Harrogate’s cherry blossoms are now out in full force on the Stray.

Paul Campbell

Paul Campbell, Harrogate Borough Council’s gold commander for emergency planning, left his role suddenly at the end of March. HBC said he chose to leave on March 27th.

As Director of Community, Mr Campbell’s role for the past 3 and half years, had responsibility for a range of council services including housing, parks, waste and health and safety. The job has a salary of £89, 727 per annum.

Harrogate Borough Council said Mr Campbell’s departure did not affect its ability to respond to the crisis and issued a one line statement on how it proposes to cover the role:

The director of community role responsibilities have been shared by the other directors on an interim basis.

Mr Campbell had been the lead Director for last years controversial UCI cycling event which cost the council more than £600,000 and saw global audiences of more than 300 million but left many unhappy at the damage it caused to the Stray and the town’s retailers furious over its impact on trade.

Mr Campbell has not been available for comment. Someone who worked closely with Mr Campbell and wished not to be named told the Stray Ferret:

“After 3 and a half years Paul had seen so many budget cuts and cost saving reviews of waste services, the street cleaning service and the Parks Service, that I think he was planning to move on. I think he delayed it because he had the opportunity to work on the UCI championships and to establish the Council’s housing company and push up the level of affordable housing”

The council’s commercial housing company referred to is Bracewell Homes that was established a year ago. Mr Campbell had been a director- that role has now been taken by Trevor Watson, Director of Economy and Culture. The council said Bracewell had yet to sell any homes:

Bracewell Homes’ business plan to sell three homes in its first year of trading is largely on track but the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the completion of several property sales.

86 year old Irene Hibberd has been a resident of Berwick Grange since December last year.

MHA,  the methodist charity which runs Berwick Grange, said the home has had   “a number of suspected coronavirus deaths” but would not give an exact number as residents had not been tested before they died.  The home is a specialist dementia unit.

Irene’s daughter, Hazel Ludwighodges, who is herself a carer and had previously worked at Berwick Grange,  said she became aware of the situation at the home a couple of weeks ago but was not officially told by the charity

” When I tried to get information I was told it wasn’t available to me and that if my mother was involved I would be told. I am not very happy about that to be honest, I know that the situation is very difficult at the moment but it would have been nice to have been told that there were suspected cases. Not to have been told distressed me a little.”

She was told that she would receive emails from MHA but hasn’t yet been sent any.

In a statement on the 10th April MHA said:

A small number of our homes have already been badly affected, although the extent to which these losses can be attributed to Covid-19 is debatable as our residents are not being tested. Without that testing, we may never know the true extent of outbreaks in our homes.

Our residents are a second family and this will take its toll on our teams as they sadly lose people they have cared for, in some cases for a number of years. We will make sure we care for our colleagues as well as our residents throughout all of this and would urge you to support us and our colleagues at this difficult time

Mrs Ludwighodges says she feels the level of care in Berwick Grange is good and does not blame the government for the lack of testing:

“I think the government is doing everything it can, it is doing a good job. I worry about my mother but you could say we should do some more but there’s only so much we can do.  These things happen. Carers have always been undervalued. Out of this crisis – it would be nice if carers are appreciated more. “

Independent councillor Pauline McHardy believes some hospital workers in the front line are being ‘sent out unarmed” to fight coronavirus. Cllr Hardy worked as a Registered Nurse in Ripon and Harrogate for 41 years and represented both nursing and domestic staff in roles as an area secretary for the Royal College of Nursing and branch secretary for UNISON,

The three-times Mayor of Ripon, who is councillor on Ripon City and Harrogate Borough councils, fully supports the RCN’s stance that nurses should refuse to treat coronavirus patients if they are not supplied with the necessary protective equipment.

Cllr McHardy, who formerly worked in the city’s St Wilfrid and Ripon Community hospitals as well as Harrogate Hospital, has close relatives who work in the NHS and told The Stray Ferret:

“You know that the situation is getting absolutely dire when the RCN is recommending to its members that they withdraw their labour.”

She added:

“Day after day we are being told by the government that the PPE is on its way and there is plenty to go around, but in the meantime, some of the people on the front line, including doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, porters and domestic staff, are being sent out unarmed to fight an unseen enemy.

It’s a horrific situation that nursing staff face, because they will always put the patient first, as they see what they are doing as a vocation, not a job, but you have to ask yourself what will happen to the NHS, if the people who deliver its services are not properly protected?”

Cllr McHardy stressed that she is not critical of local health service providers, who are having to cope with shortages of PPE, while providing the highest standards of care and she pointed out:

“They have been put in an invidious position and, as a person who has been passionate about the NHS for all of my adult life, I feel it my duty to speak up for them.”

Todays figures show a further 79 people in Yorkshire and the North East, who tested positive to covid-19, have died – the two deaths at Harrogate District Hospital were recorded yesterday.  The figure for the region was lower than that of the Midlands, which saw the highest number of recorded daily deaths at 170, and the North West at 102. London was 158.

The total number of deaths at Harrogate hospital is now 24.

Public Health England’s Medical Director, Professor Yvonne Doyle, warned yesterday that while the number of people in hospital with coronavirus in London was stabilising, Yorkshire and the North East is an area “where pressure was building”.

Todays figures show that across England a further 667 people died from coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals to 10,261.

Patients were aged between 17 and 101 years old.  40 of them had no known underlying health condition.

These figures do not include deaths outside hospital, such as those in care homes.

The Stray Ferret has been capturing some of the creative rainbow displays, that continue to appear in peoples windows across the borough.

Thousands of children are being encouraged to make the pictures to ‘spread hope’ amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The idea is to give passers-by something to smile at, whilst also giving children the opportunity to get creative whilst staying at home.

Churches across the district held virtual Easter Sunday services this morning to ensure that the key day in the Christian calendar could still be shared by parishioners and other viewers, in their own homes.

Ripon cathedral has been streaming services daily. Over the last month, 10,000 people have tuned in to the youtube broadcasts.

The Dean of Ripon, The Very Reverend John Dobson, held a live youtube broadcast this morning so people could still connect on this special day. He told the Stray Ferret:

“The wonderful thing is that we are finding daily more people are joining us in this time of need. I think there is little doubt that we will continue to stream services regularly when we are worshipping once again in the cathedral.

On this festal day, I wish everyone in the Harrogate district a very happy Easter at a time when we certainly need the hope that the resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us.”

Ripon Cathedral

Reverend Darryl Christopher Hall, Vicar at The United Parish of Upper Nidderdale pre-recorded their Easter day communion from Gillfield Lead Mines, Greenhow. He told the Stray Ferret.

“In these unusual times we find ourselves connected but dispersed. We live in the cathedral of Gods creation and while churches are closed we are so lucky to have these landmarks to conduct our services.”

The service was posted on The United Parish of Upper Nidderdale Facebook page and on youtube so people were able to watch the service this morning.

Reverend Darryl Hall also rang the church bells at St Cuthbert’s Church, Pateley Bridge at 10:30 am this morning. The service was then broadcast on a loudspeaker so people in the village could come out into their gardens to listen.

Revd Darryl Hall, Service from Gillfield Mines, Greenhow.

Easter is usually a time for meeting up with family and friends, taking part in Easter egg hunts and enjoying the outdoors. However, this year people are being told to stay at home and abide by government guidelines in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus.

There has still been some ‘socially distanced’ entertainment for families in Harrogate, as Rascal the Easter Bunny has been dancing down the streets of Harrogate.

Melanie Vauvelle Don, who runs Rascals Entertainment in Harrogate, has organised the Bunny walks, which are taking place each day over the Easter Weekend. She said:

“It’s a family activity, Cameron my husband dresses up as Rascal, myself and my son Harrison pull along the jukebox… We use our one hour of exercise each day to go out and cheer up our neighbourhood. Everyone loves it, young and old!”

They have taken a different route each day, starting from their address in Hutton Gate and walking along nearby streets.

Monday will be the last walk and the route can be found on the Rascals Entertainment Facebook page.

Rascal the Easter Bunny

Residents and businesses across the borough have donated 8,000 chocolate eggs and sweets to children, whose parents are working on the frontline in the fight against coronavirus this Easter.

The idea was started by a group called ‘Supplies for key workers in and around Harrogate.’ It was set up to help key workers get access to the supplies they need during coronavirus.

Fiona Ryan who runs the group told the Stray Ferret:

“Children of key workers are also emotionally affected, many having to temporarily live apart from their mum or dad who is on the frontline of this pandemic, so we wanted to try and make sure Easter was still special for them,”

Sweets for the ‘Key Worker Mini Hero’s.’

They have delivered the packages to the hospital, police force, care homes, schools, GP surgeries, pharmacies, community midwives and district nurses across the borough, so parents had one less thing to think about over Easter.

“Some parents have said they wouldn’t of had time to go out and get Easter Eggs for their children which has made them quite sad, but they are so humble and commited to their jobs.”

People from the district have been posting pictures of their children on social media with their Easter treat using the caption ‘I’m a key worker mini hero.’

Maddie and Max Deely from Harrogate. Mum, Sophie Deely is a pharmacy dispenser.

The national charity which operates Berwick Grange in Harrogate has confirmed that a number of its residents  have died of suspected coronavirus at the home but said without testing it cannot be certain.

MHA which was founded by the Methodist Church, operates Berwick Grange and is the largest UK provider of care with 133 homes. Berwick Grange has 52 residents and is a specialist dementia care unit.

The company said residents have died of suspected coronavirus at a number of its homes- Berwick Grange had seen cases but was not one of the worst affected. It said it could not confirm specific numbers at individual homes as residents aren’t being tested. Some had existing illnesses or had been on end of life care.

In a statement MHA said

A small number of our homes have already been badly affected, although the extent to which these losses can be attributed to Covid-19 is debatable as our residents are not being tested. Without that testing, we may never know the true extent of outbreaks in our homes.

Our residents are a second family and this will take its toll on our teams as they sadly lose people they have cared for, in some cases for a number of years. We will make sure we care for our colleagues as well as our residents throughout all of this and would urge you to support us and our colleagues at this difficult time

MHA said it has set up a Critical Incident Management system – convening daily bronze, silver and gold command meetings that are modelled on emergency service disaster responses to manage the rapidly changing nature of the emergency. It has highlighted a serious shortage of PPE (personal protective equipment) to protect its residents and staff- saying its weekly allocation of 300 face masks for a home of 70 residents can be used in a single day.

We convene three daily meetings taking rapid decisions to re-allocate PPE stock across regions, staff cover and analyse the spread of the virus across our services taking immediate appropriate action; this includes suspected, confirmed and recovered cases.

The company has put out a plea to schools, colleges and factories to consider donating any supplies that are not currently needed.