Latest news with #Braintree
BBC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Mixed views on Wethersfield expansion plans
The Wethersfield asylum base could be expanded under new government plans. The BBC asked residents near Braintree, in Essex, what they thought about the news. 'I feel for them' Susan Duffin, 69, said there is not enough to do in the village, and while they were "no trouble", asylum seekers needed to be in bigger towns with more amenities."It's a totally unsuitable place for people to live who have come from another country, another culture; they need to be where there is some access to life in general, so I just feel for them," she said. "They're no trouble to us, but they're just wandering around, really not knowing what to do with themselves, and that's not right." 'Sheer madness' Alan McKenzie, chair of campaign group Stop Wethersfield Airbase Prison (SWAP), was exasperated by the news."If they are intending to increase the capacity in Wethersfield, it would be another folly on the part of the government - It's already been shown not to be value for money," he said."If they're talking about increasing the accommodation further, then it's sheer people get unhappy up there, it's a very enclosed environment, it's a long way to the centre of Wethersfield village where there are no facilities."He added: "I think locally everybody would want the government to adhere to what they've promised in the past, that the air base will be shut as soon as practically possible." 'Human beings, not aliens' Sheila Collar, 88, was enjoying the sun with Barbara Boxall, Collar said: "They've got to live somewhere, we've got to put them somewhere and they are human beings, not aliens.""They haven't worried us at all. We were very concerned when we knew it was coming, but they haven't bothered Wethersfield in the village."Ms Boxall added: "The asylum seekers have not been any problem to us at the moment… we don't see them at all really," 'Send them to Rwanda' Retiree Ian Dalziel, 69, was disgusted at the prospect of the site backed the Rwanda scheme, which was brought in by the previous Conservative government and aimed to send people who arrived illegally in the UK to the East African country. It was scrapped when Labour came into power after winning the 2024 general election."They shouldn't even be in this country, let alone being out in the countryside here, where there is nothing for them," he said. "It's just free handouts."Rwanda, that's where they should be. Put them up in that nice big hotel we paid for, which is empty. Stick them there, that's all there is to it." 'Prefer families over young men' Pruning her front garden in Finchingfield, Christine Ashford-Hodges, 78, said she would have been happy to help refugee families settle in, but is less comfortable with the high proportion of "young men" at the site."Not that I've seen them doing anything they shouldn't do, but it's intimidating sometimes, and it worries me there's going to be even more," she said."The traffic flow has certainly increased because obviously... staff, food, maintenance." 'Threatened and concerned' Personal assistant Christine Blake, 72, was watering her plants outside her home in Wethersfield."I'm a single female, there are many single females in this village, and we all feel threatened and concerned," she said."I have dogs which I walk and have walked for many years around the fields here, feeling completely safe and at home, but now it is a concern for all of us."It's not the right place, it's too remote and we really can't deal with it."She added: "I really and truly feel that the government needs to take control of the whole situation, never mind placing asylum seekers somewhere else, the whole situation needs to be dealt with." What does the government say? This week, the BBC revealed that Wethersfield was one of the sites that was being considered for an extension.A Home Office spokesperson said it was looking to deliver a "more sustainable and cost-effective asylum accommodation system", after Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that stopping the use of hotels would save £1bn. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
'The most amazing experience': The mystery Ironman proposal couple step forward
The couple who got engaged on the finish line of Ironman 70.3 have spoken about their "amazing" experience. Dean Cox, 33, and Jemma Terroni, 29, have been together for two years, with Dean getting down on one knee after they both finished the 70-mile-plus challenge. The couple come from Braintree in Essex and are no strangers to tough endurance challenges. "We do lots of challenges together, and lots of marathons and ultra marathons, so I thought that it would be a good place to propose," Dean said. More: More: More: "After we finished the run, Jemma's mum handed me the ring." The 33-year-old said he didn't expect to be snapped on camera while proposing by somebody at the event, and he was then asked to propose again with a microphone for everyone to see. (Image: Supplied) Dean added: "I was confident of a yes, you have to be to do it in front of that many people, with both sets of parents there, but we thought it would be special for them to be there." Jemma added that the proposal was" the most amazing experience". (Image: Supplied) While recovering from the endurance race, which saw the pair run, swim, and cycle their way around Greater Manchester, Jemma and Dean haven't had time to make any official plans for the wedding, but they are hoping to have it abroad. The engaged couple has, however, planned to do a Spartan Ultra Challenge later in the year. Not content with completing the IRONMAN course, the Spartan challenge comprises a 50km course with more than 60 obstacles. In terms of last weekend, Dean commented on the typical northern weather battering down on the athletes. The triathlon entrants had to contend with the waters of Pennington Flash in Leigh for a 1.2 mile swim, before cycling 56 miles through Leigh, Atherton, Westhoughton, Horwich and Bolton and ending in a half-marathon around the town centre, Queens Park and Chorley New Road.
The Sun
4 days ago
- Health
- The Sun
We had to launch Mission Impossible-style hospital escape to bring my boy home to die – I won't get over the trauma
A TEENAGER with just days to live was forced to evade security guards as he fled through a hospital, before jumping into a getaway car - just so he could die at home. Teddie Marks, 18, was wheelchair-bound, with his legs swelled up from cancer but was able to show off his athletic prowess one last time during the comedic mad dash. 15 15 Mum Jay - who is campaigning for more access to grief counselling for bereaved families - explained how everything had been put in place to allow her son to receive palliative care at the family's home in Braintree, Essex. However, at the last minute, as they left University College London Hospital they were confusingly told Teddie had to stay, against his wishes. Security was called and they were to be blocked from leaving - but the adventurous young man was having none of it. Mum-of-three Jay, 42, said: 'He's 18, they got all his paperwork ready, they gave us all his medication, they said to us he was going to be blue-lighted because from UCLH to Braintree it's a bit of a drive. 'Then they said they were going to get a normal ambulance but I would have to sign responsibility for him, which was fine… then we're told that's been cancelled.' Jay continued: 'In the end, the palliative care nurse fitted him up with a 24-hour pump so that we could get him home and hook him up to the machine.' 'That makes no sense' The family then got into a lift on the 15th floor with the palliative care nurse, alongside a 'bag of medication' and all of Teddie's things from weeks of being in and out of hospital - when they hit another speed bump. 'On the way down she had a call and she was like 'right okay', then she said 'they've called security',' explained Jay. 'We were like what? That makes no sense because she was with us and he'd been discharged. 'Teddie was an adult and sound of mind, and he'd told them he wanted to go home.' Not wanting to stick around to find out what was going on, Teddie, who was being pushed in a wheelchair, as well as his mum and dad Joseph, and two other relatives, bolted. 'When the lift doors opened on the ground floor we ran, we were gone,' said Jay. 'We were literally running through the hospital and the nurse was shouting 'stop!' 'They didn't catch up to us, and poor Teddie, he jumped in the car, bearing in mind his legs were all swollen, he had lymphedema where the fluid wasn't going back upwards because of where the tumour was sitting. You've never seen him move so fast. He jumped out of the wheelchair, jumped in the car and went 'drive!' Jay MarksMum of Teddie 'You've never seen him move so fast,' continued Jay. 'He jumped out of the wheelchair, jumped in the car and went 'drive!'' Joseph's two aunts, who had been with them at the hospital, stayed behind and later told the family the nurse burst into tears. 'She was crying and she was saying 'I'm happy they got to go' because it wasn't her that had called security - it had been higher up,' explained Jay. 'They'd already given him his discharge papers and everything we needed, it made no sense. It's funny to look back on now, what everyone else must have been thinking.' 15 15 15 That was on July 12 2024 and on the 14th Teddie finally passed away. It had been a tough journey since his shock diagnosis at age 16 in 2022 with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare type of cancer that starts as a growth of cells in soft tissue. 'It's quite rare but quite aggressive, and it tends to come back even if you get rid of it,' explained Jay. 'He did have a six-month period when he got rid of the cancer, and then he relapsed in July 2023, and then we've had a long battle.' Trips to Germany The family was told there was nothing more the NHS could offer and so they spent tens of thousands of pounds, via GoFundMe, to travel to Germany multiple times - the last of which was days before Teddie died. 'We'd been seeing different professors that had tried different treatments,' said Jay. 'Unfortunately, the last professor we tried, he was having some success, and the month after that treatment, Teddie was feeling much better. 'All the swelling in his legs had gone down, he was feeling much better, but by that time the cancer had spread and we didn't catch it.' Teddie knew he was dying as he'd flown to Germany the last time, but didn't want to give up. 'His words were 'I'm not going to die without trying',' said Jay. 'He was fighting the whole time.' Asked if he'd been able to get alternative treatment sooner she believes her son could have survived, Jay said: 'I think so. The NHS will say 'no, no' but they are so ignorant to what is out there in Europe, it's unbelievable.' 15 15 After Teddie relapsed in March 2023 he was given an operation and it was 'made clear' by the consultants that they'd 'tripled checked' with the surgeons that Teddie's cancer could be removed with 'clear margins', said Jay. 'Because if it couldn't they weren't going to touch it. They said 'the surgeons are really sure'.' 'After the operation, as soon as Teddie came round, he said 'did you get it with clear margins?' and they said 'we can't be sure'. 'It must not have been checked properly,' Jay said. 'When he had scans four to six weeks after the op, nodules had appeared. 'I think at that point if we'd gone to Germany, Teddie would have stood a better chance.' £100,000 in 24 hours The GoFundMe page set up to help the teen receive alternative treatments 'went over £100,000 in the first 24 hours', said Jay. 'GoFundMe got in touch to say they had never seen one go up that quickly.' All of that and more went on private testing and treatments abroad. 'I can't sit here and say don't listen to the NHS because overall they were amazing, but it's frustrating that there are these treatments out there,' said Jay. 'Don't get me wrong, the hospital was amazing, especially the nurses who go above and beyond.' 15 15 15 But with all other hope lost, with the help of Farleigh Hospice, in Braintree, Teddie was able to die in the comfort of his own home. 'He knew what he was going home for,' said Jay. 'It was absolutely heartbreaking because you know you are saying bye to your child. 'We sat up every night. He had his family here, his aunts, his uncles and his cousins. 'Don't be depressed' 'At one point, Teddie said 'don't be depressed, put some music on',' she added, laughing. Teddie had always been the one to keep the family's spirits up, even throughout his illness. 'He was such a good boy,' said Jay. 'There were days after he got diagnosed where I couldn't get up, couldn't function and he would come in and say to me, 'up you get, Mum'. 'He had such strong faith, he was quite religious - even when Teddie was dying, he had all the family here and was cuddling his girl cousins and he said 'don't cry for me, I know where I'm going.' 'That boy was absolutely something else.' Teddie had first been getting pain in August 2021, and by November he was 'in agony' and 'was up three or four nights straight', said Jay, who took him to A&E multiple times. However, they were sent away again and again and told to take over the counter painkillers. 15 15 15 Jay said Teddie was 'very robust', he was captain of Chelmsford City EJA, but even his pain threshold was being pushed to the limit. Eventually, the family paid for a private doctor and MRI scan, then an operation which found abscesses. The doctor sent off for a biopsy at UCLH and then a week later a phone call confirmed the worst. 'It was during lockdown so everything was a bit dodgy,' said Jay. 'I got told over the phone that Teddie had cancer and was given a treatment plan.' During his treatment Teddie refused to stop, and passed his GCSE Maths and English - the latter to an A* standard - while undergoing chemotherapy. And even passed his driving test. But while his memory lives on, Jay is still as heartbroken now as she was a year ago. 'You can't prepare yourself' 'You know it's coming but you can't prepare yourself,' she said of her son's death. 'I can't put it into words, it's coming up to a year but I'm still devastated every day. Me and his dad, brother and sister, and his nan. There's not a day that goes by that we don't cry.' She added, of her children: 'They'll always be my babies.' Taking up the baton left by Teddie, his mum is now campaigning herself to raise awareness about the wait times families must endure to receive grief counselling. After filling out a form she was told by the hospice the waiting list is nine to 12 months. Jay said: 'Last week I had an email from Farleigh saying they've got this session thing, it's not one to one counselling, there's other people there. 'There's 10 spaces and to get back to them if I wanted a place. 'I saw the email, 40 minutes later, by the time I got back they'd emailed me saying all the spaces had gone.' Jay said she had another email from the hospice asking since it was a 'considerable amount of time since I put my application in for counselling, have my circumstances changed?' 'They did get an email back saying 'my circumstances haven't changed, unfortunately my son hasn't risen from the dead, I'm still grieving and still in need of support'. She continued: 'It's not going to change. I just can't get my head round that it can take this long to sort… any grief is bad, but when you've lost your child, I can't explain it. It's unexplainable.' Jay went on to say: 'I said to my doctor, 'they're lucky I'm not suicidal'. If he was my only child maybe I would be suicidal but I have two other children who I need to look after. It's not going to change. I just can't get my head round that it can take this long to sort… any grief is bad, but when you've lost your child, I can't explain it. It's unexplainable. Jay MarksMum of Teddie 'I carry the family's grief. My daughter, her and Teddie were 10 months apart - she's got ASD, so she's on the spectrum, and Teddie was her comfort blanket. 'She struggles really badly. Then my eldest son, who's 23 now, he will just struggle silently. 'I feel like I have to carry on because I don't want them to see my grieving and think they've got to carry my grief.' She added: 'I do feel passionately that there are parents going through this and you have to wait a year. We can't go privately. 'My husband sold his company when Teddie got diagnosed because we were backwards and forwards to UCLH. He's a caretaker now and I'm a support assistant in a school.' Jay said: 'I've lost people but nothing compares to losing your child, especially when you've watched your child go through what he did for two and a half years. 'You get a lot of flashbacks, I'm sure it's PTSD. You're replaying stuff continuously. It's traumatising when you hear your baby, though he was 18, in the night screaming in agony. 'It's traumatising to remember the running from the hospital, the taking him to Germany when he was in agony.' She described Teddie as 'my best mate', adding: 'I know parents say that about their kids but he was like my right arm. 'He was always with me, we were always together. We had the same sense of humour. We were always laughing. 'No one could get you in tears of laughter like Teddie could. For me, I'm still completely lost.' Michelle Kabia, Interim Chief Executive at Farleigh Hospice, said: 'Ensuring that the families of our patients receive the best quality support throughout their loved ones illness and afterwards is our absolute priority. "Our bereavement support services are offered free of charge to anyone within mid Essex. "As a result they are in incredibly high demand, as reflected in our current waiting lists, which we are actively working to reduce. 'We regularly stay in touch with people on the waiting list to check how they are, offer interim bereavement support options while they wait for one to one counselling, and check whether their circumstances have changed, as people may have accessed alternative support or moved out of the area. "We welcome all feedback and are continually looking to improve our services. We would be very happy to have a further conversation with the family.' The Sun has also approached University College Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for comment
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Louie Spence: 'My mum had three kids by age 19 and was a cleaner on our council estate. She didn't care about my global stardom alongside Tina Turner and The Spice Girls'
Louie Spence has revealed how his council estate childhood with his mum Pat kept his feet firmly on the ground when he shot to superstardom. The famed Pineapple Dance Studio legend, 56, who grew up on a Braintree council estate, told MailOnline that his stoic mother Pat didn't really care about his global stardom working alongside the likes of Tina Turner and The Spice Girls. Over the years, Louie also worked with a string of showbiz legends such as Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder as a dancer and became a household name with Pineapple Dance Studios' TV show as a choreographer. He revealed that his mum, who passed away in 2013, only cared if he and his two sisters were happy, and he confessed that 'money doesn't make your problems go away'. Louie explained that he felt he was more sensible with his influx of money due to being older and having already 'dealt with having no finances'. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. He told MailOnline: 'My mom, as a kid, did tap dancing and ballroom and Latin, but she was pregnant at 17, had three babies by the time she was 19, so that went out the window. 'I mean, my mum could dance, my dad had a good sense of humour, like I say, they were going in like rabbits, I mean they actually would work to supply money to support the kids. 'She was a cleaner, she worked in the factory in between having a few nervous breakdowns.' Louie's success has seen him build a 'privileged' life for which he is grateful for as he now enjoys a life of gym, lunches and cooking. He spends his days alongside his husband of 25 years, Leto Fernandez, and they live their life to the fullest between Spain and London. Louie has previously revealed that his mum worked incredibly hard to make ends meet and keep his passion alive. He said that she used to buy the children occasionwear but keep the tags on, hang them up by the window and take them back to the shop. And during the same time, Louie's mum remortgaged the house they bought under the right to buy scheme to send Louie to Italia Conti stage school. Louie explained that he felt he was more sensible with his influx of money due to being older and having already 'dealt with having no finances' And despite gracing stages with some of the world's biggest stars, his mum was never too 'bothered' and his family 'weren't impressed'. He said: 'To tell you the truth, they were proud, but they weren't really bothered, and I weren't really bothered whether they were bothered either. 'It was like, what I'd always done and it was just my job. My family weren't really impressed by things like that, they didn't really care. 'As long as we're all happy, that's all that really mattered.' And while Louie catapulted to fame almost overnight, he explained that his boost in finances wasn't much of a priority as he knew he was 'earning good money' but didn't have a chance to spend it because of his busy workload. He said: 'I was working so much, I didn't really have a chance to even look at my finances. 'I knew I was earning good money. I would say, I was fortunately older when it happened to me. Pineapple started when I was 41, so, you know, I was already older and had dealt with having no finances. 'So I think I was a bit more sensible at that age, but I would say that it doesn't solve all of your problems. 'Because when you don't have money, you think that everything is going to be solved by having money, being able to pay your bills, it's gonna make you happy. 'But then you realise that it's not the money, there's other things deeper than that are going on, and no matter if you have money or not, they don't go away.' Before Pineapple Dance Studio's observational documentary, which helped Louie soar to fame, he led a very successful dancing career as he emerged on the West End scene as a teenager. He grew up in Braintree, Essex, and went to the local Doreen Cliff's dance school with his sisters on a Saturday morning. Louie landed a part in the West End in Bugsy Malone, aged 13, and then the BBC's Wayne Sleep's Hot Shoe Show. After leaving school with no GCSEs, he became a professional dancer with roles in Miss Saigon and Cats and spent a year as a backing dancer with the Spice Girls on their world tour. Now, Louie has partnered with Nationwide as the banking branch will have four million of their customers dancing with joy after their bank gives them an extra £100 in their account. New research from Nationwide has revealed that nearly two-thirds of Brits don't feel like life throws enough unexpected good news at them. But this week, many will receive news that will have them dancing and jumping for joy, as Nationwide gives over four million of its members £100 as part of its annual Fairer Share Day. Over half of Brits say they've experienced an involuntary physical reaction when receiving good news - and it's not as unusual as you might think. In a joyful display of celebratory dance, Louie showcased his moves in a new video alongside Peter Crouch to honour Nationwide's Fairer Share Day, which sees millions of its most engaged members rewarded In a joyful display of celebratory dance, Louie showcased his moves in a new video alongside Peter Crouch to honour Nationwide's Fairer Share Day, which sees millions of its most engaged members rewarded. Louie said: 'Whether it's a pirouette or the cha cha cha, dancing makes me feel alive - and there's nothing like great news to make me want to move! 'But I'm not the only one, with millions set to receive their Fairer Share bonus, we're calling on the UK's lucky huns to embrace their good news with a little shimmy, shake, or twirl to celebrate. Lean into it, darlings!'
Boston Globe
5 days ago
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Chelmsford freshman Aidan Brackett left the D1 baseball championship with a throat injury. He returned to win the game.
When the Lions' freshman catcher eventually retreated to the dugout — hobbling his way back — 14th-seeded Chelmsford immediately felt an impact. With runners at the corners and two outs, Braintree senior Connor Grieve blooped an RBI single to right field to break the stalemate, putting the eighth-seeded Wamps in front, 1-0, in the Division 1 championship game at Polar Park. Advertisement 'They wouldn't let me [back in initially] so I had to wait a little bit too long, got a little worried out there about if I was going in or not,' Brackett said. 'But they let me go back in.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Little did Brackett know that he would be on the other side of the game's most dramatic moment. With the bases juiced and no outs in the top of the ninth inning, the score tied 2-2, Brackett positioned himself like he was going to bunt. He recoiled into his batting stance and chopped the ball toward Braintree shortstop Peter Brooks. The ball skipped into the outfield, putting Chelmsford ahead in a game they would win 8-2. Freshman Aidan Brackett drives this single to left, putting Chelmsford ahead, 3-2, in the top of the ninth. He looked to be hurt earlier in the game, stayed in, and now delivers in the clutch. — Mike Puzzanghera (@mpuzzanghera) From a neck injury in the early stages to generating the signature hit of the game, Brackett's effort played a significant role in Advertisement 'It's unreal,' Brackett said. 'I didn't even think I was going to be here. I went in, knew I had a shot at making the team, but wasn't 100 percent sure. They took a chance on me and it worked out.' Brackett and Chelmsford starting pitcher Matthew Stuart worked in concert, keeping the Wamps' lineup confused. 'He was just absolutely shoving it today,' Brackett said of the senior righthander. 'Just blowing it by everybody, and that's what he's done all year.' FINAL (9 inn.): No. 14 Chelmsford 8, No. 8 Braintree 2 For the first time since 1966, the Lions are state champions. Matt Stuart incredible in a complete game. Aidan Brackett the go-ahead hit in 9th. What a game. — Mike Puzzanghera (@mpuzzanghera) Brackett's coach, Lou DiStasi, told him to play like he was tough as nails after the throat injury. 'It was really all about our fans,' Brackett said. 'Our fans were so loud, I couldn't even hear anything half the time. They contributed to this one 110 percent.' Brackett finished 2 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored. 'The kid is a warrior,' DiStasi said. 'He is absolutely our heart and soul. That's why you saw how deflated we were when he left the game. I went back in the dugout, and he's like 'No coach, I'm good. I'm hitting right now.' . . . By God, what a warrior to come back.'
