Hello and welcome to todays Levy Letter. Its good to be back after my day off the programme yesterday. I hope your days going well and youll be able to join me for tonights Look North at six thirty on BBC One as usual.
Our health services are in the spotlight on Look North today - the trust that runs Bridlington hospital is one of the worst in the country as is our ambulance service. Even our best trust was only rated as fair. We'll have full details and a special report about what's being done to clean up our hospitals. We meet the couple who are warning others about pet passports... The Johnson's have been left with a four thousand pound quarantine bill after they misunderstood the regulations. So if youre thinking of travelling with pets, or moving to another country, dont miss this on the programme. And finally for aviation fans, it's taken more than a decade but the historic Vulcan is taking to the skies again. Well have that and of course the weather forecast on the programme at half past six on BBC One. Neighbours Do you feel you can count on your neighbours in a crisis, or to lend you something if you need it? I read an interesting article in the news today, its a little bit depressing, but it might surprise you. The image of the friendly, community based, working class neighbourhood has been challenged by a new study which suggests that families with low incomes feel less able to rely on their neighbours than those living in wealthier circumstances. While 80% of those with an annual household income of more than £80,000 have confidence that their neighbours would help them in a crisis, only half of those on an income of less than £10,000 feel the same way. I dont know if youll be surprised by that or not. Apparently, the better a households income, the better they feel about the community they live in. Poorer households are also less likely to have access to well maintained green areas, and feel less safe at night. Overall, the survey found that seven out of ten Britons felt they could rely on their neighbours in a crisis, 68% said they felt they could borrow something from a neighbour, and 57% said they would ask their neighbours to water their plants while they were on holiday. I dont think those figures sound too bad actually, but overall youre more likely to feel comfortable with your neighbours and your area if you have a high household income. House Prices Well house prices are a staple of the Levy Letter as you know, but this is perhaps a landmark day in that todays story is about house prices going down! The International Monetary Fund has warned that houses in Britain are overpriced by up to 40%, while prices are slowly falling in some parts of the UK. The price of houses really is frightening, about 9 times the average salary for most people, and of course most of the stories in the news and in the letter have been about constant rises in prices recently. The fund also said house prices could fall to their correct worth sometime in the future, although it then admitted there are considerable uncertainties in its model, in other words theyre not sure! So I wouldnt worry about an imminent crash just yet, although it could happen. Im glad we know where we stand with that England Im not really much of a sports fan, but I read something interesting about how the England Rugby Union team are preparing for their World Cup Final on Saturday. The games going to be played in the evening, and so the players have been working to a strict scientific plan to adjust their body clocks to peak at the correct time. Theyve been training between 7pm and 9pm, and enjoying a regime of late nights and lie ins. It doesnt sound too bad. Im not sure how this fits in with the training plan, but amongst the things the players have been eating for breakfast is chicken and broccoli! Interesting facts are that a persons body clock usually dips between 2am and 6am, which I think most people are sound asleep for, and that the best time to eat is four hours before the game so your body will have digested the food and youll have the nutrients in your system. So good luck to the England team in the final on Saturday, and lets hope a late breakfast of chicken and broccoli will give them a boost! Thats about it from me today, dont forget if you miss the programme and you want to catch up then go to our website at www.bbc.co.uk/looknorthhull, and you can watch it online, and also some of our top stories as well. And as usual, if you have any stories you want to tell me about, or pictures for the programme, or maybe something for the letter, drop me a line at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thanks for reading, have a good day, and join me tonight for Look North on BBC One at half past six. Bye for now Peter And for the latest news and more where you live, go to: http://bbc.co.uk/humber and http://bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the BBC Look North newsletter, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/looknorthhull/newsletter/newsletter_index.shtml, enter your email address in the unsubscribe box. 1.94.4
