so middlesbrough is for the people of middlesbrough to give us a chance. desmond fled here from nigeria. is middlesbrough a good place to live? this is my home now. this is where i live now. this is my home now. anybody that describes me as being from middlesbrough. things are not always positive here. three years ago, we reported on the racist graffiti carved into the front doors of asylum—seekers. in 2019, prospects are more organised. the missing words are... this woman is a syrian refugee. improving her english so she can work in her chosen profession. i was a pharmacist and i now work there for more than three years. since i arrived here, i tried to find a certificate to be able to work as a pharmacist. good afternoon. this charity pays for those classes, but at one local hospital, the results. on boxing day, at 9am, three of the junior doctors

here were from the programme. so they were here on our bank holiday looking after patients on teesside. the realities of seeking asylum a long way from home are also being tackled. so many things, as a migrant you face, very difficult and very challenging moment in your life. but this is been a huge because it takes our distress. much has been done here to make things work for the individuals and the wider community. the river tees has been at the heart of working life people in this town, as it was a middlesbrough artist mckenzie thorpe. he now exhibits around the world, counting the queen among those who own his works. his latest piece focused on one of middlesbrough's most iconic of middlesbrough's most iconic sites. colin paterson has bent to meet him. a special guest this afternoon. this is mckenzie thorpe and he is a famous artist. back to school. mckenzie thorpe a mile from where he grew up. so you are not going to make the transporter bridge. his art sells around the world.

his inspiration — the town were he was born. i draw a heart under the bridge because i love middlebrough. so that's all it's about. love — the thing that dominates so much of his art. the transporter bridge over the river tees in middlesbrough and it means so much and because i was bornjust down the road and as the gondola starts to move out, running and leaping into the cabin on the side. one of seven children, he left school with no qualifications. the trouble is you will never get a job because all you do is draw. that is what i was told in school. starting out in the shipyards with his father... i became a man with my dad. when i was 17, i went on a real tanker bringing chemicals from the shallow end of the river down to the mouth for the big boats to come in and pick it up. quite a leap from that to be exhibited in new york. that made my laugh because i never

thought of it like that before. right, i guess, i grew up on the boat. jk rowling has some of your work, the queen has a piece. she has two pieces apparently. it is an honour, i met the queen, we talked and we laughed. i have not changed. if you picked me up and put me back in this river, i will be in the same boat. but it's a crucial part of his appeal. his work will be there for generations and it will be a message to young people that they should never ever let anybody tell them that they cannot achieve their dreams because that is what he is done. i did not think drawing was being an artist, ijust drew. but i am dyslexic. reading and writing is really hard. as part of celebrations for his 30th anniversary as an artist, he is visiting the school which studies his paintings. work as hard as you can on everything you want to and you will get there. it isjust an inspiration. as teachers, you can talk about different artists, look at different artwork but to actually have an artist in school, the children

will remember that for years. the right consistency of the overpasses and smudge them. sometimes i work upside down to get the clouds right, like this. it is called waiting for me down... at the transporter bridge, the latest piece was inspired by his childhood memories of standing there to meet his own father coming home from work. i want to make a monument in middlesbrough of the working man. so these kids are here and they've got where is my dad? dad, dad, have you seen my dad? and now he believes the success of the next generation depends on adults changing their attitude. we are not listening. and i think that is where governments and authorities and people in power are going wrong. the child is forgotten and there is a space in the world which is gone forever. i want to keep that space full because all the beauty, all the innocence, all the wonder that this world can offer with humanity is in our children. bye. goodbye! this is where i grew up. my house is literally

just over there. now, three years ago, this town was ranked the worst place in england and wales to grow up asa girl. ifor one feel so glad to be from middlesbrough. i've got an amazing group of friends, went to a great school and i used to knock aboutjust here. so steph has spoken to some other young girls about their experience. this is my hometown, middlesbrough, and i know most of you know this cos i bang on about all the time on the telly, i am really proud to be from here. it has given me my accent, a great education and some of my happiest memories. i'm independent and resilient because i grew up here. so a couple of years ago when a report here said this was the worst place to grow up as a girl in england and wales, i was absolutely raging and i was not the only one. so were liz and krista. to teach girls to believe in themselves and when they work together that they can accomplish their dreams. brilliant answer.

in response, they set up a charity called rubies to help empower girls. i was really upset and disappointed to having grown up in middlesbrough my whole life and i thought it was not right, i wanted to be associated with our girls. so we decided we need to put a different message out there. before you were doing this, did any of you feel like you were not good enough? did you? oh, my god, that makes me really sad. before we got started, everybody is like i used to be here and i don't know why, ididn't... you are not, you're gorgeous and you're brilliant. how do you feel now? definitely that i'm beautiful. you are beautiful. you said that really quietly but i am so pleased you feel like that. it is teaching us to not bother with the feelings and think that we are not enough.

i would never think i would become a doctor but liz got me to believe that i can do it if i put my mind to it and keep going to school. just because this is my hometown, i am not going to pretend things are perfect. of course they're not. it has problems just like anywhere but things are improving. would you all say that you're confident with it? yeah. meeting some of the girls today at middlesbrough college, there is no shortage in ambition. i'm going to uni in september to do primary education with... what do you want to do? work in a dentist. i actually already working electrical. doing an apprenticeship? yeah. the things being a hard being a girl here to read anywhere else in the country? no, not at all. they focus on the negative and overlook the positives. do you think anything more could be done? more work experience.

i think or focus on mental health because we having confidence issues, things to help do with it and conquer it is a big issue in anywhere, not just middlesbrough. what these girls also need are role models. as female business owners, we are giving back now and trying to encourage people. these businesswomen think they are making progress. in the last two years, i think there has been much more collaboration, much more initiatives and much more working in partnership. there have been some real challenges in the air but there is also amazing regeneration in innovation happening locally. i think that pride that you cannot really measure it account for so much was that with a minimum, we must keep it going now. we must encourage our young people to challenge themselves, to try something new committed show the opportunities that are out there. are you proud to be from middlesbrough? yes. do you think that you can do just as well as anybody else in the country? yes. good! because you can. yay! one of the best—known foods in middlesbrough is our speciality dish. this is a piece of chicken or pork covered in breadcrumbs and then deep—fried. even has a layer of bechamel sauce, loads of melted cheese and you have got to eat it with garlic. for the first time, our colleagues

from london get to try one. yes, this i'm not sure is good idea but what will do is an issue to what is described as the national dish of middlesbrough, which is this. vicky has done lots of research on this and will now tell me... oh my god! what on earth is this? the first thing, it is really healthy. yeah, it looks it. there was some research done saying that one of these and some chips is 2600 calories. this is a diet for me then. really healthy. tell me what you think is in it. i will tell you. chicken. it's nice. parmesan. there are some chips. bechamel sauce. where is that going afterwards? i know where that's going afterwards. come back with me. you're watching we are middlesbrough. as part of our work in this town, bbc news has been listening to the people that live here to make sure we're telling the stories

that matter to them. to do that, we have set up our pop—up newsroom and studio where locals can drop in and give us their stories and find out more about what we do. notjust bbc tv, we have radio, online and social media as well. take a look at some of the middlesbrough films you can see on the bbc news website. one, two, middlesbrough! my name isjulie and i skate for roller derby. i think women should get involved in sport because it really improves confidence. you get involved in something bigger, like a sense of community and you are able to bring each other up.

it has been really successful in the last ten years. we have gone from being complete unknown to being one of the most well—known teams in roller derby in the uk. we are middlesbrough roller derby! making history with your hands and things. like the old skills that you just don't learn anywhere else. we only learn in a place and you don't learn this in school, do you? hopefully we can get how it used to be, more engineering jobs coming in. with all the big industries going in the past two years, we have struggled a little bit.

i don't want this place to become a memory. i would like it to be taken on. but still cannot find the work to sustain it. every area around here had a steel works, iron works but this is a brass foundry right in the middle of all this other. hopefully take everything in, what they have to teach and pass that on again and just keep it going. that is all we have to do, isn't it? give it your all. got this laptop and i have no idea how to set it all up. everything goes in the computer now. you cannot get around the world without one. i'm not frightened of it, ijust don't know very much and i am willing to learn and keen to learn. team technology is about helping older people with their devices

so we offer support and volunteers and they come in and give individual support to older people on the phone, ipads, laptops, whatever it is that they are having issues with, we have people there to help. trying to catch up with it. ifind it difficult, really, to influence... middlesbrough has one of the best senses of community. people from here are so proud to be from middlesbrough, so we went to find out what different groups are happening in your area and how you can connect with people, that's all moving online. more of these videos, head to the website and bbc.co.uk/wearemiddlesbrough. when people think ofjobs on teesside, they think of industry or shipping but this town is a leader in the

digital tech sector. and you people are helping change the way middlesbrough does business. as megan patterson finds out. the manufacturing is hypnotic to watch, the products taking gamers to different lands. this is hobgoblin 3d, founded by teesside university graduates who make designs, downloaded and then they are made all over the world. anyone can join our website, find other sides and then what our products and can have that created on the desktop by using a printer. the demand so far as endless as the creators‘ imaginations. as the business expands, there is no plan to move elsewhere. we like the chances middlesbrough provides. a good number of things on the horizon with the fifth—largest digital cluster and the amount of support being put into the area at the moment, it is really interesting to see just the opportunities that are on the rise for digital tech startups and especially startups like ourselves because we are quirky and so is middlebrough. based as the launch pad site, the team benefited from local services, advice and funding support. these are the out of revolting on cement recall

that we have the two graph on the kickstarter projects, the first was for... the second one was for the builders. graduate startups from the university, and the most profitable in the uk. the sector is a really strong sector for this area. growing and creating new drives and new economic opportunities and they are also working which additional sectors helping them to modernise through digital tech. this is our zero waste section here, you can bring your own containers or we do have paper bags here for you to fill. from tech to eating, middlesbrough's first vegan market has a successful year thanks to the local strains and short—term licenses offered to new businesses young entrepreneurs. starting in this market, they have the enterprise team so they were able to put us in touch with an enterprise business that helps start up businesses and they gave us business advice as well who talked through setting up the business. everything is included in your weekly rent so you don't

have think about anything outside ofjust paying your weekly rent and sustaining your business so that was really helpful. and atjust 20, lucy started her pet shop, her rent £10 a day. i got a lot of help on an enterprise rate so i was able to sort of test the waters and see how business would go for a few months and see and see if it was something i would want to commit to all the time so if it was going to work. i had a small unit and now moved into a bigger one in a few months and businesses are still going well. new businesses are the pride of middlesbrough and hopefully can encourage others to enjoy their success. when i was a teenager, i did not really know to be we successful. we wanted to show some of the students from here how high they can set their sights so we took them to see a top teesside chef. my name is michael and i am a chef here and my mission is to have a fine dining restaurant in leeds. i lived in middlesbrough and went to school in redcar by the coast.

i have really fun memories of it and i love teesside, for me it's where i feel at home. i have not ever really worked there since like 19 years old. but it has always been home. today we have got four students coming in for middlesbrough college, a great chance for them and a great chance for me also to have the young talent from the college coming in to my restaurant in a position i was once in to hopefully inspire them to see what is possible and how far you can actually take it. in middlesbrough college, i am learning how to be a chef. a special chance to be on this team. want balloons to make edible shells, last thing i expected to do.

use a method of cooking i've never used before come as a dish is made that i have never seen or eaten before. to learn everything i can. yeah, it is from where i left, so quite inspirational. i want to see the scope of what is achievable by doing the same thing and working the same hours but trying little bit harder, focusing on being more creative and i want them to come out of it and still want to be a chef. my dream is to be a pastry chef. this has been... not that many pastry restaurants in middlesbrough. i don't feel like we're i come from in the country, i thought it will help me forward and it will do in the future. fair to say that 100% of you're influenced by what it is around you and what you experience about your entire life and cooking here, here is to cooking great high in food but with familiarity

and flavours everyone understands. so we have milk ice cream... just as if you had put on red cabbage, so it's really good. yeah, with chocolate. really proud to know that everyone else is going to eat that because... coming here today, it was really inspirational, they mix the flavour, the colour and everything from today is like the best experience i ever have. they have motivated me and hopefully use some of it in my future cooking. so whilst this is the end of the pop—up, it's really not the end of your involvement. we still want to hear your stories,

just visit our website for more. pure joy. best way i can describe it. made me happy and confident and made me smile. it's like everything else melts away and there is only that moment in time. music. you 1.45p from going down and i've seen some people who have successful jobs and then one redundancy turns and spiralling but then he found there is a lot of reason why people are homeless and it is not as black—and—white as people can make to be. there is a lot of people that have come and gone through this that have

experienced real homelessness also think it's given the confidence to to come back into a society really. music. never heard of an opera in my life to him and never seen one, so to me was more like it's a rich person's thing. then i went to my first opera and i loved it. i never thought i would be into opera because it is such a high culture thing. within three minutes, you were just in that song and you really want to give it your best and give it your all and do your very best because you don't want to let other people down. music. i suffer with a lot of mental health problems. having somewjere to go out

of the house has really helped me and give me a reason to leave the house with my confidence up as well. my name is daryl... it makes me feel like i'm not invisible and makes me feel alive. it got me out of a dark place that i was in, it made me want to live my life again. where i did not want to before. i am retired and i am just getting through this and now i've come back to life with a vengeance and would tell anybody who gets in my way when i'm singing. music. i felt i used to be worthless but i am actually worth something and i should be here, i should be strong. you see you see such a transformation in people and i think it gives them the confidence then to move on in the world. goodbye!

adios, arrivederci...! hello there. a friday started off on a cloudy note but the cloud broke up quite nicely across a good part of englund and wells through the afternoon. first, to see the sunshine was cornwall, a glorious afternoon here. looking at the weekend weather, we have warm air across a good part of inlet and wealth but these weather fronts across the northwest will bring some thicker cloud and also some patchy outbreaks of rain. so could see a little bit of damp weather getting into north wales and northwest england and still quite a bit of cloud for scotland and northern ireland where he will feel quite human with a few patches of rain especially around western coasts and heels and cloud working again across the southern and eastern wells and a

good part of england and sunshine comes out it will feel very warm. two pictures up to 28 celsius towards london and southeast england. through saturday not commit we will see further changes as weather fronts begin to move we will see further changes as weatherfronts begin to move in we will see further changes as weather fronts begin to move in off the atlantic bringing some heavy rain across northern ireland and pushing into scotland and parts of northwest england and wales as we head through saturday night. a mild and muggy kind of night towards the southeast of england and then through sunday, a cold front will slowly push its way eastwards but it isa slowly push its way eastwards but it is a slow kind of system. for east anglia and southeast england, much of the day should stay warm with departures here still potentially into the mid—20s in the warmer spots we re into the mid—20s in the warmer spots were asked towards the north and west of the uk, fresher air will be moving him as the westerly winds begin to pick up. into monday, those brisk westerly winds will continue to flow across the country and near to flow across the country and near toa to flow across the country and near to a centre of low pressure to the north of scotland and here we will see quite a bit of cloud, outbreaks of rain and it will stay quite cool for these western areas. elsewhere,

it isa for these western areas. elsewhere, it is a is for these western areas. elsewhere, itisaisa for these western areas. elsewhere, it is a is a day for these western areas. elsewhere, itisaisadaya for these western areas. elsewhere, it is a is a day a bright spells and showers with the showers to need to push eastwards with time. to richer, cooler and fresher field to the weather everywhere in the cooler having reached at east anglia in the southeast as well and generally looking at temperatures into the mid to high teens put a victim of them that across parts of western scotland. for tuesday, there is the initial area of low pressure and moving northwards in another area of low pressure set to develop somewhere near low pressure set to develop somewhere near to low pressure set to develop somewhere near to the uk. on tuesday, that will bring showers, turning to mist to give some spells of red across wells in southwest england but elsewhere after a dry start, showers could well develop. to for disappointing for the time of year a cross to for disappointing for the time of year across the western areas. not too far away from normal load toward southeast and when with highs of about 20. continue the unsettled thing with the weather as we add to the middle part of the weakest with the middle part of the weakest with the front pushes its way eastwards and again it will encourage showers oi’ and again it will encourage showers or lengthier spells of rain and this time, perhaps more focus across northern part of the uk with some

broader weather in particular —— and between the showers and they could become slow—moving in nature given that the winds are going to be a bit lighter. similar to richer us, 15 degrees in edinburgh, 19 or 20 in the warmer spots across the eastern areas of englund. change in the weather to more subtle conditions brought about this trough of the weather pattern and this will last well into the week as well. we will see some further short wave trough moving in towards the end of the week and again they will encourage some further showers or lengthier of rain. next we come of the weather does a lucky does going to stay generally on the unsettled side with spells of rain, still some uncertainty about where the heaviest rain will be. often, the weather quite cloudy but there will be some spells of sunshine and temperatures near—normal towards a southeast but little bit cool at times in the northwest. that is a list weather, bye for now.

tonight at ten: president trump ramps up the pressure on mexico, announcing new import tariffs if illegal immigration isn't dealt with. mr trump says it's necessary to tackle what he claimed was a crisis of undocumented migrants crossing the us southern border. the white house says that mexico could be doing far more to stop large groups travelling to the us crossing points. a massive number of these individuals are coming from central america, that's where we've seen the greatest increase come from, outrageous numbers. but mexico says it will not be provoked by the president's threats. we'll have the latest. also tonight: jewish groups call for labour to expel the senior figure peter willsman in the ongoing row about anti—semitism. he's already been suspended.