Anna Loucah may not be a familiar name to you (yet!) but the Brighton bespoke jeweller made waves on the red carpet at the recent Golden Globe awards. Livia, wife of The King’s Speech actor, Colin Firth, has developed the ‘green carpet’ project where she aims to wear only ethically sourced items. Anna Loucah works closely with Livia to create special handmade jewellery using entirely ethically sourced materials. The result? Recycled 18ct white gold from Hoover and Strong, ethically sourced rubies and purple spinel from Ruby Fair, and South Sea pearls from the carbon neutral company Jersey Pearl and studded with conflict free black diamonds making up some stunning pieces of jewellery. Anna’s pieces will be auctioned on behalf of Oxfam at the end of March. Until then they are on display at Baroque Bespoke Jewellery in Brighton.
www.annaloucah.com

MAC DOES Wonder woman
Get in on the action as MAC cosmetics launches its Wonder Woman collection. Think bold eye shadows, larger than life lashes, oversized lipglass plus accessories including compact mirrors, application brushes and make-up bags. Bright, fun packaging to liven up your make-up bag for spring, plus the trusted brand MAC behind the wonderful cosmetics. Wonder-ful!
Available exclusively at Selfridges and Selfridges.com now, and at all MAC counters and www.maccosmetics.co.uk from 3 March.

What is… IDD Therapy?
Intervertebral Differential Dynamics or IDD TherapyTM is an innovative back pain treatment new to the UK. Developed in the USA to treat slipped discs and degenerative disc disease, The Sussex Back Pain Clinic is one of only five certified facilitators in the UK. Treatment is safe, non-invasive and extremely effective. The computer targets selected vertebrae on either side of a chosen disc. As the vertebrae are drawn apart pressure is relieved on the disc and on trapped nerves and pain relieved. This also promotes the flow of nutrients into the disc to promote proper healing. Essentially, it’s a bit like gentle stretching. Sussex Back Pain Clinic started running clinics in November 2010 and already have a number of success stories. They provide monthly demonstrations on IDD Therapy, delivered by qualified practitioners.
www.sussexbackpainclinic.co.uk

Wave reads

You Are What You Hear by Harry Witchel is a new book on music and the brain. Why do some people like rap music and others Beethoven? It’s all explored in this new read. Witchel also gets behind the science of ‘we are what we hear’ in Brighton Science Festival. Catch him at the Big Science Saturday on 5 March and prepare to delve even deeper into the subject…

March’s must-have product

If you put up with those niggling aches and pains but they always persist then make sure you check out the new Phytodol spray. We’ve all heard of joint care supplements, but this spray eliminates the need for taking capsules, which may be a delight for many! The spray contains glucosamine hydrochloride. Glucosamine is a natural substance found in the body that helps the formation and repair of cartilage. It’s ideal for the maintenance of healthy joints, and with fragrances of ginger and cinnamon, it’s pleasant for the senses too! The new Phytodol Spray is available from Holland & Barratt and all good health food stores, £14.49,
www.vitahealthcare.com

Alcon Entertainment’s “Dolphin Tale” is inspired by the amazing true story of a brave dolphin and the compassionate people who banded together to save her life. “Dolphin Tale” is an uplifting, fun adventure about the healing bonds of family, both human and animal.

Available on 3D Blu-rayTM, Blu-ray Triple Play, DVD and Digital Download from 13th February 2012 For your chance of winning this amazing prize, answer this simple question:
Dolphin Tale is based on the true story of this dolphin who gets caught in a crab trap when she is young. This actual dolphin plays herself in the film. Name the dolphin.

To be in with a chance to win, email competitions@thelatest.co.uk, with the name of the competition in the subject box and your answer to the question in the body of the email. Don’t forget to give your name, address and telephone number. Closing date for entries: Monday 5 March 2012.

Terms and Conditions:
Competition open to UK residents only
No cash alternative is available
Please allow up to 28 days prize delivery from competition close date.

©2012 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved

©2012 Alcon Film Fund, LLC. All rights reserved.

Upstairs At Three And Ten, 21 February 2012
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Victoria Nangle

Connaught Theatre, Worthing, 21 February 2012
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Lee Stevens

It has almost four unemployment claimants for every job vacancy, say researchers, compared with almost 80 in Hull, the toughest place on the list.

Aberdeen topped the survey with fewer than one claimant for every job while Brighton came in ninth.

Brighton was said to be good for call centre work – and D&G, the call centre specialist based in Queen Square, Brighton, said before Christmas that it was looking for more staff.

London had fewer than two claimants per vacancy with demand strong for secretaries and estate agents, according to the online jobs site Adzuna.co.uk.

The picture among 18 to 24-year-olds was less rosy, according to a recent presentation at a Brighton and Hove City Council meeting.

Tom Perrigo, from the council’s economic development team, set out the position at a planning, employment, economy and regeneration cabinet member meeting at Hove Town Hall.

Mr Perrigo said that almost a fifth of 18 to 24-year-olds were not in education, employment or training (Neet) in Brighton and Hove.

This percentage of Neets was among the highest in the south.

However, the percentage of those in the same age group who were claiming jobseeker’s allowance was just 5 per cent.

The south east average was 5.3 per cent, he said, while the average across Great Britain was 7.8 per cent.

And to stop using the chemical cosh of antipsychotic drugs as a way of controlling dementia sufferers’ behaviour.

An official report said that earlier diagnoses would give them better care, a better quality of life and save taxpayers’ money in the long run.

The report was presented to council and health chiefs yesterday (Monday 20 February) at Hove Town Hall.

It said: “There are approximately 3,000 people in Brighton and Hove with dementia.

“Within Brighton and Hove we are expecting an increase of dementia prevalence of about 30 per cent by 2030.

“Only 32 per cent of people in Brighton and Hove with dementia are identified as having a formal diagnosis.

“This is in the bottom 20 per cent in the country in terms of diagnosis rates and therefore is a priority area for development.

“Lack of diagnosis is a key factor that prevents people seeking the treatment they need and being offered support early enough.”

The report said that evidence pointed to significant benefits if people are supported from an early stage after the signs of dementia start to show.

The benefits included

• the improved wellbeing of people with dementia – and their carers
• less likelihood of crises
• less need for costly intensive help such as hospital admission
• a delayed need for residential and nursing care

The report was presented to the Joint Commissioning Board, made up of representatives of Brighton and Hove City Council and Brighton and Hove City Teaching Primary Care Trust.

The report, presented by Anne Foster, locality and transformation programme manager, contained the board’s Joint Dementia Plan and said: “Improving the rate of diagnosis is the cornerstone of the Joint Dementia Plan.”

It also said that hospitals and care homes had to get better at looking after dementia sufferers.

And doctors and care home staff should rely less on the “chemical cosh” of antipsychotic drugs to deal with the sometimes challenging behaviour of people suffering from dementia.

The drugs sedated patients but could be harming them, causing strokes and premature deaths.

The report said: “There has been increasing national concern about the over-prescribing of antipsychotic drugs to deal with the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia.

“The evidence suggests that these drugs have limited positive effects in treating these symptoms for 70 per cent of patients but can cause significant harm including increased mortality and stroke.

“The 2012-13 NHS Operating Framework identifies a target of a two thirds reduction in antipsychotic prescribing.”

GP surgeries across Brighton and Hove have been audited twice in the past three years as part of a drive to cut inappropriate prescribing of sedative drugs for dementia patients.

Health chiefs said that they would pay to help teach doctors how to come up with better ways of caring for these patients.

Similar work is under way at the Royal Sussex County Hospital and within the Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust.

At the Royal Sussex, the report said: “This programme of work has included an audit of anti-psychotic medication to people with dementia in the acute hospital with a view to ensure this is done only when necessary and with frequent medical review of safety.”

A dementia specialist is being funded to work at the hospital for a year from April to help educate clinical staff.

One of the challenges identified in the report was to ensure that dementia patients are fed properly in future.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Sussex, has invited an expert on the subject to address its Nursing and Midwifery Conference on Monday 21 May.

He is Peter Ashley, who worked with the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to develop dementia guidelines and who has had dementia diagnosed himself.

The report said that the total cost of caring for older people with mental health needs in Brighton and Hove was estimated to be £21 million a year.

Dementia sufferers were cared for in hospital, by mental health services, in residential homes and nursing homes, the report said. Many were looked after by relatives.

The report suggested that the Royal Sussex rarely knew how many of its patients were dementia sufferers and that this often led to slower recoveries and longer stays than necessary.

This problem was probably costing the hospital £6 million to £8 million a year – more than was spent on specialist care homes locally.

The report said that more than a thousand dementia patients who had had the condition diagnosed – and more who hadn’t – were admitted to the Royal Sussex in the most recent financial year.

And in one snapshot survey the hospital found that 44 per cent of patients on medical wards had a diagnosis of dementia.

The Joint Commissioning Board was told that money earmarked by the South East Coast Strategic Health Authority to tackle dementia had been withdrawn as part of the recent public spending cuts.

Brighton and Hove’s health chiefs have now set aside money to improve care and treatment for dementia patients but the changes will be slower than planned.

At one point during the presentation of the report, as the obstacles were explained, Denise D’Souza told colleagues: “I sense the frustration in the room.”

The Joint Commissioning Board approved the Brighton and Hove Joint Dementia Plan in principle.

It also asked for financial details to be provided about one aspect of the plan – the Memory Assessment Service – at the board’s next meeting on Monday 23 April.

The victim suffered and scratches and bruises during the attack in the early hours of last Wednesday (15 February).

The details emerged this afternoon (Tuesday 21 February) after a second sex attacker struck in the early hours of this morning.

Detectives do not believe that the two attacks were carried out by the same man.

Sussex Police said in a statement: “A 20-year-old woman has said she was sexually assaulted by a man when she was walking on the university campus in the early hours of this morning.

“Detectives are also investigating another allegation of sexual assault on the university campus in the early hours of Wednesday 15 February.

“At around 5.15am a woman in her late teens reported being assaulted while walking through the campus.

“The victim said the man also threatened her with a knife and sexually assaulted her.”

Detective Inspector Ian Still, of Brighton and Hove CID, said: “Sussex Police has been working closely with Sussex University to establish the circumstances surrounding these two reported assaults.

“Following the reported sexual assault last week warnings and advice were issued to all students who live in the vicinity and published on the university website and staff at the university about how to keep safe while walking alone at night and services offered to students to assist them in getting home safely.

“I would encourage anyone who is walking alone on the campus at night to be vigilant and aware and use the services offered by the university if you are worried.

“Although there are similarities with the both incidents at this stage we do not believe they are linked.

“The investigation into the reported sexual assault in the early hours of this morning is in its early stages and the circumstances are still being established.”

Anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious about the time of either incident is urged to call Sussex Police on 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Funding for the vehicle is due to be cut if the Greens’ budget proposals go through as they stand.

The Labour group said: “Councillors have been bombarded with emails and letters asking for the service to be saved.”

An amendment to the Brighton and Hove City Council budget by Labour would mean that the mobile library vehicle could be replaced.

It suggests using any new vehicle as a mobile advice centre.

Labour said: “This will mean that the voluntary sector will be able to take their advice surgeries out on the road, providing essential support to people across the city.

Councillor Gill Mitchell, the opposition Labour group leader, said: “This new and innovative way of using the mobile library will mean that everyone, from the young to the old, will be able to carry on using a service they love but with the added bonus of having advice on their doorstep.”

Councillor Jeane Lepper, who has been working on the rescue plan, said: “Once again, we have shown that we are the listening party, who are on the side of residents across the city.

“I am delighted that we have found money to be able to help save this vital service and I hope that the Tories and Greens can bring themselves to support it this Thursday.”

The Greens said that the bus was nearing the end of its working life, had become expensive to maintain and would be too costly to replace.

It is to be based in Woodingdean while a new library is built there.

She said that a man pushed her to the ground near Lewes Court and sexually assaulted her before running off.

She called Sussex Police at about 4.40am to say that she had been attacked as she walked through the university grounds a couple of hours earlier.

He was described as a 6ft 1in tall white man with fair hair and facial hair and aged in his mid twenties.

Detective Inspector Ian Still, of Brighton and Hove CID, said: “This investigation is in its early stages and we are currently working with the victim to establish an account of exactly what happened.

“We are keen to hear from anyone who was in the area in the early hours of this morning and may have heard anything or saw anyone acting suspiciously.”

Sussex Police said that a scene guard was in place at the university.

Witnesses or anyone with information about the attack is asked to call Sussex Police on 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

You play both Johnny Blaze and the Ghost Rider this time around, was that a major appeal for you, actually playing the Ghost Rider?
“Yeah, I mean, that was an opportunity to experiment with movement and my state of mind, to really believe I was this character. It was actually Brian Taylor [director] who had the idea for me to do that; he was an enormous advocate of it.”

Did your family have a word with you about taking extra caution when you were riding the motorcycle during filming?
No! She [wife Alice Kim] loved it. She thought it looked great. She thought it was a very sexy motorcycle, she even wanted to have a ride on it. The truth is, I was blessed to work with the Yamaha V-max. I have had my experiences on several different motorcycles and they’re the best. If you think something, that you want the bike to do, it’ll happen. My life insurance today tells me that I’m not allowed to ride motorcycles in my own life, so whenever I get the chance to do a movie and ride a bike, I go for it.”

You appear to be getting in touch with your spiritual side while playing both parts. Did you experience anything inexplicable
or supernatural while filming?
“I’m of the opinion that everything supernatural is in the imagination. I had wonderful flights of fancy in my imagination as I was playing the Ghost Rider. I can’t say that anything outside the realm of the natural occurred while filming though.”

How did you find shooting the movie in Romania?
“Romania was kind of a spooky cool place to make a movie and in fact the castle, the alleged Vlad Tepes castle, was there. It just added to the charm of it and to ride my motorcycle out there and to be around all those kind of scary energies that were beautiful in some way, I just think it stimulated me.”

Are there any challenges that you face as an actor in relation to filming in 3D?
“I see 3D as a tool to be used when it suits the character or the storyline. I think it’s not something that you should use all the time, it’s just another paintbrush to work with. Ghost Rider is a character, I think that matches well with 3D. The chain can go into the audience and the fire and the motorcycle and so all of that I wanted to see in Spirit Of Vengeance.”

In the great range of characters that you have played over the years, are Johnny Blaze and the Ghost Rider your favourites?
“Ghost Rider was a character that had an enormous influence on my childhood, you know, I was eight when I discovered Ghost Rider and in fact, I had the very first comic. I would stare at that picture, of that cover, and I couldn’t get my head around how something so terrifying to look at, who was in fact using forces of evil, could also be considered good. How is this a super hero? So it was like my first philosophical awakening. This movie isn’t sanctimonious at all. It’s about pop art. It’s about having fun. It’s about going along for the ride. If you want to compete in this day and age with other comic book films, and every other movie is one, you have to provide an alternative and Ghost Rider does that.”

You’re a huge comic book fan. Do you have any favourite characters from the comics you read as a child and now?
“I’ve always liked the monsters. I like the Hulk. I feel bad for him or I did as a child. I want to make it clear though, there might be a little bit of misperception about me, blowing out of proportion my love of comics. Yes, I’m loyal to them, like Rose-Bud in Citizen Kane, I love the influences of my childhood but I’m not up at 4am with a stack of Spider-Man comics and a tray of cookies!”

You seem drawn to playing the anti-hero characters. What do you think it is about them that attracts you?
“I am attracted to characters that have some obstacle to overcome, whether it’s inside of them or outside of them, because to me that’s drama.”

Are there any real life people who you would like to play?
“Generally, my instinct is to not do biographical movies. I want to build characters and not be locked into playing a part in history, for me, what’s interesting is creating somebody and introducing you to that person. I don’t want to play other people that I know of per se.”

Given the incredible variety of roles you have played over the years, do you ever regret that you never got to be Superman as it was once suggested?
“No. The only regret I have is not having a chance to work with Tim Burton. I hope that some day we will work together. I know it would be special. But as far as that particular character goes, I have no regrets. I think that Ghost Rider is a far better match for me.”

Finally, what scared you as a child, and does anything scare you now?
“I think I’m always fearful of something happening to people I love, that doesn’t go away. What scared me as a child was Lon Chaney as the Phantom Of The Opera. The mask would come off and I’d see his face and it would just really freak me out. Of course now, I love him for it. What does that say about my human psychology? I love Lon Chaney for scaring me like that.”

Ghost Rider 2: Spirit Of Vengeance, in 3D and 2D, is in cinemas now.