Archives for August 2009

Fancy a week in a villa in St Tropez, or a houseboat in the Netherlands, but can't afford peak season prices charged by travel companies? Then home exchange may be a good option for you.

The One Show's Dominic Littlewood has been investigating why home exchanges are growing in popularity as holidaymakers try to cut travelling costs.

By swapping your home for a week or two with a homeowner in another part of the country or even the other side of the world, you can benefit from free accommodation for the duration of your holiday.

So if you're seriously thinking about a home exchange here's Dom's top tips:

• Be honest about your area, and the distance to the city centre or attractions.
• Be as realistic as possible and get to know your exchange partners as well as you can before you reach an agreement.
• Write a holiday agreement. Make it as specific as possible, deciding who pays for accidental damage and utility bills. Remember don't book those flights until the agreement has been agreed.
• Appoint a neighbour or friend as a contact, as well as answering questions from your exchange guests, they can keep an eye on things and be an emergency contact.

If you have any experience of a home swap and want to share your stories, let us know.

You may also like: Dom's downloadable Distance Selling letter and Sale of Goods Act letter.

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Dom sets the record straight on your rights when you buy goods and services through distance selling. Watch his film:

For services - to get your refund, click here.

For goods bought, to get your refund, click here.

Distance selling is purchasing goods or services online, via mail order, catalogue, by phone or even digital TV.

Problem is, you can't try before you buy. But the good news is you've got the law on your side.

The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations gives you a cooling off period that allows you to change your mind. But you only have seven working days. In the case of services that starts from placing the order. And with goods you have seven working days from receiving the order. All you have to do is:

1. Phone the trader/company to inform them.
2. Then you must inform them in writing - by letter, fax or email - of your decision to cancel. Keep proof of postage.
3. Wait. Your money should be reimbursed as soon as possible - and in any case within a maximum period of 30 days.

Download your template letters here

For services - to get your refund, click here.

For goods bought to get your refund, click here.

Let us know if our distance selling template letter works for you, below.

You may also like: Dom's Sale of Goods Act letter has helped many One Show viewers. Read about some of the successes and download the letter here.

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School nurse Susan Pope was sacked recently, after she smacked her 10-year-old son. Her case has raised once again the question of whether parents should ever physically punish their children.

It's currently illegal for a parent to hit a child if it leaves a mark. However, despite calls for the government to ban smacking outright, a light smack or what they call 'reasonable chastisement' is still allowed.

The One Show sent Linda Robson out to investigate the issue of whether it's ever right for parents to smack a child.

Continue the conversation here.

Share your experiences and stories. Have you smacked your children? Were you smacked as a child? Does 'sparing the rod spoil the child'?

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On tonight's show, ex-copper Rav Wilding visited the Greek party resort of Malia to investigate if the headlines of badly behaved Brits abroad are true or not.

Earlier this month the island hit the headlines when a young British man ended up with second-degree burns after an incident in a nightclub with a female bar staff member. She is accused of pouring a glass of Sambuca on his groin and setting it alight after he allegedly pulled his trousers down in front of her.

This is just one of many incidents reported in the press of raucous behaviour of Brits abroad.  But we want to know who you think is to blame for bad holiday behaviour?

Does the responsibility lie squarely on punters or should the tour operators take a more active role in promoting responsible drinking? Should tourists take more care with cultural sensitivities when abroad?

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS AND EXPERIENCES - we'd like to hear your thoughts and experiences

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This week the death toll of British soldiers in Afghanistan rose to over 200. Although public support for the troops is greater than ever, the continuing conflict and its rising casualty rate is attracting fresh criticism.

Following on from our film on tonight's show about the ongoing war, we'd like to hear your thoughts on what we should be doing in Afghanistan.  Can the British military and political aims in Afghanistan ever be achieved? Or are we fighting a losing battle?

To find out more about the conflict and read news updates see the BBC News Special Reports - Afghanistan

SHARE YOUR VIEWS - we'd like to hear your thoughts.

To read more about The Elizabeth Cross - Died On Operations Recognition Award that was mentioned in tonight's show, see our More Information page

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On tonight's One Show, Anita Rani visits Waltham Forest Council who have started a new scheme offering cash rewards for residents who report antisocial behaviour to the authorities. Anyone who photographs dog fouling, litter being dropped, graffiti crime or fly tipping which result in prosecution will receive a cash reward. Other councils across the UK are offering similar schemes.

Crimestoppers - a clarification

Update: 20/8/09. After last night's 'reporting antisocial behaviour'  film was broadcast, Anita joined Gloria and Gethin in the studio to chat about the issues raised.

In response to Gloria's question about confidentiality, Anita said: "to receive the reward you have to be prepared to be a witness in court..."

We'd like to make clear that Anita's response refers to the local council reward schemes only. Anita was not referring to people who report information to the charity Crimestoppers, who were also mentioned in the conversation.

Crimestoppers tell us that; Any rewards offered through Crimestoppers are paid anonymously - people do not get called to court. Everyone who contacts Crimestoppers with information about crimes remain anonymous throughout. Calls are not traced or recorded and no personal details of the caller are taken.

More info about the work of Crimestoppers on their website.

Join the debate: Do you think offering cash rewards will encourage snooping and pit members of the community against each other? Or do you think the money could work as an incentive for more people to report minor crimes?

SHARE YOUR VIEWS - Share your views and stories.

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A report out this week predicts that by 2020 over one third of us will be turning to the web to find the cause of our ailments.

But can we trust the information that we find? Whilst some websites, such as NHS Direct, produce reliable and well-researched information, there are many that don't and this can lead to dangerous symptoms being ignored.

Are we at risk of becoming a nation of cyberchondriacs? Is self-diagnosis fuelling our fears or empowering patients? 

The One Show would like to hear your stories. Do you go online to self-diagnose? If so, have you've discovered an illness through information that you've found on the web?

SHARE YOUR STORIES - We'd like to hear your stories and experiences.

The following sites may be of interest:

NHS Direct

Patient UK

BBC Health 
 

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Adrian and Christine want to know what's the most unusual thing that has made you cry. When have you surprised yourself by suddenly welling up about something you wouldn't expect to?

Maybe it's the theme tune to children's programme, the smell of honeyblossom or pulling out your nose hairs - whatever weird and wonderful thing it is that unexpectedly brings tears to your eyes, we'd love to hear it.

• What strange things make you cry? Tell us here.

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Over the next few weeks on The One Show we'll be marking the 70th anniversary of the start of World War II. Inspired by the film on tonight's show about wartime reunions, The One Show has decided to try and reunite lost friends who met during the war years but who subsequently lost track of one another.

Do you have a long-lost wartime friend or colleague that you'd like to be reunited with?

We're asking for your stories and pictures of lost wartime friends. Maybe you met as evacuees, served in the same regiment or met through the work you did on the Home Front - whatever the situation, we'd love to hear your stories. These might be your own stories or pictures or someone else's - maybe a parent or grandparent - why not ask them if there's anyone they'd like to find again?

We'll be reading out some of your stories on the show and appealing for any information about your lost friends.

So how does it work?

You have two options, you can:
1) Tell us about your friend on this blog
2) Share a photo of your friend or you and your friend in our gallery

 Share stories on the blog

 Tell us your lost friend's name and a story about them and in the blog below. To make it easier to find them, please include the following information -

- Name of lost friend:
- How and where you met:
- If you served together, you could include details of rank, regiment and place/years of service
- Story/memory about them (150 words or less): maybe a funny story or a moment shared with them or the reason why you would like to find them now.

 
IMPORTANT:- Please DO NOT LEAVE yours or anyone else's personal contact details (email address, phone number, address etc.) anywhere on the website. We'll do our very best to put lost friends in touch with each other.

•  POST YOUR STORY HERE.

  Share a photo in the gallery

If you have a picture of your long lost friend or of you both together you can also add your pictures in our wartime reunions gallery.

 
- Please include the name of your lost friend as the title of the image.
- You can also leave details about your long lost friend in the gallery.

• ADD YOUR PHOTO HERE.

Thank-you, we look forward to reading your stories and seeing your pictures.

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In the papers on the weekend Deputy Leader Harriet Harman commented that men "cannot be left to run things on their own". The One Show sent Adrian out onto the streets to find out if you agreed.

Can men be trusted with everything or are there things that you wouldn't be comfortable to leave a man in charge of alone? 

Do you think there are roles that women are better suited to and if so what?

Or are male and female roles totally interchangeable nowadays?

Share your views and experiences here.

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