Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Kids’ welfare fears double in lockdown
A PARENTS’ helpline has had twice as many calls about kids’ welfare as usual in the past six months.
The Parent Talk service, run by charity Action for Children, says nearly half of its chats these days relate to a child’s wellbeing and mental health.
More than a quarter relate to child violence.
Jo Miskin, Parent Talk Manager at Action for Children, said: “Every day our parent coaches are contacted by distressed mums, dads and carers.”
She said concerns included “children experiencing parental conflict, acting violently towards a parent, refusing to go to school or suffering with mental health issues.”
Help is available at parent-talk.org.uk.
DIGGERS clear part of an ancient woodland said to have inspired author Roald Dahl to write Fantastic Mr Fox to clear a path for HS2.
Around 1.8 acres of Jones’ Hill Wood, which stretches 4.4 acres, is set to be dug up in order to make way for the high speed rail line.
It is home to foxes, bats badgers and tawny owls.
Work began last week to clear a corner of the site, but HS2 officials are still waiting for formal permission to clear the rest.
Dahl, who died in 1990 and had lived in the nearby village of Great Missenden, Bucks, is said to have drawn on walks in the woodlands for inspiration for his novel, first published in 1970.
Adam Cormack, head of campaigning at the Woodland Trust, said: “It’s always a sad day for ancient woodland and the species that inhabit it when the diggers move in.”
A HS2 spokesman said: “HS2 is creating new woodland, wildlife and river habitats alongside the line, equivalent of 23 Hyde Parks.”