Page Hall Clean Up

I went back to Page Hall this week to film with school pupils, teachers, doctors and the council who are working together in a month-long effort to clean up the area. Page Hall is blighted with littering and fly-tipping. The area is one of the most deprived in Yorkshire but the community is rallying round to try to fix the problem. I filmed all of this in 45 minutes and at one point my mobile journalism kit failed me so I filmed one of the interviews (the first in my report) on my work phone.

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Page Hall Policing

I was given exclusive access to film with the new policing team in Page Hall in Sheffield. They've seized fifty cars in the area in the last three months to try to show the community they're serious about tackling crime. I also filmed with Sheffield Roma Network which is encouraging people to stick to the covid rules.

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Rat Infestation

I went back to the Page Hall area of Sheffield a year on from my story about the rat infestation there. Clearly there's still a rodent problem. This time I filmed with the council to find out how they're trying to deal with the problem...

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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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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Page Hall Whip

I've been reporting on a story in the Page Hall area of Sheffield where police are investigating reports of youngsters from the Roma Slovak community wielding home-made whips and in one case attacking a resident. I interviewed Tomas Tancos from Sheffield Roma Network who's working hard to try to encourage the youngsters to behave and for the community to integrate.



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Roma CSE Drama

I've been to Rotherham to do a story with a group of Roma teenagers in the Eastwood area of the town who've made a film warning their community of the risks of child sexual exploitation. It comes after the Alexis Jay Report on child grooming in Rotherham highlighted increasing concerns about the sexual exploitation of Roma children in the town. The film was made by young Roma people in collaboration with the charities Rotherham Ethnic Minority Alliance and My Place Rotherham.

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Roma Brexit

Over the last few weeks I've spent time with the Roma community in South Yorkshire to hear how the Brexit vote is affecting them. They told me in Page Hall, Sheffield, and in Eastwood, Rotherham, that they've suffered more racist abuse and are worried they'll be deported once Britain leaves the EU...



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Disruptive Kids Kickboxing

A school in Sheffield with a high proportion of pupils from the Roma Slovak community is using kickboxing classes for the most disruptive children instead of excluding them. More than one in five students at Fir Vale Secondary School in Page Hall are Roma Slovak and some of them struggle to adapt to life in the classroom.



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Page Hall

I'm really interested in doing more stories about immigration in South Yorkshire so have spent time in the Page Hall area of Sheffield where there has been an influx of Roma Slovak migrants. The area made national headlines when the former Home Secretary and Sheffield MP David Blunkett highlighted tensions there. A year ago, Sheffield Council introduced a scheme which asked landlords to stop their houses becoming overcrowded and to prevent their tenants fly-tipping or playing loud music. But residents I met told me it's done nothing to improve the area...



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