Vicky Carr, Author at The Stray Ferret

Harrogate Nightingale closure expected to be announced next month

Expectations are growing that the NHS will decommission the Nightingale hospital at Harrogate Convention Centre next month.

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of cautious reopening over the coming months, and news that the vaccination programme is already having an impact on covid infection and illness rates, speculation is mounting that the Nightingale hospital will be dismantled when its contract ends on March 31.

It has never been used to treat covid patients, even through the peaks of the crisis when hospital admissions were at their height. With increasing evidence that the chances of severe illness requiring hospitalisation are lower among those who have been vaccinated, it looks likely that the Nightingale will not be needed in future.

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Newby, who lives in Ripon and has long argued for the convention centre to be returned to Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) use, told the Stray Ferret:

“I suspect that the contract won’t be renewed. It certainly should not be.

“There is no immediate or foreseeable use of the convention centre as a hospital – even in the very unlikely event that there were a further major spike in the disease. It has been a costly white elephant from the start and should be returned to the council without delay.”

NHS paying Nightingale bills

The NHS has been paying bills of between £125,000 and £160,000 per month for utilities at the convention centre. While local hospitality businesses are keen to have the centre back up and running to deliver trade for the town, some argue it makes more sense for it to have a steady income which at least covers its costs while major events are not possible.

Kimberley Wilson, chair of guesthouse association Accommodation Harrogate, said:

“The NHS are paying to have the Nightingale in there, so it keeps the bills paid. If they pull out and we can’t use it, it’s haemorrhaging money. If the NHS are happy to pay those bills, it keeps it from being a strain on council resources.

“What’s more important is when can we have events. We want it there until we can get big events in and then we want it out. Let’s just make sure it’s all ready to go when we can.”

Ms Wilson said guesthouses are taking bookings for events from the summer, including the Home and Gift Fair and the Bridal Show, and were hopeful that restrictions would be lifted in plenty of time to allow them to go ahead.

However, she was also keen to hear what the new destination management organisation (DMO) has planned to encourage people to come to the Harrogate district once travel and overnight stays are allowed again, to enable businesses to begin planning.

The new DMO appointed a manager, Gemma Rio, who began work in October. She was not available for interview with the Stray Ferret, but a spokesman for HBC, which set up the DMO, said:

“Work is underway to establish a new Destination Management Organisation and position the Harrogate district as an exceptional place to live, visit and invest.

“An integral part of this work is the development of a destination management plan that will ultimately guide the activities of the DMO and its partners. In the short term, we have a plan to capitalise on the ‘staycation’ opportunity and attract visitors to the district when it is it safe to do so.”

Announcement expected soon

The NHS has not commented on its intentions for the site, or the other Nightingale hospitals around the country, other than to say it remains on stand-by to be brought into use if needed. However, it is expected that an announcement will be made soon by the government about its future.

Last summer, an initial three-month contract for the Nightingale in Harrogate from April to June was extended by a month to the end of July. Negotiations then continued before it was finally confirmed in mid-August that the hospital would remain in situ until the end of March.

It has since been used to offer CT scans to non-covid patients, helping Harrogate and District NHS Trust to catch up with patient referrals delayed during the early months of the pandemic.

The Stray Ferret asked Harrogate Borough Council and Harrogate Convention Centre about when the convention centre might re-open.

A Harrogate Borough Council spokeswoman said this week’s government route out of lockdown meant the earliest visitors could return to the district was April 12.

A spokeswoman for Harrogate Convention Centre said:

“We cautiously welcome the fact that all lockdown restrictions could be lifted in June.

“As ever, the devil is in the detail and we don’t yet have clear guidance on what these mean for our industry.

“We will continue to monitor the situation over the coming months as we develop our plans for reopening.”

Call for inquiry into Harrogate’s Nightingale hospital

A health scrutiny board could investigate the building and use of the Nightingale hospital in Harrogate.

The West Yorkshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee will consider next month whether to accept calls for it to hold an inquiry into decisions made about the facility.

Cllr Jim Clark, who represents Harrogate Harlow division, spent 10 years as chair of North Yorkshire’s scrutiny of health committee and now sits on the West Yorkshire equivalent, ensuring a voice for people in the Harrogate district who are treated at its hospitals.

Speaking to the committee yesterday, he said:

“This was a tremendous success, building the Nightingale hospitals, and the one in Harrogate was built in about four weeks after 10 years of bed closures in North Yorkshire…

“This has always been a campaigning committee and I have been proud to be a member of it… But I think we need a public inquiry into why did we never use the Nightingale hospital? They say now that it was an insurance policy, but if we had needed to use it, could we have used it?

“I wrote to the secretary of state in 2018 saying that we were so short of staff in the Harrogate CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) at that time that it was affecting performance. So if we had needed the Nightingale hospital there wouldn’t have been people there to man it.”

The health scrutiny committee wrote to the NHS twice last August calling for the Nightingale hospital to be kept open, and again in November suggesting it be used for vaccinations. Cllr Clark praised the work of those running the Great Yorkshire Showground site, but said the awarding of contracts and the ability to make any use of the Nightingale hospital needed to be scrutinised.

He said the example of trouble at Welcome to Yorkshire which was only revealed years after the 2014 Tour de France served as a warning about the need for close scrutiny at the right time.

“We need to get this done now. I would welcome any help you can give me to get a proper public inquiry and it shouldn’t affect the on-going work of the pandemic.”

Scrutiny committee chair Cllr Helen Hayden told Cllr Clark that a working group meeting in March would decide whether to take his call for an inquiry forward.

Responding to Cllr Clark, Anthony Kealy, NHS England director in West Yorkshire, said the Nightingale was still being used for diagnostic scans and its future beyond the end of March was yet to be announced by the government. He added:

“We have regarded it largely as a success that we have never had to use the Nightingale for in-patient care. It was, as Cllr Clark suggested, developed as a bit of an insurance policy agains the NHS being overwhelmed.

“The Nightingale programme was rolled out very rapidly at the point where we were looking at northern Italy and its health services being overwhelmed. If the NHS had got to that point in April, the Nightingale would have certainly opened, but we managed to avoid that.”

He said while it was true to say it would have had to bring staff in from existing hospitals from the system, that was to be expected. Staff were busy in their daily roles, as would be expected, and would have been redeployed from routine care to run the Nightingale.

However, committee member Cllr Betty Rhodes said “robbing Peter to pay Paul” with staff moving from hospitals to the Nightingale would not have been a workable solution. At the time, she said, the hospital trusts were looking at cutting routine services and could not have spared staff.

She also supported calls for an inquiry, including into the procurement processes used during the pandemic to ensure they represented value for money.

Cllr Hayden added:

“This discussion will go on about procurement, about the Nightingale hospital… We will discuss as a board, looking back at the pandemic and assessing what went right, what went wrong, what do we need to learn from it. It’s going to be an on-going process.”

‘Road map’ to reopening raises hopes of district revival

Retailers are hoping a new way of life could be on the horizon as they await the Prime Minister’s plans for easing lockdown.

Independent business owners in the Harrogate district say support for them over the last year has been heartwarming – and they hope it will lead to a revival in their fortunes after covid.

Among those eagerly waiting for Boris Johnson to reveal his plans this evening are traders on Harrogate’s Commercial Street. Sue Kramer, who runs Crown Jewellers with her husband, said:

“We want to get back to business so people can come to real shops and deal with real people.

“I hope people will fall back in love with going to little streets like ours and that sense of community and knowing the people in the shops they use.

“I hope it will go back to how it used to be, years ago.”

Though the last year has been tough for retail, the businesses on Commercial Street have come closer together than ever before and are working on plans to increase footfall over the coming months.

Similarly, Knaresborough had been enjoying a rise in its fortunes before the coronavirus crisis hit: it currently has just six empty shops, compared to 16 two years ago.

Steve Teggin, president of the town’s chamber of trade, said he hoped businesses would be able to reopen in time to allow the newest to find their feet properly after months of uncertainty.

“The government has helped to keep them limping along, but we really need to be able to open again now.

“We don’t want another lockdown after this, so it has to be right, but in this area particularly the vaccine system has gone as smooth as silk, so hopefully Boris will safely get us back open.”

Retailers in Knaresborough hope reopening will run smoothly

While a sector-specific reopening plan could be announced, Mr Teggin said he hoped there would not be too much delay between different businesses being allowed to return to trading. A barber himself, he said many customers come into town for haircuts and go on to use other shops, so having as much open as possible will deliver the most trade for all businesses.

His view was backed up by Kala Timson, who runs children’s shoe shop Stomp in the market place. She said the business’s third lockdown had been quieter, as customers awaited warmer weather and shops reopening, but she was hopeful of a boost in trade when the doors are opened again.

“Last time, the kids wanted to come back in and see us, and the parents were saying ‘we haven’t spoken to anyone for so long!’. It’s almost a novelty to be out and browsing, so we’ll have to have appointments again to limit the number of people in the shop.

“We’ve got things set up well for click and collect at the moment, and we can get the shop open again when we’re allowed. What we don’t want to do is come out of lockdown too early and find we have to close again.”

Mrs Kramer agreed, adding:

“I just hope it’s a well thought-out plan that takes into account businesses’ needs, but also the fact that we don’t want to end up in lockdown again.

“You wouldn’t have thought a year ago that we’d still be here, being locked down again. We don’t want to keep having this situation.”

‘Give us a clear plan’, say Harrogate hospitality businesses

Hospitality businesses in the Harrogate district have called for a clear plan as they await the Prime Minister’s “road map” out of lockdown.

Boris Johnson is expected to announce the next steps to ease lockdown in his public broadcast later today.

For local hospitality, the most important thing is for there to be sufficient detail to allow them to plan the next steps in reopening – and that enough businesses can be opened to make the whole sector viable.

Kimberley Wilson, chair of guesthouse association Accommodation Harrogate, said reopening hotels would only be viable if other facilities were also able to open:

“Visitors want to know everything else is open before they book. One guy said to me, ‘I don’t want to come and sit in my hotel room with nothing to do – I want to know the shops are open and I can eat out’. It has to be a package.”

Dan Siddle, general manager of the Crown Hotel, said he doesn’t want to see restrictions eased and then reintroduced, and would rather wait longer until the country is “clear of the woods” before welcoming guests back. He added:

“Hospitality has suffered from March last year, and while there has been some positive support throughout, it’s important that we as an industry are not forgotten about and that that support continues. The VAT reduction, business rates cut, [and] furlough pay to support teams, could all be continued to help us through the recovery period.”

Harrogate BID said it was working on supportive measures for businesses which had been forced to close repeatedly, and will be carrying out projects including street cleaning and floral displays to make the town centre attractive again.

Harrogate BID carried out extra street cleaning at the end of the first lockdown

Chair Sara Ferguson said:

“Ideally, we would like to see all non-essential shops and the hospitality industry back open in time for Easter. This traditionally marks the start of the tourism season, and with hopefully warmer weather and lighter nights, those in the hospitality sector will again be able to make use of the pavements and other open spaces.

“However, I have a feeling the hospitality sector will be lockdown until after the holiday as the Government won’t want to face the issues it did at Christmas.

“Any rules and guidelines, national or local, must be clear and not leave room for any ambiguity which has occurred in the past. They also need to be strictly and consistently enforced.”

While it is likely indoor events on the scale which Harrogate is used to seeing will be some way off, outdoor events are being planned from March onwards.

Harrogate International Festivals is working with other organisations on projects to encourage people back into the town centre from next month, if restrictions allow. Chief executive Sharon Canavar said:

“We must have made 50 plans and torn them up last year. What we’ve done this year is look at how we could put on events if rules are relaxed but there is still social distancing in place.”

Plans are also being made to stage the organisation’s larger festivals later in the year. The first of these is likely to be the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in July – though it could be under canvas with reduced numbers compared to previous years.

All the changes needed will impact on events’ viability, but HIF – which has already cut its staff numbers down to just three – is looking at the long-term picture, both for its own events and as part of the town’s overall attraction to visitors. Sharon added:

“Do we want to just survive or do we want to make sure there’s a recovery there? What will the diary in Harrogate look like after this, for the arts and for business events? It’s not just about this year, but about what we’re creating for the future.”

Twelve more weeks of road closures for Harlow Hill

Residents on Harlow Hill in Harrogate face another 12 weeks of roadworks as water supplies are connected to new housing developments on Whinney Lane.

Yorkshire Water began the work last week and, on Monday, wrote to residents telling them the rolling project will last into May.

Beginning from Otley Road, crews will install new pipes along roads through to Whinney Lane, expecting to complete the project around May 7.

Work on Whinney Lane itself is set to last for nine weeks from March 1. It follows news that the existing seven-month closure, being carried out as part of construction work for homes at Castle Hill Farm, will likely over-run beyond its predicted February 28 end because of recent bad weather.

David Siddans, of Harrogate and Pannal Ash Residents’ Association (HAPARA), said:

“A major concern is that extremely short notice of this work was given to residents with a letter received a day or so after work began in the Pannal Ash roundabout area.

“The residents of Whinney Lane in particular have had to suffer ongoing disruption and roadworks since the Mulgrave development of 40 houses began over a year ago.”

The Yorkshire Water work is set to be completed in phases. Harlow Crescent, Beckwith Avenue, Beckwith Walk, Beckwith Crescent and Beckwith Road will all be affected for between two and four weeks, in short stretches along each road.

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said:

“The work taking place from Otley Road to Whinney Lane is essential to support new housing developments in the area and also to increase resilience on our clean water network during periods of peak demand.

“We know that road closures can be inconvenient and our teams may occasionally need to work during evenings and weekends – but we’ll do everything we can to keep disruption to a minimum and complete the work as quickly as possible.

“In order to carry out this work safely, we’ll need to close short sections of road whilst we’re working in the highway. These closures will move as our work progresses and access will be available for residents either side of our works – however, there’ll be no vehicular access through the working area.”

With a second construction site by Stonebridge already in progress and around 700 more homes and business premises set to be built on a neighbouring site under the local plan, along with more homes already constructed along nearby Otley Road, Mr Siddans said HAPARA was “extremely concerned” about the inevitable further disruption.

“We are well aware of the huge infrastructure implications of this planned massive urban expansion which involves not only utilities services but also, critically, transport infrastructure.

“HAPARA is part of the Western Arc Coordination Group which is lobbying the county and district councils for a comprehensive set of measures to accompany housing developments.”

Arrests soar as ‘county lines’ investigations continue

Almost 140 people were arrested across the Harrogate area in the last six months of 2020 as police investigations into county lines drugs continued.

North Yorkshire Police has prioritised the crime through Operation Expedite, based in the town, to deal with drug dealing and the exploitation of vulnerable people.

As a result, 137 arrests were made between July and December 2020. Of those, nine people have been jailed for a total of almost 23 years. Sentences ranged from six months for possessing class A drugs to five years and four months for supplying class A drugs.

The number represents a significant rise towards the end of last year. An investigation by the Stray Ferret last year revealed there had been 88 arrests since 2018, including 30 in the first nine months of 2020.

Detective Sergeant Tom Barker, who has worked on the Operation Expedite team for the past three years, said:

“As well as disrupting criminals, our work is also about protecting vulnerable people. We can’t do that alone and our close work with partner agencies is vital to getting them the help they need. From housing to help with a drug or alcohol addiction, it’s important that the people who need it are given help and those who exploit them are brought to justice.

“Information from members of the public is also key in helping to shape operational activity. So please don’t thing you are ever wasting our time by calling something in. Just because we don’t come tearing down the road with blue lights on, doesn’t mean we are not using your information.

“Drug supply investigations can take a long time, and the more evidence we have, the sooner we can act and take another dealer off the streets.”

County lines crime often sees vulnerable people, including children, exploited by criminals using violence and intimidation. They are known for ‘cuckooing’, the term used for taking over someone else’s home to deal drugs, and often give the person free drugs in order to create a ‘debt’ which can be used to the criminal’s advantage.

Officers on Operation Expedite say the number of arrests made last year shows that drug dealing is not welcome in the Harrogate district and will be dealt with strongly, even during lockdown.

Superintendent Steve Thomas, Commander for the Harrogate, Craven, Richmondshire and Hambleton areas, added:

“I am incredibly proud of the work being done every day by Operation Expedite staff and their colleagues who support them across the district. They have faced the risks of operational policing in a time of unprecedented challenges throughout the pandemic and continue to do so.

“However, this is not a time to rest on our laurels and I want to reassure the local residents across the district that we will be working even harder over the coming months to make Harrogate a very hostile environment for those who think it’s ok to make money exploiting vulnerable people and ruining lives.”

Cash and mobile phones have also been seized as part of the operation

North Yorkshire Police is asking the public to remain vigilant for signs of drugs crime or exploitation. It said typical signs of trouble in young people could be an indication that someone is being exploited, such as going missing, having unexplained money, clothes or phones, or receiving high volumes of calls or messages.

Any change in emotional well-being, or spending time with new, older friends, could also be an indication that someone is being targeted.

Meanwhile, neighbours who notice an increase in visitors at a property, growth in anti-social behaviour, curtains being closed for long periods or unfamiliar vehicles coming and going could also be witnessing cuckooing.

To report suspicious activity, call North Yorkshire Police on 101 or, to report information anonymously, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

Councillors vote to review future of Bewerley Park

Councillors sought to reassure the public over the future of Bewerley Park outdoor learning centre as they voted to support a review of its services today.

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive this afternoon amended a proposal to mothball the site near Pateley Bridge with immediate effect, saying it sent a negative message.

Instead, the executive agreed to “protect” the site by installing CCTV and other measures to keep it safe while out of use, following a break-in while it was closed.

However, with no sign of school visits resuming and likely limits to reduce the covid risk in future, the council said it still had to review the service and staffing levels, and bring back a business case for approval later in the year.

Cllr Patrick Mulligan, NYCC’s executive member for education and skills, said:

“We recognise the risk in the short term but, through the review, we are hoping to achieve a service that is sustainable for a long time into the future. This will require a review of all aspects of the service, including but not limited to staffing.

“The review, which will bring all stakeholders together, will evaluate the benefits of the service, taking into account making comparisons with the wider outdoor education market. The resulting business case aims to provide a sustainable operating model, balancing staffing, property and infrastructure costs.”

NYCC says Bewerley Park requires significant investment to meet modern educational needs. Photo: North Yorkshire Outdoor Learning Service.

Before voting, the executive heard from several speakers concerned about a recommendation to review the service and consult on its jobs. Among them were teachers and former pupils who had been to Bewerley Park and East Barnby, who emphasised the value offered by outdoor education and the growing need for it after a year of lockdowns impacting on children’s mental health.

Teacher Ian Bloor, from Eskdale School in Whitby, described the outdoor learning centres as the “jewel in the crown” of North Yorkshire education and said:

“I would like to make a heartfelt plea that any decisions made about the future of the service are made in the full knowledge of just how valuable and valued this service is.”

The meeting also heard from Cllr Stan Lumley, who represents the Pateley Bridge division on NYCC. He urged committee members not to rush into a decision while government support was still available, and with looming local government reorganisation which meant it was not yet clear who would be managing education services from next year.

Finally, Erica Carswell, the manager of Bewerley Park for more than 30 years until 2018, said closing the sites would mean losing the valuable skills and experience of the 42 staff.

It would also remove the option to use them for day visits or respite care for families with special needs in the summer and would discourage schools from booking residential visits for the coming months when covid restrictions would allow. She added:

“It would make better financial sense not to mothball the outdoor centres, but to keep them running at, say, a 50% staffing/capacity. The cost of mothballing is significant and doing so sends out a negative message to the general public and potential clients.”

Cllr Mulligan told the committee the centres were not set up for day visits and any income would not be sufficient to cover costs, nor to invest in the buildings and facilities which had been needed for many years. He added:

“There’s a misperception that we are looking to close these outdoor education centres. What we are attempting to do is to have a review of them to make them more sustainable.”

The committee heard that, with a projected loss of nearly £1 million in the current financial year, the council had been able to recoup money from government schemes to protect jobs and services, reducing the loss to just over £200,000. However, there was no guarantee the schemes would continue to run beyond their current end dates of March and June.

The outdoor education service had run at a loss of around £50,000 per year for the last five years before the coronavirus crisis, the committee was told.

Cllr Michael Harrison, who represents the Lower Nidderdale and Bishop Monkton division, said the value of the service had to be taken into account as part of the review of its finances:

“Many of the services councils provide, technically, will run at a loss and I prefer to look at it more as an investment…

“Most council leisure centres technically will run at a loss, most libraries will run at a loss, but I view it not so much as a loss but an investment in that service.”

Councillors voted unanimously to support the proposal to introduce short-term protective measures for both Bewerley Park and East Barnby, to review the services and report back later in the year, and to begin consulting with staff over the potential loss of jobs.

Thousands sign petition against Bewerley Park closure

Pressure is mounting as North Yorkshire County Council prepares to decide on the future of Bewerley Park Outdoor Education Centre today.

More than 16,000 people have signed a petition opposing the closure of Bewerley Park and East Barnby, near Whitby, after it was revealed that the council is considering whether the two facilities are viable.

The impact of the coronavirus crisis could see both of them mothballed in the short term. A full review of the sites is also being planned to decide whether to keep them open.

Bewerley Park has been welcoming generations of local schoolchildren for many decades, giving them the opportunity to try outdoor activities and learn new skills. Its potential closure has caused significant concern among parents and former pupils who have benefited from the NYCC-owned residential site.

Among the comments from signatories were:

“Both centres are incredibly important for the service they provide to young people for experience of adventurous activity and insight into the environment that sustains us all. They are part of their local and much, much wider community, their impacts resonate for generations and their loss can be ill-afforded.”

One former teacher wrote:

“I have lived in Bewerley for 40 years and I have taught at Harrogate Grammar School. I know what a fantastic resource Bewerley Park represents for both teachers and students. Where else on the curriculum can children undertake these safe activities with experiences and development of skills that can last a lifetime?”

NYCC’s executive is due to meet today to decide whether to proceed with mothballing Bewerley Park and East Barnby, as well as undertaking a review of the long-term future of the service.

A report from Amanda Newbold, assistant director of children and young people’s services, recommends going ahead with both, and assessing the impact on the 42 staff affected. Some could be redeployed to other services, depending on need, but it is likely some posts would be lost.

Her report said the facilities at Bewerley Park are in need of significant investment to bring them up to modern standards.

The council has vowed to carry out a consultation with schools and local communities about how outdoor learning should be delivered in the future. Ms Newbold said:

“We know that many generations in North Yorkshire have fond memories of visiting Bewerley Park and East Barnby during their schools years. Many thousands of students has passed through the doors of these centres over the last few decades to take part in outdoor adventures and it has a special place in many people’s hearts.

“Unfortunately the estate, including dormitory huts, dining hall and other buildings are in urgent need of updating and modernising and we need to create a more suitable model of outdoor education provision for future generations of children.

“If the buildings at Bewerley Park were old stone structures there wouldn’t be a problem, but the material estate has worn out and we’re spending a significant sum of money trying to patch it up. Unfortunately the buildings aren’t fit for purpose or for the future.

“We need to launch a full review of outdoor learning services and potentially come up with a more sustainable model of delivering the service.

“At this stage nothing is off the table and we would like to work with our existing outdoor learning staff and other stakeholders to see if we to make sure we fully meet the future needs of schools and young people for outdoor education and have a sustainable, long-lasting model for the service in place.”

Adventure in the blood for wild swimming fundraiser

The sister of adventurer Bear Grylls is taking on her own challenge – in the waters of the River Nidd at Knaresborough.

Lara Fawcett, 54, has set herself the challenge of swimming for five minutes, three times a week throughout February, aiming to raise £50,000 for charity.

She is supporting the Archbishop of York Youth Trust, which works in partnership with schools, churches and communities to support young people to develop their leadership skills, confidence and character-building. Through its Young Leaders Award, it has enabled more than 100,000 young people from 850 schools to learn and practise social action will help them transform their communities.

Lara said:

“This cause is very close to my heart as it empowers young people from across our communities. Plunging in icy water is a literal wake-up call.

“We can’t forget our young people. It’s been widely reported lockdown has a detrimental impact on their confidence and mental health, and yet we will be relying on them to demonstrate character and leadership to help rebuild communities.

“They are the answer to society’s most pressing problems by being the change they want to see in the world – from leading the green agenda, to becoming the next generation of teachers, business leaders and politicians.”

She said youth services across the UK are under severe strain following a decade of funding cuts, amounting to £1bn. A £500m Youth Investment Fund promised by the government has been delayed by the covid crisis.

Recent National Youth Agency research has found that one in four youth charities are on the brink of collapse, unable to meet their costs beyond March. Dan Finn, chief executive of the Archbishop of York Youth Trust, said:

“The Covid-19 pandemic has left communities devastated and I urge the government to do as much as they can to support youth services like ours. By putting character education into practice through meaningful social action, young people are displaying acts of kindness and are petitioning for change all over the country. Lara’s fundraising efforts will help us support even more young people to become leaders now, and in the future.”

Wild swimmer Lara Fawcett (Photo: Gary Lawson)

Wild swimmer Lara Fawcett in the River Nidd (Photo: Gary Lawson)

For her #FrostyFeb challenge, Lara, who lives in Wetherby, has chosen designated safe wild swimming areas of the River Nidd and River Ure in North Yorkshire and is encouraging other experienced cold-water swimmers to join her. Alternatively, anyone who can’t get out into open water is invited to take part by having an ice bath or lying in the snow for one minute and making a donation to the charity.

Lara added:

“Both Bear and I are passionate about supporting youth services: Bear is the Chief Scout and I am a Trustee for The Archbishop of York Youth Trust. We as a society need to do as much as we can to empower young people from all walks of life, to aim high, be the best they can be and become the next generation of leaders, which we need more than ever before.”

To donate to Lara’s fundraising challenge, click here.

Harrogate Scrubbers turn their hands to kit bags for Town

Harrogate Town’s players have an extra reason to feel the love from their community as they face Leyton Orient this weekend.

The volunteers of Harrogate Scrubbers have stepped up to a new challenge and provided a full set of kit bags for the team.

Just a couple of weeks after receiving the call for help, the sewers – who have already made more than 2,000 sets of scrubs for local frontline workers – have delivered a matching set of bags for all the players. In exchange, the club will make a donation to Harrogate Hospital and Community Charity.

Volunteer sewer Margaret Bleasdale said:

“I am always happy to help with sewing for Harrogate Scrubbers. It keeps me occupied during lockdown and it is such a well organised group. It was a pleasure to make the kit wash bags for Harrogate Town and I wish them good luck for the rest of their season.”

Fabric was provided by Showtime Fabrics, while White Rose Sewing delivered the accessories. Carrie Brown, Susie Cox, Stella Zealand, Karola Cramoysan, Kathy Wilkinson, Margaret Bleasdale, Denise Huntington, Rosalind Waite, Doreen Stephenson, Lyn Clarke and Phyllis Tyson all stepped up to help with the sewing.

The group was supported by PG Branding on Hornbeam Park, which printed the bags. Sales director Nick Jarett said, on seeing the appeal, his team immediately wanted to support both the club and Harrogate Scrubbers.

One of the Harrogate Scrubbers volunteers, Susie Cox

Volunteer Susie Cox added:

“I wanted to help out again, as it gave me a sense of purpose last year when we were making the scrubs and I just love the sense of community the group has brought in these times. I am really proud to be part of the group,”

Harrogate Town FC managing director Garry Plant said:

“This has been a great project to be part of and we have really enjoyed the camaraderie and enthusiasm that everyone has put in to providing the kit bags. The team will be absolutely delighted with them.”

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