Vicky Carr, Author at The Stray Ferret

Where would you turn if you couldn’t afford to feed your family?

This year’s Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal is for Resurrected Bites in Harrogate and Knaresborough. Please read Vicky’s story about the charity’s community grocery below and give generously to support local people who are struggling this Christmas. They need your help.

At 9am on a Friday morning, Gracious Street Methodist Church in Knaresborough is already humming with energy.

The doors to the community grocery run by Resurrected Bites have just opened, but the volunteers have been here for well over an hour.

Amid the scene of boxes being unpacked and food being moved around by a dozen people, I meet grocery manager Carolyn Aitken, who tells me:

“It’s always manic on a Friday morning! It’s our busiest day.

“About 11am is our busiest time. We might get a bit of a break for a coffee, then it’s generally quieter through the rest of the day.”

The grocery was stocked yesterday, she says, with tinned and packaged food, but deliveries of fresh and frozen items continue to arrive throughout the morning.

They mostly arrive with volunteers who have been picking up food from shops across the Harrogate district.

Some are fresh foods about to go out of date, but perfectly safe be frozen to eat later. Others are tinned and packaged foods which will last for months more, but their best before dates don’t meet the exacting needs of supermarkets.

Catherine Crompton is the warehouse manager for Resurrected Bites. She uses her professional experience in food technology and PhD in food science to ensure everything that is sold is still of the right standard, including being properly labelled with allergens.

A delivery from Greggs is meticulously labelled before going on sale

As well as the new stock arriving, there is a steady stream of customers coming to the grocery. To be part of the scheme, each has gone through a registration process, ensuring they are in real need.

These aren’t necessarily people who are unemployed: some have faced a crisis, such as the loss of a partner, serious ill health, or a dramatic change in circumstances. Some simply can’t cover all their outgoings, especially as bills rise.

Carolyn said:

“We have had people who I know work, who use us. That’s all kinds of wrong.

“We give people the opportunity to pay in advance, so they know they can come every week and do their shop until the next time they get their money. It takes the pressure off.”

Members pay an annual membership fee of £5 and then a nominal charge for each shop: £3 for a small household, or £6 for a family of four or more.

Food waste

There are shelves and cabinets heaving with everything you might find in a supermarket: tinned tuna and beans, dried pasta, rice, breakfast cereal, meat, fruit and vegetables, custard, toothpaste, nappies, cleaning products and more.

There’s a counter of bread, cakes and other baked goods – all considered not good enough for supermarkets to sell to their customers, but all perfectly fresh and delicious enough to eat.

Looking at the amount of food here, it’s genuinely shocking to realise that it could all have been thrown in the bin.

Resurrected Bites has intercepted tons and tons of food waste since its first community grocery opened at New Park in Harrogate in October 2021, followed by Gracious Street in December. In total, 5,600 shops have been done by people who could not otherwise afford to feed themselves and their families.

Some of the people who rely on the grocery tell me they feel more comfortable with its model than with hand-outs, because it saves perfectly edible food from landfill – and because they pay.

Deborah Stocks began taking food parcels from Resurrected Bites during covid, when she was caring for her husband who had cancer. He died in late 2020 and, the following year, she began volunteering.

She collects donations from local supermarkets and brings them to Gracious Street on a Friday.

When we meet, she’s sitting with her mum, Jackie Lowden, who tells me:

“I’m on my own and I’m a pensioner. I live in a bungalow, but I haven’t put the heating on this year. I can’t afford it.

“Deborah told me about Resurrected Bites, and I thought, ‘that’s not for me’. But I can’t afford to buy food – it’s that ‘heat or eat’ thing.

“The good thing about this is that you do pay, it’s not just a hand-out. And now I volunteer too.”

Many of the volunteers are grocery members themselves. There’s a real sense of everyone pitching in to ensure it meets the needs of the community – and a very welcoming atmosphere to visitors old and new.

A big operation

But this is no simple set-up. There are 150 volunteers and five staff ensuring Resurrected Bites runs like clockwork.

They sort food in the warehouse, distribute it to the community groceries and cafés, check stock levels, help customers and ensure anyone who needs help can access it.

While Resurrected Bites takes plenty of tinned tuna, dried pasta and soup, it’s often short on ingredients for cooing and baking, such as flour and sugar. Tea bags are plentiful, but instant coffee is not.

To fill the gaps, Resurrected Bites has to buy supplies every week. They often come from national food waste charity Fareshare, which redistributes items from supermarkets and other suppliers.

Retired nurse Jennie Naylor began volunteering with Resurrected Bites during the covid pandemic, along with her husband Paul, and now helps at the community grocery once a week.

“We really enjoy it, while I would say being shocked at the number of people in this situation.

“It’s the meeting people. We both enjoy feeling useful and giving something to our community.

“We’ve enjoyed getting to know the other volunteers as well – they’re all just wonderful.”

I can’t imagine opening my cupboards at home to find nothing there, while my children are hungry and I know I can’t afford to buy anything. It must be incredibly stressful.

To know an organisation like Resurrected Bites is there to support you when times are tough must be an enormous relief.

Nobody in the Harrogate district should go hungry this Christmas.

It costs £300 to run the community grocery for one day. Please help to keep it open for everyone who relies on it.

Click here to contribute now.

Harrogate council set to agree to buy land for new horticultural nursery

A new home for Harrogate Borough Council‘s nursery could be bought by the authority if a proposal is accepted next week.

The council’s cabinet is set to approve plans to buy the land to relocate its Harlow Hill nursery — but the location remains under wraps.

Details of the proposed piece of land and its cost have not been revealed as the council argues they are commercially sensitive. However, documents published ahead of the meeting next Wednesday say the ward affected by the proposed purchase is Hampsthwaite and Killinghall.

The ward covers both villages, along with land to the south across Penny Pot Lane and down to the northern edge of Beckwithshaw.

The report by commercial and transformation officer Jennie Atherton said:

“Whilst the agreed value is slightly over the asking price, this is proportionate as the transfer would not be subject to an overage clause. This provides security for the council moving forward with the proposed development or an alternative use.

“Furthermore, the difference in value price secures the preferred site that could facilitate future operational needs of the horticultural nursery and enable the service to develop and maximise commercial opportunity including targets to bring net costs to zero and payback the capital investment in full.”

Harrogate Borough Council’s current nursery was described in the report as “no longer fit for purpose”. It was included in the local plan as a site for residential development and the council has agreed to invite expressions of interest in the site.

It has said any sale would be conditional on a new nursery site being available first.

Next week’s decision would allow officers to proceed with site searches and stage one of the Royal Institute of British Architects‘ eight-phase plan of work for delivering projects.

While the purchase of the site could complete before Harrogate Borough Council is replaced by the new unitary North Yorkshire Council in April, work to develop the new nursery is likely to take longer.

The report said:

“The business case demonstrates that building a modern facility on a new site is the better value option with the potential for significant growth and opportunity.

“It is anticipated that the development and construction of the new nursery will be financed by a combination of several elements: capital investment funding, capital receipt from the sale of the existing Harlow Hill site, and nursery revenue and commercial opportunity.

“Note that whilst sufficient funding is approved within the Harrogate Borough Council capital investment programme to cover the purchase of the land and initial RIBA stage, further funding would need to be agreed once the authority has transitioned to North Yorkshire Council for subsequent RIBA development stages and the actual build of the new facility.”

Next rescue deal set to keep Joules open in Harrogate

Harrogate’s Joules shop is set to remain open after the retailer was rescued from administration by founder Tom Joule and high street brand Next.

The deal, announced today, will see 19 Joules stores closed with immediate effect — but Harrogate’s James Street shop is not among them.

More than 130 staff across the country have lost their jobs, but 1,450 have been retained. Next paid £34 million for the business, giving it a 74% share to Mr Joule’s 26%.

He said:

“After three years away from the operational side, I’m truly looking forward to inspiring teams with clear direction to excite and recapture the imagination of the customer again.

“Our customers have always trusted us to lead, not follow, with products that reflect their lifestyle. It’s important that we live up to the high standards they desire in design, quality and… the service they expect.

“I’m so pleased that we have been able to strike a deal that protects the future of the company for all its loyal customers [and] its employees.”

Next is expected to continue to sell from the Joules website, as well as adding the brand to its own site from 2024.

Marks and Spencer has already warned of a difficult time for retail as businesses face rising costs and falling consumer spending.

Collision in Starbeck leaves man with serious injuries

A pedestrian has been left with serious head and shoulder injuries after a collision in Starbeck last night.

A silver Nissan Micra was turning right from Starbeck High Street onto Forest Avenue around 7.55pm.

It collided with a pedestrian, who was taken to hospital and remains in a stable condition today.

Police closed the road while officers investigated and have now appealed for more information. A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said:

“We are appealing for witnesses to the collision, or anyone who recalls seeing the vehicle prior to the collision, to get in touch as soon as possible to assist the investigation.

“In particular, we are appealing for any dashcam footage of the collision.”

Anyone with information is asked to email adam.smith@northyorkshire.police.uk, or call 101, select option two and ask for Adam Smith, quoting reference 12220212446.

Advent calendar of offers and prizes from Harrogate businesses

Businesses around Harrogate have united to bring a daily offer to shoppers throughout advent and boost town centre trade.

Each day, a new offer or competition will be posted on social media as part of a project organised by Suzanne Vaughan – better known as the director of Enchantica’s.

While she will spend much of the run-up to Christmas dressed as Chief Elf Tinsel at the Harrogate Father Christmas Experience, she will also share the daily offers to support local businesses.

She said:

“We love delivering Christmas magic for families to enjoy but we knew we could do more for the businesses and organisations in our town and that is how the Harrogate (Social Media) Advent Calendar was born.

“Every day in December you will see Father Christmas opening up the advent door and sprinkling festive fun and magic onto a different business or event in Harrogate.

“Each day will see the reveal of a wonderful range of gifts, special offers and prizes for people to enjoy and together, working with all of the businesses and organisations involved, we have all helped each other to share all of the Christmas magic that we all have to offer.

“By working together we can all help each other and together celebrate the wonderful community of businesses and organisations that Harrogate is home to.”

The advent calendar has launched today with a top prize of a £200 Radley handbag from Hoopers on James Street, as well as discounts on fashion and beauty products. Visitors to the shop today also have the chance to win a family pass to Enchantica’s Father Christmas Experience and a family ticket to the pantomime at Harrogate Theatre.

To see each day’s offers as the advent calendar doors are opened, follow Enchantica’s on Instagram or Facebook.

The Christmas Experience is held every weekend and during the school holidays until Christmas at the Cedar Court Hotel and is supported by Harrogate BID, as part of its efforts to bring people into town to use local businesses.

Simon Cotton, MD of HRH Group, which runs the Yorkshire Hotel and White Hart Hotel, in the town centre, said the advent calendar was a great way to support local businesses at a vital time of year in retail. He added:

“This is a fantastic opportunity for Harrogate and shows just what we can achieve when the community pulls together.

“Christmas is such an important time for everyone in the town and we are happy to support anything that attracts people into the town.”

Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal 2022: Help ensure nobody goes hungry this Christmas

This year’s Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal is for Resurrected Bites in Harrogate and Knaresborough. Please read Vicky’s story about the charity below and give generously to support local people who are struggling this Christmas. They need your help.

This Christmas, there are local people – colleagues, neighbours, friends – young, elderly and working age people — who will not be able to put food on their tables.

There is help at hand from local organisation Resurrected Bites – but it’s facing a tough time too.

Just weeks ago, it warned it faced an uncertain future: its own costs are rising, the amount being donated had dropped, and more and more people are looking for help.

That’s why, from now until Christmas, the Stray Ferret is calling on everyone to give their support to this vital local organisation to help us secure its future.

All donations go directly to Resurrected Bites and will be generously match-funded by Harrogate firm Techbuyer, up to the value of £5,000.

Over the next four weeks, I’ll bring you stories that show just how important the work of Resurrected Bites is. Please read them, share them, and donate whatever you can.

The story of Resurrected Bites

“Harrogate is a really difficult place to be poor.

“There’s this perception that it’s all rosy, but that’s not the case for a lot of people.”

It was this realisation that prompted Michelle Hayes to do something to make a difference across the Harrogate district.

The former research scientist founded a food waste café as part of her role as mission and outreach worker, employed by St Mark’s Church but covering the whole of Harrogate.

Resurrected Bites began life in 2018 in the foyer of the church on Leeds Road, using food from supermarkets and some local hospitality businesses which would otherwise be thrown away. There was nothing wrong with the food, other than perhaps passing its ‘best before’ guidance date – but it would have ended up in a bin.

She was inspired by the Real Junk Food Project in Leeds, founded by Adam Smith. Not only was it reducing food waste, it was making a significant difference to people. Michelle said:

“It literally saved a guy’s life. He had lost his job and had no money, and he couldn’t see a way forward. He was contemplating ending his own life.

“He walked past the café, went in and got a meal, and ended up becoming a volunteer. It saved his life.”

The Harrogate café proved to be a success. Not only did it reduce food waste across the Harrogate area, it provided hot meals on a pay-as-you-feel basis to local people, and offered an opportunity to soclialise too.

Michelle turned it into a community interest company, meaning it is run for the benefit of the community and its income is used to continue this work.

Expansion

In 2020, Resurrected Bites began to expand, with a second café at Gracious Street Methodist Church in Knaresborough launching in January, followed by a third at West Park United Reformed Church, in early March.

Then, of course, everything changed.

The arrival of covid meant the cafes all had to close immediately, but Michelle and the small team of volunteers knew there was still a role for them. They began distributing food parcels to the many local people who suddenly found themselves out of work and short on money.

Just a fraction of the food donated to Resurrected Bites every week during covid lockdowns

At the height of covid, they were intercepting three tonnes of food waste every week and ensuring it reached people who would otherwise not have enough to eat.

Michelle said:

“I realised the scale of food poverty in the area. It was shocking.

“I knew then that once we stopped doing the deliveries, we still had to have a mechanism to get things to people who really needed it.”

Community groceries

While restrictions were still in place, Michelle began working on the next stage of the project: community groceries.

Using the same principle as the cafés of taking food that was still perfectly edible but would not be sold commercially, they were designed to help households who could not afford enough food.

The community groceries allow people to choose their own food from the shelves. Members pay a small fee – £3 for a household up to three, £6 for four or more people – and for that can select a set number of fresh, frozen and packaged goods, as well as toiletries and household products.

Two groceries opened in autumn 2021, at Gracious Street and New Park Community Hub. Demand has grown enormously in the year since, as their reputation has spread.

The number of customers at the cafés has also risen and there are plans in place to open a third, in Killinghall, in the new year. Michelle said:

“When I set up the cafes, the community groceries weren’t even on my radar.

“Resurrected Bites has been a lot more successful than I had anticipated. It is meeting a lot of need in our community.”

It’s clear the cafés and groceries are badly needed. With the cost of living crisis hitting and recession looming, that need is only likely to grow.

It already costs £7,500 every month to deliver those vital services. Please donate to the Stray Ferret’s Christmas appeal to ensure Resurrected Bites can continue supporting people who badly need it in 2023 and beyond.

Nobody in the Harrogate district should go hungry this Christmas.

Whatever you can donate will help local people to feed themselves – and prevent food waste too.

Just £10 can pay for a family’s weekly shopping in the community grocery. Click here to contribute now.

Business Breakfast: Loungewear brand founder gets national recognition

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal.

The Harrogate founder of a loungewear brand aimed at pregnant women and mums has won silver in a national awards scheme.

Sophie Baldwin, who set up The Mum Collective earlier this year, was runner-up for the title of young business woman of the year at the National Business Women’s Awards in London.

She set up her business to offer the luxury yet comfortable clothing she felt was missing from her wardrobe while she was pregnant and breastfeeding.

Sophie said:

“To be awarded silver at such a high level is incredible.

“Having met some amazing female owned and led businesses at the awards night, it’s safe to say the community of women who are taking the business world by storm is a powerful one.”

New owner for holiday park near Harrogate

A holiday park near Harrogate has changed hands for an undisclosed sum.

Cardale Estate, on the edge of Beckwithshaw, has been bought by Cardale Escapes, owned by John Brooksbank.

The park has 50 static caravans, with a licence for a further 27, and a four-bedroom detached home within its 85 acres of woodland. It had been listed for sale at £3.75m.

Mr Brooksbank was advised by a team from law firm Gordons, led by commercial real estate partner Joanne Fearnley. She said:

“Cardale Escapes has exciting plans for the holiday park and being so close to Harrogate offers residents the best of both town and country.”

Mr Brooksbank added:

“Cardale Estate is a premium holiday park with huge potential in beautiful rural surroundings just three miles from the centre of Harrogate.

“Joanne and her team at Gordons were instrumental in enabling this complex deal to complete with practical and effective advice.”

Staff remember former manager as M&S Food in Harrogate relaunches

The reopening of the expanded M&S Food in Harrogate was carried out today in memory of a former colleague.

Team support manager Catherine Deakin was chosen to cut the ribbon after a three-month refurbishment and extension of the Leeds Road store.

She and colleagues wore t-shirts in memory of former store manager Dan Tonks, who took his own life last year. She said:

“I was Dan’s best friend. He’d moved on and was working at a different store, but we always kept in touch.

“Our current store manager wanted to do the opening today for Dan.”

Store manager David Anderson added:

“It was really important for everyone at the store to use the moment to remember our dearly missed colleague, Dan, who was such a big part of the team.”

While there was some sadness as staff remembered a former colleague, there was also an air of celebration in the shop.

Its floorspace has been extended by 60%, taking in the former sofa shop next door, and the layout has been altered to give a market hall feel to the fruit and vegetables, bakery and cheese sections.

The café, which was at one point under threat of closure as part of the plans, has been retained, though is now smaller than it was previously. A petition had been set up by locals to keep it open.

With 17,000sq ft to cover, a further 30 staff have been hired in recent weeks ready for the run-up to Christmas, bringing the total number of staff to 125.

Shoppers queued outside this morning ready for the official opening at 9am. The first 200 customers were given golden tickets, each containing a prize – and Dawn King scooped £200 in M&S vouchers.

Inside, the Harrogate Band provided festive music as people explored the shop.

Mr Anderson said:

“The last few weeks have been spent putting the finishing touches to our new store and I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to make sure everything is ready for our big opening day.

“We’re really proud of this amazing new M&S Foodhall. It’s an exciting investment in Harrogate and I can’t wait for our customers to explore all of the new in-store features and fantastic M&S Food products that we have to offer.”

Masterchef winner ranks Bettys mince pies as top festive treat

The winner of Masterchef 2022 has visited Bettys in Harrogate to give his verdict on the brand’s traditional mince pies.

Eddie Scott has been reviewing the festive favourites from numerous outlets since late October — and this week was the turn of Harrogate’s famous café and retailer.

Scoring Bettys’ classic mince pies 9.2 out of 10 on his Instagram account, he said:

“This mince pie is jammed full of mincemeat, absolutely. The pastry has a beautiful texture. This is Eddie’s standard.

“Mincemeat is ample, rich, delicious. It’s spiced, full of booze, the pastry is crumbly. It’s like a home-made pastry.”

Eddie praised the presentation of the mince pies and the design of the box, which he described as “like a 1930s cocktail glass”.

After winning Masterchef this year, Eddie quit his job as a marine pilot based in Hull to pursue a career in food. He has worked for Gordon Ramsay and at the popular Pipe and Glass in Beverley this year, and has almost 50,000 followers on Instagram

Each week, he posts a new mince pie review, and has so far covered brands including the Co-op, Aldi, Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s.

Bettys is currently the highest-rated, ahead of M&S at 8.6, Sainsbury’s at 8.4, Greggs at 8.2 and Iceland at 8.1.

At £18 for 12, the Bettys box is among the more expensive Eddie has reviewed, but scored higher than some of the other luxury brands. Fortnum and Mason’s box of six for £12.95 was described as “underwhelming”, while boutique bakery Gails was given just 3.1 for its “awful” box of six for £14.

Concluding his Bettys review, Eddie added:

“This is in a different league. This is knocking my socks off. It just tastes like such a home-made product.

“If you want to buy some mince pies for a special occasion, these are the ones to get, because these are luxury.

“Yorkshire have done it again, because everything in Yorkshire is better.”

Eddie isn’t the first to rate Bettys’ mince pies as among the best: they came out top in a Good Housekeeping poll earlier this year.

Bettys said the time taken to craft the mince pies with passion was behind their success, along with many of its other festive products which also frequently rank highly in taste tests.

Ruth Burke-Kennedy from Bettys said:

“We were thrilled when Eddie got in touch to ask to review our classic mince pies, having rooted for him on Masterchef.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with his Instagram review. It certainly drew attention to us when he posted it yesterday, and they were our second best-selling product online, after our Night Before Christmas gift box.”

Ukrainian soloist to join Knaresborough choir to sing of peace at Christmas

A Ukrainian soloist will sing of peace on earth in a special Christmas concert set to take place in a village church near Harrogate.

Soprano Natalka Pasicznyk is one of three soloists to join Knaresborough Choral Society for Carols by Candlelight at All Saints’ Church in Kirkby Overblow.

She will sing Peace on Earth by modern British composer Errollyn Wallen, made particularly poignant by the war in Ukraine which continues to affect members of Natalka’s family.

The choir’s musical director, William Bruce, said:

“Errollyn Warren’s new composition, Peace on Earth, is just so appropriate and Natalka is going to sing that as a solo.

“We always strive to make our programme as diverse and inclusive as possible. Most of the audience won’t have heard some of the pieces we’re performing so although there will be some familiar carols in there, there will be something new too.”

As well as Natalka, the concert will feature tenor Alexander Kyle and bass Isaac Cooper, accompanied David Grealy.

William joined the 50-strong Knaresborough Choral Society around a year ago and this will be the first time he has put together the programme for one of its concerts.

His full-time job is working with choristers at Leeds Cathedral, so he said the role with Knaresborough Choral Society appealed because it allowed him to select different pieces and explore some of the great composers, including Mozart and Bach.

He added:

“The choir members are very ambitious which is a real virtue because they are dedicated and work so hard through the week.

“My job is to put it all together which is wonderful, because some choirs only turn up for the social side. We do have that, but they also put the time in and we see the results.

“They deserve the best soloists in the country to come and sing with them so I’m really delighted with the line-up and I know we’re going to put on a great night of music.”

The concert takes place on Saturday, December 10 at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from the Shoulder of Mutton in Kirkby Overblow, Art in the Mill in Knaresborough, or by emailing Knaresborough Choral Society.

Food waste

A big operation

Read more:

Read more:

Read more:

Read more:

The story of Resurrected Bites

Expansion

Community groceries

Read more:

Read more:

New owner for holiday park near Harrogate

Read more:

Read more:

Read more: