Following the success of the first special shown on ITV1 in October 2017, the extraordinary work of the MOD’s ‘War Detectives’, part of Defence Business Services (DBS), will be appearing on the small screen once again as part the current series of Long Lost Family. Long Lost Family: The Unknown Soldiers, will broadcast on ITV1 at 21.00 on Monday 18 July.

The second episode, presented by Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell, follows what the War Detectives have described as a “once in a lifetime case”: nine soldiers of the Great War found buried on a roadside in Belgium. The hour long special will also feature soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and members of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and Cellmark who were also involved.

Each year the remains of British service personnel killed in both World Wars are found by farmers, builders and archaeologists worldwide. Davina and Nicky follow the team, who are based in DBS Innsworth House in Imjin Barracks, Gloucester, as they use military and historical research to investigate these finds and work to trace surviving families so that a DNA comparison can be made that hopefully confirms an identity.

Nicky and Davina meet the families of the fallen heroes, helping them to form a picture of their relative and finally laying them to rest with a poignant full military burial at Tyne Cot Cemetery in Ypres, Belgium.

Davina spoke positively of the continued efforts of the JCCC Commemorations Team when she said:

“It’s such a privilege to witness the amazing work that the MOD War Detectives does. To be able to answer people’s lifelong questions about what happened to their missing soldiers is incredible and to lay these soldiers to rest in named graves, after more than a hundred years, is extremely moving.”

The programme follows the team’s journey through the frustrations and breakthroughs as they attempt to piece together the life of the soldiers, from the time they left British shores to their final steps on the battlefield.

Caseworker Nicola Nash from the MOD War Detectives, said:

“The work we do in identifying these brave men is extremely important not only to us, but to the British Armed Forces as a whole, which I think this episode portrays so beautifully.

“It has been an amazing experience filming with Long Lost Families. From meeting Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell for the first time to watching the final edit, it has been an experience I will never forget.”

Tracey Bowers, MOD War Detectives team lead, said:

“When ITV asked to work with us again, I was delighted and proud but also apprehensive knowing what additional work this entailed, not just for the team but colleagues across DBS and wider MOD who’s help and assistance we rely upon, such as the Commercial Team who helped write the filming contact.

“Having been through the process once things were slightly easier but adding Covid into the mix, not being able to travel and therefore film things in a chronological order, made for interesting times!”

Brigadier Caroline Hull, Head of DBS’s Armed Forces and Veterans Services, said:

“It is a privilege to support all UK Armed Forces Personnel, whether they are serving in uniform today or have previously given loyal service.

“It is also important for the families of those who died in both World Wars, and for the nation, to know that the Ministry of Defence continues to provide for support for individuals in the Military Community who might otherwise be forgotten. I am delighted that through close cooperation with all our partners, we can provide a dignified, military burial to those who died in World War 1 and 2, and wherever possible, with the family in attendance.

“I am grateful that this programme shines a bright light on one of the unique roles we as part of Defence Business Services deliver, and will continue to deliver, for years to come.”

Follow @wardetectives on Facebook for regular updates on cases, appeals for relatives and details of future services.

You have the power to protect, and the shared responsibility to prepare. Become a part of a community working together to protect the nation, preparing for resilience in the face of future obstacles.

ProtectUK provides vital information, official guidance and leading advice, helping you to detect vulnerabilities and connecting you with the best resources.

It is a space for individuals, communities, businesses, government and policing to come together, uniting on a shared mission to increase safety and security across the nation.

ProtectUK has been developed by the Counter Terrorism Alliance, a focussed collaboration of three leading organisations: NaCTSO, Homeland Security Group (Home Office) and Pool Reinsurance. As part of this venture ProtectUK links in with a range of other leading government and policing bodies to ensure the platform has the latest, up to date guidance that can help businesses and individuals protect their staff, customers and location.

There is a strong need to support businesses to prepare and protect their premises, offering them access to resources that help them ensure they have the security measures in place that take into account the ever evolving threat of terrorism.

Along with guidance from NaCTSO, CPNI and more, ProtectUK offers access to the award winning ACT Awareness e-learning, helping you to refresh your counter terrorism awareness.

To ensure we keep users up to date with the latest in the world of counter terrorism, ProtectUK hosts webinars, provides regular news updates and offers forums for discussions, helping you connect with other professionals to discuss and ask questions around the world of security.

The world renowned ACT App has also been rebranded as the ProtectUK App, offering key, actionable content on the go. The ProtectUK App is available on the Apple and Android app store.

We look forward to welcoming you to ProtectUK and look forward to you coming on this journey with us.

For all current and future NaCTSO guidance, please visit www.protectuk.police.uk. This NaCTSO page will no longer be updated with guidance.

Many of those breakdowns could have been avoided if drivers had carried out basic vehicle checks before setting off including checking their tyres.

Now National Highways, which is responsible for motorways and major A roads across the country, has launched a new campaign reminding drivers to check their tyres regularly and always before long journeys.

Tyre issues were the main reason during 2021 that people broke down on National Highways roads with 41,560 people doing so, compared to 35,892 in 2020 when traffic numbers were impacted by the Covid-19 lockdowns. So far this year, there have already been more than 19,300 breakdowns due to problems with tyres.

National Highways Head of Road Safety, Jeremy Phillips, said:

With schools breaking up for summer soon there will be more people on the roads and taking longer journeys. We know that breaking down can be a very upsetting experience, nobody wants to start off their holiday stranded at the side of the road, next to fast moving traffic.

So we are reminding drivers to check their vehicles, particularly the tyres, before setting off. Unsafe tyres put you and others at risk as well as running the risk of attracting a hefty fine and penalty points.

A simple check on tyre tread and pressure could prevent a breakdown and make sure you get to your destination safe and sound.

The summer holiday period is the busiest time of year for breakdowns, National Highways figures show.

In 2021 there were 21,307 breakdowns on the network in July and 20,526 in August, an average of 5,000 breakdowns each week.

As well as running the risk of a breakdown, driving without the legally required amount of tread on tyres can adversely affect grip, braking distance and steering.

While driving with under-inflated or over-inflated tyres can adversely affect braking distances, steering, fuel efficiency and the lifetime of tyres.

If stopped by the police while driving with illegal tyres, motorists face fines of £2,500 and three penalty points per tyre.

National Highways’ advice to motorists is:

• ensure tyre pressures are suitable for the load and check the condition of tyres, including the spare.
• look out for cuts or wear across the whole tyre including sidewall.
• all tyres are legally required to have a minimum tread depth of 1.6mm – to check your tyres place a 20p coin into the main grooves of the tread. If you can’t see the raised outer rim of the coin (with the words “Twenty pence” engraved), then the tyre has sufficient tread depth

Each vehicle has a different recommended tyre pressure, which may vary depending on the load you’re carrying. You can usually find this on the inside of the driver’s door, petrol cap or in your vehicle manual.

Stefan Hay, National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) Chief Executive, said:

The latest statistics show that tyres remain the most common reason behind breakdowns on the strategic road network. This comes as no great surprise to the NTDA, as our own research showed that 60% of motorists questioned, admitted to never checking their tyres and most had very little knowledge regarding tyre management issues such as the legal tread depth limit.

The NTDA and its members are delighted, therefore, to once again support National Highways with this extremely important Summer Tyre Safety Campaign.

For more advice visit the National Highways website.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the National Highways customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the National Highways press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

This financial year the British Embassy is seeking to support projects that will aim to achieve the following objectives:

1.Support Kazakhstan to meet its climate change goals, including, but not limited to the following topics:

1.1. Promote a Central Asian vision for joint climate change action at COP27/28.

1.2. Support the development of Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) principles in Kazakhstan, particularly in the mining and energy sector.

1.3. Develop climate-related data, particularly around measuring pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and their impact on public health, and including gender in datasets. 1. Help Kazakhstan to promote food security and sustainable agriculture through the support to the wheat, seed oil and other agricultural sectors. 2. Support Kazakhstan to fulfil its international human rights obligations in one of the following areas:

3.1 Assist Kazakhstan in building National Preventive Mechanisms and a strong legal framework to (legally) support torture victims in Kazakhstan.

3.2 Support Kazakhstan in its efforts to promote media freedom and protecting the rights of journalists.

3.3 Promote the concept of a “Just Transition” to a low carbon economy and the Powering Past Coal Alliance in Kazakhstan.

3.4 Strengthen and promote women’s rights and political leadership, particularly in the Government.

1. Assist Kazakhstan in improving the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) offer within its WTO commitments.

Bid Guidance:

• Projects are funded for a single financial year that will end on 31 March 2023, with no expectation of continued funding beyond this period.
• All project activity should be completed by 15 February 2023 to allow payments to be finalised well in advance of 31 March 2023.
• This financial year, the British Embassy will fund a maximum of 3 projects with the maximum budget limit of $46,000 per project.
• This call for bids is a non-committal enquiry i.e. if you submit your project proposal, this will not necessarily guarantee any project funding from the Embassy.

Assessment:

Bids will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Alignment with the above mentioned objectives.
• Project outputs and objectives are achievable within the funding period.
• Sustainability demonstrating that project benefits continue after the funding ends.
• Clear risk management and financial accountability procedures.
• The organisation’s safeguarding policies that ensure protection of beneficiaries.
• Overall value for money.

Process:

1. Project proposals must be submitted to: ukinkz@fcdo.gov.uk and Assemgul.Kaliyeva@fcdo.gov.uk by midnight (Kazakhstan time) on Sunday 24 July 2012. Late proposals will not be considered.
2. Proposals must be submitted using the attached forms only. Your bid should include completed Project Proposal, Activity Based Budget and Due Diligence Questionnaire.
3. We aim to notify the successful bidders by 29 July 2022.
4. Grant agreements/MoUs must be signed with successful project implementers by 5 August 2022. Should there be any delay, we have complete discretion to withdraw the offer of funding. Grant Agreement and MoU (the latter is signed with international development organisations only) templates can be found here:

Grant Agreement Template (MS Word Document, 107 KB)

MoU Template (MS Word Document, 127 KB)

Revisions to the Grant Agreement and MoU templates will not be accepted. You must agree to sign them in their existing format (if successful) as part of the bidding process for us to consider your bid. Please confirm this in writing when submitting your bid (email confirmation will be sufficient).

Contacts:

If you have any questions, we encourage you to send your queries to: Assemgul.Kaliyeva@fcdo.gov.uk

Forms