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The West Midlands region has been poorly represented in national media and especially in fictional media forms. The Archers is therefore a very important part of representation of the region to the nation. These two representational elements — regional and national culture — are part of the BBC’s duties under the Royal Charter. As such, they form a core obligation for the BBC. For many years arguments have raged over whether Ambridge is located in Worcestershire or Warwickshire. This is, of course, largely a matter of interest within the region, but does have some wider implications about narrative fiction. Whilst, in one sense Ambridge and Borsetshire are purely fictional, they simultaneously have a potential impact on the national image of the West Midlands and especially its rural areas. This chapter will consider both reasons to suggest that The Archers is specifically drawn from the county of Worcestershire and issues of identity formation that may arise from the representations offered by The Archers of the county and the West Midlands region.

The introduction of a new lacquer finishing process, including ultravioletd curing, generated annual savings valued at £75,000 for furniture maker, Norman Cabinets Ltd of Evesham, Worcestershire.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the acquisition of clothing through informal trading channels by provincial working‐class consumers between 1800 and 1850. It argues that the informal trade fulfilled various functions for such consumers, both as buyers and sellers: clothing could be sold to raise cash quickly and bought at a cheap price, while the informal trade may also have reinforced local community networks and other social relationships.

The paper focuses on the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire to provide a case study that highlights any differences in informal networks arising out of geographical variations. Documentation for the informal trade has been gathered from records of court cases and newspaper reporting of criminal trials involving stolen clothing.

The informal trade in clothing involved everyday, ordinary clothing, usually sold for money, but often for goods in kind and/or social credit. The trade operated over all areas of the two counties and seems to have been an important method for acquiring cheap clothing where retail provision was not yet fully developed to cater for all social classes.

The link between all facets of retailing is highlighted, as is the importance of placing informal trading networks within their local retailing environment. Their success relied on participants' knowledge about the goods, on trust in each other and often on expectations of mutuality. The informal trade was an important strategy for working‐class clothing acquisition in both rural and urban areas. The trade in illicit clothing formed a large proportion of the informal trade, and its analysis also sheds light on the informal trade in licit clothing.

The importance of rehabilitation in promoting independence is recognised in current policy directives on the provision of care to older and disabled people, but has not been widely established within the spectrum of services provided by local authorities. AWorcestershire‐based re‐ablement service presents an effective model of joint working to provide comprehensive multidisciplinary assessments and a therapeutic intervention service aimed at reducing dependency and promoting service users' choice and control over their care programmes.

Peer support (PS) has, over recent years, been implemented across a variety of NHS adult mental health settings. In November 2015, peer support workers (PSW) were introduced to an Early Intervention in Psychosis Service (EIS) in the Midlands. The purpose of this paper is to focus on organisational factors, asking how do PS impact on an early intervention in psychosis multi-disciplinary team (MDT).

Six EIS MDT members participated in an hour-long focus group. The data were analysed using thematic analysis, in line with a qualitative methodology (Braun and Clarke, 2006).

Two themes were generated, including “The values of PS” (consisting of three sub-themes: improving service engagement; personal qualities; and the peer relationship); and “The peer support role” (consisting of three sub-themes: living experience; boundaries; and alternative perspectives). Findings imply that PS in the current EIS related to: improved service engagement and greater understanding between service providers and users; which could be linked to better outcomes for service users (such as reduced duration of untreated psychosis (DUP)).

It has been suggested that PSWs facilitate an improved understanding between service providers and service users (Repper and Watson, 2012). However, research into organisational and team benefits of PS is lacking, with a need for more exploration (Repper, 2013). The current study begins to address the lack of literature regarding the organisational impact of PS, and even further regarding early intervention.

‘What is to be done with our residential homes?’ The article examines the approach taken by one authority to modernising run‐down homes on a fast track, while doing justice to the needs and anxieties of the staff and residents and without mortgaging the future.

The purpose of this paper is to explore patients’ experiences of intentional mental health peer support (PS).

Seven in-depth interviews were carried out by an independent researcher with individual inpatients who volunteered via a PS worker following leaflet and poster distribution explaining the research on the two wards. Each recorded interview of 13 questions was transcribed verbatim by the researcher and analysis identified common themes across the interviews.

An overarching theme of communication with patients was identified together with six main themes: person centredness, practical support, building connections, emotional support, modelling hope and recovery interventions. There were no negative comments expressed by interviewees.

Small scale qualitative research allows in-depth exploration of experiences which is valuable in informing the further development of PS.

There are very few published reports of inpatient experiences of PS in inpatient settings.

This paper aims to describe three dementia assessment services for people with intellectual disabilities to provide professionals with insight into planning this type of service.

Three services in England were contacted via email and telephone to collect data on their service provision. They were asked about the average age of individuals when receiving a baseline assessment, frequency of follow-up assessment, assessment instruments used and descriptive aspects of their services.

All three services offered proactive dementia assessment services to people with Down's syndrome (DS), with one service providing systematic screening via the GP. None offered proactive screening to people with intellectual disabilities who did not have a diagnosis of DS. All offered reactive assessment to this population if they experienced a decline in function. Services differed in terms of age at which baseline assessments were offered, frequency of follow-up and instruments used.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to compare dementia assessment provision between different services in England.

Because of COVID-19 restrictions, Meeting Centres (MCs) for people affected by dementia in the UK ceased to meet physically but continued to provide remote support. The aim was to understand the extent to which MCs were able to operate when physical meetings were not possible and how they achieved particularly in relation to the adaptation and coping model and practical, emotional and social adjustment.

Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with people affected by dementia, staff, volunteers, managers and trustees from MCs. Data were collected on the type and quantity of contact MCs had with people affected by dementia during lockdown. Data were coded and mapped against adaptation and coping strategies, i.e. practical understanding and empowerment, optimising emotional well-being and opportunities for social engagement.

A range of remote approaches, both technological (e.g. using online platforms) and non-technological (e.g. newsletters and post) were implemented alongside limited face-to-face contact. Regular MC activities were adapted using the different approaches. It was possible to map all the adaptation and coping model support strategies to the activities delivered in this way. MCs were able to adapt rapidly to continue to support people to adjust to change.

Moving forward, combining approaches (usual MC and remote) means person-centred support could be optimized, addressing social isolation and reaching those who cannot attend MCs.

This paper offers new insight into the extent to which community-based support for people with dementia can continue when face-to-face contact is not possible because of COVID-19.