25/04/2017 South Today - Oxford

Welcome to South Today. for the news where you are.

Coming up: In pain and struggling to cope.

Claims a lack of funding and a shortage of carers is leaving

people with multiple sclerosis without the support they need.

Also, how fire crews in Oxfordshire will be helping paramedics treat

And soaring numbers of red kites - the birds of prey once on the verge

of extinction now thriving in urban environments.

A third of people with multiple sclerosis say

they are not receiving enough - or any - support, according

One man from North Oxfordshire says he is not getting the help he needs

Brian Cook, who lives in Lower Heyford near Bicester,

Stuart Tinworth has been to meet him.

Brian's been living with MS since 2004.

He's gone from walking, to a wheelchair, and can no

He also says he no longer has guarantees for continuing care,

It is hardly a way to live not knowing what is going to happen next

I think I had about three hours sleep for each

Brian says his care package ended at the start of this month.

Care agencies are taking on more work with less and less carers.

They are working on zero hour contracts and they are being paid ?1

more than the living wage and they can earn that sort

The MS Society says Brian isn't alone.

A lacking of funding from central government

for social care is to blame, claiming providers are struggling

to recruit and keep hold of care workers.

This is an up and down the country. Third of people in the most severe

need are struggling to get even basic support like help with

dressing and washing. The county council however

is insistant it's trying to help. In a statement they stress:

Mr Cook has not been left And sufficient funds

are in place, so he can And they add - we will work with him

to look at alternatives in the short-term, whilst sufficient

care is identified. The council says it's also investing

?1 million in a range of initiatives aimed at strengthening the social

care market, with new training and measures to improve worker

recruitment but concerns remain. With a huge recruitment drive around

the corner for new retail projects at Westgate and Bicester village,

the carer market could be Suicide is the leading cause

of death among people under 35 according to The Mental Health

Foundation. Now a woman who founded a suicide

crisis centre in Gloucestershire wants to open a similar personalised

service in Oxford. Joy Hibbins set up her charity

after struggling to access support on the NHS when she came close

to taking her life. Five years ago, Joy Hibbins had

a traumatic experience which left her with post traumatic

stress disorder and Having struggled to get

the right support herself, a year later she set

up her own suicide crisis centre. Today at St Edmund Hall in Oxford,

she told mental health professionals about the personalised

service her team provides. As well as having a suicide

crisis centre where people can come and be safe,

we also do home visits so we are actually going out

to people who are at risk and I have got absolutely no doubt

that going out to people when they are at risk is one

of the reasons why all of our The Mental Health Foundation say

suicide is the leading cause While four times as many

men die as a result But Joy says men are seeking help -

50 to 80% of her clients are men. Tom was only 22 when he thought

about taking his own life. A serious car accident

followed by his brother's Everything just seemed

so dark and I didn't have And I found suicide crisis online

just by googling help for suicidal The main thing that I got

from it was the one-to-one. I went in and I saw joy

and she would sit with me It was incredible to have

that human connection. Joy says one-to-one support

in a safe environment with specially trained councillors

could have a significant reduce the numbers of suicides each year

and hopes to one day see independent crisis centres like

hers in every county. Homeless people in Oxford will be

allowed to live, temporarily, A group of squatters have

recently been evicted from a former restaurant,

a disused power station The proposal to allow vacant

buildings to be used was approved Firefighters are treating a fire

at a derelict building The cause of the fire

on Curbridge Road overnight. The roof collapsed, making

conditions difficult The building is owned

by the Diocese of Birmingham. Oxfordshire's fire service

is helping ambulance crews get The six month trial will see fire

crews aiding paramedics in situations where patients

are hard to reach - for example in tall

or locked buildings. Today's scenario in Didcot

was a mockup, but Darren Weston has been called to numerous

real life emergencies. He's saved many lives,

but often the issue isn't so much treating patients

as getting to them. The problem in gaining access

into modern properties these days We could be faced

with an unconscious patient and capable of --

incapable of answering the door. Every second can literally

make a difference to If you need to get to the first

floor from outside, fire crews The three emergency services

are now working together Police or ambulance crews can call

on the fire brigade for help. It is really important

and one of the main reasons We want to make sure

we deliver the best service We have to make the most

of the money that is By working together,

we can deliver better services, simpler and smarter and cheaper

for the public. The six month trial

has started well. Local fire crews have been

called to 15 emergencies If successful, the three-way

partnership is likely Oxfordshire's longest-serving Member

of Parliament has made his final Labour's Andrew Smith

will stand down at the general He has represented

Oxford East since 1987. I would like to say a huge thank

you to all those who have helped me serve for 30 years for the wonderful

constituency of Oxford East. My office staff and party

organisers across the years. A bird of prey which was once

on the verge of extinction Despite its size -

with a wingspan of up to six feet - it seems many people are choosing

to feed them, encouraging Red kites circling high and swooping

low have become a common sight Scientists initially thought they'd

moved into urban areas from the countryside because more

roads means more roadkill But we surveyed, there's

very little roadkill. Our local councils are very good

at keeping the streets clean. And instead we did questionnaires,

we asked local people what they do and we found out that certainly well

over one in 20 local households here in Reading have fed red kites

at one point or another. And so it's that feeding

that's attracting them in, it's a very regular occurrence

to drive through some of the suburbs of Reading and see a dozen,

two dozen red kites circling over a house where people clearly

have been feeding them. Red kites were virtually wiped out

in the British Isles Conservationists began reintroducing

breeding pairs to the wild more than 20 years ago

and their population is thriving, with or without

the neighbours feeding them. The weather is next

with Sarah Farmer. . We are still seeing some heavy

showers as a course of this evening, but tonight we will see sky is

starting to clear and some pretty cold and frosty conditions through

the overnight period. It looks like temperatures will once again be

close to freezing and we will see is clear skies at times. Perhaps some

showers moving towards dawn. Generally, are dry and chilly start

to tomorrow. Some brightness with showers working their way, a little

sooner than today. They could be wintry in nature. Sleet, hail and

fund is possible. In the sunshine, temperatures up to ten or 11. With

the brisk northerly winds, it will feel bitterly cold. Thursday, things

change. Chilly start with some brightness. Affront will sink

southwards, bringing cloud and mild conditions. Feeling less cold with

patchy outbreaks of rain during the day on Thursday. After a chilly

oldie tomorrow with some possibly wintry showers, thirsty looks to be

a little bit drier and those temperatures start to climb as well

as we head towards the Good evening. Another cold night

lies ahead after what was a chilly day for swathes of the UK. This is

the Highlands of Scotland. 25th of April and lying snow.