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The Independent
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Animation of Joe Wicks launched to help children keep fit
An animated character of online fitness coach Joe Wicks has been launched in a bid keep children fit over the summer holidays. The Body Coach's new animated persona talks children through exercises including jogging, squats and burpees in five-minute clips, which will be released via his YouTube channel. Wicks said the Government-backed Activate project aims to 'make movement fun'. In each clip Wicks' character performs various exercises accompanied by new animated characters known as the Activators. The first episode has been released on The Body Coach YouTube channel, with more episodes to be released each week over the school summer holidays. The animated series was launched at Ripple Primary School in Barking, east London, on Monday. Wicks and Health Secretary Wes Streeting met teachers and parents to discuss keeping children active. 'Activate is designed to make movement fun,' said Wicks. He told the PA news agency: 'We live in a world where it's very easy to be sedentary, it's very easy to rely on ultra-processed foods. 'So I think I've created something I personally think is different – it's about using technology and disrupting that passive screen time, and actually saying 'Come on kids, get up, let's do it'. 'I just want more people to see it and give it a go, because I know when they do, I think they're going to fall in love with it – the characters, the workouts and the music. 'It's going to be a really genuine useful thing for parents, I think, to get their kids moving. 'Because sometimes, especially in the summer holidays, kids are reluctant to move, this is something I think can really help with that.' Wicks went on: 'Activity doesn't have to be this perfect hour a day where you have an instructor or you're in a gym, actually, five minutes can be enough.' Health Secretary Wes Streeting told PA: 'Activate is a really great project, and the Government's proud to support it, because we want to get children, young people, more fit and active. 'One in five children are leaving primary school with obesity, so this is a really big challenge for us. 'And the truth is, if this was just a sort of boring government video it wouldn't have nearly as much success and impact as I think Activate is going to have, where you've got the energy and dynamism of Joe Wicks combined with some of the best creative minds and talents in our country and around the world. 'I think it's going to make it fun, I think it's going to make it accessible and that is the key to getting children and young people fit and active – meeting them where they are, making it accessible, making it free and making it fun.' Almost one in 10 children in reception year at school were obese, according to figures from the National Childhood Measurement Programme in England. This rises to 22.1% of pupils in Year 6, according to the 2023/24 data.
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Animation of Joe Wicks launched to help children keep fit
An animated character of online fitness coach Joe Wicks has been launched in a bid keep children fit over the summer holidays. The Body Coach's new animated persona talks children through exercises including jogging, squats and burpees in five-minute clips, which will be released via his YouTube channel. Wicks said the Government-backed Activate project aims to 'make movement fun'. In each clip Wicks' character performs various exercises accompanied by new animated characters known as the Activators. The first episode has been released on The Body Coach YouTube channel, with more episodes to be released each week over the school summer holidays. The animated series was launched at Ripple Primary School in Barking, east London, on Monday. Wicks and Health Secretary Wes Streeting met teachers and parents to discuss keeping children active. 'Activate is designed to make movement fun,' said Wicks. He told the PA news agency: 'We live in a world where it's very easy to be sedentary, it's very easy to rely on ultra-processed foods. 'So I think I've created something I personally think is different – it's about using technology and disrupting that passive screen time, and actually saying 'Come on kids, get up, let's do it'. 'I just want more people to see it and give it a go, because I know when they do, I think they're going to fall in love with it – the characters, the workouts and the music. 'It's going to be a really genuine useful thing for parents, I think, to get their kids moving. 'Because sometimes, especially in the summer holidays, kids are reluctant to move, this is something I think can really help with that.' Wicks went on: 'Activity doesn't have to be this perfect hour a day where you have an instructor or you're in a gym, actually, five minutes can be enough.' Health Secretary Wes Streeting told PA: 'Activate is a really great project, and the Government's proud to support it, because we want to get children, young people, more fit and active. 'One in five children are leaving primary school with obesity, so this is a really big challenge for us. 'And the truth is, if this was just a sort of boring government video it wouldn't have nearly as much success and impact as I think Activate is going to have, where you've got the energy and dynamism of Joe Wicks combined with some of the best creative minds and talents in our country and around the world. 'I think it's going to make it fun, I think it's going to make it accessible and that is the key to getting children and young people fit and active – meeting them where they are, making it accessible, making it free and making it fun.' Almost one in 10 children in reception year at school were obese, according to figures from the National Childhood Measurement Programme in England. This rises to 22.1% of pupils in Year 6, according to the 2023/24 data.
Telegraph
02-07-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
NHS ‘passports' will see new innovations rolled out to cut red tape
Mr Streeting said it would mean an end to the 'postcode lottery for life-saving products', while 'companies will be able to get their technology used across the NHS more easily'. An example of such innovations include special wound dressings, rapid flu testing and artificial intelligence appointment booking platforms. New wound dressings are reducing infections by 38 per cent at Barking, Havering ∧ Redbridge University Hospitals and could be adopted across the country, the Department of Health said. Rapid flu testing at University Hospitals Dorset has cut the time patients spend in hospital alongside antibiotic use. Roll out of technology Dr Benyamin Deldar, a clinical entrepreneur fellow at NHS England and the co-founder of Deep Medical, which runs an AI booking system already used by some NHS hospitals, told The Telegraph it would save up to 'six months of red tape'. The AI system predicts no-shows based on a range of factors and maximises doctors time by reducing the chance of a missed appointment, cutting them by up to 30 per cent. 'Deploying in each new trust can take up to nine months because the same Information Governance checks are repeated; an 'innovator passport' would cut between three to six months of red tape, letting patients benefit far sooner,' said Dr Deldar. The passport will be introduced over the next two years and will mean technology that has been robustly assessed by one NHS organisation can easily be rolled out to others. The Department of Health said this would remove 'needless bureaucracy' and create a 'dynamic best buyer's guide', while also helping boost economic growth. MedTech Compass aims to make these innovations, and the evidence underpinning them, clearer to buyers within the NHS. 'Positive step' Dr Vin Diwakar, the clinical transformation director at NHS England, said: 'We're seeing the impact improvements to technology are having on our everyday lives on everything from smartwatches to fitness trackers – and we want to make sure NHS patients can benefit from the latest medical technology and innovations as well. 'The new innovator passports will speed up the rollout of new health technology in the NHS which has been proven to be effective, so that patients can benefit from new treatments much sooner.' Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents health organisations, said it was a 'positive step towards reducing duplication, making innovation more agile and accessible, and streamlining how technology is rolled out across the health service'. 'But it will be vital to ensure that important compliance processes are also kept in place to safeguard clinical and patient safety, data protection and strict Medtech regulation,' he added.
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Yahoo
East London dead-of-night stabbing sees man rushed to hospital
A man is in hospital after being stabbed in the middle of the night while another man was rushed to hospital with head injuries. Police rushed to Arboretum Place, Barking, at around 1am on Thursday (June 26) to reports of an "altercation". A man, in his 20s, was found with head injuries and taken to hospital with non life-threatening or life-changing injuries. Another man, also in his 20s, took himself to a London hospital with "stab injuries." He is in a stable condition. A crime scene put in place in the area has now been closed-off. Police enquiries into the incident are ongoing. READ MORE: The East London alleyway with a disgusting past that earned it a vulgar nickname READ MORE: East London roads to close for months after man fell through bridge A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Service said: "Police were called at 01:06hrs on Thursday, 26 June to Arboretum Place, Barking to reports of an altercation. Officers arrived and found a man, in his 20s, with head injuries who was taken to hospital by paramedics. His condition is not believed to be life-threatening or life-changing. "A second man in his 20s self-presented at a London hospital with stab injuries. His condition is stable, and the injuries are not believed to be life-threatening or life-changing. "Enquiries are ongoing. A crime scene was put in place on London Road/Ripple Road, Barking, in relation to this incident. It has since been closed." Got a story? Please get in touch at Looking for more from MyLondon? Subscribe to our daily newsletters here for the latest and greatest updates from across London.
BBC News
25-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Barking balcony collapse: Disaster waiting to happen, say experts
Balconies on a new-build housing estate in east London, built by construction giant Bouygues UK, were so poorly designed they "posed a risk to life", a BBC investigation has BBC previously revealed a balcony that partially collapsed on the Weavers Quarter in Barking was built using the wrong materials, leading to hundreds of residents being told their balconies were experts who reviewed original plans obtained by the BBC now say the balconies were fatally flawed and prone to collapse from the start, even if built to UK did not answer the new claims directly, referring to an earlier statement in which it apologised and said it had made repairs. It marks a significant escalation in a case that left hundreds of residents unable to use their balconies for more than a year, with scores of properties still surrounded by emergency development, known as Weavers Quarter, was part of a flagship regeneration scheme to deliver affordable housing on the former Gascoigne was delivered for Barking and Dagenham Council, which owns the affected homes through its housing company B&D Reside. The alarm was raised in late 2023 when part of a balcony suddenly collapsed, after residents had reported other issues for several years. Kinga Surowka, who lives in the ground‑floor flat beneath the one where the balcony partially collapsed, described the terrifying moment: "There were huge beams of steel, wood, heavy fallen on to my apartment. "The balcony crashed down - we could have died here with our kids."The collapse was later seen as "the canary in the coal mine" - a sign that other balconies might also be structurally prompted urgent safety measures, with scaffolding erected around dozens of other balconies. In total, 77 properties were affected and residents were told it was too dangerous to step on to their balconies or walk underneath them."We've been pretty scared to use the balconies. My son is still scared," Ms Surowka said as she tentatively used hers with her family for the first time in a year after repair work was completed. The collapse led to lab testing by the BBC, which found that plywood from the failed balcony was the type used for indoor fittings, such as kitchen cupboards, and not suitable for outdoor Morwenna Spears, from Bangor University's BioComposites Centre, who tested the material for strength and moisture resistance, said it "should be used indoors only" and called its use outdoors "quite a big fail on somebody's part".The revelations prompted an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive and led to a major housing award from WhatHouse? being withdrawn. Bouygues UK did not initially name the subcontractor that breached the design specification which they BBC has since identified the firm as Weldrite UK, based in Kent, which used cheaper, weaker plywood than company later told the BBC the balcony issue was not its fault - that Bouygues had signed off the build and never asked for changes, and that the design was flawed from the start. With questions mounting about whether the problem lay not just with the materials but the design as well, the BBC separately obtained the original architectural drawings and commissioned six independent experts to assess six - including structural engineers, materials specialists and façade consultants - concluded the design was susceptible to failure, even if the correct materials had been said the use of unsuitable plywood had only hastened the façade expert pointed to poor drainage and support, warning the timber was "liable to rot or degrade, especially if water gets in and can't get out". 'Disaster waiting to happen' A structural engineer said water-vulnerable materials were placed in areas that would "definitely get wet"."Even marine ply would have failed," said building surveyor Arnold Tarling. "It just would've taken longer. The design was a disaster waiting to happen."Lee Smith, a façade specialist with 30 years' experience, was unequivocal: "This is one of the poorest designs I've seen in my life."He said critical drainage features were missing."The water can't get out. Timber rots. And if it rots, it collapses," he said."Whoever signed this off got it badly wrong. It wouldn't stay up. You're looking at risk to life." The BBC approached Bouygues UK with the new evidence and asked why balconies with serious design flaws were approved, what safety checks were in place, and why further checks were not conducted before declined to answer those questions, instead referring back to its earlier statement in which it apologised, confirmed it had carried out remediation work, and stated it took safety very company received £41.5m from Barking and Dagenham Council to build the estate. It ranks among the top 50 contractors in the UK by project value, according to Glenigan's April 2025 league tables, and had an order book of around £1.9bn in 2024 - boosted by its role in the Lower Thames Crossing project. Bouygues UK has built homes, schools and hospitals across Construction, the parent company headquartered in France, is a major global player with substantial contracts in Europe, Africa, Asia and the is not the company's first safety 2014, Bouygues UK was fined £175,000 when a worker was crushed to death at a hospital construction site. In 2009, it was fined £160,000 after a worker was killed by a reversing vehicle at a Barking recently, in November 2023, its parent company Bouygues Construction was served an enforcement notice following the death of a worker in a traffic accident during construction of the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant. The discovery that the design itself was flawed has deepened residents' sense of Lismore, who leads the Weavers Quarter Residents' Association, said: "The issue we were told was that it was substandard materials, to then find out that it was actually the design as well brings us right back to square one. "We're not getting a straight answer, and once again, we feel like our safety is at the bottom of the list."Many residents are now desperately trying to move away from what was marketed as affordable housing to help people on to the property Surowka, Kinga's husband, said: "We totally regret moving here now. We are trying to move out the area, but how can you? "No-one's going to want to buy a house with a dangerous balcony."
