Rudding Park volunteers pick up 400kg of rubbish

Furloughed staff at Rudding Park Hotel in Harrogate have been supporting a number of volunteering initiatives during lockdown.

One of the initiatives was a “Litter Pick Up Pop Up” in order to help Harrogate look its best for when lockdown restrictions are eased further. In 320 hours, the team collected 400kg of rubbish and walked 1,600,000 steps, equating to 640 miles.

This comes as the public raised concern over huge amounts of litter being left in beauty spots across the district as hot weather arrived and lockdown restrictions were eased.

Peter Banks, managing director at Rudding Park said:

“Whilst they are unable to work for Rudding Park during this time, they can volunteer and many were keen to do their bit in the community. When the time comes for hotels to reopen it’s going to be important for us to showcase our beautiful town to its absolute best, so we hope this will help in some small way.”

Read more: 

The volunteers also took part in another two initiatives including Hospitality Action, a service providing a helpline to retired hospitality workers, and Ripon Walled Garden, a charity which supports young children and adults with a learning disability.

Harrogate gym owner loses 65% of revenue over lockdown

Gyms in the Harrogate district have lost clients and money as they remain closed during the pandemic, one reported a 65% loss in revenue.

Indoor gyms are having to remain closed with no indication as to when they can reopen. Some local gyms have had to find new ways to adapt. Gym owners in the district have had to reduce their prices and move online or outdoors to continue to support their clients.

The workout sessions online or in local parks have proved popular with those clients who have missed their normal workout routines. But some are still wary that it may not return to normal for a while as clients regain confidence to return.

Innovate gym in Harrogate focuses on group sessions for women in the district, the owner Chris Lupton said:

“Due to only being able to provide online sessions we reduced our pricing to £50-60 so we lost about 65% in revenue. If it wasn’t for the job retention scheme people would have had to go or had their hours reduced.

“We are planning to continue online training as half of the clients said they want to have a mixture of gym and online classes in the future. I don’t think things will be normal for a year or so now so it’s necessary to find new ways to make money and work with clients.”

Ryan Tansley, owner of CrossFit Harrogate, has also moved his workouts online to maintain a section of his client base. He said:

“It was certainly not a good thing, we lost a few members after they were furloughed or worried about financial problems. But we still have to pay the rent so the government grant really helped.

“We’ve decided to halve the membership price as we know we can’t offer it all through our online programmes.”

Online workouts will have to continue as gym owners wait to hear when they can reopen.

Read more:

Sarah Jordan owns Red Strength gym in Knaresborough, it specialises in personal training and decided to close entirely with all of the staff furloughed. She said:

“It’s been terrible, I’ve had to furlough everyone its been really difficult. We are completely closed, I am sure others are the same. Personally, I went to work in a care home for 6-8 weeks for extra income and to get a level of interaction but since outdoor PT has been allowed I’ve don’t that. Everybody is happy to train outdoors and its also brought a lot of new clients in too.”

 

Harrogate companies capitalise on CBD oil popularity

Two new companies have launched in Harrogate to capitalise on the growth of CDB oils, a cannabis-based health product for pain relief.

The Harrogate CBD Company was launched seven weeks ago by 24-year-old Harvey Radcliffe after he witnessed his mum suffer from severe arthritis.  She was on an intensive course of steroids and painkillers, but they had stopped working.

To help his mum, Harvey suggested she gave CBD oils a try. She was sceptical at first, but he says it’s changed her life.

CBD products entered the UK market around five years ago and are usually taken in capsule form or as a spray. They are backed by the World Health Organisation who say it can be beneficial for people suffering from MS and cancer to insomnia and depression.

However, a study from the University of Nottingham, published in 2019 suggested there is “very weak evidence” that CBD can successfully treat many ailments, with the exception of seizures.

CBD products won’t get you “high” but they work by responding to natural cannabinoid receptors within your body. They are legal in the UK as long as any product contains less than 0.2% of the psychoactive substance THC.

Sellers must also ask the customer to check with their GP if it is safe for them to use them.

Harvey from the Harrogate CBD Company said he wants to overhaul the image of CBD oils away from “snake oil salesmen” who would sell the product out of suspect looking vape shops.

He said:

“Our branding is more about the health benefits so it looks like a mainstream product.

Every product on their website also includes analysis from a lab which includes exact information on where the product comes from and what’s in it.

He hopes his company can help more people like his mum.

He added:

“If you’re in pain then you will try something that makes your life better. Chronic pain is the worst type of pain.”

Read more:

Launching this week, Harrogate Organics Company is a new wellness brand that will sell a range of health products, including CBD oils.

Known to be beneficial for mental health, owner Dan Simpson said lockdown is the perfect time to launch his new business.

He said:

“It’s no surprise that consumers are turning to CBD during these times as an alternative way to fulfil their wellbeing needs.

“It feels slightly odd launching a business during a global pandemic, but we truly believe that our brand couldn’t be any more relevant and needed right now.”

Russ Newman, runs the Grape Tree health food store in the Victoria Shopping Centre which sells a range of CBD oils.

He told the Stray Ferret that after CBD oils cleared up eczema on his shin he’s happy to “promote it to the hills.”

But is it a health fad? Mr Newman doesn’t think so, and he’s seen demand for it rocket in Harrogate as more people turn away from man-made pharmaceuticals to treat their ailments.

Child suffers suspected broken leg in Parliament Street collision

A nine-year-old girl suffered a suspected broken leg after a collision on Parliament Street in Harrogate on Saturday afternoon.

Police attended the scene at around 1pm after a Volva V70 collided with several parked cars, one of which struck the girl. She was taken to hospital for treatment.

Diversions were set up around Parliament Street as police closed the main A61 road through Harrogate whilst they arranged recovery for four damaged vehicles, including the Volvo.

Read more:

 

No coronavirus deaths for nine days at Harrogate Hospital

Harrogate District Hospital has now gone nine days without reporting any deaths in patienta who tested positive for coronavirus, according to NHS figures today.

It means that the death toll at the district hospital remains at 80.

Nationally, a further 19 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospitals. Of that number, four were in the North East and Yorkshire.

Read More: 

NHS England said the patients were aged between 60 and 96 years old. All had known underlying health conditions.

It takes the national death toll up to 28,672.

Police appeal after woman dies falling from campervan near Ripley

North Yorkshire Police is appealing for information after a 40-year-old woman died falling out of a white Fiat camper van as it was travelling near Ripley.

The incident occurred on the B6165 at around 7.10pm on Sunday, shortly before the roundabout with the A61. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police officers are appealing for witnesses who may have seen the vehicle prior to or at the time of the collision.

Anyone with any information and/or dash camera footage that they believe could assist police with their enquiries should contact Traffic Constable 771 Steven James on 101 option 2, or email steven.james771@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk.

Read more:

 

Harrogate International Festivals commission ‘exclusive’ new piece of music

An exclusive new piece of music commissioned by Harrogate International Festivals will premiere online next month.

The charity commissioned internationally renowned composer Dr David Lancaster to write the music, before asking musicians from all over the world to get involved by playing their part from the comfort of their living rooms.

HIF said the response was “phenomenal” with musicians submitting videos from countries including Australia, South Africa and Malaysia, as well as the UK.

Read more: 

One of the submissions came from Matthew Gee, Principal Trombone with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He said:

“It’s great to see the arts organisations taking a fresh and radical approach to music making – for them to be commissioning new material during lockdown is even better.”

Internationally renowned composer, Professor David Lancaster.

The chief executive of Harrogate International Festivals, Sharon Canavar, also noted the importance of “keeping the arts alive in Harrogate”, despite coronavirus putting paid to its usual summer programme. She said:

“We are incredibly excited to be able to bring the world premiere of Eclipse to life this July. It is going to be a truly international collaboration and one that will help shine a bright light on the power of the arts.”

Eclipse will premiere globally from 23 to 26 July. Further details of HIF at Home are available here – https://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/hif-at-home/. 

Eighth consecutive day with no coronavirus deaths at Harrogate District Hospital

It’s now been 8 days since the last reported death at Harrogate District Hospital of a patient who tested positive for coronavirus. 7 people in the Yorkshire and North East region were reported to have died of the virus.

The last recorded death at the hospital happened on June 18, meaning that it remains at 80 deaths for another day with 135 patient discharges.

A further 18 people, who tested positive for the coronavirus have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 28,653.

Read More: 

Patients were aged between 43 and 95 years old. One patient, aged 48, had no known underlying health conditions.

Police appeal for witnesses after child injured in Parliament Street collision

North Yorkshire Police has appealed for witnesses to a collision on Parliament Street where a child was injured by a car.

The incident happened on Saturday lunchtime and diversions were set up around Parliament Street as police closed the main A61 road through Harrogate.

North Yorkshire Police has released no further details of the incident at this time.

Anyone who may have seen the collision is asked to contact Mark Hutchings of the Major Collision Investigation Unit on 101 or email Mark.Hutchings@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk.

Read More:

 

Strayside Sunday: Harrogate Borough Council must act in councillor race controversy

Strayside Sunday is our weekly political column written by Paul Baverstock, former Director of Communication for the Conservative Party

This week, two politicians, one an obscure local parish councillor, the other a Labour MP of some note, have both fallen foul of unwise activity on social media.  The very ‘White British’ Harrogate district parish councillor Ernest Butler took to Facebook to claim that (sigh) “White Lives Matter” and, to boot, that Jonny Foreigner is taking over.  Meanwhile, Rebecca Long-Bailey MP couldn’t resist attaching herself to the celebrity twitter coattails of actress and activist Maxine Peake, when retweeting the antisemitic claim that Israeli arrest methods caused the death of George Floyd.

Following multiple complaints from the public about the content of his statements, an unrepentant Mr. Butler has been suspended from work by his employers, Nidd Hall, while Ms. Long-Bailey’s unwillingness to take down her retweet gave Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer the excuse he needed to rid his Shadow Cabinet of a leading and unreformed Corbynista.

Ms. Long-Bailey is a professional politician, working under the constant scrutiny of the British political media, and should know better.  In fact, I believe she does know better, and that she provoked a deliberate stand-off with Sir Keir in order to cement her position as Momentum’s torch bearer.  But to have done so with two such incendiary topics as Mossad and the murder of George Floyd demonstrates a deeply troubling triumph of ambition over reason.

Ernest Butler doesn’t know any better.  He is an amateur politician, bustling around Darley’s rather lovely parish, trying sincerely to do his bit for his community.  No one questions that.  His ignorance of the evil ways of social media (once you publish your views they exist on a global media platform and can never be taken back) is not a sin and should be forgiven, especially of someone not born into the generation of so-called ‘digital natives’.  However, ignorance of the current cultural context in which you make your rather fruity views known when using social media deserves less charity; the views Mr. Butler expressed are wrong.

Harrogate Council too has received complaints about Mr. Butler’s views, but has washed its hands of the affair, notwithstanding that its own code of conduct (to which, as a district councillor, Mr. Butler is subject) makes it entirely plain that, to paraphrase, you don’t get to publish your views in a purely personal capacity on social media.  And that has to be right, doesn’t it?  The very reason these pages have covered this story this week is because Mr. Butler is a Councillor, and therefore a representative of the Council.  As such he is not free to publish his views absent of Council oversight and censure.  One might have thought that, at the very least, the council would have taken the opportunity of Mr. Butler’s indiscretion to voice it’s support for a world in which Black Lives Matter, even here in Harrogate.  True to form, the council said nothing, and did nothing.  It pains me to say that Labour’s Sir Keir has this week shown our own Richard Cooper what real leadership looks like.

This is difficult and sensitive territory I know. Surely a right to free speech is part of what defines our democracy and our society?  For my part I believe in a public discourse that celebrates a person who, in the brilliant words of screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, “would advocate at the top of their lungs that which I had spent a lifetime opposing at the top of mine.” I believe in passionate arguments well-made. But I don’t get to decide. And neither, individually, do you.  It’s too late for that.

In order to support a business model based on targeted advertising, we have allowed companies like Facebook and Twitter to beg ‘platform,’ rather than publisher status.  If they had been subject to the rules traditional news and content publishers comply with we may not have seen the hate-filled, mudslinging, tear it down, free-for-all that such social media platforms enable.

In reaction, a new tyranny has taken hold, one in which social media is a megaphone to rally like-minded support and to shout down the targets of ire.  It gives expression to an ugly need to condemn, to shame, to bully and it gives an outlet to the primary school playground impulse to “all pile on.”  Worst of all it is reductionist and intellectually lazy. If you can’t hashtag it then it’s not worth saying.  Social media offers no space or inclination to inform and educate those who, like Councillor Ernest Butler, sometimes get things wrong.

Social media is but one area of contemporary life where personal responsibility is now at a premium.  This week the Great British Public has reacted to the easing of lockdown measures with wanton abandon. From the packed beaches of Bournemouth to the packed green spaces of Harrogate’s Stray, we have seen a total disregard for social distancing guidelines as lovely weather and the frustrations of lockdown seem to have overwhelmed any sense of self-control;  Dorset and North Yorkshire Police both have complained of large and rowdy gatherings of people drinking, drugging, littering and using common outdoor space as a toilet.

Boris Johnson’s strand of conservatism places personal responsibility at its core.  He believes that the right to freedom (speech and otherwise) is balanced by the responsibilities of individual citizenship.  It has been the compass he has used to guide his decision-making during the coronavirus crisis; so, when possible, Boris has chosen the path of least restriction and asked, rather than required people to change their behaviour.  This worked well initially.  However, it seems increasingly clear to me that, whether on Twitter or on the Stray, we can’t be trusted to behave.

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

Read More: