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Archives for February 2010

How to improve your sleep

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X-Ray production team X-Ray production team | 16:20 UK time, Friday, 26 February 2010

Dr Jonathan Bird is a sleep doctor - a consultant neuropsychiatrist at the Burden Sleep Clinic at Bristol's Frenchay Hospital who has spent the past 25 years investigating people's sleep habits.

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dr_bird.jpgMany people suffer from sleep-related problems, varying from not being able to sleep at night to not being able to keep awake during the day. Some sleep walk, some sleep talk and others suffer from respiratory obstructions which can cause them to snore or even stop breathing for short periods while they are sleeping.

The residents of Portland Street, Abertillery, who are taking part in X-Ray's One Street, One Goal project to improve their health, are no different, so Dr Bird has been brought in to give advice.

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Welsh heroes for St David's Day

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X-Ray production team X-Ray production team | 12:02 UK time, Friday, 26 February 2010

As Monday 1 March marks St David's Day, X-Ray has asked some famous faces who their modern-day Welsh heroes are and why they've been inspired by them.

Read on to find out who has been put forward and let us know whether you agree or disagree - or have suggestions of your own.

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Surepass and RED Instructor Training: Testing the patience

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X-Ray production team X-Ray production team | 09:10 UK time, Monday, 22 February 2010

This week X-Ray investigates the world of driving instruction and discovers the pitfalls that can lie in wait for both learner drivers and learner instructors.

Photograph of the rear of a car with L plates attachedWhen Brandon Thorpe from Aberbargoed, near Caerphilly, turned 17 in October 2008 his father Michael decided to book him some driving lessons for his birthday.

He phoned a company called Surepass and signed up Brandon for 30 hours of tuition at a cost of £590. After paying a deposit of £125 he says he was told he could pay the balance to the driving instructor at the first lesson.

Acting as an agent providing pupil referrals to self-employed instructors, Surepass put Mr Thorpe in touch with local instructor Gareth Arnold.

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Top tips for giving up smoking

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X-Ray production team X-Ray production team | 15:35 UK time, Friday, 19 February 2010

As some of the Portland Street residents in our One Street, One GoalÌýstrand know, giving up smoking is a massive health and lifestyle decision. It takes a huge amount of strength, support and willpower.

Portland Street resident Anthony Marsh, who wants to give up smoking.jpgSmoking kills around 6,000 people in Wales every year and it is the single most preventable cause of premature death.Ìý

If you want to quit smoking browse our tips to give up for good.

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Tips for getting motivated and improving your fitness

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X-Ray production team X-Ray production team | 14:44 UK time, Monday, 15 February 2010

Dom Pascoe is an ex-army Captain, and now works as an instructor for in Cardiff.

He has been working with the residents in One Street, One Goal and here he gives some top tips for improving your motivation and getting fit and healthy.

dom_pascoe.jpg

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Putting a stop to cold calls and junk mail

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X-Ray production team X-Ray production team | 11:38 UK time, Monday, 15 February 2010

margaret_john.jpgAre you fed up of cold calls and junk mail? Feisty Welsh actress Margaret John certainly is.

In this week's programme, Margaret tackles two issues which really annoy her - cold calls and junk mail, with the help of X-Ray viewer Robin Croft, who has made it his mission to eliminate nuisance calls and post from his life.

So, want to put a stop to unwanted interruptions and mail? It's easier than you may think.

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Ken Thorne Group - the investigation continues

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X-Ray production team X-Ray production team | 17:07 UK time, Monday, 8 February 2010

This evening X-Ray returns to its long-running investigation into the collapse of, and subsequent criminal inquiry into the Ken Thorne Group.

The car sales chain, which operated outlets across south Wales, shut suddenly in September 2002 with the loss of 240 jobs and owing £6m to creditors.

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ken_thorne.jpgIn its time the Ken Thorne Group was a high profile brand. Publicly spearheaded by Thorne himself, but ultimately run by two of his sons, the group sponsored both Cardiff City football club and the Cardiff Devils ice hockey team.

X-Ray first realised all was not well in early 2002 when it received complaints from dozens of the firm's customers.

When at the time X-Ray asked Mr Thorne's son Nigel to explain these complaints, he told the show: "We're not going to satisfy all the people all of the time."

After the business collapsed a criminal investigation into its dealings resulted in the convictions last year of Nigel and his brother Andrew Thorne.

Now the Serious Fraud Office is looking at the lifestyles of the pair to see if any of their assets can be seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

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Carolyn Hitt logs on to online dating

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X-Ray production team X-Ray production team | 09:41 UK time, Monday, 8 February 2010

By Carolyn Hitt

Log on to love, said the X-Ray team, and so I agreed to let the computer play cupid.

For some, online dating still has a social stigma. My mother was deeply suspicious. She was worried I might end up being stalked by a psychopath from Texas. I persuaded her match-making has come a long way since she hooked up with my father in a Tonypandy dance hall.

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carolyn1.jpgIndeed, the stats show the internet has become the mainstream way to meet Mr or Ms Right - there's now a 50:50 chance that any single person you know is currently romancing in the world wide web.

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Cardiff dogs' home

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X-Ray production team X-Ray production team | 16:36 UK time, Monday, 1 February 2010

Since 2008, our local councils have been responsible for stray dogs. Last year, council officers picked up an astounding twelve thousand strays.

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Guest presenter Lisa Rogers goes behind the scenes at Cardiff's Dog Home in tonight's programme. Lisa, an animal lover who has a menagerie (including a dog, two cats, five chickens and even a small flock of sheep!), joins dog warden Steve Green during a typical working day to see what his busy job entails.

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Legal highs

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X-Ray production team X-Ray production team | 16:19 UK time, Monday, 1 February 2010

This evening X-Ray goes undercover to tackle the issues of "legal highs", and highlights how easy it is to buy drugs from Welsh shops on the high street who are breaking the law in selling these substances.

packets of legal highs

Legal highs may sound harmless and some people who take these easily available drugs believe the "legal" tag means they're safe. But the drugs, taken to achieve an altered state of mind, are often mis-sold to exploit a loophole in the law - as it is illegal to sell many of these substances for human consumption.

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One Street, One Goal

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X-Ray production team X-Ray production team | 16:10 UK time, Monday, 1 February 2010

Rhodri Owen introduces us to a new feature on X-Ray tonight, One Street, One Goal - in which residents from a street in Abertillery attempt to kick-start their 2010 by ditching the cigarettes, ready meals and alcohol and change their lives for the better.

In one of the poorest and unhealthiest parts of Wales, the neighbours of Portland Street aim to become fitter, healthier and more active and with the help of each other - and some experts provided by the X-Ray team.

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