Wearside stories you might have missed this week
A worker remembering the last days of the shipbuilding industry, an important Iron Age find, and a new mental health hub.Here are some Wearside stories you might have missed this week.
'Unprecedented' Iron Age hoard
Durham University archaeologists have helped uncover one of the "largest and most important" Iron Age finds in the UK.The Melsonby Hoard was discovered in a field near the North Yorkshire village.It includes more than 800 items, including cauldrons or vessels, horse harness, bridle bits, ceremonial spears and 28 iron tyres, believed to have been buried about 2,000 years ago.Read the full story here.
'Desperately needed' mental health hub
A couple who overcame serious mental health issues have helped set up a support hub in an area where they say it is "desperately needed".Lee Nicholson, from the Building Blocks Community Centre in Concord, Washington, said some residents had to complete a 14-mile (22.5km) round trip for support.The hub, which is inside the centre and staffed by NHS counsellors, is taking existing referrals but is soon to open a walk-in centre.Read the full story here.
Bonus for every year of work
Staff are set to receive a £100 bonus for every year they have worked at a travel agency.Sunderland-based Hays Travel said it would hand out the money as it revealed record sales figures, having hit the £3bn mark one month before the end of the financial year.Company official Lenore Mason, who has been with the firm for 37 years, said she felt happy to work at a company that "continued to grow in the region where I grew up".Read the full story here.
Last shipyard worker remembers closures
Alex Sherriff was among the last batch of employees to build vessels in Sunderland before the final yard closed in 1988.Mr Sherriff said it remained important the industry was remembered as he felt newer generations were "slowly forgetting" the impact of shipbuilding as old colleagues "pass on".To honour them, two sculptures have been installed on the banks of the River Wear - one of workers having their lunch and another depicting a former shipbuilder telling his granddaughter about the old yards.Read the full story here.
New business improvement district
A business improvement district (BID) will be launched on Sunderland's seafront after it was backed by traders.The new BID will begin its first term in May after a ballot in which almost 91% of votes were in favour.Chief executive Sharon Appleby said businesses had recognised the value the scheme could bring to an area.Read the full story here.
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'I passed the UK Citizenship Test but not everyone would'
Do you know your Cavaliers from your Roundheads? Or which British PM created the NHS? I passed the 'Life in the UK' test on my first attempt but it's fair to say it was not easy. As someone who always tries to do better than average at anything I set my mind to, I know for a fact that I didn't exactly ace the exam. The Life in the UK assessment is an integral part of becoming a citizen of the United Kingdom and consists of 24 multiple choice questions to be completed within 45 minutes. A mark of 75 percent is needed to pass the exam and get a foreigner further along the way to British citizenship. Upon arriving at the test centre I was searched. I had to spread my fingers apart and roll up my sleeves to show that I had no writing on my skin. I was a bit surpised by how thorough the anti-cheating checks went but I followed directions as they asked me to lift my long hair. Then it was into the exam where I hoped the hours of study I had put into trying to pass would pay off as I stared into the computer trying to rack my brain. The Government has a number of guides available to help you prepare for the endeavour and I had opted for the three pack option. This pack consisted of the 'Official Study Guide', the 'Offical Guide For New Residents' and the official 'Practive Questions and Answers' books for the total of £27.99. After studying, I booked my exam, which has to be scheduled online at least three days in advance and costs £50. The scores were not revealed and the Scotsman who informed me I had passed wouldn't tell me what mark I achieved - only going so far to say I had passed with a sly smile. But he did confirm that I had not hit 100% when I asked him as a follow-up question. Still, I was grateful that he had told me at the centre as I had an hour-and-a-half journey back to my house and I wanted to be put out of my misery so I could hit the books again if required. Thankfully, this was not needed and the news was positive across the board as my family members who had sit the test also managed to pass first go - to everybody's relief. The tricky thing about the test is the wide variety of topics that it covers and because of this, I would be very surprised if anyone passed it first go without studying. And if they did, they should look at perhaps applying to be on a TV game show to put their knowledge to good use. I had questions about the ice age, historic migration to the UK, Olympic champions, the civil war, past royalty, Crystal Palace and the structures attributed to Isambard Kingdom Brunel. I don't remember all of the inquiries but I do remember thinking that I would have struggled to pass if I hadn't have studied. I've always prided myself on the fact that my general knowledge is decent. I am well read, regularly watch the news and have a decent array of podcasts that I listen to semi-regularly. The main observation I came away from the exercise of passing my Life in the UK test was wondering how people who have English as a second language managed to pass when I struggled - I'm Australian. It was difficult enough for me as a native English speaker to get across the line and I think it would add another dimension to the challenge. I think many British born people would struggle with the test if they had to do it right now because a lot of the knowledge is not commonplace, nor is it all from one area of subjects.
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3 days ago
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Looking After by Caroline Elton: Why I didn't tell my autistic brother he was dying
Looking After: a portrait of my autistic brother by Caroline Elton (Hutchinson Heinemann £18.99, 352pp) On her deathbed, Caroline Elton's mother extracts a solemn promise from her two daughters: that they will look after their brother Lionel. Only when they agree, can she utter her final words 'It's a deal,' and rest in peace. Elton and her sister Liz are then left to look after 68-year-old Lionel who has autism, and who – along with his exceptional musical talent and dedication to his work as a postroom clerk – can also be extremely difficult to cope with. This memoir will be welcomed by carers as it doesn't sugar-coat the struggles they can face – but also reveals the strength of family connection. Elton decided to write Lionel's story because autism is so often thought of as a childhood condition. 'I realised,' she writes, 'there has never yet been a cradle-to-grave account of an autistic person's life.' She also realised how the NHS often pays little attention to the needs of autistic patients facing a terminal illness. When Lionel was born in the 1950s, doctors suggested he should be institutionalised at the age of four. Elton's late mother, Marcia, was having none of it. She comes across as truly formidable – relentless in her desire to get him the best treatment. Through sheer persistence, she manages to get Lionel seen by the best in child development. These include Donald Winnicott (the originator of the phrase the 'good enough mother') and Michael Rutter, later known as the father ofchild psychiatry. Marcia looks after Lionel's housing, finances, health and holidays until she dies at the age of 94. And suddenly Elton and her sister Liz find themselves as their brother's carers – a man who retches at the smell of cheese, cannot bear uncertainty and stamps on his glasses or bites his hand when distressed. Elton is unsparing of herself, talking about the embarrassment she felt as a child of having a brother who would push her down the stairs or shout in restaurants. Coupled with this are the genuinely moving accounts of Lionel's happiness at going on holidays, or being invited round for a sabbath meal on Friday nights – and then his diagnosis with leukaemia only two years after his mother's death. As a veteran psychologist, Elton writes incisively about the difficulties of navigating the health service with a man whose condition makes him intolerant of any uncertainty. So what to do when it's clear his leukaemia is terminal? Elton and the medical team agree not to tell him – as to do so without being able to tell him the exact time and date of his death would rob him of any peace. In the last part of the book, the brief months that Lionel has left – too late to go on the trip to Texas to visit Buddy Holly's birthplace he has dreamed of – are full of poignancy. It charts how Elton and her sister, having dreaded the responsibility of caring for Lionel, come to an understanding. Elton reminds us that autism is not a 'Peter Pan' condition affecting those who remain children for ever. She writes a powerful and unusual book that pays tribute to her brother.
