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She’s leading the coverage of the Commonwealth Games, has a new animal series out soon, and is a radio favourite – so what’s the secret to Clare’s broadcasting success?

By Alison James n a manic media world awash with TV and radio presenters, Clare Balding is most definitely a cut-above – and we’re not referring to her upper class background.

Veteran BBC broadcaster Des Lynam has commented that “no one is doing the job better than La Balding” and she’s received numerous awards and accolades – including an OBE. She achieved National Treasure status through her faultless yet warm and witty coverage of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, and is in constant demand as a sports presenter and commentator.

However she’s one of the very few broadcasters to have made the leap from sports presenting to mainstream entertainment – she presents quiz shows, hosts radio shows, fronts documentaries and factual programmes.

Next month, Clare and TV vet Steve Leonard are on screen presenting a new three-part BBC1 series, Operation Wild, in which they join teams of pioneering vets around the world using the most cutting edge techniques to save the lives of animals. She also writes books – her memoir My Animals and Other Family, published in 2012, was an award winning best seller, and a second book, Walking Home: My Family and Other Rambles, is published in September. But before all that she’s in Scotland, ‘anchoring’ the BBC’s coverage of the Commonwealth Games and, once again, her enthusiasm is infectious.

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Why Clare’s star keeps

“I love the Commonwealth Games,” she was quoted as saying last month. “They’re different and unique – for instance the Games feature non-Olympic sports such as netball, and they’re especially exciting for us Brits as the British ‘nations’ of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are competing against each other.”

So what is the secret to Clare’s success? Well, she knows her stuff... Her passion for her work – whether broadcasting about sport, animals, rambling, or the history of suffragettes – is palpable but Clare is also always up to speed with background knowledge, facts and figures. She always does her homework.

“I have a very enquiring mind and am lucky enough to do a job where I am constantly stimulated and challenged.

But I always do my research – you can’t go on TV or broadcast on the radio and just make it up. You have to put in a hell of a lot of research, which, fortunately, I love as I’m an absolute nerd for random facts and figures about places and people. I find live broadcasts exciting and I do get very enthusiastic about what I’m doing. I think it is better to go into an event Clare with dad, Ian Balding, former horse trainer to the Queen and and be enthusiastic right, with her beloved dog Archie, a black and white Tibetan terrier

RISIN

❙ star chat ❙

NG! ‘The viewers don’t want to know about me. They want to hear what the person I’m interviewing has to say – or about the event I’m covering’

about it and want to share the excitement of it.”

In addition to Clare’s knowledge, enthusiasm and natural wit there’s no ‘know it all/aren’t I wonderful?’ element to her. Clare does empathy rather than ego.

“The viewers don’t want to know about me, they want to hear what the person I’m interviewing has to say – or about the event I’m covering. I learnt this years ago when interviewing the actor Omar Sharif about his love of horse racing. I started asking questions which I knew would show him I knew a lot about racing, too.

Suddenly I thought, ‘Don’t do that – he doesn’t need to know what you know about racing. The viewers want to know what he knows about racing.’ After that, I started asking the right questions and hope I still do.”

Clare is typically selfdeprecating when asked what she feels her X factor might be. “I think perhaps I’ve got a certain amount of credibility because I have a way of doing things that’s not gender specific. I didn’t get the job on my looks and have never been a flirt. I hope I’m proof that girls like me are no longer excluded from being on TV. I’ve been very fortunate and was also lucky enough to have been born with a positive attitude.”

It was this positivity that Clare (43), drew on when, in 2009, she was diagnosed with cancer of the thyroid gland – although initially she was in denial.

“I just pretended it wasn’t happening,’ she recalls. “I couldn’t take it in. My partner Alice (broadcaster Alice Arnold) kept asking me what the consultant had said to me and I realised I didn’t know. She ended up coming to all my consultations so we’d then know what was happening.

I didn’t want anyone apart from Alice and my close family to know.

I couldn’t deal with everyone else’s fear, the look in their eyes and the way their voices dropped when they spoke to me. I was lucky; thyroid cancer is one of the more treatable cancers. I was successfully treated after three operations and two lots of radioactive iodine therapy.”

Clare works tirelessly for numerous charities, including the South Bucks Hospice Butterfly Appeal. She became its patron in 2012 after the death, from cancer, of close friend Heather Dillon who spent her last days there.

“The hospice was very important for Heather and I wanted to do something in her memory.”

But then Clare feels using her name in support of good causes is part of her role. “I have a profile I can use to make a difference to people’s lives. That might sound a bit worthy, but I think it’s important.” So do we. ✢ Coverage of the Commonwealth Games starts on BBC1 at 8pm on July 23. ✢ Operation Wild starts on BBC1 next month.

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PICS: DAVID CRUMP/DAILY MAIL/SOLO SYNDICATION; BBC; REX EATURES

On their marks: Clare with fellow Commonwealth Games presenters Hazel Irvine, Gary Lineker and Gaby Logan. The games run from July 23 to August 3

❙ strap strap ❙

From walkies to wheelies!

Gail Milligan’s adopted pets are now enjoying a great life thanks to her loving care and determination to give them a new start

n their way to the local park, Gail Milligan and her two rescue dogs are used to getting some pretty strange looks.

Daily walkies is quite a spectacle when your beloved hounds are disabled and have to rely on special trolleys to romp around chasing new adventures.

Never one to give up on the sick and abandoned animals nobody else wants, Gail (41), from Dalkeith, near Edinburgh, has learned to ignore the stares and odd rude comment. She’s just happy in the knowledge

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that her girls Rina, a Schnauzer cross, and Princess Sasha, a Corgi cross, are still alive and so active.

“We know we’re having fun and that’s all that matters!” says the big-hearted animal lover who brought the dogs to Scotland after they’d been run over by cars and left with serious spinal injuries in Transylvania and Romania.

Gail is just happy in the knowledge that her girls are still alive and active

As these special pictures show, there’s no doubt of the fun they all have on their regular walkies-cum-wheelies.

A few years ago though, it was a very different story. Gail, who lives with her equally animal-mad mum Rae (71) in a semi-detached house with a large garden, first heard about Princess Sasha’s plight after one of her three Scottish dogs

Rina and Sasha soon got used to getting around on wheels, as did Angel, right

‘They have an amazing attitude and zest for life’ – mongrel Lucy – fell ill with a degenerative neurological condition.

“It was a bit like Motor Neurone Disease in humans; she became very wobbly on her legs. I started looking at special animal wheelchairs on the internet for her to get around in,” she recalls.

Happily, Gail’s vet found steroids that Lucy responded to and she didn’t need a cart in the end, but it was while talking to a man who makes them in Kent that she heard about his work rescuing dogs left to die after road accidents abroad.

inseparable – they love each other so much,” says Gail who also has a paralysed cat, Angel, with a cart.

“Once they get used to using wheels for legs, they don’t even think about it! They can go down steps and plough straight through mud.

“They have an amazing attitude and zest for life.

After everything they’ve been through, they just want to live and experience everything. It’s lovely to see the difference.

“Nothing stops them,” she adds.

Now turn over to meet TV Supervet Noel Fitzpatrick who also refuses to give up on hard-tocure pets.

He and his crack team were featured recently on Channel Four, performing pioneering ops on animals sent to them from all over the country.

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PIC: PATRICK BOYD PHOTOGRAPHY; NICK CUNARD/EYEVINE

Gail’s amazing commitment to animals led her to rescue little Rina (above), a Schnauzer cross and Princess Sasha, left, with Gail

Even though she had two other dogs as well – Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Rex and Labrador Collie cross Tink – Gail agreed to provide a home for Princess Sasha who was brought over to live with her in January 2012. Car-boot sales paid for the £230 transport costs.

“I’ve always been an animal lover and always taken in the ones nobody else would want because they had problems,” she says.

Soon feisty Princess Sasha was fitted with a £240 madeto-measure trolley cart. Her paralysed back legs were slotted through a saddle and two wheels replaced their use. She was fit to roll!

Then quieter Rina joined them from Romania for the same TLC. Though initially only meant to be fostered, she ended up staying with Gail and her mum after she became best friends with Princess Sasha.

Now the dynamic wheeled duo even have their own Facebook page.

“They’re absolutely

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Style notes

SUMMER make-up

that’s made to last...

Whether enjoying the sunshine at home or away, these hardworking make-up buys will help you stay looking good all day!

By Beauty Editor, Michelle Nightingale

✢ Shine-free primer

If you find that your foundation slides off your face during hot weather, applying a primer could be the solution. Look for one that will help prevent shine and disguise fine lines as well as keeping your make-up in place all day.

We like… No7 Stay Perfect Shine Free Primer (£12.50/20ml), which has light-reflecting particles to help blur lines as well as a clever oil-absorbing ingredient to banish shine all day. This product is hypoallergenic and promises a flawless finish all day long.

✢ Smudge-proof lip colour ✢ Budge-proof eyeshadow

If you feel naked without eyeshadow, but find it quickly slides off, invest in a long-wear cream eyeshadow. Longwear formulas set fairly quickly, and avoid that caked-on look by gradually building up the colour.

We like… Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Cream Shadow (£18.50/3.5g). While it isn’t cheap it will last all day without creasing and won’t leave skin feeling tight. It’s easy to blend, a little goes a long way and it’s available in a great selection of shades, too.

Forget tacky glosses that wear off in minutes, instead opt for comfortable lip colours that will stay looking good throughout the day. New long-lasting formulas have really improved and won’t dry out lips or accentuate lip lines. If you do suffer with very dry lips, try applying a lip balm and letting it sink in fully before applying lipstick over the top.

We like… Maybelline Superstay 14Hour Lipstick (£6.99), which has great staying power, but feels light on the lips.

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Long-wear formulas can be harder work to remove and you may find you need to switch to a tougher cleanser. Pür Minerals Melt Away Makeup Emulsifier & Pre Cleanse (£15/120ml) works well on waterproof mascara and is great for removing other long-lasting formulas, too.

✢ Cake-free powder

Yes we know we’re constantly telling you not to apply powder as it can make wrinkles look worse, but if you suffer from shine then a light dusting of a translucent powder might help. Apply it very sparingly (you shouldn’t be able to see it) over those areas where shine appears on hot days such as your chin, forehead and nose.

We like… Rimmel’s Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Transparent (£3.99), because it doesn’t cake and easily mops up any shine.

✢ Heatproof eyeliner

Nowadays waterproof formulas are pretty much on a par with regular ones, which means budge-proof eyeliners are just as easy to use. Panda eyes are never a good look though, so avoid harsh black and instead choose softer shades that will help subtly define.

We like… Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal (£3.99), which is easy to apply and is water and sweat-proof.

Available in seven shades; try flattering bronze or taupe.

✢ Make-up fix

If you still find your makeup refuses to stay put once the weather heats up, try a make-up fixing product. It creates a light film to protect your make-up and shouldn’t feel sticky or drying – in fact you shouldn’t be able to feel it at all.

We like… Diego Dalla Palma Make-Up Fixer (£19). It’s pricey, but slightly cheaper than other big brand versions and has good reviews.

✢ Stay-put mascara

When the weather is warmer, you need a mascara that will stay on whether you’re in the sun or in the pool. Some waterproof mascaras can be drying, so look for those containing nourishing ingredients such as Vitamin E to ensure your lashes stay healthy – particularly if yours are a bit sparse.

We like… Pür Minerals Big Look Waterproof Mascara (£15/5g), which is not only waterproof, but also contains conditioning argan oil and Vitamin E to leave lashes silky soft.

Give your make-up staying power in three steps Exfoliate Dead skin cells tend to clutter up the surface of the skin leaving it looking dull. Regular exfoliation will not only reveal a brighter complexion, but will also allow your skincare and make-up to work more effectively and last longer. It’s well worth the extra effort.

Moisturise While regular moisturising is the key to younger-looking skin, take care not to overdo it at this time of year. Most importantly, allow your face serums and creams to sink in completely before applying your make-up, otherwise you’ll find it will just slide off in the heat.

Work quickly Long-wearing and waterproof formulas can take a little time to get used to. Because they set so well you need to work quickly and do any blending before they dry.

STOCKISTS: Bobbi Brown 0800 074 6905 www.bobbibrown.co.uk; Boots No7 0845 609 0055 www.boots.com; Maybelline available nationwide; Diego Dalla Palma available at Marks & Spencer 0845 302 1234 www. marksandspencer.com; Pür available at Marks & Spencer; Rimmel available nationwide. Details correct at time of going to press

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PIC: URBAN LIP, ISTOCK PHOTO, SHUTTERSTOCK

TOP

Bathtime

Compiled by Alex Frisby

DIFFICULTY RATING

FUN

★

This hooded towel is a simple project that baby – and you – will love!

Materials:

✢ Ears template (see right) ✢ Paper or card for template ✢ Fabric pen or tailor’s chalk ✢ Tape measure ✢ Scissors (paper and fabric) ✢ 1m (approx 1 yard) toweling fabric, or a large bath sheet ✢ 1m (approx 1 yard) fleece fabric ✢ Pins ✢ Matching threads ✢ Sewing machine and/or handsewing needle ✢ Finished size: 75cm (30in) square, suitable for any age

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HOME

& craft

BABY BATH TOWEL TEMPLATE ZEBRA EARS TO SCALE CUT X4

Photocopy to scale then trace the template (above, right) onto paper or thin card and cut out.

Cut a 75cm (30in) square from both the towelling and fleece fabrics. Align them with right sides together and pin.

For the hood, cut a right-angled triangle from both the towelling and fleece fabrics, with the two equal sides measuring 35cm (14in)

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Make and position ears

Use the template to cut 4 ears from the remaining fleece fabric.

Align 2 with right sides facing and sew together with a 1cm seam allowance (leave the bottom open). Trim the seams, then turn right side out. Repeat for the second ear.

Position ears on the front right side of the fleece hood, approx 10cm (4in) apart. Cut a small slit – approx 2cm (¾in) long – into the hood at each ear position. Poke ears into slits and pin their bottoms into place on the underside of the hood. Secure with a small zigzag stitch in matching threads.

4 5

Bottle Bag

fit This extra touch will the bill nicely You will need: Pencil Tape measure…

and paper, Scissors

,

Use a plate or bowl to give Top tip you the corre ct angle when rounding of f the corne r in step 10 Sew hood

Place the fleece and the towelling hood pieces on top of each other, right sides together. Align then pin along the long edge of the hood (this will be the joining seam) and stitch into place with a small seam allowance.

Fold the hood over itself so both right sides of the fabric face out, and wrong sides are together.

Topstitch along the joining seam to add stability to the hood.

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Round off the top corner point of the towel and hood, for a curved edge. Trim, then pin.

Stitch around all edges of the towel, leaving a 15cm (6in) gap for turning. Clip the corners and trim any seam allowance, taking care not to cut any stitches.

Turn the towel right side out.

Topstitch near the edge on all sides, except the hood, and catch the open seam closed as you sew to finish.

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Attach hood to towel

Sandwich the hood between the fleece and towelling at one corner of your square. You will need to unpin the corner, then place the hood right side up on top of the towelling square.

Align all edges.

Fold the fleece back over, including the hood. Realign edges, and re-pin the corner.

✢ Project from Sew Tiny!

By Jazz Domino Holly, published by Kyle Books, £14.99. Photography: Laura Edwards www. kylebooks.com

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Pretty up a thoughtful gift with this bottle bag…

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Family days out

of the

Make the summer holidays memorable with these fun events

✢ Canterbury Tales Comedy Tour

UNTIL SEP 27

CANTERBURY, KENT Join funnymen Nicholas and Nigel on a chucklesome jaunt through the streets of Canterbury, discovering some colourful characters and their funny tales. Tours last one hour, starting out from The Canterbury HISTORY Tales visitor attraction.

MADE FUN! ✢ Suitable for over 3s. Adult £8, Conc/ Child £6. Call 01227 479227 or visit www.canterbury tales.org.uk

✢ Grand Medieval Joust BOLSOVER CASTLE, AUG DERBYSHIRE 24-25 Take some time out to live life as it would have been LET THE lived 600 years ago. Cheer BATTLE on knights and chortle at the BEGIN! court jester before enjoying some falconry and medieval games, too. ✢10am-6pm. Adult £13, Conc £11.70, Child £7.80, discounted entry for English Heritage members. Call 01246 822844 or visit www.english-heritage.org.uk

✢ Under Enemy Control

AUG ASHBY DE LA ZOUCH CASTLE, 2-3 LEICESTERSHIRE Return to the Civil War of the 17th Century and watch the youngsters learn to load and fire muskets – stand well back! There are also military drills, cooking displays, weaving, crafts and music from the time to discover. ✢10am-5pm. Adult £4.70, Conc £4.20, Child £2.80, English Heritage members free. Call 01530 413343 or visit www.english-heritage.org.uk

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✢ Soldiers’ School AUDLEY END, ESSEX Bring Audley’s wartime past AUG 26-29 to life with this children’s training camp! Relax in the house and gardens while the young privates experience some front-line training. ✢10am-6pm. Adult £15.40, Conc £13.90, Child £9.20, English Heritage members free.

Call 01799 522842 or visit www.english-heritage.org.uk

✢ Discoveries and Inventions

AUG 18-22

WREST PARK, BEDFORDSHIRE Meet Queen Victoria, enjoy Victorian games and toys, and make sure to watch out for the sneaky assassins trying to claim the price on Queen Victoria’s head.

✢10am-6pm. Adult £9, Conc £8.10, Child £5.40, English Heritage members free.

Call 0870 3331181or visit www.english-heritage.org.uk

OPEN MICKLEGATE BAR AND MONK BAR, YORK NOW These two attractions, in the historical city of York, look at the kings’ time in York and their links to Yorkshire.

Terry Deary, the author of the excellent Horrible Histories series, has written displays especially for little ones.

DOWN HOUSE, KENT Wander the home of Charles JUL 29 Darwin, the - AUG 2 ‘evolutionary revolutionary’, while children get to grips with their grey matter. They’ll learn ✢ A joint ticket for both is £5 for about history’s adults, £3.50 concessions and £3 wackiest children. Call 01904 615505 or inventions visit www.enryviiexperience. and even com and www.richardiii design something experience.com themselves. ✢10am-5pm. Adult £10.30, Conc 9.30, Child £6.20, English Heritage members free.

Call 01689 859119 or visit www.english-heritage.org.uk

✢ A day out with Thomas the Tank Engine

UNTIL HAWKSTONE PARK FOLLIES, AUG 31 SHROPSHIRE Get the family interested in the natural world with this special woodland walk through Grade One listed parkland. Learn about the different species of tree, including the Western Red Cedar, Chilean Pine, Monterey Cypress and Douglas Fir, before lunch in Caspian’s Tearooms or a picnic in the woods themselves.

ALRESFORD AUG RAILWAY 9-17 STATION, HAMPSHIRE Rides with steam trains Thomas, Iron ‘Arry and Diesel will take you up and down the Watercress line all day if you like, plus there’s lots going on at Ropley and Alresford stations. A fantastic day out for railway fans of all ages.

✢10am-5pm, last admission 3pm. Adult £7.25, Conc £6.25, Child £4.75. Call 01948 841777 or visit www.hawkstoneparkfollies.co.uk

✢ Trains run every 30-40 minutes from 9.35am4.30pm. Adult £18, Child £12, Under 2s FREE. Call 01962 733810 or visit www.watercressline.co.uk

✢ Pinetum Trail

✢ Family Cycling Day

FAMILYFRIENDLY CYCLING

AUG BLENHEIM PALACE, 17 OXFORDSHIRE For one day only, enjoy a leisurely pedal around the stunning parklands of Blenheim. Watch the more serious contenders power around a special 60-mile route, while you relax and enjoy a picnic!

Bring your bikes and helmets and take a trip over the Grand Bridge in two-wheeled style. ✢ For admission to the park and gardens: Adult £13.50, Conc £10.20, Child £6.60.

Call 0800 849 6500 or visit www. blenheimpalace.com

Ten of the best

hidden beaches with easy access rs Our expert uncove stal the bes t-kept coa

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WORDS: ALEX FRISBY; PICS: ALAMY; SHUTTERSTOCK; MASTERFILE. SPECIAL THANKS TO ENGLISH HERITAGE

N!

✢ Victorian Delights

✢ The Henry VII and Richard III Experiences

❙ star chat ❙

mfrom y lessons life…

The BBC’s new Sunday Live presenter, Sian Williams, 49, talks about life, love and the importance of good manners

✢ My mum was my hero

My mum was a nurse in the intensive care unit for 40 years.

She was the kindest person I ever met. We all talk about busy lives but she worked full-time and she had three children – two of them were twins. She worked so hard.

My daughter Eve recently had chickenpox when I was just about to set off to France for the D-Day coverage. But I could hear my mum telling me ‘Sian, she has got to have chickenpox. Be glad she has got it. It’s done’. And so I was determined to muddle my way through it all even though I was thinking, ‘Oh no! What do I do?’

✢ Good manners are important

I am like an old granny when I say manners cost nothing. I don’t know whether it is because people have mobiles now and they are constantly looking at them and texting when other

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PICS: BBC; REX FEATURES; PA

✢ I’m not ambitious

I never intended to be a TV presenter and only came to it halfway through my career. (Sian used to be a producer and make radio programmes). I’ve never described myself as ambitious. I haven’t got a fixed goal – if I am lucky to be asked to do things that interest me, then I will always say yes. But they do have to fire me up. So far, I’ve had very interesting projects to work on. When I covered the D-Day anniversary for the BBC in June, it was incredible to meet the veterans. Inspiring is an overused word, but they were the most brilliant people.

Running the London Marathon in 2013 for Macmillan Cancer Support, in memory of her mum Kathy

✢ Growing older doesn’t faze me

I don’t fear turning 50 this year. I think I am incredibly lucky. I’ve been able to go off and do a Psychology degree which has always been a hankering of mine, as well as continue with my TV work. I don’t think anything more of this 50th birthday that is looming than any other birthday. I might do when I am on the other side! Being 50 is not a big issue for me. Me and my family are all going to go and stay in a bed and breakfast together and I’m really looking forward to it!

people are talking, but I do think you should impose good manners. I find myself saying to adults ‘what do you say?’ when they don’t say thank you, as you do with children!

With her dear dad. He and Sian’s mum, who died of cancer in 2009, are her inspiration

WHO MADE YOU WHO YOU ARE TODAY? My parents. They worked so hard and they taught me a great work ethic. It’s that secure work ethic that keeps you going.

You should achieve what you can during the day and feel knackered at the end of it!

✢ My husband is my best friend

I have some fantastic girly friends, but my husband, Paul, is incredibly supportive. He is a much bigger risk taker than I am in all sorts of different areas; I’m very conservative. Sometimes he challenges me to think differently, which is a good thing. He is supportive of the decisions I take. ✢ Sunday Morning Live is on BBC1 every Sunday at 10am. ✢ Sian was talking to Christine Smith.