Nine allegations of rape at Harrogate’s Army Foundation College have been reported to police in the last 13 months.

The figures were revealed in a Freedom of Information response from North Yorkshire Police.

According to the data, nine rapes, two incidents of voyeurism and two sexual assaults were reported to civilian police between July 2022 and August 2023.

No details have been given as to whether the incidents involved recruits or staff at the college.

It comes after the college on Penny Pot Lane, which trains junior soldiers aged 16 and 17, was hit by allegations of abuse and bullying in 2021.

However, ministers defended the organisation and said it had a “much improved climate”.

Baroness Goldie, a Ministry of Defence minister, told the House of Lords in May this year that the college had taken steps to improve and that this was reflected by an Ofsted report in 2021.

However, the new figures raise questions over further allegations of sexual assault and abuse.

Jim Wyke, of the Child Rights International Network, which campaigns for the raising of the military age, said the government should look again at the recruitment age.

He said:

“Ministers must look seriously at making the transition to an all-adult armed forces, recruiting for the armed forces at 18 is the settled consensus in most of the world.”

In response to the figure, a British Army spokesperson said:

“The army is committed to rooting out all forms of inappropriate behaviour and we have a zero-tolerance policy on sexual offences – any personnel convicted of a sexual offence will be dismissed.

“We have very strong safeguarding mechanisms at AFC(H) to ensure junior soldiers have the right support structures. This includes multiple methods of accessing welfare support, including confidential support lines.

“It would be inappropriate to comment on investigations which may be ongoing”

Read more:

• ‘Improved climate’ at Harrogate Army Foundation College after abuse allegations, says minister
• Harrogate Army Foundation College instructor demoted for punching teenage soldiers
• Former Harrogate Army Foundation College instructor sentenced for sex assault

Anyone over the age of 70 might remember a group of feminists dramatically flour bombing the 1970 Miss World competition.

The group was protesting at a contest that objectified women. Miss World then was broadcast on the BBC and was one of the biggest TV events of the year — the feminists made headlines all over the world. Now, the idea a beauty contest being scheduled alongside Strictly on a BBC One Saturday evening is unthinkable.

The beauty pageant though has survived this lack of major TV profile and last weekend Chloe McEwen, a 21-year-old woman from Harrogate, was crowned Miss Yorkshire. She will go through to compete in the Miss England contest next year.

In a world where even Barbie has had a feminist makeover, could the same be said for the beauty contest?  Chloe’s story of being crowned Miss Yorkshire got hundreds of likes on the Stray Ferret’s social media post and noticeably no jibes.  Chloe says her small group of close friends have embraced her doing it:

“They’ve all genuinely been really supporting towards me, no one has had anything negative to say.”

Chloe has a powerful story to tell. At the age of 16 she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Such were the severity of her symptoms she spent eight months in hospital and gained four stone in weight.

“When I got out of there I was so depressed, so filled with anxiety, worried about what people would think of me. I went from this petite, pretty girl to having all this weight on me. Some people didn’t recognise me. It really knocked my confidence.

“I cut my circle of friends really small, focussed on myself and my health; getting into the gym little by little and slowly building up to being a personal trainer”.

Instagram and YouTube though are full of young women using social media to campaign and spread messages. Why did she chose a beauty contest to get her message across?

“If you’d have told me four years ago when I got out of hospital I would be doing this, I would have said not in a million years.

“For me to even get to a point of having enough confidence to compete — I want to spread the message that no matter where you are in life and you haven’t got that confidence, if you work on yourself, you can do something like a beauty contest.”

Chloe’s photos of her weight loss and fitness journey

The rules for entering the Miss England contest are clear — you have to be between 16 and 27 years old and unmarried. It’s described now though as ‘beauty with a purpose’.  The winner needs to have a powerful narrative and raise money for the organisation’s charity. Chloe says ‘there are plenty of beautiful girls out there but if you haven’t got that strong message, they’re not going to pick you nowadays”.

Soroptimist International is an organisation that looks after the interests of women and girls. It has an active Harrogate and district branch – with members who will remember the 1970s fight for equal rights.

The local communications officer, Lesley Berry, said in 2021 the organisation’s annual conference heard from 33-year-old Dr Carina Tyrrell – a former Miss England who is a first class honours Cambridge graduate and respected public health physician who worked on the development of covid vaccines.

Ms Berry said:

“We want people to do whatever they want to as long as nobody is exploiting them or forcing them to do it. If it is something you want to do when you’re young.

“This young lady seems to be doing it to enhance her confidence and spread awareness of the issues she’s overcome. That is a positive message”.

In an age where women’s empowerment is about individual choice, Chloe McEwen has chosen her way of spreading her message.  She hopes that, with so many young women suffering from anxiety, it works and has impact.

Chloe’s Instagram images (Chloemcewen8) and her message

Read More: 

• Miss Yorkshire contestant from Harrogate hopes to inspire others
• Harrogate fitness instructor qualifies for Miss England

A new handmade rugs showroom is set to open in Harrogate.

Emma Mellor Handmade Rugs will welcome its first customers on Albert Street tomorrow (October 7).

The store, which is based in the former Dizzy Duck unit, will sell a range of rugs from Afghan to Scandinavian designs.

Emma Mellor, who owns the venture and has a showroom in York, said she chose to open in Harrogate after initially visiting to buy some paint and noticed the vacant unit.

She said:

“I’ve always loved Harrogate. My grandma used to bring me here when I was little for a treat.

“I’ve always wanted a showroom here and I’ve always really liked this street. But it’s weird, because I actually came here for a tin of paint and it just snowballed.

“I came for a tin of paint and left with a shop.”

The showroom on Albert Street in Harrogate.

Ms Mellor, who took an interest in textiles after working in a rug shop herself, took over the Albert Street unit three weeks ago.

She said that it felt like a natural choice to open a new showroom in Harrogate.

Ms Mellor said:

“I really wanted to have a shop here, it seems like a natural place. I work with a lot of interior designers who are based around this area.”

The showroom will be open Tuesday to Saturday from 10.30am until 4.30pm.

Read more:

• Polish shop in Harrogate moves to bigger premises as demand grows
• World food supermarket opens in Harrogate

Ripon City Council has cleared an important hurdle in its double devolution bid to take control of city assets.

North Yorkshire Council invited town and parish councils to submit expressions of interest to run local services in November last year.

It was part of the Conservative-controlled council’s double devolution agenda which pledges to let local people take control of local assets.

The council said it would choose up to six locations this autumn to put forward full business cases. Final decisions are expected in spring next year before assets are transferred to successful bidders later in the year.

This afternoon Ripon City Council was notified by council assistant chief executive Rachel Joyce the evaluation board proposed to to set up individual project teams to work with Ripon and Selby.

The news is likely to come as a blow for other towns, including Knaresborough, which also expressed interest. Harrogate was unable to bid because it does not have a town council.

Ms Joyce said in correspondence with the city council:

“Two expressions of interest that were considered, submitted by Ripon Town(City) Council and Selby Town Council; were both ambitious and multi-faceted, with a number of service areas involved in the evaluation of their expressions of interest.”

Ripon Town Hall

The Ripon devolution bid sought management of Ripon Town Hall, Market Place and Car Park, public toilets within the city and the Wakeman’s House listed building.

Ms Joyce said:

“Whilst the bids were considered to be showing the level of ambition for their areas that was originally envisaged for the double devolution project they highlighted that the evaluation criteria was not sophisticated enough to manage a wide range of services within its scoring mechanisms.

“It is therefore proposed by the evaluation board that individual project teams are set up to work with Ripon City Council and Selby Town Council to bring forward double devolution proposals to be considered by the executive in these two areas recognising that these may require more support.”

The news has been welcomed by Cllr Andrew Williams, the Independent leader of Ripon City Council, who also represents the Minster and Moorside division on North Yorkshire Council.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“We have cleared an important hurdle and that’s very good news for Ripon as we seek greater say over our own destiny.

“We put forward a very strong double devolution bid and North Yorkshire Council has shown that it is willing to listen to us and work with us — in considerable contrast to the relationship that we had over almost 50 years with Harrogate Borough Council.”

Read more:

• North Yorkshire Council to pick double-devolution winners in October
• Claim Ripon’s bid to control town hall and market square a ‘done deal’

A councillor has said funding intended for Harrogate’s £11.2m Station Gateway should be spent in Skipton if the scheme falls through.

Last month, senior Conservative councillors in Northallerton agreed to consider different options to rescue Harrogate’s troubled transport project.

The most likely option for North Yorkshire Council is to focus on its less controversial aspects, which might include public realm improvements at Station Square and One Arch, in an attempt to deliver the scheme in some form.

But alternative options could also fail to win support and the council may decide to scrap it altogether.

Station Square

Rather than handing money back to government, Andy Brown, the Green Party councillor for Aire Valley  told the council’s Skipton and Ripon planning committee this week the Harrogate money could be used to improve Skipton’s own £7.8m Station Gateway scheme.

Like Harrogate, it’s being paid for through the government’s Transforming Cities Fund but has proved far less controversial with the public than across the A59.

The planning committee met on Tuesday afternoon in Skipton to consider replacing a footbridge over the Leeds and Liverpool canal, which forms part of the Skipton Gateway proposals.

Councillors approved the replacement bridge but its design was strongly criticised as it does not offer ramped disabled access.

Cllr Brown queried if Harrogate Transforming Cities Fund money could be spent on the bridge to improve accessibility.

He said:

“We should be sending a message [to the council] that they seek every alternative source, including if the Harrogate scheme falls through, to achieve disabled access”.

Read more:

• ‘Collective will’ at council to rescue £11.2m Harrogate Station Gateway
• Harrogate Station Gateway ‘on life support but not dead yet’

A report prepared for the council’s Conservative-run executive in September confirmed that funding would be able to be transferred from the Harrogate scheme to Skipton or Selby with approval from the government.

It said:

“In principle, this funding may be able to be reallocated to either or both the Selby and Skipton Transforming Cities Fund projects in North Yorkshire. Written approval from the funder would be required which would be requested should this be necessary.

“The full business cases for these projects would have to justify any proposed reallocation in addition to agreement from the funder.”

North Yorkshire Council has said it will put forward its next steps for the Harrogate Station Gateway before November.

The line-up has been revealed for the first Harrogate Music Weekender, which begins in seven days.

Thirty events will take place from Friday, October 13 to Sunday, October 15 and feature everything from rock and acoustic to Ibiza anthems and throwback hits.

Fifteen venues including Manahatta, Husk Beer Emporium, Artizan Café, Piccolino, The Den and Foundry Project will take part in the music extravaganza.

Harrogate Business Improvement District, which is funded by local businesses to increase the number of town centre visitors, has organised the event.

It hopes the event, along with next week’s Visit Harrogate Restaurant Week and the ongoing Harrogate Comedy Festival will provide a town centre boost in the pre-Christmas lull.

DJ Mark Green will kick off the weekend at the Yorkshire Hotel at 6pm on the Friday night with an Ibiza-themed closing party.

As well as the events across the weekend, Harrogate BID will have a walking DJ booth and street performers in the town.

Matthew Chapman, Harrogate BID manager said:

“We are looking forward to making this a successful annual offer in the Harrogate events calendar and hopefully bring people from far and wide into the town to experience the vibrant live music offer that we have.”

Here is the line-up.

Read more:

• Free parking in Harrogate multi-storey to boost town centre
• Plan to install electric vehicle charging bays at Harrogate M&S approved

Friday, October 13

Opening event – 6 – 8PM – The Yorkshire Hotel Sky Bar – DJ Mark Green

5:30pm – 7:30pm – Foundry Project – Robbie Miller

7pm – 9pm – Doubletree by Hilton Majestic Hotel & Spa – DJ in Fredericks Lounge

7pm – 11pm – West Park Hotel – DJ & Sax

7:30pm – 9:30pm – Artizan Café – Musical Empowerment, a local inclusive band

8pm – 10pm – Piccolino – DJ

8pm – 10pm – Manahatta – North Road live band

8pm – 10pm – Husk – Biz & Jason band

8pm – 10pm – The Yorkshire Hotel – DJ Dean Snowdon

8pm – midnight – Doubletree by Hilton Majestic Hotel & Spa – Abba Tribute Night (ticketed)

8pm – late – Foundry Project – DJ Patrick Wood

10pm – midnight – The Den – The Robbie Miller Band

Saturday, October 14

2pm – 4pm – HMV, Victoria Shopping Centre – Ade Payne

2pm – 6pm – Harrogate Theatre – Ember and Matt Edgington

3pm – 5pm – The Den – Biz Denton

3pm – late – West Park Hotel

Opening event – 6pm – 8pm – The Crown Hotel – Singo Bingo

7:45pm – 9:15pm – The Den – The Henri Gaston Experience Nigel Clark

8pm – late – Revolucion De Cuba – Mariachi Band and DJ

7pm – late – Manahatta – DJ Max Czernik

8pm – late – Foundry Project – DJ

8pm – late – Piccolino – DJ Josh Farcas

9:45pm – 10:45pm – The Den – Jonny Skinner

11pm – 12:30am – The Den – Nigel Clark (90’s front man from Dodgy)

Sunday, October 15

12pm – 4pm – Husk – Husk’s Sunday Wax – Bring Your Own Vinyl and we’ll play at least 1 side!

1pm – 5pm – Cedar Court Hotel Tipi on The Stray – Nathan – So ‘n’ So Music

4pm – 7pm – Banyan – North Road lead singer and drummer double act

4pm – 11pm – Husk – Harrogate’s Indie’s Block Party DJ Takeover featuring Pizza Social, Husk, Lillypad & Mabgate Bleach on the decks

7pm – 8:45pm – The Den – Jake Pattinson

9pm – 11pm – The Den – Hobo Chic

Twenty three community organisations have shared £55,000 in the latest round of grants awarded by The Local Fund for the Harrogate District.

The successful applicants are small organisations that can use the funding to make a big difference on a range of initiatives, including helping older people participate in activities and addressing loneliness.

They include fortnightly lunch club Lifeline Harrogate,  Knaresborough Museum Association, Jennyruth Workshops in Ripon and Boroughbridge and District Community Care.

The Local Fund was created in 2017 to fund local voluntary organisations.

It is supported by North Yorkshire Council, Harrogate and District Community Action and Two Ridings Community Foundation. It also receives at least 10p from every ticket sold by the Local Lotto.

Read more:

• Ripon’s Blue Cross charity shop closes today
• Polish shop in Harrogate moves to bigger premises as demand grows

Celia McKeon, chief executive of Two Ridings Community Foundation, said the grants would “make a huge impact on the wellbeing of local people all over the district”. She added:

“This round of funding has been really interesting and far reaching, distributing grants to address rural isolation alongside activities and support in the local towns.”

Ms McKeon urged local people and businesses who wanted their charitable giving to benefit the communities they live in to invest in the fund.

Here are details of the successful applicants.

North Yorkshire Council looks set to bid for up to £1.7 million worth of funding to help ease pressure on hospital emergency departments.

The Department of Health and Social Care has invited local authorities to apply for grants to help with discharges in social care, which in turn will support accident and emergency units.

Ministers have allocated North Yorkshire as one of the authority areas which has the “greatest health and care challenges”.

The government has given the council an indicative funding amount of £1.1 million, but has encouraged it to apply for up to £1.7 million.

A report by Abigail Barron, assistant director for prevention and service development at the council, has proposed a number of measures as part of the council’s bid.

Among them include employing additional agency social workers to speed up discharge allocations, establishing winter grants for the voluntary sector to help with prevention and developing additional support for unpaid carers.

Ms Barron said the measures would help to “avoid hospital admissions and expedite discharge and flow”.

She added:

“The schemes will also assist North Yorkshire Council’s strategic objective of both supporting hospital discharge and reducing reliance on short stay residential beds.”

Read more:

• Health chief pledges to help patients at Harrogate NHS dentist
• ‘No timeline’ for £1.8m care facility at Cardale Park

The move comes after Harrogate District Hospital managers raised concern that patients were staying in hospital longer than they should because of a lack of private care services.

Last year, Jonathan Coulter, chief executive at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said the issue had a knock on effect on emergency departments and was the “biggest issue” that the trust faced.

In September 2022, the trust also outlined plans to launch its own home care service in a bid to free up hospital beds.

At the time, the move was met with some concern by councillors who said it could “distort the market”.

Parents from Harrogate took part in a demonstration yesterday calling for better school provision for children with special educational needs.

SEND Reform England is staging peaceful protests outside town halls across the country this autumn. Parents from Sen Hub Harrogate joined the latest one in Leeds yesterday.

They are campaigning about issues including lack of spaces at special educational schools and unlawful rejections for Education, Health and Care Plans, which set out what additional support is required by young people with additional needs.

Emily Mitchell and Ashlie Charleton, who co-founded Sen Hub Harrogare to help parents of children with special educational needs, were among the Harrogate contingency in Leeds yesterday.

Emily, whose daughter Elsie is autistic and non-verbal, told the Stray Ferret parents should not have to fight for an education for their children. She added:

“I joined the protest due to my own fight with getting my child into education.

“I am currently going through a tribunal process to fight the local authority who aren’t taking my child’s needs into any consideration.”

Read more:

• Huge interest in new group for Harrogate parents of neurodiverse children
• GALLERY: Rachel Daly returns to Harrogate’s Rossett School

The Stray Ferret Business Club’s next meeting is a breakfast event on Thursday, October 26 at Banyan in Harrogate from 8 am to 10 am. 

The Business Club provides monthly opportunities to network, make new connections and hear local success stories. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

The makers of TV’s The Great British Bake-Off were desperately searching for some retro fridges recently and had their wishes fulfilled by an electrical retailer in Boroughbridge. 

Love Productions was combing the UK for a specific model of fridge-freezer but was drawing a blank because it had been discontinued by Italian manufacturer Zanussi. 

Fortunately, G Craggs, which also has a shop in Ripon, had recognised how popular they were and had bought the last ones in January. The production company sought them out and a deal was done. 

Enjoying the moment, the company posted on its Facebook page: 

“To celebrate this wonderful partnership there are complimentary cakes in store for all customers while stocks last. You might even be served by team member Paul Bakes!”, adding: “Yes… that really is his name!” 

New business director for net zero firm

A Harrogate firm that specialises in carbon accounting and net zero delivery has announced a senior appointment as part of its growth strategy.

Rob Conway joins Flotilla to lead sales and business development operations after 15 years’ work with B2B scale-ups.

Flotilla, which is based on Station Parade, works with client companies to reduce their CO2 output, and its science-based carbon reduction service has been recommended by the United Nations Climate Change initiative.

Rob said:

“After a number of years in the tech space, it was seeing the world through my daughter’s eyes and seeing her interest in the environment, combined with ever-increasing extreme weather events globally, that made me rethink my career path. When I saw the role at Flotilla, I knew that this was the right place and the right time to make a meaningful impact through my role.

“By increasing the number of clients we work with, the larger environmental impact we can have.”

Read more:

• Business Breakfast: Construction firm hires two new directors
• Business Breakfast: Knaresborough company acquires local financial firm
• Business Breakfast: Harrogate marketing agency hires new head of social media