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BBC News
28-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Olympic skeleton bronze medallist Deas retires
Former Winter Olympics skeleton bronze medallist Laura Deas has announced her retirement from the 36-year-old Wrexham-born competitor's career highlight came at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games in South Korea when she finished third, sharing the podium with gold medallist and good friend Lizzy was the first time a British duo had mounted the same podium at a Winter finished 19th at her next Olympics, the 2022 Beijing Games and missed the 2023-24 season after becoming had returned to training following the birth of her daughter, but having not raced since the end of the 2022-23 campaign, has now decided to quit final race was a World Cup finale in February 2023 where she took a silver medal which she says was "a lovely sign off". "Immediately after Beijing the Olympics, I wanted to at least do one more season because I didn't want to leave the sport on that note because they (the Beijing Games) hadn't gone so well," Deas told BBC Radio Wiltshire."So I definitely knew that I had at least one more season in me from that point onwards."But in my head, it was quite an open-ended situation. I didn't really have a hard end point in mind, and I think partly that was because I didn't really want to approach any race knowing for sure that it was going to be the last time I ever stepped on ice. "Because that's the thing about our sport, really, is that there's no way to just do it recreationally."She finished second in her final race, a World Cup event at Sigulda, Latvia and has fond memories of that day."I managed to win a medal, which was a lovely sign off," said Deas."So I was thinking, 'well, if this is the last ever time I set foot on ice, what a nice way to do it. "I mean, that's the thing, isn't it? For a lot of athletes, it's other things that contribute to that decision to move on and do other things. Sometimes it's injury, sometimes it's just performance."It was a really nice race as well, because a lot of my family were able to be there as well, and friends, and it was a lovely atmosphere."And it was the end of a season that had actually been very healing for everyone after the Olympic disappointment, to be able to go back onto the World Cup tour and have some success and kind of really show everyone what we could do again."You can listen to the full interview with Laura Deas on BBC Radio Wiltshire's Sport at Six on Monday, 28 April, 18:00 BST and later on demand.
BBC News
23-04-2025
- BBC News
Driving restrictions for young people needed to 'save lives'
A mother whose 20-year-old son died alongside two teenagers in a car crash is calling for graduated driving licences to be introduced in the Lucas, from Cricklade in Wiltshire, is campaigning for tighter rules for young drivers, such as restrictions on having passengers, after her son Lawrence Bruce died in a crash caused by fatigue in August 2022."Every occasion such as birthdays, Christmases, watching other people graduate, seeing his friends have children - everything like that is so hard that he's not here to do it," Ms Lucas Department for Transport said it was focussing on its THINK! road safety campaign and had no plans to introduce graduated licences. Mr Bruce was returning from a music event in Oxfordshire when the car he was in crashed on the A420 in August 2022. He died at the scene alongside fellow passenger Joseph Sharpe and the car's driver Callum Leighton, who were both 18. The car's two other passengers survived."Nobody really knows what happened," Ms Lucas told BBC Radio Wiltshire."Everybody was asleep in the car," she said. "We think the driver probably fell asleep too and veered into an oncoming coach."An inquest in February 2023 concluded the crash was caused by fatigue. When asked if she has any resentment towards the driver, Ms Lucas said: "Absolutely not, no.""The driver had not been drinking. The driver was young. He was inexperienced," she added."We know that young people's brains are not mature until they're about 25."It wasn't his fault. There was nothing to stop him driving. It's just sadly - very sadly - one of those things." Ms Lucas described her son as a natural entertainer and music lover who was "full of life" and who "completed the family". He was studying business at Bournemouth University and would have turned 23 this Lucas said she had joined other bereaved families to campaign for graduated driving licences to stop more families going through similar experiences."Losing a child, for anybody, is clearly hard," she said. "Losing a child where, arguably, it could be prevented by a change in the law... it's not going to save all lives, but it could save so many. That's really my focus."Let's make some change. Stop these deaths."Graduated driving licences already exist in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, some US states, Finland, Norway, Sweden, France and Northern Lucas is calling for a UK-wide version to be rolled out which would mean new drivers could not carry passengers under the age of 25 until they have been driving for six months, or have turned 20."It's to stop young people having a group of friends in a car when they don't have the experience to handle the distractions," Ms Lucas said."It's just about giving them some time to drive on their own and improve their own skills before they have the responsibility of having passengers in the car." The restrictions explained The overall campaign is led by Crystal Owen, from Shrewsbury, who lost her 17-year-old son Harvey when he was a passenger in a car that crashed in north Wales in November 2023. Three other teenagers were also campaign is calling for:A minimum six-month learning period for learner drivers before they are eligible for a practical the first six months after passing their test, or until they turn 20, drivers should not carry passengers aged 25 or under unless accompanied by an older adultAll cars must be fitted with a tool that could smash open a window if a car is trapped, to allow occupants to escape to the rules would result in six penalty points, leading to immediate licence suspension. Six mothers of road crash victims, including Ms Lucas and Ms Owen, have now delivered a petition calling for stricter driving laws to Downing Street after it was signed by more than 100,000 the event, Ms Lucas said she heard from more parents who wanted to support it."The group has now got well over 100 members," she said. MP for the South Cotswolds, Dr Roz Savage, said the work Ms Lucas has done to raise awareness was "admirable".However, she added restrictions may "unfairly disadvantage" young people in rural areas where public transport is "often non-existent".Ms Lucas argued the temporary restrictions are designed to save lives and not disadvantage, adding: "There is no greater disadvantage than having no life." A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "Every death on our roads is a tragedy and our thoughts remain with the families of everyone who has lost a loved one in this way."Whilst we are not considering graduated driving licences, we absolutely recognise that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic incidents on our roads."We are determined to tackle this, including through our THINK! campaign, which has a focus on men aged 17-24 as they are four times more likely to be killed or seriously injured than other drivers."
BBC News
27-01-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Nationwide: 'Cash payments making a comeback as people budget'
Shoppers are increasingly using cash as a budgeting tool, the Nationwide Building Society has data by the Swindon-based bank shows cash payments have risen for a third year in a row, and 10% more transactions were made from its ATMs in 2024 than from the bank's ATMs increased 71% in Frome, Somerset, which is the ninth highest figure in the country."Money is tight, and having that cash in your pocket, knowing what you can spend, a lot of people use that as a budgeting tool," said Mark Nalder, director of Payment Strategy for Nationwide. A Wiltshire greengrocer said more of his customers were paying in cash so they could "see where their money goes"."It's easier to know where your money is going because as you take it out of your wallet, you can see it, but if you keep tapping your phone it disappears," Phil Collins, a farmer and greengrocer from Bromham near Devizes, told BBC Radio Wiltshire."We have options for card, you've got to otherwise you wouldn't survive nowadays I don't think." 'Change in behaviour' Nationwide recorded around 32.8 million cash withdrawals from its 1260 ATMs in 2024, with an average amount of £112 taken out each time, figures Nalder said: "We saw quite a reduction in cash during Covid, people weren't going out, and we've definitely seen a surge back over the last two or three years."We're seeing more people use the ATMs and getting cash out, maybe not taking as much out."
