Panorama: Redcar, the steel town

 The SSI site in Redcar might be closed, but it still costs thousands every week. So how much will the bill come to and who will pay? Panorama has been trying to find out.  Watch

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Check out this recap of the last 25 days of BBC Panorama in Redcar  

#HandsOfRedcarTom, 28 "It’s a very dangerous place. I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a furnace or anything like that? It can be very dangerous. I was a plater welder by trade anyway so I’m used to getting burned and welded and stuff like that so I enjoyed it, I loved it, it was right up my street. I started on the steel plant after the first mothballing bringing the plant back up to scratch in 2011. The atmosphere was great, apart from when things were looking shaky, then everyones heads were down. You’re not going to be up all the time when you’re hearing rumours coming from Facebook and newspapers. It was a lot of pressure. I’m so glad I’ve got into renewable energy. It’s the perfect job, I’m over the moon. Basically I’m building the transition pieces, the yellow bit of the windmills sticking out of the sea. It’s definitely the future, to be honest, which is why I was over the moon that I got the chance to go show them that I’m a good lad, start with them and hopefully have a good future with them. I’m on a 12 week probation period. Anyone who says they’re not nervous about a probation period is lying! It’s great but like everything new you’re nervous to start with. It’s going to challenge me and that’s what I like. You just want to be in there, I’ve done 4 weeks and I’m showing willing, I’m keen and asking questions and I want to be there for a long time. That’s the main thing. I dreaded it, I didn’t want to come out of work. I’ve worked hard to get what I’ve got here - I’ve got my mortgage, my house, the kids, my nice car - everything. My car’s my pride and joy, I’ve worked hard to get that. It’s the green one out there, it’s tuned up to the max and it’s about 400 brake. It’s a proper beast! It’s wounding because I know that there are other lads who aren’t in work, lads that are still there and still waiting for the day to come when the axe drops and that’s it they’re all gone. You don’t want to rub it in when you’ve got something good, but then again they’re pleased for me. That’s how it is - there’s no guilt and we’ll all get sorted because we’re all good lads and it’s just a case of time and how long."  

Life in numbers: One mum tells us how a family copes after losing half their income.  Watch 

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Panorama understands the Official Receiver will not pay out to unsecured creditors owed money following the liquidation of SSI’s Redcar Steelworks. Hundreds of small business who supplied SSI will be left out of pocket. We met one of the suppliers recently http://on.fb.me/1TFtAFz

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As part of 50 days of special features on the town, BBC Panorama asks if buildings like this can help regenerate an area.  

Watch

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We meet schoolchildren affected by the closure of the Redcar steelworks.

Watch Part 1 here 

 As part of their residency in Redcar, BBC Panorama talk to schoolchildren who, like their entire community, have been affected by the closure of the steelworks in the region  

Meet Terry and Tom. They work for one of the many companies that have felt the knock-on effects of the closure of the Redcar steelworks

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A paintball arena? A nature reserve?

Maybe steelworks?

We asked what the recently closed ‪#‎Redcar‬ steelworks should be turned into. Here's your response 

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On Thursday night ‪#‎Redcar‬ turned on its Christmas lights in the town centre. We asked people what they thought of Christmas arriving on their High Street.  Watch 

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We've been asking people in the area if they want to stay or go. Stephen lives on his own in Loftus and hasn't been employed since 2010.

Watch

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"I had to have two Christmas lists - one for if my dad had a job, and one for if he didn't."

As part of their residency in Redcar, BBC Panorama talk to schoolchildren who, like their entire community, have been affected by the closure of the steelworks in the region. Watch 

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How does Kay see her future? Watch our full film here.

Kay also featured in our #HandsOfRedcar series. Read more here 

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Mike Gilbert worked at the South Bank coke ovens at Redcar steel plant, which were the first part of the facility to close.

It was the only job he'd ever had, and he was there for 31 years.

We caught up with Mike after he found out he didn't get the job. Watch 

Missed Mike's film? Watch http://bbc.in/20Zn3dD

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Contaminated ground - steelworks idle - hundreds of million of pounds to sort out - what should be done with the old Redcar site?  

Watch 

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WATCH

Mike Gilbert worked at the South Bank coke ovens at Redcar steel plant, which were the first part of the facility to close.

It was the only job he'd ever had, and he was there for 31 years.

Mr Gilbert lives with his wife Bridget and their 12 year old daughter just outside Darlington - half an hour's drive from Redcar. We meet them to find out what their future holds.

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Lord Heseltine says it's important to offer some hope for people who have lost jobs on Teesside.

He was appointed to head up an initiative in the North East to try to find work for people affected by recent job losses in the steel industry.

While on Teesside today, he told BBC Tees: "Job creation has been a quarterly occurrence in most parts of Teesside, so if they're going to lose their job - to be doing it at a time when jobs are being created in other industries and nearby localities is better than what I remember in Liverpool in 1981 when there were no jobs. It was utterly despairing."

via BBC Tees

#HandsOfRedcar More on our series can be found here http://bbc.in/1HIH5mc

Andy, 54 (Andy owns the Worx Cafe in Dormanstown right next to the steel works) “There’s lots of free parking here and all I could see were lots of guys sitting in their vans eating sandwiches. I used to be in the catering industry and I just had a brainwave and thought it would make a good cafe downstairs. It would give my wife a job, I could work at it part time, my daughter was coming up to an age where she was wanting employment, she could work in it - and it got that busy that it became my full time job.

 We were open for about three months before the steelworks was reopened and we got a massive boost in trade when that happened. Now obviously it’s closed we’re starting to feel the decline in the morning trade for breakfast, which is basically your contractors who are going into work and coming home from work. We’ve got a very good trade with other local businesses in the area and everyone’s just pulling together to be honest with you.

On the last day I got a very large telephone order to be collected, from all the girls who worked in Steel House, and that was actually their farewell meal. That was their last shift. She said on the phone ‘this is the last time we’ll be ordering from you’ and it was quite sad really. They ordered cold sandwiches, paninis, jacket potatoes, dumplings and steak pies. People like that you can’t replace. Since British Steel closed it’s been gradually getting worse rather than gradually getting better. It’s a worrying time.

We have seven members of staff here and three in the sandwich shop next door which we opened up a year ago. I have had the option to back out of the purchase but I’m not a defeatist. It’s got a good trade but if it doesn’t work I’ll close it down and open something else, a barbers shop maybe. You take a chance don’t you?”

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Coming up this week on BBC Panorama from ‪#‎Redcar‬ - we'll have a film from the SSI plant.

What do you think should happen to the site? Let us know

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Back from suspension, on as a sub, laid off as a steel worker, now a machine operator. Meet midfielder Joe 'Fergie' Ferguson. WATCH 

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Read our latest #HandsOfRedcar post from Kay, 48 - the only woman in the workshop.

Meet Karen and her husband John. She runs a sandwich store in Redcar. They talk about the mood of the town after the closure of the SSI steelworks, and what the future holds for Redcar. Watch the full film here 

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On October 12th, steelmaking at the Redcar steelworks ceased. Here are some world structures built from Redcar steel.  

Watch our video

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On Thursday we went to a firework display in Saltburn, just down the road from ‪#‎Redcar‬. Watch More

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Walk down Redcar High Street. It's similar to many in the UK - charity and pound shops. But one thing many have in common are these ‪#‎SaveOurSteel‬ posters. 

View the whole gallery here 

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Ernie, 83

"I was a 'sailorman' as they call it when I worked - doing all the heavy lifting. It was one of these places where you had to put as many hours in as you could to get a living wage. I used to work anything from 60 to 80 hours a week to get a living wage.I’m very proud of Redcar, I’ve lived here the same as my friend Les, 47 years. We must have moved around the same time. It’s near the sea and I’ve always liked the sea. The sea front was run down and now it’s been rebuilt. It’s a lovely sea front now. All the people come from round about just to sit on the seafront. Come down on a summer’s day and you’ll see them all eating their fish and chips and eating their ice creams. Doesn’t matter where you look they’re all eating ice cream or fish and chips.But the closure will have a bad impact. Something has to be done, we need more work in the area. We need to get work in for these people. You can’t close everything down and then turn around and say they’re all lazy buggers like, which people seem to do. They call people lazy if they’re not working but there’s no work to go to. If they had work to go to everything would be fine."

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From now until Christmas, Panorama will be in Redcar to report on life after a century of steel making. Watch more

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