Woman's Hour - 28/10/2009

Woman's Hour with Jenni Murray. Including: Katie Piper was a beautiful young woman setting out on a career as a model and TV presenter. Then in 2008 she suffered a horrific attack, arranged by her former boyfriend. Acid was thrown in her face, causing extensive third degree burns and blindness in one eye. Katie has since had over 30 operations and her life has changed beyond recognition. Katie and her mother Diane join Jenni to talk about her experience. Thousands of grandparents have taken on the role as full-time carer for their grandchildren. But new research reveals that more than a third of them are living below the poverty line and struggling to cope - and are overlooked by children's services. One grandmother talks to Jenni about the difficulties of caring for her two young grandsons. To discuss what needs to improve their situation, Jenni is joined by the Chief Executive of Grandparents Plus and Dawn Primarolo MP, Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families. On November 11, 1918, the Armistice brought the First World War to an end. It was a time of great rejoicing, but also of numbness and dismay as the reality of losing loved ones began to sink in. In her new book The Great Silence, historian Juliet Nicolson contends that it took fully two years before the effects of the hostilities on the British public truly began to recede. She talks to Jenni about how the healing process gradually came about. Within the next few months, one million young people under the age of 24 are going to be out of work. With no employment and no direction, the lives of these youngsters can quickly spiral into poverty, family disintegration and homelessness. One young woman who went off the rails explains to Jenni that with the help of a mentor, she was able to turn her life around.