A Harrogate manufacturing firm has worked with 1st Pannal Cubs to offer a remote lesson in furniture design and building.

The Harrogate cubs troop teamed up with Create CNC to learn via Zoom how to build their own piece of birch plywood furniture. Each of the 24 members were supplied with all the materials needed to make a wooden stool with guidance from instructors.

During covid, the cub sessions have been run remotely every Friday over zoom. This task enabled them to assemble the stool with instructions and tips from Create CNC.

The cubs have had to adjust to their new virtual meetings.

Viewers from over 40 countries tuned into watch the first Great Yorkshire Virtual Show this week.

People as far as Japan and New Zealand watched as more than 60 show supporters, ranging from farmers to rural craftspeople, filmed their own footage to give viewers a real insight into their work.

The three day programme allowed viewers to see the Yorkshire countryside virtually from the comfort of their own homes. The itinerary included stunt riders, stars of The Yorkshire Vet and cooking sessions with TV chefs.

Families who have been showing their animals on the show ground for generations invited viewers onto their farms, via video, to give a real insight into Yorkshire farming.

Amongst those missing out were the hundred of school children who usually attend the show. This year they had to sit in their classrooms to watch the behind the scenes footage and performances.

Local farmers took viewers on virtual tours to give them an insight in farming in Yorkshire.

Read more:

• The Farm to Fork campaign champions the efforts of Yorkshire’s farmers to keep the nation fed during the pandemic.
• The FRA said more of us shopped in farm shops over lockdown. 

Charles Mills, farmer and Show Director of the Great Yorkshire Show, said:

“I am absolutely delighted and grateful for the support for our first ever virtual show. While it was always clear that we could not replicate the Great Yorkshire Show as everyone knows and loves, I hope that everyone who tuned in found something that entertained them and hopefully they learned something new about farming, food and the countryside.”

“We are incredibly proud of how supporters of the Show of all ages and from across the county went to such great efforts to help us celebrate the Show. One important thing I do hope the virtual show has achieved is to have helped lift people’s spirits during what has been a tough time. I’m now looking forward to next year when we look forward to welcoming everybody back to the Great Yorkshire Show.”

A Harrogate based domestic abuse charity is preparing for an increase of survivors following lockdown. Its CEO says the abuse can happen “closer than you think”.

New Beginnings works with female survivors of domestic abuse around Harrogate. It currently supports 10 women but those numbers of expected to double over the next three months.

Since lockdown, the charity has had to increase its support to a 24/7 Whatsapp group chat, welfare checks and 1:1 video and phone calls. This service has increased by approximately 700% as it is now supporting twice the number of women it was and on a more constant basis.

Over lockdown any plans for women that were housed in refuge centres or waiting for a house had to be put on pause. New Beginnings come in once the women are resettled into houses, its support continues for as long as the woman needs.

Lindsay Oliver, CEO of New Beginnings, said:

“There is a misconception amongst many individuals that despite recent coverage of the realities of domestic abuse that is doesn’t happen around here, with 1 in 3 women within their lifetime suffering domestic abuse, believe me it’s closer than you think!

“We’ve been told by IDAS that there’s a major backlog that will come through following this so we are getting prepared with more volunteers.

The charity also offers a variety of support including workshops to improve emotional intelligence and fresh food parcels.

Read more:

• Yorkshire’s largest domestic abuse charity, IDAS, warns risk of abuse could increase as lockdown continues.
• Harrogate charity is expecting more calls for help following coronavirus as further consequences are revealed. 

“I’ve found being a part of the group and still able to have sessions so to speak via group chat and phone calls a great help and still having the support and speaking freely knowing that it’s still private and confidential and I’m not alone.”

“When I moved to Harrogate from an abusive relationship they helped me regain my confidence and myself control, they are such lovely and kind people. They help me and give me so much and I’m so happy to be apart of the group.”

Harrogate Easier Living Project (HELP) is preparing for an increase of calls for help from people after coronavirus.

Requests to the charity for food bank and supermarket vouchers have already increased. It says help for practical jobs could also increase as people struggle financially.

From April to June it has supported over 500 families and individuals. Over lockdown it provided a variety of help including dropping off books and puzzles to those isolating and moving beds for covid patients returning from hospital.

The charity was initially “overwhelmed” at the beginning of the pandemic but it was able to recruit over 200 volunteers to help it as demand increased.

Lizzie Hughes, Project Development Worker, said that as lockdown eases people will still need their help:

“Whilst we are receiving fewer urgent requests for support and emergency food shopping now, we are still carrying out on average around 120 tasks every week for people in Harrogate and Ripon. A number of people are struggling financially and we’re seeing a lot more people needing to access the food banks or asking us to apply for supermarket vouchers for them.

“Physical and mental health may prevent some local residents from being able to fully participate in community life for some time to come. We also anticipate an increase in demand for practical help with jobs that have built up during lockdown and need arising from economic hardship exacerbated by the virus.”

Gill, a HELP volunteer, took her pony Maple for a socially distant walk round the houses of some of HELP’s isolating clients to cheer them up.

Read more:

• Ripon charity planning for further expansion despite the pandemic. 
• Open Country, a disability charity in Harrogate, has found a way to bring the outdoors into people’s homes during lockdown. 

The organisation offers a support network for those in need of help across Harrogate and Ripon. Over lockdown HELP has been working with the most vulnerable to assist them in any way they need.

Lizzie added:

“From April to June, we supported an additional 501 families and individuals, carried out 822 shopping trips and 112 people received befriending phone calls. We appreciate that doing someone’s shopping isn’t going to be the answer to all their problems so we have been making welfare calls to all our clients offering them additional support.”

Amidst a pandemic, a couple from Knaresborough has managed to set up their new pet shop on the high street in two weeks.

Jack and Carly Atkinson plan to open their shop on August 1. They say that the pandemic hasn’t limited their plans as they would have been classed as an essential shop before lockdown eases.

The Atkinsons believes they have found a niche that is missing in the town as currently people have to travel to Harrogate and Ripon to get their pet supplies.

In just two weeks Jack handed his notice in at another pet shop, rented the premises and began to order stock.

Jack Atkinson said:

“Its one of the businesses where it’s always going to do well because people will always have pets that need feeding. I handed in my notice at another pet shop last week so I could set this up. We’re still on track even with covid, there may be an impact when we open because we will have to restrict the number of people in at a time. We’re setting up in a time when everyone wants us to be here, a lot of people can’t or don’t want to travel to get their supplies.”

The shop’s owners have said that coronavirus hasn’t dulled their plans.

Read more:

• Knaresborough exotic rescue sees the number of animals surrendered to them double over lockdown. 
• Knaresborough delivers scheme has put £50,000 into the local economy since it was set up during lockdown. 

The Atkinson Pet Shop will join Knaresborough’s high street as local organisations are encouraging residents to support smaller, local businesses. Carly Atkinson added:

“We’ve still been getting the stock so the pandemic hasn’t really put a halt to anything, everything has come quite quickly. People are definitely happy we are bringing a pet shop to Knaresborough, a lot of people have said it’s what the town needs.  We’re adding to the high street too, round here especially people want to support local businesses which is great for us. We’ve just got to think ahead of what could perhaps stop people coming in to store.

“Parking remains free for staff, visitors and patients. We already had in place the exemptions listed below for specific patient groups. We didn’t for staff on night shifts but then we put in place free parking for all staff (before the national directive came out) so that was a resolution.”

This news will be warmly welcomed by staff and visitors to the hospital.

---

Read more:

• Harrogate receives it strongest indication yet that the NHS Nightingale hospital is set to stay through the winter. 
• Four months after recovering from covid, one women from Harrogate still feels “completely wiped out”. 

“I was thrilled to hear the announcement, our club has been actively involved in the Swim England Open Our Pools campaign so we are delighted. Our club has been doing all we can to ensure that our divers can return to training safely.

“All of our club members are competitive divers and were training for competitions pre-covid. Some of them have trained every week for years in preparation for these competitions, it’s a huge part of their life. Understandably it has been hard for a lot of our divers for this to suddenly stop. Like the rest of the country we are embracing a new normal.”

Swimming classes will look a little different as safety measures are implemented.

“We will be starting to make plans but we still have a lot of work to do including following all the guidelines. We’ll be starting very small to get confident, for example we’ll have to reduce the class sizes to 1-2-1s and 1-2-2s just to make it safe. Those that can swim 25m and be left alone can return to their lessons. We are all very excited to get back to teaching.”

Read more:

• Harrogate Council gives backing to had over control of local leisure services to a new company. 
• Ripon school swimmer finds an innovative way to continue her training over lockdown. 

Harrogate Borough Council, who operate the majority of swimming pools in the district, said:

“We’re delighted the government has advised it is safe for leisure facilities to open from 25 July. Customer safety comes first. So we’re busy working on new guidance as well as staff training and cleaning procedures. We’ll have more news in the coming days of what facilities will open and when.”

The news that nail salons and beauticians can reopen from Monday came as a huge relief to Harrogate based salon owners.

Salon owners in Harrogate said they were “thrilled” to be able to reopen. Following the reopening of hairdressers on July 4, nail technicians and beauticians were confused when their salons had to remain closed.

When culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, made the announcements yesterday evening Harrogate salons received calls from their clients immediately as they rushed to book an appointment.

Louis Pedro owns Skin Sanctuary in Harrogate, said:

“I am ringing round clients already. I’m thrilled but slightly panicked that we haven’t got much time. I’m excited but nervous, we were ready to open on the 4th so when we weren’t allowed I was devastated. We had everything in place but without having a date we couldn’t plan much. I’m just frantically calling round to book people in. We can’t wait to get back in, I’ve never not worked so its been strange but I’m raring to get to it.”

Clients were eager to get booked in as the government announced nail salons and beauticians could reopen.

Read more:

• Hairdressers and barbers as they prepared to reopen following lockdown. 
• WATCH as we ask the people of Harrogate how it feels to get that long awaited hair cut. 

Some restrictions will still be in place, Mr Dowden said “”Of course that will be subject to some restrictions on particularly high-risk services”.

Danielle Currie from Nail Envy, in Harrogate is another salon owner who was pleased by the announcement:

“I feel relieved and so excited for some normality. I’ve already got people ringing to book in which makes me more excited to get back to it. It’s all going to be new with the PPE and visors but we’ve been ready for this day for the past month. I was devastated when our re-opening was delayed but now I can look forward.”

Knaresborough Rotary Club’s new president is a skydiving enthusiast and hopes her leadership can encourage more members.

Helen Westmancoat has taken over the presidency determined to encourage new members to join the club. Following over 30 years in the scouting movement she also hopes to support young people in the community through the club’s fundraising.

Helen isn’t just a rotary member she is also an avid skydiver having completed 42 jumps. Her hobby began as a fundraising attempt and now she hopes to introduce it to the scout groups she works with.

She said:

“The diving started in 2011 when I worked at York St John’s and there was a call to do a dive for the student support charity. I can’t do it alone in this country now as I’m over the age limit that it allows but I do hope to more maybe abroad in the future.

The main thing to focus on now is the rotary, raise the profile to encourage more members. We’re open to everyone, all ages.”

Helen wants to use her presidency to increase membership and “look forward”.

Read more:

• Knaresborough delivers scheme puts £50,000 into local economy. 
• Civic society campaigns for pedestrianisation of some streets in Knaresborough. 

Over the coronavirus period the club has continued to meet virtually to plan how it can help the community during and following the pandemic. It is currently working with Knaresborough Connectors to help those in need as well as providing face masks to public facing groups such as Knaresborough food bank.

“We will be doing community things working to support people in the town following the pandemic as well. We did have a plan for which charities to support this year but with everything going on the main for me is Knaresborough Connector’s. It’ll be a challenging year but we are committed to helping people, if we can use this as an opportunity that’ll be great.”

Restaurants in the district had a mixed response to the Chancellor’s announcements today to help the hospitality sector. One restaurant owner said she was “very pleased” but others were cautious.

Rishi Sunak’s announcements included a 6 month reduction in VAT to 5%. The ‘eat out to help out’ scheme was also introduced to give diners a 50% discount on Monday and Wednesday in participating restaurants and cafes.

Restaurants were grateful for the additional help but wanted to see how the measures would be introduced. These announcements are hoped to encourage people to return to eating out.

Sarah Hinchliff, owner of Drum and Monkey restaurant in Harrogate said:

“I am very pleased with what has been announced. It’s increased my confidence. We are still going to be here but it’s been difficult, anything that helps to bring people back in is great. It’s been a difficult week but it’s bolstered how I am feeling it just going to take time for people to return. It will help us immensely.”

Nicole Mangan, general manager at Farmhouse restaurant Harrogate:

“The devil is in the detail, the reduction in VAT is fantastic. We expected that as a way to help businesses stay open. The discount is great but we’re closed Monday and Tuesday normally so it may be something we look at to see if we open. It could really help us on quieter days, £20 is essentially a main and dessert which could encourage people to come to us if they know they can get all of that for £10. We need to see more details before we get our hopes up I think.”

The Chancellor’s announcements are in an effort to encourage people to return to eating out.

Read more:

• Boroughbridge was busy with visitors as pubs and hotels reopened over the weekend.
• Top Harrogate hotelier believes Sunak’s announcements will generate demand. 

Margaret Ninness, owner of The Willow Restaurant in Pateley Bridge:

“I’ve recently changed my business to make it smaller so I no longer pay VAT, but for those still registered this would be fantastic. The ‘eat in’ scheme would be fine for me but if you’re waiting to get the money back with a tight budget it could be difficult. But I do think they’re doing their best and they are helping everyone.”

Harrogate was busy over the weekend as restaurants and pubs reopened for the first time in three months. Sandra Doherty, Chief Executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, said:

“The Chancellor’s statement will be welcomed by many businesses in Harrogate, in particular those in the hospitality sector. Whilst the cut in VAT for food, accommodation and attractions, coupled with the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme are only temporary, I’m sure they will make it more attractive for businesses in the hospitality sector to reopen their doors.”