'Inspiring' Jill Dando good news initiative aims to go global
A good news initiative set up in memory of murdered TV journalist Jill Dando is aiming to "go global". Journalist, presenter and newsreader Jill Dando was murdered outside her London home 26 years ago, but her legacy continues to live on among younger generations of budding journalists. Jill Dando News is a positive news stories platform, founded in Jill's home town of Weston-super-Mare, that now wants to have a global presence after spreading to Malawi. Shane Dean, 52, founder of Jill Dando News said: "Everybody's got a huge determination to take this global."
Timeline of Jill Dando's murderJill Dando: The golden girl of TV
Jill Dando was one of the highest profile members of on-screen BBC staff and was named the corporation's Personality of the Year in 1997.Her murder remains one of the country's most high-profile unsolved murder cases, with more than 2,000 people having been named as potential suspects.She is remembered for being the "nations sweetheart" by many. In 2017 two student journalists and Mr Dean, a former journalist, came up with the idea to start Jill Dando News to honour her memory. It grew from a good news initiatives at Priory Community School in Weston-super-Mare and Worle Community School - where Jill had been a pupil.Jill Dando News Centres are now in place across 11 schools in Somerset but have now also expanded to include a school in Malawi.
Mr Dean, 52, from Weston-super-Mare said: "Everybody's got a huge determination to take this global. "The children want to take this global. We're in Malawi now and I've been talking to schools in America."It is a watch-this-space situation."Mr Dean added that Jill's love of positive stories is inspiring the students, improving their self-confidence as well as working to tackle the "epidemic" of poor mental health among young people. "Instead of young people sat doom scrolling all day long, if we get the help of the government and business leaders I think we could have a day in a few years where the children are sat there scrolling good news stories, or even better, that they're writing them."Jill's legacy has been one of positive journalism," he said. He added that her "courage and determination" to reach the heights of journalism gives hope to all students that they can achieve anything. "She has inspired students with her unbelievable story while at the same time remaining humble."She never changed from being Jill."
Nigel Dando, Jill's brother and former BBC journalist, said his sister would be "incredibly proud" of the movement carried out in her memory.Sarah O'Gorman, 39, an English teacher at Priory Community School in Weston-super-Mare helped set up a Jill Dando News Centre in Malawi and says the model "can work in any setting, any country"."The legacy and passion of Jill Dando has the power to become international and the model can work in any setting, any country so we want to spread the good news revolution as far as it will go. "We have a strong, dynamic model of how to set up Jill Dando News centres in school or youth club settings which is easy to replicate," she added
Mayor John Crockford-Hawley, 78, is a patron of Jill Dando News and said it helped build up students' self confidence. "It is giving confidence to young people not to fear to go and ask and integrate with those who are not just their own age group."He added it was "amazing" how much the student journalists had been able to achieve, including interviewing prime ministers, speaker of the house of commons as well as celebrities like Sir Richard Branson.
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South Wales Argus
an hour ago
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Chinese shareholders of SMCP fined 1.7 million euros
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North Wales Chronicle
2 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Three nights of disorder ‘not what Northern Ireland is about'
Hilary Benn described scenes as 'shocking' after Wednesday saw a third consecutive night of disorder in Ballymena, with petrol bombs, a hatchet and masonry among items thrown at police. Officers responded with water cannon, dogs and plastic baton rounds in an attempt to disperse crowds in the Co Antrim town. Unrest spread to other towns on Wednesday, including Coleraine and Larne – where the leisure centre was set on fire by masked vandals who also smashed windows. Mr Benn said there is 'absolutely no justification for civil disorder'. He told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme: 'This not what Northern Ireland is about, this is not what we want the rest of the world to see. 'We all, as elected representatives, have a responsibility to seek to calm things down, to support those in the community trying to keep people safe, principally the PSNI, to work with community leaders to lower tensions. 'Whatever views people hold, there is no justification for trying to burn people out of their homes, that is what is going on, and that is what needs to stop because it is shocking and damaging, and it reflects very badly of the image of Northern Ireland that we all want to send to the rest of the world.' Stormont Justice Minister Naomi Long said it has been a 'three-day festival of hate and destruction' which needs to stop before someone loses their life. She said she will be seeking additional funding for the PSNI in the June Monitoring Round. She also commended the PSNI for seeking support through a mutual aid request for additional officers from Great Britain. 'This is not just a few days of violence, this has been wanton destruction on a huge scale, and any police service in these islands who are dealing with this kind of pressure, dealing with the number of officers, now close to 50, who have been injured in the last few days, would clearly be feeling the challenge and the strain,' she told the BBC. The leisure centre had temporarily been used as an emergency shelter for those in urgent need following disturbances in Ballymena earlier in the week. Communities Minister Gordon Lyons, who highlighted the use of the building in a social media post, said all those who had been staying at the leisure centre are in the care of the Housing Executive and have been moved out of Larne. SDLP MLA Matthew O'Toole, the leader of the opposition in the Northern Ireland Assembly, said he would refer Mr Lyons to the standards commission following the fire. Several arrests have been made and dozens of police officers have been injured during the sustained unrest in Ballymena, which also saw multiple properties and vehicles set on fire. Tense scenes as police hold the line close to Clonavon Terrace in Ballymena @PA — Jonny McCambridge (@McCambridgeJ) June 11, 2025 In the town on Wednesday, the PSNI deployed riot police for a third night in a row as hundreds gathered around the Clonavon Terrace area. At least one protester was struck by plastic baton rounds fired by police while officers also used a water cannon on the crowd. Officers used dog units and drones in their response to the gathering. Riot police with shields advanced on the crowd to disperse them down Bridge Street on to other roadways. They came under sustained attack as those participating in disorder hurled petrol bombs, masonry and fireworks at police vehicles and officers standing nearby. Rioters smashed the windows of a house on North Street and set multiple fires on streets in the surrounding area. The disorder and stand-off with police continued past midnight. The PSNI have also noted scenes of disorder in Belfast, Lisburn, Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey earlier in the week, as businesses, homes and cars were attacked and damaged. By Wednesday, six individuals had been arrested for public order offences, and one charged. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he 'utterly condemns' violence which left 32 police officers injured after the second night of disturbances. PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has warned the rioting 'risks undermining' the criminal justice process into an allegation of a sex attack on a teenage girl in Ballymena at the weekend. Stormont ministers have also made an urgent appeal for calm and said the justice process had to be allowed to take its course. First Minister Michelle O'Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly appeared together on Wednesday to voice their condemnation. Sinn Fein vice-president Ms O'Neill told reporters in Belfast: 'It's pure racism, there is no other way to dress it up.' Ms Little-Pengelly described the scenes in Ballymena as 'unacceptable thuggery'. With the protests focused in predominantly loyalist areas in Ballymena, Ms O'Neill said she did not believe it would be helpful for her to visit in the current context. DUP MLA Ms Little-Pengelly met residents in the town on Wednesday and said the local community are in fear and wanted the violence to stop. 'The key message here today is around that violence, and that the violence needs to stop, that's what the community wants to put across, and that's why I'm here to send that very clear and united message from right throughout the community and local residents for that to stop,' she said. The violence began around Clonavon Terrace on Monday night following an earlier peaceful protest which was organised in support of the family of a girl who was the victim of an alleged sexual assault in the area. Two teenage boys, who spoke to a court through a Romanian interpreter, have been charged.
