Knaresborough charity shop provides lifeline for volunteers

St Vincent de Paul’s charity shop is described as a “lifeline” for its volunteers as it reopens this week.

The Knaresborough charity shop is now open for the public to browse and donate their unwanted goods to. Other charity shops in the district are yet to open due to their small shops, but as the St Vincents store measures are in place to open safely.

The shop has a one way system in place and all donations will be quarantined for 72 hours before being placed on the shelves. It has also began selling white goods for customers who may not be ready to venture to large homeware stores.

The charity’s main aim is to tackle poverty, alongside financial help, it also offers emotional support to those who are sick, lonely, in prison, or suffering from addiction.

Annette Haigh is the area manager for St Vincent’s North and West Yorkshire stores, she said:

“All our volunteers were excited to get back, all of them had to pass a back to work check before they returned to make sure they weren’t feeling ill or had been in contact with anyone who has recently been infected.

“Many of our volunteers live alone so it’s a lifeline for them, we’ve never not been in touch over lockdown whether thats a phone call or a coffee over zoom.”

The shop has clear signs for shoppers to keep their distance and all clothes will have been quarantined before going on display.

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The shop, on Knaresborough’s high street, has a sanitising station on entry which all customers are encouraged to used and the shop is cleaned daily. Annette added:

“It was steady the first few days but as more non-essential shops reopen and the market gets busier tomorrow we’re optimistic for more customers. We have a lot of elderly customers and people who are shielding so it may be a bit quiet for a little while until more people get out to the shops.”

Masks and visors for staff serving in restaurants to be new normal

Toilet traffic light systems and pre-booking an arrival time are to become the new normal as pubs and restaurants set to reopen from 4 July.

Hospitality businesses in the district are anxiously waiting to hear the reduced one metre distance to be announced during todays’s coronavirus briefing. Even with the new distance in place, the experience previously offered for customers is likely to be different when they reopen.

Jack Woodruff who owns The Disappearing Chin in Harrogate, said the distancing rule has made planning problematic:

“We are offering pre-booked slots for maybe two or three hours but due to our size the distancing is problematic when it comes to the toilets. For example, we couldn’t have one person walking to the toilet and another sat at the bar as they would be too close together so we’ve had to introduce a one-way system to the toilets.

“For the sake of the size of our bar we have also had to order perspex screens to use and we will have to limit contact between staff and customers.”

Simon Wade is the owner of the Grantham Arms in Boroughbridge, like many others he will have to introduce new safety systems once he can reopen:

“We’re now taking orders from tables, those orders will then be placed on large barrels, that are dotted around, for the customers to collect.

“We also have a one way system for the toilets. It’s like a traffic light system, so a person will press a button with their elbow to indicate they’re inside and will press it again as they leave another way to let the next person waiting to go in know they can. We will also have staff constantly sanitising areas and we just hope customers are happy to follow our rules.”

Outdoor spaces are invaluable for pub owners who may be limited to indoor space.

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David Straker, is the co-owner of the William and Victoria restaurant in Harrogate, believes the new dining experience may not be as enjoyable for guests:

‘It will be a lot quieter. The width of the room is about two metres. We could fit four tables in downstairs, then the same in each room upstairs”.

“My biggest reservation is do people want to be served by people wearing masks and visors? It doesn’t lend itself to a nice experience. It’s not going to be forever but we’re going to have to. We have a responsibility to our members of staff and you have to give them the right stuff.”

Nick Rahmen, owner of Cardamom Black in Harrogate, said:

“There will be no toilets open and people won’t be allowed to congregate at the bar. We’ll have thermometers to test if somebody is visibly under the weather. But we cant go too far to offend people.”

Harrogate rotary launches kids poetry competition

The Harrogate Brigantes Rotary Club have launched a poetry competition for children to raise funds for its covid relief appeal.

Children, under 12 years old, can enter the can enter their poem until the end of the summer term (17 July). The £5 entry fee will be donated to the group’s covid relief fund which helps local causes and organisations.

Children can submit any number of poems under the following subjects- “my hero”, “I wish”, and “a better world”. Poems must be no more than 28 lines long and the writer of the best poem on each subject will receive a £30 book token.

Club member Guy Wilson said:

“When Covid-19 struck we were making plans for ‘save our planet’ concerts next year in the Royal Hall, linked with an exhibition by the children in Ripon Cathedral and a poetry competition. Sadly we have had to cancel, or at least postpone, all of these. But then it struck us that, using our good contacts with schools, we could run a different poetry competition.”

The covid relief fund has been used to support local charities, including Wellsprings.

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The covid relief fund continues to support local causes, Guy Wilson added:

“The Club has given away over £9000 in cash or kind to care providers and charities in need in the Harrogate area. At first the priority was ’emergency help’ but now the focus has changed to helping local charities that are coping with the longer term issues that are arising such as mental health, such as Wellspring Therapy & Training, Supporting Older People and Carers’ Resource.”

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Knaresborough’s only bank to remain open for time being

The last remaining bank in Knaresborough, Halifax, was expected to close on 13 May but will now stay open if it attracts enough customers.

The initial decision to close the Halifax was made due to a 10% reduction in customer counter transactions from 2019.  It sparked real concern in the town and a campaign was launched to stop the closure.

However following the pandemic the bank remained open to support local customers. Halifax has told The Stray Ferret that they plan to keep the branch open during the pandemic but will continue to review its position in the future.

A spokesperson for Halifax said:

“We do not intend to permanently close any branches in the midst of this challenging period. Our priority at this time is keeping as many branches as possible open, so that customers can continue to access cash, and ensuring that those who are vulnerable or in financial difficulty can speak to colleagues.

We continue to review our presence to ensure that our branches are located in the right places and any future closure decisions will be driven by customer behaviour.”

The future of this bank will be “driven by customer behaviour”.

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This decision will come as a relief to local residents as the closure of the Halifax bank would have left the town with no banks and only three cash machines within the town.

The Knaresborough Chamber of Trade were pleased to hear of this development. Its president Steve Teggin said:

“The towns people will be elated with the news as we’ve saved a bank and now we still have one in the town. It’s a triumph for us but we’ve also saved a cash machine too. Halifax have now got to give us some confidence that they will stay and I think that will encourage people in Knaresborough to open up accounts with them. But for residents and traders too this is great news.”

 

Pop up modern art gallery to open permanently in Harrogate

Contemporary art dealer Johnny Messum is opening a permanent exhibition space in Harrogate having trialled it as a pop-up.

His new gallery on James Street will hold six shows a year to exhibit the best of modern British art. Following this morning’s report of Laura Ashley’s closing down sale the decision to open the gallery permanently  on James Street will be welcomed.

Launching on 11-12 July visitors are asked to book timed appointments to view the exhibits safely. The summer opening will begin with a showcase dedicated to female artists from the 1950s and 1970s.

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The owner Johnny Messum said:

“I am delighted to be opening a gallery for Yorkshire’s discerning viewers in a town we know so well. I am looking forward to strengthening the gallery’s longstanding relationships in Yorkshire as well as to forging new ones. At times like these, the power of art to inspire and uplift is more important than ever.

Our vision is to create a place where artists, art lovers and collectors can come together on a regular basis to enjoy the best contemporary art and craft from every corner of the world”.

Harrogate charities get vital Arts Council funds

Two Harrogate charities have received emergency funding from the Arts Council in an effort to recover from the impact of coronavirus.

The pandemic has left many charities unable to fundraise making grants essential in securing their futures. Harrogate International Festivals and Artizan International have both received grants from the Arts Council.

Grants such as these are being put towards programmes to continue to support their members over lockdown and also give the organisations the opportunity to plan for future events.

The amounts varied between organisation, Harrogate International Festival received £25,000. The chief executive of Harrogate International Festivals, Sharon Canavar said:

“We’re incredibly grateful that we have received this funding especially during such a challenging time for all. These funds will ensure we continue to deliver and communicate with our audiences during this pandemic. We have focused on our digital strategy producing and developing work for our newly launched HIF Player and bringing the arts into people’s homes. It has enabled us to pay our artists and to create a free podcast.”

Artizan International received a grant of £18,000 to help run online sessions in the upcoming months. Before lockdown the charity ran free craft workshops for adults and children with disabilities in Harrogate and worked with long-term patients at Harrogate District Hospital.

The UK programmes officer for the charity, Liz Cluderay said:

“Coronavirus has had a huge impact on us, we hold hundreds of craft workshops throughout the year but we haven’t been able to hold any over the past months. Our participants are already isolated under normal circumstances being vulnerable and disabled. This pandemic means that they are cut off from the few social opportunities they had available to them.

We had to look at the long-term problems we could face and we sent a plan to the Arts Council to hold our craft workshops over zoom. The funding is covering the costs for six months of weekly zoom meetings with craft packages sent to our members’ door. They are all very excited and looking forward to seeing their friends faces on zoom sessions.”

Harrogate International Festivals is relying on extra funding due to its loss of income during the pandemic.

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The Arts Council announced that a total of £64.8 million has been awarded to almost 9000 individuals organisations through their Covid-19 emergency response package.

Nina Baptiste, Senior Relationship Manager, North, Arts Council England said:

“I am really pleased that we have been able to support Harrogate International Festivals and Artizan International with our Emergency Response Funding.

“During this unprecedented time it is has been heart-breaking to see organisations being negatively impacted by the pandemic. I hope that our support will enable them to tackle the immediate challenges that they are facing.”

Harrogate taxi firms hoping demand will start to increase

Two taxi firms in Harrogate that have run an essential service during the pandemic, are hoping that demand will increase as we ease out of lockdown.

The firms have offered extra services over lockdown including 24/7 phone lines and a shopping service for the elderly and shielding.

They have put safety measures in place including drivers and clients wearing masks and customers are asked to sit in the back seat.

Tracie Geelan who works for Elite Taxis told The Stray Ferret  that the firm has continued to run during lockdown:

“We are doing more to support our older clients, our drivers are even taking shopping orders over the phone and doing that for them too. We also have one of our directors Paul who rings all of our shielding customers weekly to check in and say hello to give them someone to talk to.

“We’ve had different requests during the pandemic, for example, driving to Heathrow airport to pick up customers after they’ve been stranded abroad or we had one client who was stuck on a cruise boat and wasn’t sure where it would dock. So we put one driver on standby who left as soon as we knew where the boat had docked.”

One of the directors of Elite Taxis, Paul Cox, has been ringing his shielding clients weekly to give them someone to talk to.

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Another taxi firm in Harrogate, Blue Line taxis, has

“We are still fulfilling contracts with some schools, especially those with parents that are key workers. We have kept our offices open 24/7 so customers hear a human voice rather than an automatic message when they ring us, its normally hospital staff that ring us overnight and we want to make sure we’re maintaining a high level of service.

“Things are getting back to normal but people are still frightened to come out. It won’t happen in a month or two but we’re optimistic business will pick up again.”

 

Harrogate Hospital delivery suites now open to visitors

Harrogate District Hospital has announced visitors will be allowed on maternity wards with immediate effect.

Previously, the coronavirus outbreak meant only birthing partners could be with women during the birth, with no other visitors allowed. However from this afternoon, delivery suites are allowing one birthing partner can stay during labour and delivery up until women are discharged or transferred from delivery suite.

Once the patient is transferred to the Pannal maternity ward, they will be allocated a time in the day for the birth partner to visit. This will be limited to one hour between either 11am-12pm or 3pm-4pm.

At present children are still not allowed on the wards.

Safety measures will remain in place, for example the 2 metre social distancing is expected during the visit and around the hospital. Anyone visiting the hospital can also expect to sanitise their hands on arrival and wear a mask, provided by the hospital.

The hospital is advising visitors to not touch their mask once applied or remove in the corridors, communal areas and when visiting on the ward.

The new visiting restrictions are likely to be greatly appreciated by patients and expectant parents in the district.

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There have been no changes to ultrasound appointments and women are still required to attend these alone – but this is under constant review by professionals.

 

Police find car carrying £10,000 cash in Boroughbridge

North Yorkshire Police has reported it stopped two suspicious cars near Boroughbridge, one carried £10,000 in cash.

The first car was found on the A1(M) southbound at junction 48, near Boroughbridge, on Saturday evening. The officers found the cash inside the Mercedes C200 and chose to carry out a roadside drug test on the driver.

The officers arrested the 60 year old driver on suspicion of drug driving and money laundering.

A further car, seen near the Mercedes, was stopped by the police at junction 46. The 26 year old driver was also arrested on suspicion of drug driving and money laundering as well as possession of cannabis.

Both men were charged with failing to produce a specimen of blood for analysis and were released as investigations continue. The second driver also received a warning for possessing cannabis.

The cars were seized for further examination.

Knaresborough swings into action with new plan

Knaresborough Unlocked is the action plan, set up by Knaresborough Chamber of Trade, to help the town reopen following lockdown.

After months of planning by chamber members, the Knaresborough Unlocked initiative was formed. Its main aim is to support local businesses as they make preparations to reopen.

The plan has a number of action points including engaging with voluntary organisations such as Knaresborough delivers to arrange a coordinated response from several of the town’s businesses.

The scheme has also allowed the chamber to keep businesses informed on funding opportunities, including discretionary grants, to ensure they receive all the necessary support. The main message that has been promoted throughout planning has been ‘shop local stay safe’.

A further focus of the action plan was to offer expert health and safety advice for smaller businesses who may not have formal training. The chamber partnered with local health and safety experts Cenheard to create a coronavirus safe pack which offers free health and safety training, guidance and posters for all local business owners.

These measures have been rolled out throughout the town to encourage its visitors and workers to social distance. Bill Taylor added:

“There’s still work to do and people’s behaviour towards the 2 metre distance is changing. There are so many questions about the distance and even though it might change its so important to keep it in the front of people’s mind. We’ve encouraged our shop owners to take part in the formal health and safety training to make sure the return is as safe as it can be.”

The Knaresborough Unlocked scheme aims to keep business owners and visitors safe.

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To promote their ‘shop local’ message further, the chamber has offered their support to a ‘Shopappy’ initiative set up by York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership, which will be live in the coming weeks. This scheme gives the town a portal in which local businesses can sell their products or services online.

Bill Taylor, Secretary and Treasurer of Knaresborough Chamber of Trade told The Stray Ferret:

“Shopappy allows customers to buy direct from them or arrange to click and collect from the store. The local enterprise partnership supports towns such as Knaresborough and offers the portal for free for a year. It is great because those businesses without an online platform are given the chance to get orders online.”