Serious accident leads to long delays on southbound A1M

The A1M southbound between J45-44 has been blocked this morning due to a serious accident causing long delays.

The accident involved an overturned lorry and led to the A1M southbound closed at J45 at Boston Spa.

Highways England said delays were up to 25 minutes. 

The motorway has now opened but there are still delays in the area as traffic clears.

Go to the Stray Ferret Traffic and Travel news for the latest information.

Read More:

 

 

Sneak Peek: Harrogate’s own chocolate factory

A new chocolate café will open on East Parade in Harrogate on Monday to help those with learning difficulties gain work experience.

Planning for the The Harrogate Chocolate Factory Café, which is run the by charity, Harrogate Skills 4 Learning Centre, has been underway since 2019 but opening was delayed due to covid.

The café has a barista bar and seating inside and outside. One of the first thing you’ll notice when entering the café is the colourful packaging design on the main pillar.

Fran Riley, the programme lead, told the Stray Ferret what the charity’s vision for the café is:

“The idea was that we would have a business where we could develop a process all of our young people could access. So making chocolate bars from bean to bar… while sourcing the beans as ethically as we could.”

The employees make a variety of handmade chocolate- all the chocolate is made with dairy alternatives so that “everyone can enjoy some”.

The chocolate is made from scratch in the charity’s main building nearby. It starts with roasting the cocoa beans in their kitchen and ends with pouring liquid chocolate in a moulding tray.

Kelsey Cuthbert, who works at the café, said it is a positive experience:

“I’ve grown from when I started trying to make coffees and stuff, and now I can do the job almost independently.”

A chocolate mixer in action at the café this week

The charity has described the café as a “social enterprise” giving its workers the skills for future employment.

Only 6% of people with learning disabilities have paid employment in the UK, according to the latest government figures.

 

The Harrogate Chocolate Factory Cafe also offers an outside seating area that is equipped to serve customers with disabilities.

Read More:

All details about the café’s opening can be found on their website here.

Harrogate Railway organises ‘rugby prom’ for charity

Harrogate Railway Athletic Football Club is organising a rugby match in which the players wear prom dresses to raise money for charity.

The club is fundraising in support of former Leeds Rhinos rugby league player Rob Burrow, who has motor neurone disease.

It has already raised £6,200 but would like to achieve £7,000 to match the number 7 Rob wore on his team shirt.

Anne Mitchell, the clubhouse manager, came up with the idea as a finale to the charity walks the club has done for the MND Association.

She said:

“One of the most exciting things is the team names — the sugar plum fairies and the nutcrackers”.

Rob Burrow, who has been raising money for the MND Association since his diagnosis, is supporting the event:

https://twitter.com/RunforRobMND/status/1409262293909753861

Read More: 

Players from different districts, including Leeds, York, West Park and Stanningley, are taking part in the match at Harrogate Railway AFC.

Details of the event are available on this Twitter account.

Forty two new positive covid cases in the Harrogate district

There have been forty two new positive covid cases in the Harrogate district in the past 24 hours according to Public Health England.

It brings the total number of people who have tested positive for coronavirus to 8.372 since the pandemic began.

There have been no deaths of covid at Harrogate District Hospital — the death toll in the district currently stands at 179.

Read More: 

The number of cases of the Delta variant in the Harrogate district has nearly quadrupled in the last two weeks.

Harrogate district’s seven day rate of cases per 100,000 population is 155.4 – the England average is 158.9.

 

 

 

 

Twenty new covid cases in the Harrogate district

There have been twenty new covid cases in the Harrogate district in the past 24 hours according to data published by Public Health England.

It brings the total number of people who have tested positive for the virus in the district since the pandemic started to 8,273.

Read More: 

The average seven day case rate per 100,000 population in the district is now 148 – that’s above the England average which is 136.4 (latest data up to June 24).

The highest seven day average case rate in North Yorkshire is in Richmondshire which currently stands at 169.4

Twenty seven new covid cases in Harrogate district

The daily statistics published by Public Health England show there have been 27 new covid cases the district.

The number of positive cases comes as scientists said yesterday that the UK is experiencing a third wave of infections.

There are currently no covid patients being treated at Harrogate District Hospital, according to latest Public Health England statistics.

The total number of people testing positive to the coronavirus in the district since the pandemic began is now 8,039.

Read More: 

The 7 day covid case rate per 100,000 population stands at 72.1 in the district, compared with the North Yorkshire average of 71.  Selby has the highest rate of 135.7 (latest data up to June 17).

 

Harrogate district farmers fear cheap Australian meat imports

Livestock farmers in the district have expressed concerns over the Australian trade deal and its potential to flood the UK market with cheaper, lower quality produce.

On Tuesday Boris Johnson announced that a new trade deal had been struck up between Australia. It will make it easier and cheaper for Australians to export meat to the UK.

Tim Weatherhead, a Ripon farmer and Vice Chair of the Yorkshire Young Farmers, said;

“The main concern is definitely them undercutting us on standards; we have higher standards of rearing, medicine and farming. Things like this don’t always cross the minds of the consumers, they often just go for the cheapest option. But they don’t see what’s going on behind the scenes.”

Australia’s animal welfare laws aren’t as strict as the UK’s. According to the Animal Protection Index, the UK has an animal welfare ranking of B while Australia ranks at D.

Read more

The National Farmers Union published its concerns over welfare practices in Australia which include feeding up to 50,000 cattle at one time and growth hormones which are banned in this country.

Andrew Loftus, a livestock farmer near Masham, shared similar concerns;

“I would be surprised if the government allowed meat containing banned growth hormones to enter the country, but this isn’t the only issue. Meat production standards in the UK are getting tighter and tighter, and there are a whole range of standards which we have which Australia would potentially not be subjected to.

I’m not against free trade deals, in fact I think that competition is good to give consumers a choice – it just has to be fair.”

Boris Johnson assured people that no meat would enter the country containing banned growth hormones.

Other local farmers were concerned about the environmental impact of importing meat from the other side of the world.

Jo and Rob from Blue Coat Farm in Harrogate said:

“Our government’s agenda in this country is for us to farm sustainably, with the environment in mind, so importing meat from the other side of the world would appear to be the polar opposite of this.”

Gov.uk data shows that the Yorkshire and the Humber region is the biggest contributor to the farming industry in the country, and livestock farms account for a third of all its farms.

Final volunteer call for cat charity Harrogate hotel abseil

Yorkshire Cat Rescue is calling for final volunteers to abseil down Harrogate’s Crowne Plaza Hotel in a daring fundraiser.

There are six slots left for those willing to take the plunge on the 3rd of July. The spaces were previously filled but due to a handful of last-minute dropouts there is space left for those wanting to sign up.

The abseil scales 140 feet and those taking part will be trained on the day by professionals.

Participants will need to pay a registration fee of £25 and are also asked to raise a minimum of £100 for the charity.

So far the charity has managed to raise more than £10,000 through the event but are aiming to reach £15,000 in the final few weeks.

Read more

This isn’t the first daring exploit run by the charity; last year it held a ‘firewalk’ in Skipton where participants walked over burning coals.

Yorkshire Cat Rescue has been taking in unwanted cats and kittens and giving them homes for nearly 20 years. As an independent charity, it relies on fundraising to keep going.

The money it raises will go towards rescuing more cats, food, vet bills and shelter.

Double organ transplant patient to walk 850 miles for charity

A Harrogate man who has had kidney and pancreas transplants aims to walk 850 miles this year to raise money for organ donation.

Mark Smith, a diabetic, had both organs removed 12 years ago and has since raised funds to support others facing the same situation.

His 850-mile target represents the 850 million people suffering from kidney disease across the world.

He began the challenge at the start of the year and has so far walked nearly 350 miles, moving towards his goal by walking in bursts, sometimes up to 22 miles.

Funds raised will go towards Kidney Care UK and Friends of Harrogate Hospital.

He has previously raised nearly £17,000 for Kidney Care UK through a variety of fundraising challenges. He also volunteers for the charity as an advisor for patients going through transplants.

The charity offers both emotional and practical support both pre and post-operation for those going through kidney disease.

Read more

He chose to take on this year’s mammoth walking challenge because it allows him to continue his long-distance trekking passion whilst still conforming with covid restrictions.

Some of the hardest legs of his journey have taken up to eight hours and have included walking across the Yorkshire three peaks.

One of his most notable past ventures involved walking across Hadrian’s wall with the mother of his own organ donor.

Despite receiving a double transplant himself, Mark didn’t seem too concerned about the physical implications of his challenge, saying that his main concern would be to stay hydrated.

He said that his most important aim was to make people consider what they would do in a situation where a loved one needed an organ donation;

“People need to have conversations with their family about their organ donation wishes. I am now an organ donation ambassador, I have completed many fundraisers and I have my own daughter through IVF. None of this would have happened if someone hadn’t said “I’ll donate”.”

Mark is still taking donations for the second half of his journey, which can be made here.

 

 

Harrogate flower display celebrates 100 years of soroptimists

Harrogate Borough Council have created a flower mural in the town centre to celebrate 100 years since the founding of the Soroptimist International women’s organisation.

Soroptimist International is an organisation aimed at empowering and improving the lives of women worldwide. It tackles issues such as domestic violence, child marriage and human trafficking.

The organisation has its’ own Harrogate and District branch which is reaching its 90th anniversary.

It consists of 37 members who work locally to support women’s refuges, food banks and other women’s causes.

In July of 2019 they held a Zoom conference for women in the organisation to speak to their ‘friendship links’ worldwide during lockdown.

The name ‘soroptimist’ comes from the Latin for ‘better sister’.

The mural can be found in Harrogate town centre on Montpelier Hill.

Read more