New Harrogate lockdown shops say ‘fortune favours the brave’

Some people decided to decorate their house or get into a new hobby but some took it further by starting a new business in lockdown.

This has been a tough time for everyone. For those like Josh and Ellie at Paradise Tap and Taco or Ben at The Travel Journal it has presented unique challenges.

Both have set up new businesses in one of the toughest financial climates the Harrogate district has ever known.

With people told to stay home and “non-essential” shops told to close, it is tough for those starting out and making a name for themselves.

Read more:

Paradise Tap and Taco, which has just set up shop in the Coldbath Clubhouse, is one of those young businesses.

The couple used to run Major Tom’s Social and even had a couple of weeks of sold-out nights at Rooster’s Taproom with their tacos.

Ellie Stott and Josh Molloy are the couple behind the taco-based business, which wants to be a place for everyone. Josh said:

“We have been really blessed. Most Friday and Saturday nights before the lockdown we have had to turn people away.

“It has been difficult timing but we were able to get a government start-up loan. We sat on it for a little while before we found the perfect place.”

Ben Poole, owner of The Travel Journal

Ben Poole, the man behind The Travel Journal in Harrogate’s Montpellier Quarter, is facing a particularly tough climate for his business.

He opened his doors in September trading mainly on last-minute travel as quarantine rules make it difficult for people to plan ahead.

It may be a tough time for the travel industry but Ben remains buoyant about his prospects as he is one of the few travel agents with a prescence in town. He said:

“It is set up to work okay from home but I miss that face to face with customers. I think if you can sit it out then it will pay off in the end.

“Some people thought I was crazy when I opened but I saw a good opportunty to establish myself in Harrogate. So many come in to say it’s brave.”

‘Do not be afraid’: Harrogate woman’s testing centre experience

A Harrogate woman has opened up about her coronavirus testing experience to alleviate fears about the process.

Susan Bowers Scarre, a social media marketing professional, went to the testing centre in the car park on Dragon Road, Harrogate yesterday.

She did not have the usual covid symptoms but was asked to get a test as part of a covid research study.

The Stray Ferret has previously reported people having difficulty booking tests but Susan said the entire experience lasted about five minutes and was straightforward.

“I was a little apprehensive because I didn’t know what to expect. I heard before that it was hard to make an appointment but I could have booked anytime in the day.

“The centre was extremely efficient. There were staff at the door who show you to a private room and make sure you know what to do.”

It wasn’t the most pleasant experience: Susan had to swab her tonsils and nostrils but it was soon over.

Once finished, she put the swab into a vial, which then went into a bag and the bag went into a box on the way out.

Read more:

So far Susan has not received her results, which she believes to be negative, but she expects them in the next couple of days.

The full-time testing centre in Harrogate replaced the mobile testing centre site in October.

It has the capacity to do 320 tests a day but is currently averaging 200 a day. The centre is made up of a series of floodlit modular buildings.

Harrogate care homes install visiting pods

Care homes in the Harrogate district have installed visiting pods so residents can meet relatives safely.

Vida Healthcare has opened three ‘together again’ pods to enable visits to continue over winter. One is at Vida Hall in Starbeck and two are at Vida Grange in Pannal.

Current guidance allows for one designated visitor per pod. But if one relative cannot attend another person can visit instead using the pod.

Read more:

The pod enables Anne Thompson to see her husband, who has been at Vida Hall since 2015. She said:

“The staff at Vida have been wonderful in allowing us to keep up with the daily lives of our loved ones, however it’s been stressful not being able to visit in person.

“Seeing our loved ones is really important to us and it’s comforting to know that you’ve set up these pods to give us safe opportunities to come and visit.”

One of the pods at Vida Grange.

Bernadette Mossman, the healthcare director at Vida Healthcare, said:

“Visiting relatives in care homes is a fundamental need for families and residents. The pandemic has reduced our ability to be able to facilitate this much needed interaction.

“Our brand new ‘together again’ visiting pods are one example of innovations we’re implementing to ensure our residents can safely connect with their loved ones.”

Guidance on care home visits

Care home visits will continue in North Yorkshire despite the country entering a second national lockdown.

The county council restricted visits during October but advised homes they could relax the rules in November to allow one designated visitor for each resident.

Officials have said the measure will continue through lockdown, but homes that report an outbreak will have to restrict visits.

Knaresborough gymnast inspired by sister for flipping fundraiser

A young gymnast from Knaresborough inspired by her sister has raised more than £1,000 for charity.

Imani Jones, who attends Harrogate Gymnastics Club, wanted to do something positive in lockdown so she decided to do 1,021 flips to help Shine 21, which helps young children with Down syndrome.

Her 11-month-old sister Felicity has Down syndrome so it is a cause close to Imani’s heart.

She started the challenge on Sunday and needs to complete an average of 50 flips a day to reach her target.

Thanks to lots of generous people donating in the first few days, Imani has already beaten her fundraising target of £1,021 and now hopes to raise as much as possible.

Read more:

Depending on the type of flip the nine-year-old gymnast performs, it can take between a few minutes to about an hour to complete her daily target.

Chris Jones, Imani’s dad, told the Stray Ferret her daughter started training in gymnastics at the age of four and had never stopped bouncing or flipping.

The money will go towards a £10,000 overall target to set up Shine 21 as a new charity in North Yorkshire.

Donations will go towards providing resources for people with Down syndrome aged below five as well as for speech and language therapy.

To support Imani, click or tap here for more details.

 

Imani Jones with her young sister, who inspired the fundraiser.

Harrogate council urges homebuyers to be patient about search delays

Harrogate Borough Council has urged homebuyers to be patient after admitting it is struggling to cope with the volume of land searches.

The council posted a message on Facebook yesterday saying it had received more than 700 search requests in October, which is about twice as many as the same month last year.

Local authority searches, which check there are no hidden surprises for buyers, are an essential part of the home-buying process.

The council said it was doing “everything we can to reduce the processing times for searches that is currently around 30 working days”. It added:

“We have significantly increased the number of staff working on land searches but it will inevitably take time for their training to be completed and a positive impact to be felt.

“With requests continuing to rise we would encourage people to be mindful of the current timescales and advise them to carry out searches as early as possible in their housing buying process.”

Read more:

A buoyant market, fulled by the freeze in stamp duty, has left many homebuyers keen to complete moves before Christmas.

A council spokesman said:

“Our normal target for processing searches is seven working days. So we know it can be frustrating to hear our current timescales are closer to 30 working days.

“The main reason for the extended timeframe is due to the high volume of search requests that have been received over the last six months.”

The Stray Ferret first reported the delays last month. Property experts suggested searches in Harrogate were taking several weeks longer than in neighbouring Leeds and York.

The situation is frustrating for homebuyers and estate agents.

Alex Goldstein, an independent property consultant in Harrogate, told the Stray Ferret:

“The turnaround time of searches is currently appalling. I have several transactions currently on hold. Both sides have to put down tools to wait for the searches.

“As a result it can easily take three months from going under offer to exchange. Something that would normally take one month.”

Mr Goldstein added the delays can be particularly hard on those with financial worries.

It costs £103.95 for a search, which reveals information on issues relating to the property such as previous planning applications, roads, utilities and the environment.

The Stray Ferret has previously spoken to a couple selling a property in Grantley near Ripon who waited 10 weeks for a search.

Harrogate primary school’s plea: help our pupils who are isolating

A primary school in Harrogate has launched an urgent appeal to help pupils who are struggling with self-isolation at home.

Grove Road Community Primary School currently has 11 staff, including the head teacher, and about 140 pupils self-isolating either because they have coronavirus or have been in contact with somebody who has.

Chris Harrison, the assistant head, told the Stray Ferret its appeal for help had generated an “incredible” response so far:

“We have been trying to look after those families. With job strains and the added pressure of the kids being at home it stacks up.

“Our original appeal was for food but we have had so many food donations. We’d particularly like to thank Resurrected Bites and Chartwells.”

Read more:

Now the school is asking people to donate toys to help with happiness or digital devices to help with learning.

The government said it would give devices to schools for pupils to use at home but Grove Road was not allocated any.

Some of the food donations that have flooded in.

Mr Harrison said this was the first time many pupils have had to fully isolate for two weeks.

He added it was particularly difficult for families without outdoor space.

Anyone who can help with the school’s appeal should get in touch with the school on Twitter or give the reception a call on 01423 506060.

Harrogate man who made 3,000 face shields steps up again

A Harrogate man who made more than 3,000 face shields during the first coronavirus lockdown has started production again.

Sid Lovatt began 3D printing as a hobby but it soon took over his life when he became inundated with requests in the spring.

He set up a couple of printers in his home and they were churning out shields 24 hours a day. At one point Mr Lovatt was donating around 100 a day.

The printers can be set to transform sheets of plastic into different objects — in this case, face shields.

The 3D printer set-up at Geek Bar in Harrogate.

Now the UK is in the midst of a second wave Mr Lovatt, who had stopped production entirely, has dusted off the 3D printers for another round.

Read more:

Doctors surgeries and care homes are among those requesting face shields during the second wave of coronavirus.

Mr Lovatt will make the masks and the Supplies for Key Workers in and around Harrogate Facebook group, which helps local people affected by covid, will deliver them to those in need. All for free.

This time though, Mr Lovatt will operate alongside a team in the Geek Bar in the centre of Harrogate, where he works.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“We will be making around 30 face shields a day now so it’s not near the same demand as last time.

“Hopefully it will stay that way but we’ve got some stock left over to fill any gaps. This time we will have eight people all working to make the face shields.”

Fatberg of wet wipes blocks sewer in Grewelthorpe

Yorkshire Water spent an hour jet washing more than 1,000 litres of water through a sewer in Grewelthorpe to remove a fatberg of wet wipes.

The underground blockage between Ripon and Masham prompted the water company to issue a plea today to only flush the three Ps — pee, poo and (toilet) paper — down the loo.

Wet wipes are the most common cause of blockages and can lead to flooding.

Mark Hammond, head of customer field services at Yorkshire Water, said:

“We are regularly called out to remove blockages caused by wet wipes in our region. That’s despite our warnings and information on packets not to flush them.

“We spend millions of pounds every year on clearing these blockages. It’s money which could be spent on improving our network and investing in technologies.”

Yorkshire Water also revealed its blockages team removed four large buckets of wet wipes from its sewer network in York this month.

A recent survey by the company found 21% of people flushed wet wipes down the toilet.

The Oxford English Dictionary added the word ‘fatberg’ in 2015. It is defined as a large mass of solid waste in a sewage system made up of fat and personal hygiene products.

Campaign launched to support Harrogate shops online

Harrogate BID has launched a campaign to support local shops as they move online in the run-up to Christmas.

The BID will ask shoppers and business owners to use #ShopHarrogateOnline to spread the word on social media.

It will encourage shoppers to avoid the likes of Amazon, which saw a big increase in sales during the first lockdown.

Read more:

The BID also has coronavirus reopening grants, which are match-funded up to £750, to support its levy payers.

Levy payers can use the money to either shift their business online or improve their existing online space.

Sara Ferguson, acting chair for Harrogate BID, said:

“Now is the time to support our home-grown businesses more than ever before. If we don’t, I fear many will never re-open their premises when eventually able to do so. Whilst many businesses have had to physically close to the public, they are still trading their goods and services online.”

She added that local accountants, lawyers, estate agents and other professionals also need support.

District police hope week of action will keep knives off streets

Police in the Harrogate district hope that a national week of action will help keep knives and other weapons off the streets.

North Yorkshire has low knife crime rates so officers will use Operation Sceptre as more of a deterrent than a reaction.

The national week of action, which starts today, will raise awareness of the dangers of knives in person and online.

Detective superintendent Fran Naughton, of North Yorkshire Police, said:

“There is no reason to carry a knife, and no place for knife crime, in North Yorkshire. Operation Sceptre is a good opportunity for both education and enforcement.

“Levels of knife crime in our area are low, but we cannot be complacent. Even with the current covid-19 restrictions in place, crime hasn’t stopped.”

The police want to use this week to highlight the potentially fatal consequences of carrying a knife.

Read more:

The National Police Chiefs’ council lead for knife crime, deputy assistant commissioner Graham McNulty, added:

“Police forces up and down the country work tirelessly in bringing violent offenders involved in knife crime to justice.

“While the causes and drivers of knife crime are complex, early intervention and putting in place measures to tackle the root causes are absolutely essential.”