Harrogate college students march for Ukraine

A group of students from Harrogate Ladies College orchestrated a march around the town centre today to raise money for the Ukraine crisis.

The group encouraged the public to join them on the march at 2pm and collected donations in buckets.

All money raised will be going directly to the Ukrainian Red Cross.

One of the organisers, Mahala, said they were inspired by the fact that they had two Ukrainian students in their year group;

“Some people are reading about it on the news but not doing anything because they’re not directly impacted, but all of us seeing how hard it was for these girls made us want to try and help.

It’s hard when you feel useless because you can’t do a lot, but you can donate money.”

The Ukrainian Red Cross is focusing on offering first aid and supplies to Ukrainians who have suffered as a result of the Russian invasion.

Those who were unable to attend are still able to make donations on the JustGiving page.

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Meanwhile, Stockeld Park in Wetherby have pledged to donate £10,000 to Ukrainian charities from ticket sales for its Easter Adventure event.

The money raised will be split between UNICEF and Ukrainian charity Voices of Children.

Harrogate farm shop Fodder also announced on Facebook today that they will be renaming their Chicken Kiev to Chicken Kyiv in support of Ukraine, and donating a small portion of their sale profits to charity.

Visiting restrictions to be eased at Harrogate and Ripon hospitals

From Tuesday, the rules for people visiting patients in Harrogate and Ripon’s hospitals will be relaxed following a decline in covid infections.

On December 23, Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust tightened visitor restrictions because of the Omicron variant and the subsequent rise in infections. At one point the Harrogate district had the highest covid rate in North Yorkshire.

Visitors were only allowed for patients on end of life care, patients with a learning disability or severe cognitive impairment such as dementia. Parents or carers of children and birthing partners were also permitted.

But from Tuesday, patients can have one visitor, by appointment, between 2-4pm for 30 minutes.  Only two visitors will be allowed in each bay at any one time.

Visitors are asked to book appointments by phone from Monday.

Bookings should be made directly with the ward where a patient is staying.

For Harrogate District Hospital call 01423 885959. For Ripon Community Hospital call 01423 542900 between 10am and 4pm and ask to be put through the relevant ward.

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Also from Tuesday, outpatients will be allowed to have one person accompany them to a hospital appointment.  All visitors will have to wear a mask and sanitise their hands when they arrive.

Jonathan Coulter, acting chief executive at HDFT, said:

“Having reviewed our visitor guidance and the current covid transmission levels in the district we are pleased to welcome back visitors to our hospitals from Tuesday.

“Like so many other hospitals in the country, we did not take the decision to restrict visitors lightly. We understand the positive impact that seeing a familiar, friendly face, such as a family member or friend, can have on a patient’s recuperation, but due to the highly infectious nature of this devastating virus we needed to do all we could to prevent our patients and our staff from contracting the disease.

“We understand that our visitor restrictions have been challenging for some people and we would like to apologise for any distress they have felt, but introducing these restrictions may have prevented someone in our care from catching covid and becoming seriously ill or dying.”

Another 213 covid cases in the Harrogate district

Two hundred and thirteen people in the Harrogate district have tested positive for covid in the past 24 hours.

The Harrogate district’s average 7 day case rate (per 100,000 population) has fallen to 1136 but it has the second highest case rate in  North Yorkshire. Only Richmondshire has a higher average case rate of 1185.6.

The North Yorkshire average is 1048 (latest data up to January 13).

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The number of people who have tested positive in the Harrogate district since the pandemic began now stands at 34,788.

The latest figure for the number of covid patients being treated at Harrogate District Hospital is 27. The number is an increase from 23 on last week.

 

District sees covid cases rise by 440

The number of people who have tested positive for covid in the Harrogate district has risen by 440 in the past twenty four hours, according to data from Public Health England.

It brings the total number of people who have tested positive for covid in the district to 32,678 since the start of the pandemic.

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Harrogate now has an average case rate (per 100,000 population) of 1428 – which is below the England average of 1768 and North Yorkshire average of 1599. Last data up to January 5.

 

 

Covid cases rise by 87 in the Harrogate district

The number of people who have tested positive for covid in the past twenty hour hours has risen by 87 in the Harrogate district, according the figures published by Public Health England.

The number of people who have tested positive for coronavirus since the pandemic began is now 24,158 in the district.

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The NHS does not publish data relating to hospital deaths at weekends. As of Tuesday, 14 covid patients were being treated at Harrogate District Hospital which is a significant drop from last week.

The seven day average case rate (per 100,000 population) in the Harrogate district is now 506.7.  The North Yorkshire average is 479.1 with England’s at 439.6.

 

IMAGE GALLERY: Knaresborough Christmas lights switch on

There were large crowds in Knaresborough tonight for the Christmas lights switch-on.

Stalls selling doughnuts, roasted chestnuts, hog roast and mulled wine kept everyone warm and festive on a freezing evening..

There were long queues for the mulled wine courtesy of the Knaresborough Lions

The Knaresborough Choral Society sang carols in the lead up to the switch-on 

Children brought Christmas lanterns as part of a light parade from the castle to the market square

Knaresborough Silver Band played carols to entertain the crowds

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Scale of Harrogate’s climate change challenge revealed

The scale of Harrogate’s climate change challenge has been revealed in new figures published as part of a latest consultation.

Residents and businesses have until January 2 to have their say on Harrogate Borough Council’s new carbon reduction strategy which sets out how the district will play its part in cutting emissions to try avoid the devastating effects of global warming.

CO2 emissions have fallen by 32% in the district since 2005, however, it is still producing over one million tonnes per year with a combined annual energy bill of over £400m.

And if the district continues at this current rate, it will have used up its carbon budget – which allows a maximum of 9 million tonnes of CO2 between now and 2050 – 20 years before that end date under national targets.

These figures are why the council’s new strategy says “big and rapid changes” are now needed, not just by local and national leaders, but by everyone.

It said:

“Climate scientists, observing real life data, are clear that the UK is already experiencing disruptive climate change.

“2020 was third warmest, fifth wettest and eighth sunniest on record. No other year has fallen in the top 10 for all three variables in this country.

“Achieving net-zero and meeting our local carbon budget must involve the joint efforts of local authorities, businesses and industry, individual consumers and the rest of the public sector and national government.

“By pulling together partners and strategies, we can deliver a bigger impact than if we act alone.”

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This urgent need for action was brought into even sharper focus in October when Harrogate’s first Climate Action Festival was launched in the run up to the COP26 summit.

Organised by the Harrogate District Climate Change Coalition, the festival highlighted what can be achieved on a local level by residents and businesses before world leaders put forward their pledges at the summit in Glasgow.

Making houses more energy efficient was an important target that came out of COP26 and this will be key for Harrogate which for many years has used more gas and electricity than regional and national averages.

Carbon emissions per person in Harrogate are also higher than the national average.

Domestic energy consumption accounts for 34% of the district’s carbon footprint, while transport emissions account for 31%.

The fumes from diesel and petrol vehicles are a particular area of concern as unlike other declining emissions, the numbers are on the rise.

This is why council officials are pushing ahead with plans to reduce car use through projects such as the £10.9m Harrogate Gateway, the Otley Road cycle path and other active travel schemes which give greater road priority to pedestrians and cyclists.

There is also an aim to get 10,000 electric vehicles on the roads by 2023 ahead of the ban on the sale of petrol, diesel and hybrid cars seven years later.

Out of all the districts in North Yorkshire, Harrogate has seen the largest increase in electric vehicles. However, the council’s strategy says there is still much work to do as most motorists are making the switch from diesel to petrol cars, not electric.

It said:

“An area of concern in the district is road transport emissions which are not declining like other sectors.

“A significant cause of this is likely to be the swing away from the use of diesel vehicles towards higher-CO2 petrol, with the increasing take up of ultra low emission vehicles not yet counteracting this move away from diesel.

“It’s essential the local people and businesses know the direction we are taking.

“We will work closely with the Harrogate District Climate Change Coalition to champion carbon reduction measures and raise awareness and simulate action.”

The new carbon reduction strategy will replace the current version which was adopted by the council in October 2019.

To have your say go to www.harrogate.gov.uk/consultations-engagement

Met office issues weather warning for district as Storm Arwen hits

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for strong winds across the Harrogate district over the weekend as Storm Arwen hits the north of England.

The yellow warning for Saturday follows a higher amber warning from Friday afternoon for the north east of England and coastal areas.

Storm Arwen is also predicted to bring cold temperatures with the possibility of sleet and snow over some lower ground although it is likely to be short-lived.

Met Office has issued the following advice as to what to expect with a yellow warning:

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Covid cases rise by 98 in the Harrogate district

Ninety eight people have tested positive for covid in the Harrogate district over the past 24 hours, according to data from Public Health England.

The district’s seven day average case rate is now 550.9 (cases per 100,000 population) which is higher than North Yorkshire’s which stands at 545.6.

Earlier this week the seven day case rate in the district fell below the county average for the first time in three months.

Selby has the highest seven day case in North Yorkshire with a figure of 624.6.

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The have been no new deaths at Harrogate District Hospital of patients who tested positive for covid — the number of people in the district who have died of the virus remains at 198.

Commissioner Candidates questioned: the 101 call system “not fit for purpose”

In the final of a series of articles on crime issues in the Harrogate district, candidates standing to be North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner are questioned on how they will resolve problems with the 101 call system. 

Candidates battling to be named North Yorkshire’s next Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner later this week have pledged to focus on tackling the persistent lengthy 101 call waiting times that have plagued the county’s police force for years.

All of the hopefuls seeking to represent more than 800,000 residents of York and North Yorkshire in holding the county’s police to account say they would launch a review of the service or look to introduce improvements.

The force’s 101 line has regularly struggled to meet demand since it was was introduced in 2011 as a national measure to ease demand on 999, which was being used as a default when people did not know the local non-emergency number.

After a wave of complaints over lengthy call waiting times and large proportions of callers hanging up, in 2015 the then commissioner, Julia Mulligan, issued a review of the 101 service.

After continuing issues in 2018 she announced a £3 million upgrade of the Force Control Room, the recruitment of 32 new full-time staff and new training and tutoring facilities, the cost of which was met by increasing residents’ council tax.

In September, ahead of making controversial comments about women’s safety and resigning, the previous commissioner Philip Allott was told by North Yorkshire County councillors the non-emergency line was “not fit for purpose and it hasn’t been fit for purpose for the last eight years” and that “the phone just doesn’t get answered”.

Labour

Asked about the how she intended to tackle the force’s 101 issue, Labour candidate Emma Scott-Spivey, said she intended to rebuild the frontline, which meant giving police and fire services “all the tools they need to keep us safe”.

She said:
“My parents were police officers, dedicated and hard-working public servants. I am a student paramedic working with emergency services day in day out. I know how important it is that our emergency services are properly resourced. Repairing the damage done by chronic government cuts is the biggest challenge the commissioner faces.”

Liberal Democrat

Liberal Democrat James Barker said improving the 101 service would be a top priority as it was crucial in ensuring resources were deployed appropriately.

He said:

“I know that a digital channel has been opened so that incidents can be reported online, but I would want to look in detail at why there continue to be issues with the 101 service and what steps need to be taken to make it more reliable.”

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Conservative

Zoe Metcalfe, the Conservative candidate said she would use all the commissioner’s powers to get to grips with what is a “crucial” service.

She said the public money spent updating the service had not resolved the long telephone waits people experience/  If elected, Mrs Metcalfe pledged to “take a forensic look at what the issues are and work alongside the police to resolve them”.

Independent

Keith Tordoff, an Independent candidate said the longstanding 101 problem appeared “a straightforward issue with demand versus supply”.

He said:

“The supply of staff to answer the phone is simply too small. If we could reduce demand by encouraging other forms of reporting, such as the internet, that might work, but in principle really we just need more people to answer the calls. If elected I would review the operation of the 101 reporting system with a view to improving the service, looking particularly at recruitment.”

Women’s Equality Party

Women’s Equality Party candidate Hannah Barham-Brown added:

“I’ll be looking into this further and seeing how to best improve the service by speaking to the hard working staff who monitor the 101 phone line, as well as the residents who have experienced issues.”