Latest news with #BBCRadioWalesBreakfast.
BBC News
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Food photography: Girl and grandfather reach award finals
A 10-year-old girl and her grandfather, 77, have both made it to the finals of a global food photography from Caerphilly and Harry - a professional photographer for more than 50 years - have been taking pictures together every Sunday for the past two years."It gives me immense pleasure in nourishing her interest in photography, as she seems to be very creative and a very quick learner," said pair are finalists in two different categories of the World Food Photography Awards sponsored by Tenderstem, a global competition regarded as the "Oscars of food photography" which this year received nearly 10,000 entries from 70 countries. "It's absolutely brilliant. I've been doing this for a long time. Hollie started at the same age as I did, nine years of age, and to see her reaching this level now is very gratifying," Harry told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast."When she discovered she was shortlisted, and then later a finalist, I think it's fair to say she was bouncing around like a tennis ball... it'll be an experience she'll remember for the rest of her life and hopefully start her on a lifelong journey." Harry's picture, Lemon Tea, is a finalist in the On the Phone category, while Hollie's Sprouting Onion piece is up for the youth prize, with chef Jamie Oliver one of the judges."You've always got a camera in your pocket, if you've got an iPhone or a smartphone. It enables you to capture images from anywhere really when you're out and about, as long as you're aware of the potential," said Harry."Lemon Tea is a shot I did at home, shot directly down onto it, and I lit it from underneath. It's all about controlling the light, photography, and that's what I've been teaching Holly, how to use light to make things come alive." He continued: "What we did, we put the iPhone on a tripod and we can control it remotely, using Bluetooth, so we haven't got to actually touch the phone when we do the shot."The awards evening is on the 20th [May] in the Mall gallery in London. We'll be going up for that and then we'll find out that evening whether we've won or not."Hollie said her entry was inspired by spring, adding: "The way we shot it, to me it looks really mystical because it's the side lighting, it looks like the sun's coming up from one direction and it's coming down on to the onion." The awards take place on 20 May with the images going on show at an exhibition from 21-25 May.
BBC News
19-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Violence and behaviour crisis in schools in Wales, NASUWT says
The number of violent incident by pupils in schools across Wales has tripled since 2019, according to a teaching NASUWT requested data from Wales' 22 councils to find out how many incidents were reported by school employees and found cases had risen from 2,483 in 2019-20 to 6,446 in 2023-24."We can clearly see that we have got a crisis in behaviour in our schools, and we are asking the Welsh government to step up and do something about it," said Neil Butler, its national official for Welsh government said: "Any form of violence or abuse against staff or learners in our schools is completely unacceptable." It is due to host a national behaviour summit in May with unions. Mr Butler welcomed the summit but said "talking is not enough". "We need an action plan from the Welsh government to deal with this crisis," he told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast."The results we got were very shocking but what we do know is that there is chronic under-reporting of violence in schools."He blamed the increase in the figures on "many different factors" including mobile phone usage and social media influences, as well as a "change in the ethos" in education towards individual learners, which, while important, was "forgetting about the needs of all... learners collectively"."We believe the individual needs of the learner are important but not necessarily catered for within the mainstream sector where learning has to continue without the disruption of poor behaviour and violence," Mr Butler said. A separate poll by the union, which is holding the second day of its annual conference in Liverpool, found almost three in five teachers believed social media use had a negative effect on behaviour in schools, fuelling an increase in misogyny and Butler said: "Online influences are extremely serious and causing a great deal of damage, and are certainly, I think, another one of the factors that's driving this poor behaviour."And one of the things that we are going to be looking at during the behaviour summit [in May] is whether we should see an end to mobile phones in schools."The Welsh government said: "Ensuring learners and staff feel safe and secure in the school environment is of the utmost importance."Over 7,000 school staff responded to our recent survey on these issues, ensuring our national behaviour summit in May focuses on what matters to them."
BBC News
04-04-2025
- BBC News
Knife crime fears in Wales see 'Temu stab vest purchases'
Teenagers are buying stab vests online and wearing them to school, an anti-knife campaigner has Cunliffe, from Newport, turned his life around after being attacked while involved in drug believes the fear of knife crime in Wales has reached a point where young people in his area were purchasing items to protect themselves and it comes after the UK government announced new measures to make buying weapons online more Police said it was not aware of stab vests being worn or stashed but would welcome hearing more about young people's experiences, while the Welsh government said it took school safety "extremely seriously". Mr Cunliffe, 34, referred to the many high-profile knife crime cases in Wales, including the murder of 17-year-old Harry Baker as well as the attempted murder of two teachers and a pupil by a 14-year-old girl."A lot of young people I know are wearing stab vests because they're thinking someone could attack at any given time," Mr Cunliffe told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast."When you see things like Temu come up on your apps, it actually comes up with stab vests. And then they stash them locally around the communities and estates in Newport."In the UK, there are currently no legal restrictions on the purchase and ownership of stab protection products. Mr Cunliffe has been an anti-knife campaigner and youth mentor for about eight years and said he had spoken to more than 300 young people about knife crime."Young people are telling me they're carrying knives through fear. If there's a bit of conflict between two teenage individuals, for example, then both teenagers will end up picking up a weapon just as protection."Everywhere you look on social media, you see young people, balaclavas on, attacking each other with machetes, knives, hammers, screwdrivers. The violence is absolutely unreal."He said he went into schools and colleges in Newport, Cardiff, Swansea and across the UK, as well as working with South Wales Police on its Not The One knife Cunliffe was attacked while involved in drug dealing when he was 16."Fortunately, I lived, however there are a lot of young people who unfortunately haven't," he added he does not tell young people what to do but showed them his scars and felt he could "understand how they view the world".The number of serious offences involving a knife or sharp object recorded in the year ending March 2024 in Wales and England was 54% higher than in 2016, according to ONS figures and knife crime reached an all-time high in new measures announced by the UK government - known as Ronan's Law, after 16-year-old Ronan Kanda who was murdered three years ago - involve rules for selling knives online and tougher penalties for those who break Cunliffe said it was a start but not "the full solution", with "a whole community approach" needed. Self-defence instructor James Bourne runs a nightclub security firm in Cardiff and said he had worked with many young people who feared being often wears stab protection clothing and said he knew of young people buying it online, including "slash-proof hoodies" but warned there was no guarantee it would protect them, and wearing these items did not justify carrying a Bourne, 51, spent five years offering self-defence classes to children and young people for free, and continued to coach some clients on a private basis. He has been the victim of knife attacks, "because of repercussions of my job", including being stabbed five times while working in also said one of his staff had to deal with the aftermath of a stabbing while on their way to work recently when "two young boys" had been stabbed in the head and father-of-five added knife crime would not be eradicated "as long as humans walk this planet", but he hoped to "inspire self-confidence" through self-defence. Earlier this year, actor and anti-knife campaigner Idris Elba spoke to young people as part of the Premier League Kicks programme, which works with 90 football clubs including in Swansea and Cardiff, and offers free football and workshop sessions where participants "can discuss issues that are impacting their everyday lives, such as knife crime".Some of the teenagers at a session in east London said they tried to keep themselves safe by wearing stab vests or multiple layers of clothing, the Mirror newspaper released a BBC documentary in January, which followed him as he mounted a campaign to try to stop knife crime in the City AFC Foundation, which runs sessions with young people in Wales under the scheme, said it had "noticed that some young people express concerns about safety and have mentioned initiatives like purchasing stab vests"."It reflects a troubling reality that many young individuals feel increasingly vulnerable. To address this fear, we believe it's crucial to focus on community engagement, education, and positive activities that promote conflict resolution and self-worth, rather than self-defence equipment," it said. Gwent Police's Ch Supt Jason White said officers regularly visited schools "to educate and speak to children directly to highlight the potential risks of carrying a knife".Ch Supt Esyr Jones of South Wales Police said the area was "no different to anywhere else" in seeing rising knife added: "Please think about how your future could be ruined if you are caught carrying or using a knife."Please also speak to us if you think someone is carrying a knife - it can be difficult, but it will help ensure that that weapon can't be used to cause serious injury, or worse."The Welsh government said it supported the new UK government proposals to tackle knife crime.
BBC News
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Alanis Morissette: Megan Wyn on 'unbelievable' support role
A 20-year-old singer from Anglesey described how her mum cried when she told her she will support superstar Alanis Grammy award-winning Canadian will perform in the Welsh capital on 2 July, and demand for tickets has been so high organisers have had to move the gig to a bigger Wyn said she is still in shock at being asked to perform as a special guest at Blackweir fields. The indie-pop artist has listened to Morissette her entire life, adding her mum was a big fan and would play her songs in the house. Morissette, now 50, had huge international success when her album Jagged Little Pill was released in 1995. Songs such as Ironic, Hand In My Pocket and Head Over Feet helped her sell millions of copies worldwide. "It's unbelievable, I can't believe it," Wyn told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast."It's nuts. I never thought I'd get to support her."The singer said she and her live band would have to treat the concert like "any other gig"."Once I start thinking about it as something completely different, I think that's when things go wrong," she laughed."We're just going to put on the best show we can." US rock singer-songwriter Liz Phair will also perform before Morissette takes to the stage at Blackweir performance was initially planned for Cardiff Castle but organisers said demand for tickets was "like nothing we have experienced previously" and moved the show to a new site with a capacity of up to 35,000 people.
BBC News
11-02-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Allergies: Calls for allergic reaction training in Welsh schools
Campaigners are calling for all teachers and school staff to be trained in how to recognise and respond to the signs of an allergic by the NASUWT teacher's union found 95% of teachers surveyed have children with allergies in their schools - but 67% have had no formal allergy Welsh government said all schools were provided with guidance on adrenaline auto-injectors and the need for staff to be trained to use whose 12-year-old-son William has severe allergies, said "literally putting your child's life in someone's hands" was "the most nerve-wracking experience ever". "When my son started primary school, there was no allergy training," she told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast."We actually had to arrange for a nurse to come in to show the teachers what to do."The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation charity says the lack of training could mean the difference between life and death in an allergies, or anaphylaxis, is when someone can go into anaphylactic shock when exposed to their allergens. Symptoms include swelling of the lips, face and throat and can cause the person to have difficulty from Cardiff, added: "You spend your entire life ensuring everything is catered to for your children, that they don't feel different, that they're not excluded from daily activities but, as well as that, they are kept safe."So when you're handing them over to anyone really, it needs to be with the confidence that they know what they're doing. That they know how to recognise the signs of an allergic reaction and they will take the action that's needed." Joanna Taylor, head teacher at St Michael's Catholic Primary School in Pontypridd, has several students with allergies, as well as being allergic to fish and nuts said the school had individual healthcare plans in place as well as allergy action plans, and medication was kept in the classrooms and labelled with the child's added all school staff were made aware of who had allergies and took part in annually updated training on using autoinjectors."[Parents] are handing their children over to us every day, they need to know they're safe," she said."We just aim to make it a community understanding - the school cooks, the kitchen staff, my clerk is really good at chasing to find out what allergies are and any training we need."It's all about us working together for the safety of the child." Ms Hulme said, while she could see some attempts to improve allergy training, it had not gone far added the campaign was "a long time coming" and she was "hopeful" the calls would be taken seriously, particularly as the number of children with allergies was increasing."I feel there has been a tremendous amount of progress, but it hasn't been without the tragedies in the allergy community as well. We have had lives lost at a very young age and, because of this, we're still seeing there's not enough change," she said."It shouldn't be up to parents to ensure schools have done their allergy training, it should just be fundamental, basic first aid."The Welsh government said: "All schools in Wales are provided with guidance on the use of emergency adrenaline auto-injectors in schools."The guidance is clear about the need for staff to be trained to administer injectors for emergencies."
