiet support and community

from people that understand it. The idea is simple. Health professionals

work alongside tutors who have had their own personal battles with

mental health. They then share their experiences to help others overcome

the issues. The college took on its first students in September and now

have nearly 200 people enrolled in workshops and courses tailored to

improve their well-being. I'm now working in supporting people in

mental health who need that support and understanding. And for me that

passion is creativity and it has helped me get back on the road to

recovery. But it has been 18 years and now is the right time for me to

talk about it. I think they think there is this idea of recovery as

some kind of finished product. I'm going to pop out of eight box and

go, I recovered now! Hopefully that stigma will diminish and the

perception will be, you can live meaningful life with a mental health

difficulty. Today's event was the start of what the college hope will

be a long, successful journey, stopping thousands of people

overcome mental health one by one. Still to come -

A new season on skates... The team sport combining hockey,

rugby and even F1 - Some of the big names in Oxfordshire

sports are here ready for the Oxfordshire sports awards.

All this week we've been hearing some of the inspirational stories

of families who've been cared for by the Children's Hospital in Oxford.

Tonight, in the last of our series, we hear from some of the people

who fundraise for the charity - to help pay for medical equipment

as well provide respite facilities for families who need

Katharine Da Costa has been to meet three friends from Bicester who've

set their sights on raising ten thousand pounds to mark

Three families with three big reasons to be thankful

She was born with a cleft pallet, dislocated hips and also

respiratory problems which meant that she needed to be resuscitated

When Ralph was born he was unresponsive

and they had to work on

Unfortunately, he didn't stay breathing and they had to keep

So he was taken into SCBU, into the intensive care unit, and he

When Remy was six months he was rushed

into hospital with sepsis and meningitis.

We were told by the doctors it was potentially fatal.

We really at the time had no idea of what the outcome was going to be.

And what long-term lasting effect he would have as a result of it.

They've all experienced the difficulties of living

at the hospital with a sick child and the strain

It made a really tough time as comfortable as it could possibly

They helped the family as a whole, not just Beth.

They were there with a cup of tea when we had really bad days.

They worked tirelessly, which is just

But even down to the small details, like the children's

playroom - the batteries are always stocked

and there's always something to play with.

So, to show their appreciation and go the extra mile

for the tenth anniversary year - the mums are planning to run 52

miles in competitive races - from the Ox5 at Blenheim

to the Oxford half marathon later this year -

and they hope to raise ?10,000 in the process.

I'm not a natural runner at all but I'm trying my hardest.

I've bought a second-hand treadmill so

I'll be practising in the evenings and while the children are in bed.

You never know, we might hate the Oxford Half in October and then

one of us has this great idea to enter a marathon before

the end of the year - you never know.

We've been so lucky with the hospital so, to be honest,

raising ?10,000 feels like a very small price to pay,

cos there's no price on the gratitude we've got.

Well, a short time ago Eleanor Jones came into the studio -

she's the hospital's head of fundraising.

I asked her why launch a new fundraising campaign now.

The tenth anniversary appeal to raise ?2

enhance the services we need, and hospital

have said to us this is

what they need to make those services better for those young

So what we're doing is trying to inspire the communities

create the children's Spittal in the first

place to come together to

contribute to that ?2 million and raise money for some

What projects do you need to get money for?

The biggest is our parents' accommodation project.

We will be expanding the accommodation

we offer for the parents at the Children's Hospital, meaning mums

and dads can stay near their sick children while they are in hospital.

We are going to expand that from 17 to 60 beds.

We're also going to be investing in state-of-the-art

equipment, we're going to be improving some of those outside play

areas, and just making those young patients' stay in hospital that

There are a lot of charities out there who want people

Some people might question why the NHS needs additional support.

We want the NHS to be directing all of their funds

into front-line clinical services, and a charities here to make those

little added extras that little bit better.

So from toys and games in our children's' playrooms all the

way up to the big things like creating a dedicated Children's

The charity gives the NHS a bit of flexibility to get not just

what is needed but what makes the biggest difference.

And obviously, like with all NHS services, demand

is growing and it's only ever going to grow in the coming years.

It means Oxfordshire Children's Hospital is a

wonderful place to come, because it is providing world-class care.

But that does mean those numbers are just going to increase

so what is really important to us is that we

are not just planning for now, we are planning for the future.

And that is why we're investing ?2 million in

So how big a challenge as it to get people who

haven't had family members in the hospital to give money?

Obviously, we've seen that people are so

grateful when the doctors and nurses have been so kind, and they get out

How hard is it to persuade other people

Well, like you saw from the three ladies in the BT

Well, like you saw from the three ladies in the VT

earlier, those people that have been touched by the Children's Hospital

absolutely recognise the need for it.

But we are constantly inspired by patients and our clinicians and

those fundraisers, and I don't think there's a single person in

Oxfordshire that hasn't been touched by one of those groups.

So what we want to say to the communities is,

be as proud as we are about the place that you created.

It was fundraising that created the Children's Hospital in the first

Come together and let's make a difference for those

We're less than two hours away from the start

of the Oxfordshire Sports Awards - being held at the Kassam Stadium.

He's also presenting our sports round up tonight.

Jerome - you're a man in demand this evening.

I'm not as in demand as the wine waiters here all the people handing

out the awards tonight, because that is what we are going to find out

Knight, who has won the 15 awards to celebrate Oxfordshire success in

2016. More of that come. We have all sorts of people nominated. But it is

with the Olympics that we start our sports tonight. And in Milton Keynes

weather suggestion from Badminton England is that the next Olympics

will produce a very poor return in terms of medals if funding for the

sport not reinstated. Public funding was cut after the last Rio games

disbarred despite some success. They want to turn bronze into gold

in Tokyo but right now Olympic medallists Marcus Ellis

and Chris Language can't They, like all the other players

training at the National Badminton Centre, here in Milton Keynes,

face an uncertain future after the Hearing that news in

December was obviously, it was a real kick in

the I don't think anyone

could believe what It wasn't just a case

of the funding being we juiced, 18th of August 2016,

the day Marcus and Chris one Britain's first ever males

doubles Olympic medal. But before the year was out a UK

sports' decision not to spend a penny of their ?345 million

budget on Badminton, leading up to Badminton has launched

an appeal but it still has to prepare for the worst

if that appeal fails. We have to prepare for what life

without UK Sport funding It's been a very challenging

five or six weeks here. We've got a number of staff

We've informed the players about what their programme

could look like should we not be successful here.

UK Sport's Badminton snub means Marcus and Chris may need

UK Sport's Badminton snub means Marcus and Chris may need

to find between ?60,000 and ?70,000 each in the run-up to Tokyo, just to

A court is ?10 an hour and we train six hours a day.

And we need six courts, so that's quite a lot

These are not luxuries, these are the basic things we need.

And then in terms of tournaments, if we are

not travelling, playing tournaments our opponents in competition are.

And they are going up in the rankings and we are going down.

Badminton's players and coaches and management are confident in the

sport's ability to win Olympic and Paralympic medals in Tokyo and

They are now heading to London in just two weeks' time for

It will prove to be a pivotal moment for the sport.

here we are the Oxfordshire sports awards. People about start filing

in. The guests will have a little surprise halfway through when they

help launch the BBC radio Oxford Move Eight campaign.

Physical inactivity is responsible for one in six premature deaths,

40% of long term illnesses and costs Oxfordshire councils

Doing a total of just 20 minutes of physical activity a day can be

more beneficial to your health than losing weight,

lowering your cholesterol or even stopping smoking.

Adina Campbell went to find out how much fun it can be!

Shifting and shuffling is what keeps this dance troupe from Oxford

But it's not just about the competitions.

Say I take a break from dancing for a little bit, I

start to feel my body start to stiffen up.

Any tension you feel, any anger or anything like

that, you can just feel relax afterwards.

Whether you choose to do more dancing, jogging or walking,

being more active is at the core of BBC Radio Oxford's

It's being supported by one of the county's

It's more about using nature and using what we've got in

Oxfordshire and some of the grounds, the Parks,

the country estates that

There are different motivations For different people.

Some people might want to join the gym and that

Some people might enjoy the outdoors a

The latest NHS guidelines recommend we do about two and half hours of

moderate aerobic exercise like this dance class every week.

Or if you prefer your exercise more high

impact, you could choose to do 75 minutes of vigorous activity

In between all of that cardio we should

be fitting in strength conditioning sessions like weightlifting

The idea is to get more of us moving our bodies and embracing

It does make a tremendous difference, these exercises.

And if you don't mind me asking, how old are you?

If you don't move, you stiffen up and

the more you stiffen up the more you don't

want to do anything - you lose the will

But, essentially, the "Move It" campaign is about putting

So the guests here are going to help launch the campaign. Couple of them

are here. They are nominees in the awards. How proud are you to be

nominated? 2016 was wonderful. It was such a brilliant way to end.

Over the moon to be nominated. It is incredible. And the other nominees

have done such incredible things so it is such an honour to be amongst

them. And lovely to come back here now everything is settled after the

games. Now we have come home and we can celebrate amongst all the people

that have seen the journey all the way through. A lot of rowers have

Oxfordshire connections but not as deeply as you. School here and it's

where I first picked up and or and rowing on the river and here was

where the seeds were sown for that dream. This is Oxford knighted MDU.

Newcastle FA Cup game tomorrow. It's a fantastic occasion tonight and

tomorrow these are exactly the sorts of things we are proud to be a.

Reflecting on 2016, it was a incredible year for the club and

county as a whole. We are here to celebrate the successes of

everybody. We really put the club back on the map last season.

Everybody enjoyed the promotion. The fact that it is a sell-out tomorrow

demonstrates that perfectly. Swindon at Bristol Rovers and MK dons.

It's one of the fastest growing sports in the UK.

Now a roller derby side in Oxfordshire is looking

to attract new players, while at the same time

Peter Cooke has been to find out more.

The Oxford Roller Derby team have been playing in the city

Described as a mixture of roller hockey, rugby and F1 -

it's physical and growing rapidly across the UK.

There are ten skaters on a flat track, an oval track.

And the idea is that from each team there are four blockers

who protect the points on each team and one jammer.

And the idea is the jammer needs to get through the

opposing blockers, and every she passes an opposing blocker's

The club's chosen to support the Mental Health charity Mind this

year, and will be hosting a number of fundraising events

I work in education and mental health is the single biggest

issue that's going to face kids in the next ten years or so.

Anything we can do to support that issue and

that crisis that is going to happen is a good thing.

A charity game's being held at the Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre

A chance to discover a new sport perhaps for those

Lets get the weekend weather now - here's Alexis.

Good evening. We've seen a little rain today but overnight tonight

furthermore persistent rain will push in from the south-west and with

it bringing hill fog over Hilltop areas. Temperatures will drop to

around three or four Celsius. Chile with the breeze and the rain and

cloud. The rain will last until morning and will stay with us first

things Morrow, slowly clearing north and eastwards. One or two showers

will follow but brighter spells as well. Temperatures will be higher

than today. Tomorrow we will see a high of 78 Celsius. Tomorrow night

there may be one or two showers initially but with high pressure

building in things will start to quieten down during the early hours

of Sunday, maybe with a frost first thing. These other temperatures in

towns and cities but we could see as low as -1 or -2 in the countryside.

A potentially frosty start to Sunday. There will be a spell of

Reagan, persistent rain mainly light and patchy but the odd moderate to

heavy burst through the course of the day and further rain to follow

into Monday. This weather front moves its way. Of Wayne and brisk

winds. A soggy end to the weekend and start to next week. The outlook

tomorrow has some sunshine. Once the rain clears we'll see some brighter

spells but the odd shower tomorrow afternoon. Wind coming in from the

south-west will be stronger the further south. Sunday has a brisk

southerly wind. Rain at times on Sunday. Rain slowly clearing

eastwards. That will clear slowly on Monday. Tuesday will have spells of

rain but settling down into the middle part of next week.

Don't forget you can watch the sports awards on the BBC

Hope you have a good weekend - even if you're working.

We know you understand the risks associated with your pregnancy.

Because I'm smaller, people think my hopes are not so great.

You know what it's like when help is needed. You just jump in.

Are you saying that he's stalking you now?