Leicester and our county are very close to the heart of Anne Davies, who launched her awardwinning journalism career at BBC Radio Leicester.

Leicestershire is also the county she calls home and Leicester’s Cultural Quarter is just one of the places this former student of Drama and English loves to spend time.

A much-loved and respected presenter for BBC East Midlands Today since 2001. Anne has helped reflect developments right across the region in an equal fashion. Her coverage of the shocking disappearance of Madeleine McCann also helped the weekday evening
show win Best Television Programme in the Royal Television Society Awards.

Off camera Anne is a gourmet, a wife and mother, and a passionate patron of the charity Macmillan Cancer Support Leicestershire and Rutland, helping raise £100,000 over the last six years since her father was nursed by Macmillan.

Anne, what are the most challenging Leicesterhire stories you’ve reported for BBC East Midlands Today?

It has to be the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. I was sent to Rothley on the Monday after she went. I know Rothley very well and have many friends who live in and around the village. My children go to school nearby. My friends know Madeleine’s mother.

As our programme went to air that night the centre of Rothley filled with people and with silence. The candle that still burns was lit and every heart there prayed for that little girl to be found. I shall never forget it and I don’t think anyone else who was there that night will either. Sadly the candle still burns.

How do you keep your emotions in check?

My job as a presenter is to give you, the audience, as clear and honest a picture of what is happening in our region as I possibly can. We need to provide you with, as far as possible, every side of the story so that you can make your own mind up. To that end my emotions are irrelevant and it is only right that I keep them in check.

After all, what can seem fair and reasonable from one point of view can be perceived as outrageous and biased from another. However, that said, the other quality I believe is of the utmost importance in a news presenter is honesty and to show no emotion at all on certain stories would be dishonest. Ultimately it’s all about balance.

What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in Leicester as a reporter and presenter in the region?

Change is a strange thing. It sort of creeps up on you when you’re not looking and then one day you open your eyes and everything is completely different.

I’ve been in Leicester now for longer than I’ve been anywhere else and, despite moving away for a few years when I was on GMTV, there is something about the county that always draws me back. There have, of course, been huge changes but there is also something timeless and constant about Leicestershire that keeps it connected to a truly colourful past – the years of fascinating history that will hopefully live forever in the county.

When I started out in Leicester having an elected Mayor was inconceivable, but Leicester seems to be paving the way, with other cities now looking at the possibility themselves. And then the fabulous improvements in our city’s arts quarter: Curve and Phoenix Square for example. As a former student of Drama and English one of my big treats is to go to the theatre and Curve is such a great place to be. The staff are always so nice and so helpful, and the productions I have seen there were truly outstanding. I wept buckets at the Umbrellas of Cherbourg and longed to take up tap dancing again after 42nd Street!

Can you pinpoint any particular stories or interviews that have helped keep your passion for journalism alive?

It may sound corny, but pretty well every story I do keeps my passion alive. It is a hugely privileged job. One that allows you to enter another person’s world, share their life, their hopes, their desires, their work and their passions for those few moments you are with them. It can be hugely challenging, heartrending nearly always fascinating and, when you’re lucky, truly inspiring.

And every now and again you get to meet a giant – only a few months ago, Michel Legrand, the legendary composer was at Curve, and ever so slightly star-struck, so was I.

What are you most looking forward to covering during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations?

What a year 2012 is going to be. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and her tour of Britain starting with us here in Leicester – and not just the Queen but the Duchess of Cambridge too. On top of that, the Olympics. With so much focus on our region, with Loughborough University playing such an integral role, it looks like being a fabulous year and one that we’ll be wholeheartedly reflecting on the programme.

One of my favourite parts of the job is the Outside Broadcast. Being out of the studio is always that bit more unpredictable and exciting. Chatting to people out and about, reacting to whatever happens. Hopefully there’ll be plenty of that with everything going on in 2012. The Olympics have a special place in my heart too, as my husband is an Olympian – a freestyle swimmer. It was a long time ago now, but his delight in the Games is something he has passed to all of us in the family.

What’s a typical day as a presenter for East Midlands Today?

Well, I get to work usually in time for the afternoon meeting, which is hosted by the day’s producer and attended by all the presenters, the director, graphics, technical manager, camera diary, production assistant and others. Here we go through the night’s running order, find out what outside broadcasts there are and where, what interviews are required and who our guests are.

It can take anything from five to 25 minutes depending upon how much there is to discussand invariably which court cases are still
hearing and stories still breaking.

The programme that goes to air at 6.30pm is not the same as the one we thought we’d be doing at 3pm.

Sometimes I have been out filming that day, so then it’s even more of a rush especially if the story is for that night’s programme. Then you have to juggle writing your script and editing with all of the above. On days like that your co-presenter always takes up the slack and helps out. It’s all about partnership and a team effort – no one person can put that programme on the air – because each person is an integral part of the end product.

Do you ever worry about the news profession?

I do occasionally worry that news can lose its edge when it stops following its goals and passion and becomes too

hidebound by rules and regulations. But equally without certain rules and regulations there is only mayhem and that is a freedom that is not worth having. So once again that word “balance” comes back. And when the world is in balance then I think we have achieved a state that cannot be much improved upon.

Are you still working towards any goals?

I have goals all the time. Sometimes they’re really simple. I’m always trying not to be late for things, but how it just never seems to work I do not know. And there are bigger goals too, all sorts of things… learning to fly, achieve more qualifications, read more, write more – the list goes on and on. To be honest I have all sorts of goals all of the time. Once you stop having goals in life what’s left?

How do you relax?

The best place I can possibly relax is in my own kitchen. I love every part of it and if I’m feeling down then, sad as it may seem, chopping an onion or measuring out some flour puts a song in my heart again. So as you can gather I just love to cook. Perhaps that is one of my ambitions and goals then – to be on the Great British Bake off. Apart from cooking I am, sadly, very good at relaxing indeed. Give me some chocolate and a movie, or a book or a magazine, a sofa, my kids and the dog and I really don’t need anything else.

Spare time is a precious commodity for the Vice Chancellor of Leicester University, Professor Sir Robert Burgess.

But when this man, who was honoured with a Knighthood for his contribution to higher education in 2010, manages to carve out an opportunity to unwind off-campus, he can often be found patronising art galleries, enjoying Bradgate Country Park or holidaying in France.

Not only is Sir Robert responsible for making the University of Leicester one of the most respected seats of learning in the world, he has also helped to inject millions of pounds into the city’s economy. This was recognised in February, when the 64-yearold Vice Chancellor and academic received a Lifetime Contribution to Midlands Business Award. The region’s business, industry, civic and academic community honoured him with the prestigious title in recognition of his achievements in making the University of Leicester a powerhouse of innovation and technology during the last 12 and a half years in office.

Since his arrival in 1999 from Warwick, the University of Leicester’s turnover has more than doubled to £260 million and its estimated value to the city is £140 million per annum. The student population has risen to 23,000 and he has developed a major capital programme of £1 billion over the next 20 years which will provide employment and income to the local and regional economy.

As committed to realising the University’s ambitions as ever he says: “The University should be excellent in everything that it does. We are an ambitious institution that likes to see ourselves highly placed in league tables nationally and internationally. Currently the University is placed in the top 20 universities in the UK  and in  he top 2% of universities in the world, which places us in the top 200 universities worldwide.

“The University of Leicester strives to offer its 23,000 students an excellent education whether they are studying on campus or by distance learning. As far as the city is concerned, we contribute to the development of the professions (medicine, law and so on) and we also contribute to the generation of jobs in many areas of city life as well as contributing £700 million per year  to the local economy.”

Akin to commercial chief executives, Vice Chancellor Roberts is responsible for the academic and administrative oversight of the entire University. His agenda in any given week can overflow with duties, including acting as an ambassador for the University, meeting staff, chairing meetings locally and nationally as well as within the University, hosting dinners, meeting alumni and chairing interview panels to appoint senior staff.

Reflecting on his career highlights to date he says: “Clearly among the greatest achievements have been being awarded a Knighthood for services to higher education locally and nationally, winning the title University of the Year in 2008-09 and  winning the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Midlands Business Awards.

“I am also very proud of the fact that the University has performed so well over the last decade rising in league tables and being placed in the top ten universities in England for student satisfaction. In this particular year, we are placed third after Oxford and Cambridge for student satisfaction – a considerable accolade.

“The greatest challenges are how to keep the University of Leicester at the forefront of higher education in the UK, how to continue to expand, develop and enhance the facilities available to students and staff and how to arrange the University’s finances at a time when government support for teaching has been predominantly withdrawn from English higher education institutions.”

On June 1 the site of a new 460-acre woodland in The National Forest in Leicestershire throws open its gates to welcome its very first visitors.

The ‘Flagship Diamond Wood’ is within striking distance of Leicester, created on open land near the village of Normanton Le Heath. Eventually it will be the jewel in the crown of the Woodland Trust’s campaign to plant six million trees in the Queen Jubilee year.

The site’s first oak, ash, birch and rowan trees will be planted from November on reclaimed land, some of which was previously used as a coalmine. Conservation experts also hope the new habitat will attract at-risk species of wildlife including the lesser spotted woodpecker. Paths and trails will lead past a newly created lake and through the new woodland that is to be planted by teams of volunteers from the local community and groups of visiting schoolchildren.

Sprawling further than London’s Regent’s Park, Leicestershire’s Diamond Wood is the largest and most ambitious project undertaken by the
Woodland Trust since 2008 – in all, 300,000 trees are expected to be planted.

The open day in June is the first opportunity for the public to visit and find out more about plans for the site. Everyone is invited, especially families who want to join in with a special picnic to celebrate the project and the Queen’s Jubilee. Woodland crafts and activities will also figure in the special occasion.

The Woodland Trust launched a major campaign to raise the £3.3 million it needs to fund the Diamond Wood site and all 300,000 new trees needed.

“We need help to create woodland for the nation,” said Sue Holden, chief executive of the Woodland Trust, “to give everyone access to the beauty of the natural world and create a legacy for The Queen’s Jubilee.

“It’s a chance to celebrate the reign of one of our best-loved and longest-reigning monarchs while educating people about the need to increase woodland cover in the UK.

“We are one of the least wooded countries in Europe, so there’s an urgent need for more trees to help double native woodland cover in the UK. We need the help of people to make this happen whether it is through tree planting, giving time or through fundraising.”

As a whole The National Forest covers 200 square miles of land crossing the counties of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire.
It was launched with the objective to increase woodland cover within this area and has already planted some 7.8 million trees.

With the extension to the Forest made by the Diamond Wood it is hoped that numbers of resident birds such as the yellowhammer and
marsh tit will increase further, with insects and butterflies attracted to extended woodland edges and hedgerows.

More than 175,000 people have visited the Forest and participated in events over the last 15 years. The Woodland Trust hopes the new
woodland will attract new visitors and become a favourite location for people, schoolchildren and organisations from Leicester and around to visit and learn about nature.

For details visit Jubilee Woods project website www.jubileewoods.org.uk

Parking will not be available at the site on June 1, but shuttle buses will run from nearby car parks.

At Easter we celebrate the victory of good over evil, of love over hate, of life over death.In the life of Jesus, Christians believe we see something of the likeness of God himself, a God who entered human life and by giving himself totally to us has enabled us to share his eternal life after death. Easter is therefore a celebration of a victory and it is the source of the deepest Christian hope.

The cross which is the focus of all Christian worship reminds us (since it is empty) that Jesus was not defeated by his crucifixion but overcame the worst evil that human beings can commit by the power of his love, his sacrifice and his self offering. An Easter message for all To Pukaar Magazine readers, with warm wishes from the Right Reverend Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester.

That is why Christians see Easter as a time of rejoicing. That is why in Leicester we celebrate the festival with a great public drama of the death and resurrection of Jesus. And that is why I am delighted to wish you all a very happy Easter.”

How Leicester prepared for Easter

Lent, which began on Ash Wednesday, on February 22, signalled a series of public conversations held at Leicester Cathedral by the Bishop of Leicester. The talks in the Grand Hall of St Martin’s House were on the theme of ‘how to create an abundant common life’ and covered health, education, justice, economics and welfare. Sir Hugh Orde, president of the association of chief police officers and former chief constable of the police service of Northern Ireland, was in conversation with police from Leicestershire and the Bishop on how justice can be done and seen to be done in order to help our community to flourish.

Christ’s passion is also remembered through a re-enactment of the story of His crucifixion in Humberstone Gate, Leicester city centre, on Good Friday. The event is now in its 10th year and, with the exception of a few central professionals, the whole event is run by volunteers. That includes fund-raising – the event attracts an audience of some 10,000 people and costs almost £40,000 per year to stage. Grants contribute to the cost, but it is almost entirely dependent on donations.

A year after the assassination of Pakistan’s Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti his family is determined to continue the mission of the man they call a “diamond.”

“He was a lone voice but we want to follow in his path,” said his sister, Jacqueline, speaking after a memorial service in Toronto
which included his favourite hymn, Praise the Lord, sung in Urdu. “We all have to make sacrifices.”

“Pakistan is going through a difficult phase in history,” said his brother Dr Paul Bhatti, advisor to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who is promoting inter-faith dialogue in Pakistan. “So many are falsely accused of blasphemy.”

Dr Bhatti is chairman of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, which is calling for a Judicial Committee of Inquiry review into his brother’s murder case. The Alliance says the police have failed to uncover a motive or bring the culprits to justice. Arrests have been made but the case is far from a solution.

Shahbaz Bhatti was Pakistan’s only Christian minister, a courageous reformer who worked to free minorities from the draconian Blasphemy Laws which sanction the death penalty for insulting Islam, causing widespread suspicion, mob violence and murder.

On March 2, 2011 he was on his way to a cabinet meeting when he was gunned down in broad daylight in a residential area of Islamabad. His death provoked outrage and condemnation around the world, including from US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron, the Pope and other faith leaders.

Bhatti was travelling without security despite asking for protection after receiving death threats following the 2009 massacre of Christians in Gojra in the Punjab. He had just left his mother’s house when a white Suzuki Mehran stopped his car and assassins shot him a reported 30 times, leaving pamphlets at the scene signed by the Punjabi Taliban, Tehrik-i-Taliban. The group told the BBC they carried out the attack because Bhatti was “a known blasphemer.”

The pamphlets said: “In your fight against Allah, you have become so bold that you act in favour of and support those who insult the Prophet. And you put a cursed Christian infidel Shahbaz Bhatti in charge of the Blasphemy Laws review committee.”

Bhatti, who was 42, was the second highprofile opponent of the Laws targeted last year: two months previously Salmaan Taseer, the Punjab Governor, was shot by his own guard.

His daughter Shehrbano said, “Justice will be done. It may take 100 years but my father has taken the first step and others will  follow.”

The Blasphemy Laws were foisted on Pakistan by General Zia ul-Haq in 1986. More than 500 Muslims, 340 Ahmadis, 120 Christians, 15 Hindus and ten others have been charged under them.

“Once a law is made in the name of religion no one can touch it,” said Shehrbano Taseer,whose brother Shahzad is still missing after being abducted last August.

“The state has abdicated its responsibilities. The majority of our dignitaries and government officials are spineless. There is no will to implement existing laws. Why were four armed men allowed to drive around the capital city? Why did they carry Kalashnikovs? Why are guns given out so easily? And why did these men feel justified taking the law into their own hands?”

She says the state has failed to provide an alternative to extremists in terms of economic and educational opportunities. “The madrassa system – spewing venom and hatred left, right and centre – is not monitored and extremists are freely raising another generation.”

Bhatti’s close friend and parliamentary colleague Tahir Naveed said he believed Shahbaz did not die in vain. “As a direct result of his murder we have four more seats for minority parties. Our voice will be heard because of his sacrifice.”

Last March Pakistani officials condemned Bhatti’s killing, but TV stations quickly abandoned the story, concentrating on internal politics and the cricket. There is little appetite for investigation. Journalists are targets for attack: in January radio journalist Mukarram Khan Atif was dragged out of his mosque and shot. In the face of seeming state intransigence the world reacts with impotent outrage.

“The authorities have failed to bring Shahbaz Bhatti’s killers to justice and remain deafeningly silent on the issue of the Blasphemy Laws,” says Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). “Fear has been perhaps the chief characteristic of the period since Bhatti’s death, with an increasing number considering leaving the country.”

CSW says Bhatti’s former associates report a deterioration in the treatment of minorities, with the failure to bring his murderers to justice making them feel they are targeted with ever greater impunity.

Accusations of blasphemy continue: “The victims, as always, are forced to go into hiding. There has been an increase in abduction, rape, forced marriage and conversion against women and girls from minority communities.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, urges the Pakistan government to bring the guilty to justice and protect minorities:

“Most Muslim thinkers are embarrassed by supposedly ‘Islamic’ laws… that conceal murderous oppression and bullying. Their voices are widely noted; they need to be heard more clearly in Pakistan where part of the problem is the weakening of properly traditional Islam by the populist illiteracies of modern extremism.”

Ali Dayan Hasan, the Pakistan Director of Human Rights Watch, who moved his family to Britain last year after receiving threats, said:

“Bhatti’s ruthless and cold-blooded murder is a grave setback for the struggle for tolerance, pluralism and respect for human rights in Pakistan.”

Shahbaz Bhatti was “precious like a pearl, irreplaceable,” said his niece Christina Yusif. “A leader like that doesn’t just happen. We
miss him so much.”

His family urged him to move to Canada but though he predicted his own death at the hands of the Taliban he refused to go into hiding and said:

“I know the meaning of the cross and I’m following the cross and I’m ready to die for a cause. I’m living for my community and for suffering people.”

Shehrbano Taseer said: “The majority of Pakistani dignitaries fell silent after my father’s murder, but Bhatti spoke out and condemnedit. Many times. I will never forget that. He continued to support the revisions to the Blasphemy Laws. knowing he was up against a clerical tsunami. I salute his bravery.”

The national tourist board will roll out the red carpet for their Awards for Excellence 2012 at Athena, in Queens Street, on May 22.

Venues including Hotel Maiyango, Curve, Twycross Zoo and Bosworth Battlefield will vie for national accolades on the night, in what is the 22nd year of this coveted award. Leicester’s eight nominees claimed their places after winning Leicester and Leicestershire Excellence in Tourism Awards in February.

Of the eight are: Dandelion Hideaway, in Osbaston, which is Self Catering Holiday Provider of the year and Bed & Breakfast/Guest Accommodation of the Year, Horseshoe Cottage Farm, in Cropston.

The Spark Children’s Arts Festival marks its 10th birthday this year by packing more fantastic, creative and inspiring theatrical events than ever before into even more venues across the city.

Visual artists and actors unleash their programme of entertainment for the under 14s, from May 28 until June 10, ranging from opera for eight-year-olds at The Y Theatre, in East Street, to a performing potato at Embrace Arts, in Lancaster Road.

The Cultural Quarter is the “festival hub”, where Curve hosts, among other things, Clouds and dancers swinging through the air in Fly By Night, and Phoenix Square has a Retro Computer Museum and the Little Artists Gallery.

For more details of all festival shows, such as Julia Donaldson’s Tiddler and Other Terrific Tales, the opera My Mother Told Me Not To Stare, at The Y, and Potato Needs a Bath at Embrace Arts, visit www.sparkfestival.co.uk or call 0116 261 6893.

The city’s Vaisakhi procession, which is the third largest in the UK, is scheduled for April 22, leaving from Guru Nanak Gurdwara, Holy Bones, in Leicester.

Events will also be held at the Gurdwara Guru Panth Prakash, in Ashford Road, (on April 13 or 14) and in East Park Road from 11am on April 15.

The ancient Sikh festival, celebrated with vigour in Punjab, India, also marks the beginning of the Hindu solar New Year’s day. Vaisakhi has an important religious meaning – honouring the year Sikhism was born as a collective faith.

Many people choose to be baptised into the Khalsa brotherhood on this day, which is the name given to the nation of Sikhs.

Sikhs celebrate Vaisakhi as the day of the formation of the Khalsa. On that day, in 1699, Guru Gobind Singh (the tenth Sikh Guru) established the Khalsa and eliminated the differences of high and low and established that all human beings are equal.

Sikh followers generally attend the decorated Gurdwara temple, or “door that leads to the Guru”, before dawn, with flowers and offerings in hand. It is a day also associated with parades through towns, dancing and traditional singing. The festivities always include music, chanting scriptures, hymns and song.

A Vaisakhi event will also be held on May 4 at the Braunstone Civic Centre, in Kingsway, Braunstone Town. Residents have been invited to attend the annual celebration, which includes a disco and a hot meal of curry for all, from 7pm to 10pm.

Pauline Hurd, the manager of the Civic Centre, said everyone was welcome: “We do one every year, hosted by people of the community, where a crowd of over a hundred locals come together and have fun.”

Pauline added that city councillors also come along for the entertainment: “Anyone can come. We usually have people of all ages at
the event made up of families, friends and children.

“We all get together; it’s good for getting the community together and involved”.

On February 22 Leicester City Council voted to cut £20 million from its budget across the next two years, with cuts expected to result in 600 job losses.

The 63-year-old mayor delivered on 99 of his 100 pledges or “priorities for action” within the first 100 days in office, including highways repair work and helping boost the city’s night time economy with 100 new car parking spaces.

For example, before the city’s austerity budget was approved, city council highways officials announced that 4,000 potholes have been repaired during the elected mayor’s reign, followed by a promise to increase the city’s highways maintenance budget to continue the repair work.

Sir Peter told us that more effort was needed in his second year to attract investment into the city, if jobs were to be safeguarded.
He said: “The biggest challenge we face going into 2012 is what is happening to Leicester’s economy as a result of what is happening at a national level.

“We have to re-double our efforts to attract investment into the city, to retain and create jobs. All of this is happening at a time when the government is taking away our own finances and our ability to do things directly.”

Last May Sir Peter Soulsby became Leicester’s first directly-elected mayor, winning 46,948 votes – 55 per cent of the total number cast for all eleven candidates.

To contact the mayor with your suggestions for his second year in office email themayor@leicester.gov.uk or call 0116 252 8313.

Oliver Twist in mind, to a restaurant that promised to give me “more”.

Every meal at London Road’s plushest new venue (which fills the gaping hole left by Antibo’s) has been painstakingly planned to deliver more taste, more comfort and more attention to detail than any other venue in town.

MORE was 22 months in the planning and it shows in the details, right down to the luxury ice-cream served as standard, free wi-fi and daily deep-cleaned loos.

The restaurateur at its helm has high-end aspirations, and so far his creation has ticked all of the obvious boxes – from the pitch-perfect audio-visual system and steaming (quite literally, so stand back) induction-heated dishes of curries, to £300 bottles of Cristal champagne kept on ice.

All it took to whet my appetite was the South Indian dosa, freshly cooked and wrapped straight from the griddle, served with coconut chutney and sambhar. Next came succulent Desi Lamb curry, naan bread and a helping of ridiculously, sorry it can’t be helped, ‘more – ish’ Chill Paneer.

I quote funny-man Jimmy Cricket when I say, “and there’s more”… another jovial chef filled my third plate of food. This time, freshly char-grilled chicken tikka and shish kebabs.

MORE should woo diners who might otherwise snub the self-service concept. It replicates high-end all-inclusive resorts where dishes are cooked to order, or are replenished swiftly to satisfy streams of demanding diners, rather than left sitting.

Thousands of customers have sampled MORE’s cross-continental delights since October 13, 2011. Crowd-pleasing dishes include Chinese kung-po chicken, aromatic crispy duck, Mexican fajitas, masala fish, Portuguese piri-piri chicken, American malted waffles and Indian samosas. Vegetarian and vegan diners are specially catered for.