Football Unites

I've been filming a story about football sessions that take place to improve relationships between different communities in the Fir Vale area of Sheffield. It's great to see how sport can help unify people. Tensions boiled over in September last year when fighting started outside the school following trouble inside between pupils of different ethnic backgrounds.


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Sheffield Blitz

A memorial trail has been created in Sheffield to mark the two nights that the Nazi's destroyed large swathes of the city centre during the Second World War. More than two thousand people were killed or wounded in the Luftwaffe attacks in December 1940 which devastated the city. It's hoped the trail will educate more people about what happened in the Sheffield blitz.



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Teenagers Lobby Town Hall

It's often said that young people aren't interested in politics but that's not the case among teenagers who run a youth group in Sheffield called 'Big Brother Burngreave'. It aims to tackle divisions between different communities by playing sport together. They've been lobbying the council for more support.



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Unsung Hero

I made a feature on the Sports Personality of the Year Unsung Hero nominee for Yorkshire. Darren Warner from Doncaster hugely deserves the recognition. He set up a football club for people with disabilities and mental health problems after his autistic step-son couldn't find a club where he felt included. Through Club Doncaster Titans Darren has made the beautiful game accessible to all.



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Deliveroo

I've been filming with a lovely bloke called Dee Uddin. He's one of the 25,000 drivers, moped riders and cyclists who work for Deliveroo in the UK. Fast food courier drivers in Sheffield say a drop in the amount they're paid has meant they're struggling to make ends meet. Changes were made to the amount Deliveroo drivers are paid in the summer which means they no longer receive a minimum of £4.25 per delivery.


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Worksop Floods

I've been to Worksop to see some how residents there are coping with being flooded.  More than 200 homes and around 50 businesses were flooded at the end of last week. I was taken-aback by how upbeat people were despite the obvious hardship of being turfed out of their homes until well into next year.



I then reported on the political fallout from the floods on Tuesday night...


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Floods Live

I reported on the floods in South Yorkshire all day and night on Thursday. The rain was relentless. I did radio lives on 5 Live and Radio Sheffield and a live on the late Look North bulletin.



Here's one of my live reports on BBC Radio 5 Live...


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Joey Barton

This week I reported from Sheffield Crown Court on Fleetwood Town manager Joey Barton denying assaulting former Barnsley manager Daniel Stendel. The incident is alleged to have taken place in the tunnel following a league match at Oakwell last season.



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Leeds Light Night

It was good fun reporting on Leeds Light Night recently. Some of Leeds' best known locations were transformed into illuminated artworks.


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BBC Music Day

I had a lot of fun making a package on BBC Music Day. This year’s theme was music and well-being.

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Job Losses Live

I reported live on breaking news that 600 jobs are at risk at a food factory in Sheffield. Pennine Foods is consulting on the closure of their plant near Crystal Peaks. The company says the factory is ‘heavily loss-making’.


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Luke Gale

Last week I went to film with new Leeds Rhinos signing Luke Gale. The England half-back has signed from Castleford Tigers on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.



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Yorkshire Road World Championships

I filmed in North Yorkshire during the men's elite road race at the UCI World Championships. I've never experienced so much rain over one whole day. Sadly it meant some communities who'd planned big events to celebrate the arrival of the race missed-out as the race route had to be changed for safety reasons. I love cycling and it was a pleasure to work on the race regardless of the awful weather.



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Lizzy Banks

The pinnacle of the UCI World Championships took place this weekend. The GB women's team was lead by the former World Champion Lizzie Deignan from Otley who finished in 31st place. Also in the GB team was Lizzy Banks from Sheffield who's had a meteoric rise to the top of women's cycling. I went to see her at home and on the bike...



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School Refusal

I've been working on a story for a few weeks to do with school refusal or phobia as it's sometimes known. It's is a problem that results in a child refusing to go to school on a regular basis. The mental health charity Mind is calling on the government to carry out an urgent review into the issue and to stop treating children with mental health issues as truants. We filmed with Kai and his Mum Debbie in Chesterfield. The story was featured across the BBC - on Radio 4 Today programme, BBC News website, News Channel and on BBC Breakfast...



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Gabz Cullaigh

Yorkshire cyclist Gabz Cullaigh has signed for World Tour team Movistar. The 23 year old from Holmfirth has been given a two year contract and will be competing at the most prestigious races in the world. I've been to see Gabz at home in Yorkshire and competing at the Tour of Britain in Gateshead. Shooting cycling stories always takes a long time to be able to get all the shots you need to be able to make a report. Gabz was friendly, relaxed and patient with us which made filming with him a pleasure.


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Youth Violence Report

This week a report was published saying people in areas affected by knife-crime should be allowed to co-design strategies to combat violence. Experts, local charities and youth organisations in Sheffield are also calling for a reduction in the number of school exclusions and more diverse teachers to be recruited as part of efforts to tackle youth violence in the city.

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Gambling Suicide

The Government could be held liable for the suicide of a gambling addict from Sheffield. Jack Ritchie died in 2017 and now a coroner has ruled that his inquest should consider whether the state failed in its duty to protect him. Jack's parents have successfully argued that the inquest should consider the same human rights law that is applied when someone dies in police custody.



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Rotherham Child Sexual Exploitation Trial

This week I covered the verdicts on another very disturbing trial involving child grooming in Rotherham. Six men have been found guilty of sexually exploiting seven young girls in Rotherham between 1998 and 2002. They deliberately targeted the young girls because they knew they were vulnerable - and hung around outside their schools, the local park or at bus stops to entrap them. It's part of a much wider investigation into child grooming in Rotherham.

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Archie Bruce

I reported on rugby league fans paying tribute to a young player who was found dead in his hotel room after his first professional match for Batley Bulldogs. A post-mortem examination found that twenty-year-old Archie Bruce died as a result of asphyxiation. Archie grew up playing at amateur club Dewsbury Moor, where fans gathered to remember him.

I did a live report for our main programme:



And put a report together for our late bulletin:


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Ikea Bike

I've learnt that Ikea in Sheffield was supposed to build a half mile bike lane outside the store but because the planning approval conditions were so poorly written by the council they were unenforceable. Campaigners are calling for the Swedish company to install the cycling infrastructure regardless, but Ikea says it's not going to.


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Sheffield United Women

I've been filming a story with Sheffield United Women who kick off their season away at Aston Villa on Sunday. They finished fifth last season in the Championship which is the second tier of the women's game and will be hoping to capitalise on the enthusiasm the nation showed for their sport during the women's World Cup this summer.



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Wentworth Woodhouse

Stately home Wentworth Woodhouse in Rotherham is at the start of a twenty year, two hundred million pound restoration. I went up on the rooftop where they're now running tour. There are fantastic views of the roof and landscape from up there.



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Barnsley & Huddersfield Town Preview

I've been out filming with out filming with our football teams ahead of the new season. Barnsley were promoted back to the Championship but without a ball being kicked are one of the bookies' favourites for the drop. Meanwhile Huddersfield Town are also back in the Championship as their two year stay in the Premier League came to an end when they finished bottom.

Huddersfield Town PR Stunt

Huddersfield Town have been criticised for a kit launch PR stunt by people who are worried about the role gambling plays in football...

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Unsurprisingly this was a PR stunt which you can read about here.

Terri Harper

South Yorkshire's first female professional boxer is now a world champion. Terri Harper, from Doncaster, beat South African Nozipho Bell to become the IBO Super Featherweight Champion. I went to film with her in training in her home village of Denaby Main before the fight.



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Air Pollution

In April this year air pollution in Sheffield was more than double the legal limit. Academics from the University of Sheffield Urban Flows Observatory along with a group of volunteers have installed more than two hundred and fifty air pollution monitors and the city now has the highest number of low-cost sensors in the UK. Real-time data generated by the monitors is accessible to the public to encourage us to change our habits.


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Glasgow Knife Crime Visit

I've taken a group from Sheffield to Glasgow to see what we could learn about knife crime. It's after eight men were stabbed to death in Sheffield last year. In 2005 Glasgow was branded the murder capital of Europe but thanks to a radical approach that they brought in there, knife crime has fallen dramatically. So I headed to Glasgow with the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, a friend of one of men who was stabbed to death and a volunteer at an anti-gang crime gym.
The first six minutes is my report from Glasgow followed by an interview with the Police and Crime Commissioner Dr Alan Billings.


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Jarvin Blake

I've been reporting from Sheffield Crown Court on the sentencing of four men for the stabbing to death of a father of three. Jarvin Blake was killed in the Burngreave area of the city in March 2018 in a drug gang turf war. He was the first of 8 men to be stabbed to death in Sheffield last year.



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Mille Bright, World Cup

The Women's World Cup in France is currently taking place. I've been filming a feature on England defender Millie Bright who's from Killamarsh near Sheffield. She plays for Chelsea and is an established member of the England team.



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Kid Galahad

I've been filming a story on Sheffield boxer Kid Galahad who will be attempting to take the IBF World Featherweight title from the waist of Leeds boxer Josh Warrington. It'll be the second second defence of Warrington's title and neither boxer has lost a professional bout.



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Trump Protest Live

This week I reported live from the protest in Sheffield against the state visit of US President Donald Trump to the UK.



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Deaf School

I've been filming a really interesting story with deaf children in Doncaster who are going out and teaching sign language to people in public services. It's helped the students feel less alienated and taught people what could be life-saving skills. I was really impressed by how confident and eloquent the students that I interviewed were. They spoke with real passion about what it's like to live as a deaf young person. I learnt to say thank you in sign language and I want to thank all the students, teachers and support staff for the warm welcome they gave me.



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Tour de Yorkshire Police Motorbikes

I spent the day filming with the police motorbike team as they enforced the rolling road closure at the Tour de Yorkshire last week. I joined them at the start of the women's race in Barnsley and jumped out at the stage finish in Bedale to edit the story I'd just filmed. I've covered many bike races over the years but never had the opportunity to see how the police keep the riders and spectators safe. It was a fascinating experience.



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Team INEOS

I had a bizarre experience this week covering the launch of new cycling team, INEOS. They organised for a group to be taken on a coach to an unnamed location in Yorkshire Dales in their attempt to avoid anti-fracking protesters. Environmental campaigners protested during the Tour de Yorkshire because INEOS is a plastic producing fracking company owned by Britain's richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe.



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Harry Tanfield

I had the challenge this week of filming a cycling story on my own. It's not at all easy as you constantly having to navigate in the car, overtake the group of riders, park safely, film a shot then repeat! I was in Harrogate to film a feature on the first Yorkshireman to win a stage at the Tour de Yorkshire, Harry Tanfield. He now rides with one of the best teams in the world, Katusha Alpecin.



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4x4s in Peak District

Inconsiderate four by four drivers are being blamed for coming off the tracks and causing environmental damage in the Peak District. The byway over Houndkirk Moor, which is within the Sheffield boundary, is popular with walkers, cyclists and horse riders as well as four by four drivers. The authorities say a few are ruining it for the many, and want people to report bad behaviour.


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Litter Picking

I've been reporting on the growing number of people getting involved in litter picking. It seems to be particularly popular in Sheffield.


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Hillsborough, how Sheffielders helped

Thirty years on from the Hillsborough disaster, I've been working on a story with my colleagues in Sheffield about how people from the city helped the victims of the tragedy and their families. Pat Hunt from Bradfield volunteered to support the family of Tony Bland who was from Keighley - and became the 96th and final victim. Ahead of the anniversary, Pat was re-united with Tony's father. This is her story...



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Prisons

A week-long operation to stop drugs and mobile phones from entering three prisons in Doncaster is underway. Officers from South Yorkshire Police and prison staff are monitoring HMP Doncaster, Lindholme & Moorland. They're carrying out searches for prohibited items that are either being brought into prison or are already inside.



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Murder Investigation

South Yorkshire Police are appealing for help to solve a murder investigation following the death of a mother of four from Rotherham. Alena Grlakova's body was found on wasteland behind a pub on Monday just yards away from where she was last seen more than three months ago. A man has been arrested on suspicion of her murder.



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Roma

I've been filming another story with the Roma community in Sheffield this week as they celebrated International Roma Day. It's at the same time as a warning that the government has "comprehensively failed" them. A new report by a the Commons women and equalities committee said Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities had the worst outcomes of any ethnic group across a huge range of areas, including education, health, employment, criminal justice and hate crime, but little was being done to tackle longstanding inequalities.


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Flybe

I did my first live on the sofa on problems for the airline Flybe. The company has apologised for cancelling flights and has blamed an industry-wide shortage of pilots and its own pilots taking holidays. It comes at at time when Flybe is considering making redundancies.



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Highliner

Have you ever wondered what it'd be like to walk from one cliff edge to another? Or does the idea fill you with dread? Sarah Rixham who's from Sheffield is a former world record holder and travels around the globe to go highlining. This has to be the most exhilarating story I've ever filmed!

Male Suicide

I covered a story this week that really needs highlighting. Suicide is the single biggest killer of men under 45. According to the latest figures fifteen men out of every one hundred thousand living in our region took their own lives in 2017. That's compared with five women in every one hundred thousand. I filmed with two very inspiring groups made up of men who are working together to help themselves deal with mental health issues, Get Fit for Mental Health and Men Up North.



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Tommy Frank

I've really enjoyed filming a story with boxer Tommy Frank from Sheffield who's hoping to inspire others by his success in the ring. The Super flyweight was born with a hole in his heart but that hasn't stopped him becoming a professional boxer. Tommy is an ambassador for Yorkshire-based national charity Heart Research UK and wants others to set themselves ambitious targets like he has. I filmed with him at his gym and with his lovely parents who had to go through the trauma of seeing their son have to go through open-heart surgery as a child.



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UCI Road World Championships

It's seven months until the UCI Road World Championships come to Yorkshire. The county will be showcased to the world as the global TV audience is expected to be around 300 million viewers. Members of the organising committee from last year's race in Austria have been here to give their advice on how to host a successful race.



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Lorry Crash

This week I reported at Sheffield Crown Court where three men were found guilty of causing the death of a woman who was hit by a stolen lorry near Barnsley, moments before it ploughed into the side of a house. Jacqueline Wileman was out walking when she was run over by the vehicle in Brierley in September last year. The lorry was travelling at double the speed limit.




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Zimbabwean Refugees

I covered the story this week of the demonstration outside an immigration office in Sheffield in support of a man from Zimbabwe who's fighting to stay in the UK. Victor Mujakachi arrived in Sheffield as an asylum seeker 10 years ago and volunteers for several charities in the city. He was taken into custody last week and threatened with deportation. He's been given a three month reprieve but fears he'll be killed if he's sent back.



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Gordon Banks

This week I reported on the death one of the greatest sportsmen Yorkshire has ever produced. Gordon Banks, the England goalkeeper who won the 1966 World Cup passed away at the age of 81.
He was born in Sheffield and started his footballing career at Chesterfield. There was so much good archive of his life so I had to keep only the very best bits in my report.



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This Is Me

I've been filming a story on BBC Radio Sheffield's 'This Is Me' competition offering a year's contract working for them. They've whittled it down to the final 3...



All three of them were really impressive and I'm sure would have done a good job. The winner was Sile Sibanda and I look forward to working with her at BBC Sheffield.

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Sheffield Hatters

I've been filming with the most successful women's basketball team in the country, the Sheffield Hatters. They were in the final of the WBBL Cup last Sunday and won it...just! I filmed this feature about them before the match. The Hatters is a great club that deserves recognition, not least because of all the work they do getting children in Sheffield playing basketball.



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Incinerator

I've been filming a story at Sheffield's incinerator and it's absolutely fascinating to see inside. This all came about because researchers at Sheffield Hallam University have found that in the last sixty years we've lost touch with the processes of energy production as we've transitioned from open fires for heating are homes to gas central heating. They want to reconnect people with energy so they've taking members of the public on tours around Sheffield's incinerator.



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Sepsis Inquest

I've been covering a very sad story about the sudden death of a trainee paramedic from Barnsley. The inquest I reported on heard that Jessica Holbrook died of sepsis and would "probably" have survived if she had been given antibiotics sooner. Jessica died just five days after complaining she had a cold. It emerged at the inquest that she was not given antibiotics on her first visit to the doctors.


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Page Hall Rats

I've been filming a story in an area of Sheffield that's got an infestation of rats. Residents in Page Hall are understandably worried about the impact this could have on their health. Overcrowded housing in the area coupled with fly-tipping and littering are thought to be the cause of the problem. The council says it is taking action.


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