UN report questions Harrogate army college’s recruitment of ‘child soldiers’

The United Nations has called for the army enlistment age to be raised to 18 — which would have significant implications for Harrogate’s Army Foundation College.

The recommendation was contained in a report published this week by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The committee cited multiple concerns over children’s rights and welfare in the British armed forces and urged the government to investigate all forms of abuse against children in the armed forces.

The Harrogate college, which trains junior soldiers aged 16 and 17, has been hit by a spate of recent allegations of abuse and bullying.

The UN committee heard evidence that, in 2021 alone, investigations were opened into the sexual abuse of 22 recruits at the college.

Jim Patrick Wyke, campaigns coordinator at the campaign group Child Rights International Network, called on the government to end recruitment at 16 in light of the evidence.

He said:

“The UK government’s continued recruitment of under-18s into the military is unnecessary, harmful and puts the UK well outside international norms.

“The government must heed the UN’s warning and end the recruitment of children into the armed forces immediately.”

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The Stray Ferret approached the British Army for a response and to ask what the implications would be on the college if the age was raised.

A MOD spokesperson said:

“We are proud of the opportunities serving in the Armed Forces affords young people, from upskilling in literacy and digital skills and support for postgraduate degrees, to high-quality accredited training and unique employment prospects.

“Recruitment of under-18s into the Armed Forces meets all legal and policy requirements, both national and international. We take our duty of care for all personnel extremely seriously and ensure under-18s are not deployed on operations that would expose them to hostilities.”

Last month, a government minister told the House of Lords that the Ministry Of Defence introduced new policies to deal with sexual offences, which had helped to improve the situation at the college.

Baroness Goldie, a minister in the MOD, said that the Army Foundation College had a “much improved climate” since 2021.

She said:

“The MoD has introduced new policies and changes to deal with sexual offences and unacceptable sexual behaviour below the criminal threshold. 

“It has taken steps to improve the complaints system, has created the Defence Serious Crime Unit and has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual offences and sexual relationships between instructors and trainees. 

“All of that now reflects a much-improved climate at the college.”

Business Breakfast: Harrogate business meeting to focus on marketing

It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. Our next networking event is lunch at Manahatta, on June 29th at 12.30pm.

Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

A Harrogate business meeting is set to focus on marketing next week.

Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce will be holding the event on Monday (June 12) at the Crown Hotel.

Speakers at the meeting will include include representatives from Artus Digital Marketing, Berwins Solicitors and Cicada Communications.

As part of the monthly meeting’s regular charity slot, George McNaught, local events co-ordinator from The Guide Dogs Charity will also be speaking.

Martin Mann, acting chief executive at the chamber of commerce, said: 

“Marketing is such an important focus for businesses, which can sometimes be overlooked or dismissed during tough financial times, so we are dedicating our June meeting to this important subject.”

Sue Kramer, president of the chamber, added:

“As part of our monthly meeting format, we now regularly hear from a local charity, and we look forward to hearing from The Guide Dogs Charity, which has been in existence sine 1931, providing assistance dogs to blind or partially sighted people.”

Doors to the event open at 5.30pm with the meeting proper commencing at 6.15pm.

First time visitors and members are asked to register their attendance on the chamber website here.

Harrogate rental firm reports ‘solid’ trade results

A Harrogate rental firm has reported “solid trading” results as part of its full year report.

Vp, which is based at Central House on Beckwith Knowle, recorded a 6% increase in revenue to £371.5m from £350.9m on the previous year.

The results cover the year ended March 31, 2023.

Meanwhile, the firm reported an adjusted profit before tax, amortisation, impairment of intangible assets and exceptional items of £40.5m.

This was up from £38.9m on 2021/22.

Responding to the results, Jeremy Pilkington, chairman of Vp plc, said: 

“We are pleased to report another solid year of trading with good progress made across all key metrics, with the Group successfully navigating a highly volatile macroeconomic backdrop.

“The group’s return on average capital employed of 14.4% continues to demonstrate our excellent quality of earnings and resilience in times of supply chain disruption and slowing growth in some markets.  In line with our dividend policy and underpinning our confidence in the business, we are pleased to propose a final dividend of 26.5 pence per share, making a total for the year of 37.5 pence.

“We remain confident that the group will continue to provide shareholders with an attractive level of returns. Vp has an excellent track record and we believe the current market challenges will bring into view profitable growth opportunities.”

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Mum of boy seriously injured on school run in Harrogate issues plea for 20mph limit

The mother of a 15-year-old boy seriously injured in a collision on the way to school in Harrogate has issued an emotional plea for road safety improvements.

Stephanie Talbot’s son Reuben was one of two Rossett School students hit by a pick-up truck on Yew Tree Lane on February 2.

Four months on from the collision, she has given her backing to a campaign to impose a 20mph limit on streets across a swathe of south and west Harrogate.

In a statement read by road safety campaigner and fellow parent Jenny Marks at today’s meeting of North Yorkshire Council‘s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee, she said:

“They were on the pavement [when they were hit]. My daughter was also involved in the collision as her car was hit by the same truck. My youngest son was right behind his brother on the pavement and so witnessed the whole incident.

“My husband and I were right there within a few minutes of the accident happening. Reuben’s body had landed in positions it should never be in.

“Pieces of wall had to be removed from his body and he had eight broken bones: arms, leg and back… I was later told that when the paramedics arrived his stats showed that he could easily have died while on the ground there.

“I will never get over what I saw and heard that day.”

Some members of the committee were moved to tears as Dr Marks continued to read Ms Talbot’s statement.

It said her daughter had never felt safe walking to school in the area and had even been hit by a car near Rossett Sports Centre last September – which also happened while she was on the path.

Ms Talbot said she felt a 20mph network around schools in Harrogate would make children and parents feel safer to walk and cycle around the area, adding:

“Putting action in place should not be done as a consequence to a child’s injury or even death, but this accident should be a wake-up call to all parents, grandparents and the community to know that we need to make a change in our beautiful but busy town to enable our children to feel safe.

“Seventeen weeks on and many aspects of our lives are still on hold because of these injuries. I cannot even explain the pain and trauma that we have all gone through and will live with for the rest of our lives.

“Please be the people that make a difference.”

Petition

Campaigners Hazel Peacock and Vicki Evans presented a petition at the meeting with 924 signatures from people in support of reducing the speed limit to 20mph across the Oatlands, Hookstone, Pannal Ash and St George’s areas, where around 9,000 children attend local schools.

Ms Peacock told the meeting that evidence from other projects around the UK showed the reduction could have a significant impact on the severity of collisions.

She added:

“You have just heard of the devastating effects of the collision on Yew Tree Lane in February, and you are also aware of the collision outside Oatlands Junior School, also on the pavement, in January.

“These awful events coupled with overwhelming evidence of the benefits of 20mph limits demonstrate why change is urgently needed.”

Hazel Peacock hands the road safety petition to Elizabeth Jackson of North Yorkshire CouncilHazel Peacock handed the petition to North Yorkshire Council last month, with support from councillors and campaigners

While councillors on all sides of the chamber gave their support to the calls for a reduced speed limit, the Conservatives highlighted the fact that a pilot project had already been requested.

North Yorkshire Council is developing a policy on 20mph limits around schools and other urban areas, and Cllr John Mann (Conservative, Oatlands and Pannal) said he was keen to see the results of that work guide how a lower speed limit could be used in the area.

Conservative Cllr Sam Gibbs of the Valley Gardens and Central Harrogate division said:

“I do have one very slight reservation: 99% of the roads that are in this scheme I don’t have an issue with. However, the main roads of Leeds Road and Otley Road would be a slight concern to me if they were brought in to 20mph.”

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Cllr Paul Haslam, the Conservative councillor for Bilton and Nidd Gorge, said there needed to be a shift in attitudes and behaviours to make the school run safer, adding:

“We can put in a 20mph speed limit, but at the end of the day it’s all about behavioural and attitude changes to this. When we did the stats on Harrogate in 2018, I think more than 60% of the journeys in this town are less than 1.8km – not even miles, 1.8km.

“Surely we should be able to walk those distances, and a lot of that is to do with school commuting.”

The Liberal Democrats put forward a motion in support of the petition, calling on North Yorkshire Council to deliver a 20mph limit on streets across the area.

The proposal was voted through and will be passed to NYC’s executive.

Liberal Democrat Cllr Matt Walker, representing the Knaresborough West division, added:

“This is an opportunity that we should not miss and we need to show the executive our views on this.

“This tragedy should not have happened and it’s within our gift to send that message on our views to the executive so that this does not happen to anybody else.”

Newcastle Building Society to hold first BIG talk at Ripley Castle

Sponsored by Newcastle Building Society

Home ownership, putting money into savings and having a comfortable retirement are all possibilities that should be open to anyone.

That is the message from Newcastle Building Society, which says it wants to offer vital financial education, through BIG talks, to help people improve their lives and plan for their futures.

In partnership with North Yorkshire Council, Newcastle Building Society opened its Knaresborough branch last year, after the last bank branch left the town in 2021. Since then, the long term addition to the town has become an integral part of the community.

The organisation chose its base in Knaresborough Library in order to ensure face to face financial services continued to be available in the town, and were accessible to all.

It launched a UK-first pilot this year with fintech OneBanx, offering a multi-bank kiosk within the branch, giving local residents and small business owners a way to access their accounts to deposit and withdraw cash, no matter who they bank with.

The branch has awarded grants of £2,000 to Orb Community Arts, and £4,000 to Chain Lane Community Hub, to mark its entrance into the community. While the team behind the branch has volunteered and taken part in local events.

Now, the Newcastle Building Society team is aiming to do more to give residents in the town and surrounding area access to the best financial education to ensure they can achieve what they want now and in the future.

Branch Manager Heather Pearman said:

“We believe everyone deserves a home and to have the opportunity to save and plan for their future.

“Our commitment to face-to-face banking services delivered in the community has never been stronger and since we opened in Knaresborough last year, we have been so pleased to be able to support local people to achieve their financial goals.”

The first BIG talk event at Ripley Castle

Over the past 10 years the Newcastle Building Society’s BIG talk events have helped hundreds of people make a start in improving their financial know-how.

Newcastle Building Society’s Community Specialist, Ken Hines, and Knaresborough Branch Manager, Heather Pearman, will be hosting the event.

The talk will focus on building understanding around saving for the future, why Newcastle Building Society is here and what else they are doing in the community in order to help people make smarter economic choices.

There will also be the chance to discuss personal circumstances and discover how the building society can tailor its services to meet individual needs.

The BIG talk will take place at Ripley Castle on Thursday, June 22, from 11.30am for around an hour. Refreshments will be served from 11am, with a light lunch to follow the talk.

The event is free, but there is limited capacity and attendees must book a space. To book, call 01423 648750, drop into the Knaresborough branch or click here.

Find out more:

For more information about Newcastle Building Society and the Knaresborough branch, visit https://www.newcastle.co.uk/our-branches/knaresborough.

Harrogate councillors renew calls for public involvement in Station Gateway plans

Councillors from Harrogate and Knaresborough have reiterated calls for “meaningful” involvement in the £11.2 million Station Gateway scheme.

The request followed the news that representatives of the Department for Transport and West Yorkshire Combined Authority visited Harrogate yesterday.

They were given a tour of the town centre and shown through plans for major changes to Station Parade and surrounding routes.

Speaking at today’s meeting of Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee, North Yorkshire Council‘s head of major projects and infrastructure Richard Binks said:

“It was the first time they had actually visited the site in person. They were really taken with what they saw.

“They really think the scheme’s fantastic and were showing a great deal of support for the project.”

However, members of the committee expressed surprise that they were unaware the visit was taking place.

At a heated meeting on May, the same committee had agreed to support the project, provided the committee was given “meaningful involvement” in its execution.

NYC’s officers were also asked to meet face-to-face with local residents and businesses, which today’s meeting also heard had not yet happened.

The committee members were presented with a petition of 2,000 signatures opposing the Station Gateway project by local resident Rachel Inchborough, who told the meeting:

“We feel we’ve had a lack of any in-person consultation for residents and it is of a key significance. We’ve been offered a quick Zoom session online, at short notice, to tick boxes.

“Residents feel this was a complete insult.”

Councillors voted in May to support the Station Gateway scheme

Some of the committee members queried the petition’s veracity, saying its signatories included people from as far away as South Africa.

They also pointed out that even 500 local signatures – the threshold needed to have the petition debated by the committee – were not representative of all views from local residents.

Several Conservative members of the committee said they did not want to undermine the original vote in May to support the proposal.

Cllr Michael Harrison, a Conservative who represents Killinghall, Hampsthwaite and Saltergate, added:

“There’s a fundamental point here that this committee passed a resolution that we wanted a meaningful role in the implementation of the scheme.

“The chair is against the scheme. The chair wants to stop the scheme. The chair, despite what this committee said, went to the executive committee and implored them to stop the scheme. The petition wants to stop the scheme. The two things are at odds.

“We’re talking about people who want to stop the scheme, not who want meaningful input in the scheme. You can say what you like, but that’s the fact of the matter.

“I’m quite happy to have a meaningful role in implementing the scheme but we’re kidding ourselves if we think this is what this is.”

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However, other councillors called for officers to uphold the wishes of the committee to engage with the community about the detail of the proposal.

Cllr Monika Slater, a Liberal Democrat who represents Bilton Grange and New Park, said:

“This isn’t about trying to overthrow a motion we already passed at the previous meeting.

“This is genuinely about looking at the concerns of specific individuals and seeing if there are ways of mitigating and therefore bringing more of the public on side of actually supporting a scheme and involving the local councillors much more in that process.”

Councillors voted by eight to four in favour of asking for a full list of meetings to be held with local groups and for committee members to be invited as well. They also supported the proposal of a working group being set up, with representation from both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, to focus on the Station Gateway project.

Cllr Chris Aldred, the Lib Dem representative for High Harrogate and Kingsley who put forward the motion, said:

“This is not designed to stop the scheme. It is designed for a scheme to continue.

“I voted for the original proposal and I’ve always said there are some parts of this scheme I find really attractive, One Arch being one of them.

“I do sincerely believe that we need to demonstrate that we’ve listened to the voices of the people who came to the last meeting, the people who’ve signed this petition.”

Brew Bar owner opens new Harrogate coffee shop

The owner of Brew Bar has opened a new coffee shop in the centre of Harrogate.

Simon Somerville-Frost, who has operated his original venture on St Winifred’s Avenue since 2018, opened the new coffee shop on Royal Parade this week under the name &… Harrogate.

&… Harrogate provides lunch and brunch as well as a wide range of coffees, pastries and bakes. It plans to transition to also operate as an evening bar in the weeks ahead.

It took about nine weeks to transform the former Gron building, which closed last year.

Mr Somerville-Frost said &… Harrogate was designed to look and feel completely different to Brew Bar, which has established a reputation as a community coffee shop in the saints area of Harrogate.

Brew Bar

Brew Bar

He said:

“We just decided to something totally different. It’s a completely different look from Brew Bar and a really nice space.

“It’s a natural evolution from Brew Bar. I didn’t want the space to look too ‘coffee shop’.We’ve gone for a quite darker aesthetic so we can transition easily into an evening bar.

“People feel comfortable in both environments and we are excited to get going.”

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Former Harrogate solicitor jailed for indecent exposure in Knaresborough

A former Harrogate solicitor has been jailed for four weeks for indecent exposure.

Richard Wade-Smith, 67, was charged with exposing his genitals on Stockwell Lane in Knaresborough.

York Magistrates Court heard the incident happened between May 7 and May 10 this year.

Wade-Smith, who appeared in court via link from HMP Hull on Monday, pleaded guilty to the offence.

He was jailed for four weeks and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £154 and court costs of £85.

A court document detailing the sentence said the offence was serious because it caused a “distressing experience in presence of children and occurred on multiple occasions”.

It added that Wade-Smith’s guilty plea was taken into account when sentencing him.

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Wade-Smith, who worked for various law firms in Yorkshire and later ran his own legal service from Wedderburn House, had previously been jailed for breaching a restraining order in December 2022.

The 67-year-old was given the order by York Crown Court after he rammed his car into his wife’s home in Harrogate on Boxing Day 2021 and subjected her to “mental torture”.

He was jailed for 10 months after he breached the order, which banned him from going near his wife’s address, by knocking on her door just four days after being spared jail.

Business Breakfast: Home care company opens Harrogate office

It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. Our next networking event is lunch at Manahatta, on June 29th at 12.30pm.

Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

A home care service has set up a new office in Harrogate.

Radfield Home Care, which was founded in 2018, opened its new headquarters on Tower Street in the town centre this week.

Matthew Nutting founded the company after leaving the NHS five years ago when he saw a “gap in the market for premium care”.

Radfield, which employs 55 staff, offers a range of services including home care, dementia care and personal care.

The new offices on Tower Street include a day care centre on the ground floor, offices on the second floor and a training centre on the top floor.

Mr Nutting said the move to Harrogate would help the care service grow.

He said:

“Our ambition is to be the home care provider of choice for this area and to grow.”

For more information on Radfield Home Care, visit their website here or call 01423 895766.

New Swinton Estate bar opens for the summer

A new bar has open at the Swinton Estate.

The Swinton Rose Bar, which is based in the Terrace Gardens at the Terrace Restaurant and Bar, opened its doors to the public this week.

The new bar offers a range of wines including Château la Gordonne de Provence and Champagne Pommery Brut Rosé Champagne NV.

It will be open until August 31 this year and no booking is required.

For more information, visit the Swinton Estate website here.

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Bilton couple set to celebrate 80 years of marriage

A couple who fell in love as teenagers will become one of Britain’s longest married couples when they celebrate 80 years of marriage this summer. 

Roy and Freda Ward, who are both 98, met at the age of 17 when they both worked at the Dorchester Cinema in Hull. Freda was an usherette and Roy was second projectionist and was also responsible for changing the batteries in the usherettes’ torches. 

Speaking from the couple’s home in Bilton, Roy told the Stray Ferret:

“I always made sure Freda had the brightest torch!” 

Freda said: 

“We would always try to get the same day off, and when we did, Roy would take me for a fish-and-chip supper. It was lovely.” 

A year after meeting, they planned a June wedding, but the Register Office was bombed, so they had to wait three days, before finally tying the knot on July 1, 1943. 

Even when called up to the Royal Navy, Roy carried on as a projectionist with the Entertainments National Service Association, showing films at military bases throughout England. Following demobilisation, he took up plumbing, but carried on working as a projectionist in the evenings.  

The couple owned shops in South Cave and Ferriby, Hull for years, before eventually moving to Harrogate in the 1980s, where they opened a greengrocer’s and delicatessen, RP & F Ward, on Skipton Road. 

Following retirement, they have kept busy; Freda was going to the local gym until she was 95, and still exercises on her rowing machine, and Roy, a keen chef and bread-baker, only stopped driving last month. 

The couple, who plan to celebrate their oak wedding anniversary with family, have three children, Michael, Roger, and Lesley – now all in their 70s – as well as three grandchildren and a great-grandson. 

Asked what the secret to a long and happy marriage was, Roy said: 

“I’ve no idea – I can’t put my finger on it. But we’re happy, so whatever it is, it must work!” 

Freda was more certain. She said: 

“We just love each other. We get on wonderfully well, and we never quarrel. We always discuss things first before doing them, so that we know we’re both happy with it. It just works. We’re very happy.”

The Wards are thought to be Harrogate’s longest-married couple since Starbeck couple Ron and Beryl Golightly celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary in February 2021.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average marriage is expected to last for 32 years. Just 16% of marriages reach their 60th wedding anniversary; the figure for the 80th anniversary, although not provided by the ONS, will be far smaller. 

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Bulgarian martial arts experts jailed for dealing cocaine in Harrogate

Two Bulgarian martial arts experts have been jailed for peddling cocaine in Harrogate after delving into the UK drug market within a week of arriving in the country.

Emilov Andonov, an expert in the Russian combat sport sambo, and his sidekick Stanislav Stefanov, a professional judo trainer, were stopped by police in the Asda car park where officers suspected a drug deal was taking place, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Rachael Landin said Stefanov, a part-time bouncer in his home country, had been driving an Audi, and Andonov was in a Toyota. Police suspected something was amiss when one of the men got into the other’s car.

Officers searched both vehicles and found 11 wraps of cocaine, worth £550, under the gear stick in the Audi.

They found a further 19 wraps of high-purity cocaine under the covering of the gear stick in the Toyota. Those drugs were worth £950.

They also seized three mobile phones which showed that text messages had been pinging back and forth between the two men in the four days preceding their arrest on January 28.

It appeared that Andonov and Stefanov, both national-level martial artists in their homeland, had been working under orders from people higher up the drug chain who provided them with “post codes and instructions” to deliver their illicit wares.

They were each charged with possessing a Class A drug with intent to supply but initially denied the offence, claiming they had “bought in bulk” for their own personal use.

However, they ultimately changed their pleas to guilty and appeared for sentence yesterday after being remanded in custody. They were assisted by a Bulgarian interpreter.

Just arrived in England

Defence barrister Matthew Harding, for Andonov, said both men, of no fixed address, had only been in the country for a week before they got involved in the drug trade.

He said they had been “sent up to the Yorkshire area” to deal cocaine by their drug overlords in London, adding:

“They are clearly delivering under (instruction).

“At times they don’t know where to go or what they are doing.”

He claimed when the two men arrived in the country on January 20, they had no intention of lurching into crime.

He said Andonov, 21, was a judo expert who studied sambo at the national academy in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital. Mr Harding added:

“He and his co-accused have competed in (national) competitions,”

“He will inevitably receive a sentence that means his deportation from this country is automatic.”

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John Batchelor, for Stefanov, said his 21-year-old client was a professional judo trainer and part-time doorman who had studied at the same sports school as Andonov. The barrister added:

“He’s competed at national level and they’ve known each other from school.”

He said the two men arrived in London initially where they were “offered an opportunity” to deal drugs in Yorkshire.

He added Stefanov would go back to judo training and study upon his inevitable deportation to Bulgaria.

Judge Sean Morris told the defendants:

“Within days of arriving in this country you were breaking the law in the most serious way.

“You were being directed where to sell drugs and that meant you were putting the citizens of this country at risk for your own greed.

“I recommend, on the completion of your sentence, (that) you are immediately deported back to Bulgaria.”

Each man was jailed for two years and three months.