Images taken of Harrogate at around 7.30pm:

Larger hotel and restaurant owners in Harrogate have called on the government to provide financial support after the government today asked the public to avoid pubs, clubs, theatres and social venues.

Rudding Park and Spa in Harrogate, one of the towns largest hotels, has 90 bed rooms. Peter Banks Rudding’s Managing Director demanded clarity from the government:

“What help are the government going to provide?  Are they going to allow us to stop paying PAYE, VAT, Corporation Tax and rates and what further liquidity are they going to give to banks to allow them to keep us going? More importantly, how quickly is this going to happen? Anyone in a leasehold or rented property will need to be paying their mortgage, rent and bills at the end of the month – where is that money coming from? From a hospitality industry perspective, at Rudding Park we are lucky, we are large enough to ‘ride’ it but I certainly wouldn’t want to be running a smaller business in this environment.”

The Yorkshire Hotel Harrogate

 I am worried about the long-term sustainability of the business if we don’t have any customers coming through our doors. The government has suspended business rates for smaller places but I think we need to look at some relief for bigger businesses as well. The government has not shut us down so I think it’s still okay for fit and healthy people who are not at risk to still go out for food and drink.”

HARROGATE

 Covid Co-operation Harrogate 

• The group will connect people who need help with volunteers. 
• People should post on the Facebook page if they can help.  
• People who need help are asked to message the group privately and Suzie will allocate someone to help with errands or whatever else may be required.  
• For more information: Covid Co-operation Harrogate

#ViralKindness postcard 

• The aim is for people to print out postcards at home which include boxes for neighbours to write their name, address, phone number and state whether volunteers can help with picking up shopping, urgent supplies, posting mail or even just “a friendly phone call” and put them through neighbours doors so that if people do need help it is there. 
• For information: ViralKindness postcard

Almsford Drive   

• Residents who live on Almsfords Drive can connect with a Whatsapp group to offer help to those who need it.  
• The aim is to work together to make sure those who are self isolating have the help and support they need so that no one feels alone.
• For more information: Almsford Drive Group

KNARESBOROUGH 

Knaresborough Coronavirus Support 

• Facebook page to connect residents through this difficult time where over 70’s could be asked to isolate for up to 4 months 
• The aim is to make sure the vulnerable community have everything they need to stay at home. They are looking to develop a helpline number so people can call in. But for now message the group on Facebook and they will do what they can to help. 
• Click here to link to the group  

BOROUGHBRIDGE 

Covid 19 Boroughbridge  

• Facebook page set up to make sure the residents of Boroughbridge and the surrounding area 
• The aim is to both offer and seek help for those who need it in the local community  
• For more information click here.

 Deliveries:

• Havenhands in Boroughbridge is offering home deliveries for residents .  
• The aim is to make sure residents have the supplies they need without leaving the house. 
• Call the shop on 01423 322432. 

SPOFFORTH 

Spofforth Deli and Post Office   

• They have a team of volunteers ready to help people in the local area. 
• The aim is to offer to pick prescriptions up from Harrogate and bring them to the shop so the elderly and vulnerable do not have to travel i. Prescriptions can also be delivered. 
• Call the shop for help on 01937 591358 or email r.paige732@btinternet.com.  

If you want us to add your organisation or support group – however small — please get in touch :

@thestrayferret       email: contact@thestrayferret.co.uk   

Across the district today local people have launched social media sites to mobilise support for their elderly and vulnerable neighbours.

Covid Co-Operation Harrogate, a Facebook page which was started over the weekend, already has more than 4,000 members who are either offering help or need it.  Susie Little from Birstwith, who started the group, said she is ‘overwhelmed’ and that she ‘never expected’ so much support. The site is working to connect people: 

 “If you are well and are able to run errands for people who aren’t, please write a new post saying whereabouts in Harrogate you are.

If you are elderly, vulnerable or ill, please message me directly and I will match you with someone close to you who can potentially help. Any shopping etc will be delivered to doorsteps – no actual contact will be made.  

We all need to pull together and help each other out and let’s make people’s lives a little bit easier and less worrying.” 

The public rapid response came as the Government warned that people over the age of 70 could be told “within the coming weeks” to stay at home for an extended period of time to protect themselves from coronavirus.  

Community response meetings between various organisations are planned across the borough over the next couple of days to discuss action plans. 

• The Stray Ferret is compiling a list of support groups in the district. Click here.   

Social media groups have also been set up to serve the people of Knaresborough and Boroughbridge.  #ViralKindness postcards, which was started by a woman from Cornwall, offers a printable postcard aims to help elderly and vulnerable neighbours who are self- isolating. This is now being circulated among many of these groups locally offering help to those who may not use social media.   A Harrogate printing company ‘Enid Taylors’ posted on twitter today saying it was getting involved:

With supermarkets struggling to cope; empty shelves in stores and up to a weeks wait for a delivery slot online, some local shops stepped in to make sure people get the supplies they need.  

Havenhands the bakers, based in Boroughbridge, has started offering this service.  It’s owner,  Clarke Thornton told the Stray Ferret:

‘It helps support our business as well as our loyal elderly customers. In light of people being stuck in their own homes we want to offer to deliver bread, cakes, pies or whatever else they may need. We can take payments over the phone so no contact is necessary. ”

If you have you launched a support group or are offering to help people through this crisis and would like us to publicise it , please get in touch below 

Harrogate District Hospital confirmed yesterday afternoon that it had its first coronavirus patient.

Robert Harrison, Chief Operating Officer at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said:Robert Harrison, Chief Operating Officer at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“We can confirm that we are currently caring for a patient who has tested positive for the COVID-19 infection. They are being very safely cared for by our highly skilled team at Harrogate District Hospital and all of the appropriate protection measures are in place.

“As always, our prime concern is to respect patient confidentiality at all times and we would ask the media to do the same.

“Services continue to run as usual across the hospital.”

Yesterday the total number of confirmed cases in the UK has reached 1,372 cases with 35 deaths.

On Thursday the Government moved from the “containment” phase to the “delay” phase and Public Health England will no longer be publishing regional numbers for people testing positive to the virus.  It’s thought the government may announce a ban on mass gatherings in the coming days.

The NHS 111 testing pods outside Harrogate Hospital

For the latest advice from Harrogate District Hospital  on COVID-19 click here 

The congregation for this morning’s Sung Eucharist service at Ripon Cathedral, was considerably smaller than the previous two Sundays in Lent, as the coronavirus crisis continues to impact on events that normally attract large gatherings.

The turn out was around half the usual size of the congregation and also saw wardens who were welcoming church goers, saying that they could not hand out the order of service booklets, as they had to avoid hand to hand contact.Instead, the wardens pointed to the booklets and invited attendees to pick them up for themselves.

The 10.30am service at the Cathedral is invariably the most well attended of the week, with a steady stream of church goers heading down Kirkgate, or from the nearby Cathedral and Market Place car parks to take their seats in the ancient building.

Meanwhile one Harrogate church turned to technology to get access to its parishioners. This morning’s Parish Mass at St Wilfred’s Church on Duchy Road, was streamed and then posted on Facebook for worshipers who had stayed at home.

Supermarkets continue to see people rush to stock up

Not far away from the Cathedral at the Ripon ALDI store, a queue of cars backed up onto the road as shoppers looking to stock up, waited for parking spaces to become free in a car park packed with vehicles.

Yesterday many shelves were getting empty by 1.30pm and large multi-packs of toilet roll were proving a popular buy. Packs of Paracetamol and Ibuprofen were proving difficult to get hold of at chemists and other stores around Ripon while all types of hand-wash and particularly sanitiser with an alcohol content of sufficient strength to kill the coronavirus, are being bought as soon as they are put on the shelves of Boots in Market Place and Day Lewis Pharmacy in North Street.

At Day Lewis, the pharmacist put up a sign on the shop door saying We Have No Hand Gel, because the pharmacy has been dealing with up to 100 people a day coming in to ask and that was disrupting the serving of prescriptions and other products.

The shop eventually received a small supply of alcohol-based hand sanitiser and the nine bottles costing £9.95 that were received, were sold before midday. The pharmacist points out: “We ordered 60 bottles, but it is in short supply everywhere.”

First it was the floods, now it’s coronavirus, Pateley Bridge is a town that is once again having to call on its exceptional community spirit to see it through a crisis.  

Margaret Ninness has run the Willows Tea Room and Restaurant in Pateley Bridge for the last 30 years. Above the tearoom she can accommodate 14 people in the guesthouse . Margaret has started to deal with cancellations:  

“People are either cancelling their bookings or asking me to waive our cancellation policy- they want to leave it to the last minute which I’ve agreed to do. You can see how quiet it is. We’ve had a lot of floods and bad weather and now this. I worry for my staff.”  

Margaret Ninness in her tearoom

Margaret has reduced the hours her staff work to try and keep them employed. She welcomed news of the chancellor’s rates holiday for shops, hotels and tearooms which have a rateable value of less than £51,000 but was upset to hear that her energy bill is to go up. 

Small hotels and events seem to be the first to be affected by the coronavirus crisis in Pateley Bridge.  The local lunch club that’s run by volunteers every month has been cancelled, as has a Ceilidh that was planned for last night.   

Liz Carnell Director of the SPAR on the High Street seems to know every local who came into her store. The talk was of nothing but coronavirus:  

“The elderly we deliver to have been asking if we’re going to be able to continue to do this and we have said absolutely yes—even if you’re not feeling well. People are starting to get worried as it’s getting closer and we’ve been trying to put people’s minds at rest”

A few doors up the High Street is Weatherheads the butchers. Established since 1876.. it’s survived many an economic crisis. The current owner, Andrew Weatherhead, said he’s worried about how he’ll keep the business going if staff get sick but also saw a potential silver lining 

Andrew Weatherhead hopes for the best

 “The situation might work in our favour if people start avoiding large busy supermarkets” . Andrew and other store owners have welcomed the rates relief announced in the budget to help offset the financial impact to smaller businesses.  

Pateley Bridge has tremendous community spirit. They pulled together in the recent floods and they know they will do the same for coronavirus as the days becomes more challenging.  

As the district and the country face an unprecedented public health challenge, The Very Reverend, John Dobson, has written this message to the people of the Harrogate District:

The coronavirus is having an incredible impact on the global community. We hear unprecedented accounts of an entire European country being in lock down. Our hearts go out for those who have died and to all affected. The threat to health and life has been matched by that to the economy, stock markets have tumbled, and our new chancellor has made massive financial provisions.  

The church is not exempt from this huge challenge. As an organisation that brings people together in fellowship as well as worship and prayer, the need for some to be isolated seems counter cultural.  At Ripon Cathedral, like many hospitality businesses and events venues, we are having to plan and make contingencies. The possibility of organisations cancelling their events with us is as disturbing for us as for them.   

The cathedral has an even more significant dimension to its mission; the need for spiritual reassurance and encouragement becomes even more obvious as our natural routine and sense of security are undermined. This is why we are taking all possible precautions to enable people to gather for worship in a way that is safe and responsible. We have the advantage of space! It is also interesting to observe how many people are choosing to come privately into the cathedral – open every day of the year – to light candles and pray.  

This time of national concern reminds me of the 2008 financial crash and the government’s bailout of the banks. I happened to be in the gallery of the House of Commons to hear the then Prime Minster, Gordon Brown, announce the unprecedented £150billion provision. No one knew what state the world’s economy would be in by the end of the week. Sitting in that mother of parliaments, I couldn’t help reflecting that it had seen many historic decisions over the centuries.   

At the end of the afternoon, I attended evensong in Westminster Abbey. Every stone seemed to bear witness to the message of God’s utter reliability in the long history of our country, with all its ups and downs. It seemed to put the problems of the day into perspective. Ripon Cathedral, whose 7th century crypt is the oldest built fabric of all English cathedrals, does the same. And it continues to encourage us all to trust in God and look out for our neighbour. That is a message particularly relevant today.  

There was a mixed picture of Saturday trading across the district today as shoppers did come out in Ripon, Harrogate and Knaresborough. Some traders in Harrogate, though, said they had started to feel a negative effect from the coronavirus crisis and were deeply concerned for the coming weeks.

The manager of Cafe M in Harrogate town centre, Lee Woodmass, said footfall had halved. Lee took over the independently run cafe in February. “Things were going well until last week and then takings halved”.

Shoppers, he said, have been asking where they can buy hand-sanitiser and his older customers are really worried.

Cafe M in Harrogate says takings are down

The picture was less bleak elsewhere though in Harrogate with some stores saying it felt like a regular Saturday. Vicky Wild who runs the Harrogate Fair Trade Shop on Cambridge Street, said the week had been very quiet but today it had picked up.

Queues for hand-sanitiser

In Ripon a small queue formed outside the Boots store on Market Place before it opened at 08.30am today. Sales were limited to two bottles each and soon ran out. There have been similar queues outside pharmacies all over the district. 

There has been real anxiety around finding a bottle and accompanying acts of altruism. 

Amanda Macey, from Ripon, told The Stray Ferret:

“I came Wednesday morning first thing and there was just one bottle left. A lady in the queue behind me was distressed, because she needed hand sanitiser for hygiene protection as a relative was coming out of hospital having received chemotherapy, so I stood aside, because her need was greater than mine.”

That good deed was rewarded when Amanda, pictured above,  who has contact with vulnerable people, did obtain  her two bottles.  

“You can get drugs in Harrogate during your school lunch break.”

“We have had letters sent home from school to say the children are having a drug awareness talk.”

“We’ve warned our own children from a young age about the dangers of drugs.”

These are just some of the comments from parents who have spoken to The Stray Ferret about their children’s experience of drugs and what goes on during a typical school day in Harrogate.

Families who have moved to one of the ‘safest towns in Britain’ for a better life, have revealed a real fear that their children could be exposed to drugs at a pre-adolescent age.

Our special focus follows the high-profile county lines drug raids, which police carried out in an unprecedented move to smash drug dealing.

The parents, whose children go to Harrogate’s state schools and asked to remain anonymous, have told how they fear the upmarket and traditionally wealthy town of Harrogate may be being deliberately targeted, as children and teenagers living here often have a higher disposable income, than in other areas.

One mother said a 16-year-old boy had told her how pupils can seek out drugs during the school lunch break, if they chose to do so:

 “We know there are definitely issues with drugs happening in or around school life. I’ve been told recently by a teenager: ‘You can buy drugs during your lunch break if you want. Everyone knows it and knows who to ask.’

“Of course they may go out of school to do this, but it is still rather worrying.”

Another parent, who has two teenagers, said: “We have letters sent periodically from school warning that there is to be a drug awareness seminar. I suppose it is good they are being pro-active, but evident that the police have concerns for our young people and who they might mix with.

“it is not just our school, it is happening in all of them. It is worrying.”

The parents have also said that the impact and fear of drug culture had hit home only recently, after recent police raids.

Harrogate is officially one of the safest towns in Britain, with North Yorkshire named as the county with the lowest crime rate in England and Wales, despite covering the fifth largest geographical policing area.

Yet undeterred by this, drug dealers from outside the area are using vulnerable young people to deliver drugs across our town and surrounding areas.

Here is what some Harrogate parents had to say:

“It is vital to educate your children at home about the dangers”

One Harrogate couple, who run their own business, say they are unsurprised by the recent police raids, but say it is vital that parents educate their children from quite a young age about the dangers of drugs, to encourage them to make the right choices.

The father-of-two, who had received the letter about drug awareness session, said: “There has always been drugs available in Harrogate, like anywhere, despite it being a wealthy and upmarket town, so recent events do not come as a surprise.

“Drugs are there for those who seek them out, but they are now more widely available and easier than ever to get hold of.

“We are not concerned about our teenage son. We have educated him at home about drugs and choices and feel confident he can make the right decisions for himself.”

“We’ve been to drug awareness seminars at school”

Another mother, in her 40s, who lives just a five minute walk from The Stray in Harrogate, said: “Our son is only 12, but already there has been mention of drugs. We have been to drug awareness seminars for parents at school and I am glad to see that all the schools in Harrogate seem to be “on it”. I think they have to be.

“We have lived here for 20 years. We love living here and feel very privileged to have such a lovely life in a good area. It is a great place to live and work.

The working mother added: “Our son is only young and in year 8, he’s not even a teenager yet, but we are definitely aware of things happening and want him to be aware and vigilant too.”

North Yorkshire Police dog Marley helps during recent county lines searches

What is being done to educate our children?

Pupils as young as 10 are taking part in drug awareness sessions, in schools across Harrogate and North Yorkshire.

Sessions start in Year 6, the top class in primary school and are also delivered in secondary schools.

North Yorkshire Police has eight school liaison officers (SLO) who support PSHE curriculum subjects including drug use.

They engage with working partners such as the Inspire Youth Project in Harrogate and Knaresborough, who deliver awareness around drugs, county lines and Child Sexual Exploitation.

Other projects include the Crucial Crew, who go in Year 6 primary classes and The North Yorkshire Youth Commission which delivers Kym’s Game, to encourage discussion around drug use and about keeping your friends safe.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: “The aim is to educate children and young people around the types of drugs, their effects and the consequences – criminal as well as health related.

“In addition there is a large emphasis on teaching them to stay safe around drugs, as we do not presume that we can stop drug use all together.

“Parents can help by educating themselves. Sessions are available to parents if they wish. They are very well received and the feedback is excellent.

“Sadly, they are not as well attended as we would hope.”