Two Harrogate based disability charities have worked together to create a mosaic that will displayed at a new training centre.

Artizan International and Harrogate Skills 4 Living (HS4L) both work to provide care and support to disabled people.

The mosaic was made by disabled artists from Artizan, a Harrogate-based charity that runs arts and crafts workshops and provides training to disabled people.

The ceramic-tile piece has been given to HS4L for it to display outside its new training centre.

HS4L bought the training centre in early April and has been using the space to run education programmes and internships for young people with learning disabilities.

Hadyn Moorby-Davies, HS4L’s chief executive said:

 “It’s wonderful to collaborate and work with people who share the same vision, values and aspirations as we do – to help disabled individuals overcome the barriers they face and lead fulfilled lives”

“The beautiful mosaic will look stunning on the bare brick walls of our new training centre.”

Mr Moorby-Davies added that the theme of the mosaic, ‘Many Hands’ encompassed the charities’ ethos of  “supporting each other to achieve the best possible outcomes for all.”

Artizan has become a local specialist in mosaics and in 2022 created the giant Harrogate letters displayed on the side of the Boots building in the town centre.

Liz Cluderay, Artizan’s UK director said:

“We have been delighted to create this beautiful mosaic for our friends at HS4L for them to display in their fantastic new training centre – North Barn.

“Working together on projects as organisations serving the needs of our disabled community will help us to reach more people that will benefit from our services.”

Read more 

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Operations and appointments at Harrogate District Hospital look set to be cancelled after consultants announced strike action.

Members of the British Medical Association voted on Tuesday to walk out for 48 hours in a dispute over pay.

The strike by consultants will take place on July 20 and will follow a five-day demonstration by junior doctors.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust said it will have to make changes to outpatient and theatre services on the days of industrial action.

Consultants will carry out what is described as Christmas Day cover, meaning most routine and elective services will be cancelled but full emergency cover will remain in place.

The move come as the BMA urged the government to come forward with a credible offer in order to avert strike action.

Dr Vishal Sharma, BMA consultants committee chair, said:

“Consultants don’t want to have to take industrial action, but have been left with no option in the face of a Government that continues to cut our pay year after year.

“However, it is not too late to avert strike action and the Government simply needs come back to us with a credible offer that we can put to our members.”

Read more:

• Ripon hospital to provide more health checks after £1m award
• Harrogate junior doctors: ‘We are prepared to continue to strike’

In response to the decision, a spokesperson for Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust said the hospital will draw up plans to ensure “essential services can be maintained on strike days”.

However, they added that some outpatient appointments and operations will have to be rearranged.

The spokesperson said:

“To prioritise emergency care and to keep all our patients safe we will have to make changes to some of our outpatient and theatre services on the days of industrial action. 

“As we have during previous strikes we will have to cancel outpatient appointments and elective operations, however we will be re-arranging any postponed appointments as a priority.”

Staff well-being and culture have rapidly risen up the priority list for many employers.  At the next Stray Ferret Business Club  we’ll hear from award winning employer, LCF Law, on how organisations can ensure their teams are productive and happy. 

The lunch event is lunch at Manahatta, on June 29th at 12.30pm. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

A Harrogate care company has launched new day centres to help combat isolation and improve health and wellbeing.

Continued Care, which has offices in both Harrogate and Ripon, will run the centres from July 3 and offer a free taster session on first visit.

The sessions, which cost £80, will offer people a chance to socialise and make friends, learn new skills, take part in exercise and activities, and even have their hair cut. Two meals will also be provided.

Iona Novak, Continued Care’s social day club manager and wellbeing facilitator, said: 

“Since the covid pandemic, we’ve seen an unmet need in the community for things like mobile hairdressers and chiropodists but also for somewhere that people can engage with others and take part in stimulating activities.

“Alongside that, there is a need among carers, who are often family members, for some respite, and they would be most welcome to attend as well.”

The day centres are open to all adults, regardless of whether they currently access care services. People can self-refer or be referred by a family member or healthcare professional.

The centres run every week from 10am to 3pm as follows: Mondays, Westcliffe Hall, Harrogate; Tuesdays, Ripon Community Hall; Wednesdays, Gracious Street Methodist Church, Knaresborough.

For more information, visit the Continued Care website here.

Harrogate beauty brand takes on Yorkshire Three Peaks

Staff at a Harrogate-based beauty brand have raised £2,900 for charity after completing the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge.

Cloud Nine, which is based at Hornbeam Park, raised the money for The Little Princess Trust, a charity which provides free hair wigs to children undergoing treatment for cancer.

The Cloud Nine team at the Yorkshire Three Peaks.

Eight people took on the 25-mile hike on behalf of the company, with a further three offering welcome support to the group on the day.

Hamish Rae, e-marketplace coordinator at Cloud Nine, said: 

“The team had an amazing day – it was a challenge both physically and mentally but knowing the amazing work done by The Little Princess Trust made it all worth it.”

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The Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency is set to shrink following a national review of parliamentary boundaries.

The Boundary Commission for England today published its final recommendations for new constituency boundaries.

Locally, it means Boroughbridge, Minskip, Marton-cum-Grafton, the Dunsforths, Ripley and Nidd will be removed from the Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency currently held by the Conservative Andrew Jones.

Goldsborough, Flaxby, Allerton Park, Hopperton and Burton Leonard will be added to the seat.

The overall size of the constituency electorate will reduce from 78,372 to 75,800.

The current boundaries for the Harrogate and Knaresborough and Selby and Ainsty constituencies.

The government now has four months to bring forward an Order to give effect to the final recommendations, which will then be implemented at the next general election.

There will therefore be no changes before next month’s Selby and Ainsty by-election on July 20.

Andrew Jones

Mr Jones, who has represented Harrogate and Knaresborough since 2010, said he was “very sad” to lose “beautiful parts of the constituency” he has represented for 13 years.

He said:

“I will support whoever is elected to represent those areas as part of the new Wetherby and Easingwold constituency so that there is a seamless transfer of issues and constituent casework from my office to their office.”

Mr Jones added he welcomed the addition of the new villages to Harrogate and Knaresborough. He said:

“Being so close to my current constituency I have a strong relationship with those areas and look forward to that continuing.

“The  Boundary Commission review takes place over several years and takes exhaustive evidence from individuals, local community groups and politicians. The purpose of the review is to ensure that constituencies are similar sizes and make sense in terms of community links.”

Boost for Lib Dems?

Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats are not unhappy at the loss of affluent Boroughbridge, which they think will enhance their prospects of preventing Mr Jones winning a fifth consecutive election.

Tom Gordon

Tom Gordon, the party’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said:

“The new Harrogate & Knaresborough constituency boundaries will make it an even closer battle between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives at the next general election.”

Tim Bowden, secretary to the Boundary Commission, said:

“The recommendations we have published today mark the end of a thorough and consultative process to build the new map of parliamentary constituencies.

“We have taken into account over 60,000 public comments, travelled the country, and heard many passionate views about how best to reflect local community ties in our recommendations.”

Read more:

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The changes, which include retaining a total of 650 constituencies across the UK, see each seat contain no less than 69,724 voters and no more than 77,062.

England has been allocated 543 constituencies — 10 more than it currently has.

The commission began its review in January 2021. It issued initial proposals in June 2021 and revised proposals in November last year.

Firefighters in Harrogate responded to two unusual false alarms today.

At 8.46am, a crew from Harrogate responded to reports of a fire alarm sounding on Kings Road in the town.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s incident report said:

“This was a false alarm caused by burnt toast.”

Shortly afterwards, the Harrogate crew was summoned to The Spinney in Knaresborough at 10.01am after another fire alarm went off. The incident report said:

“This was a false alarm, where an alarm clock had been mistaken for a fire alarm.”

It was the third strange false alarm in less than a day for the Harrogate firefighters, who responded to a house alarm going off at 5.04pm yesterday on Leeds Road.

Again, there was no fire — the cause this time was described “a faulty deaf alarm”.

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Roadworks that have caused over a week of long tailbacks in the north of Harrogate will be completed tomorrow, ahead of schedule, the utility company responsible has said. 

Works at the junction of Ripon Road and Coppice Drive started on June 19 and reduced one of the town’s main arterial roads to a trickle of traffic, moving in one direction at a time and directed by temporary three-way traffic lights — causing misery for motorists. 

Northern Gas Networks said they were “part of our essential works programme to ensure the continued safe and reliable supply of gas to customers”, but added that the road would be cleared for two-way traffic on Thursday. 

Mark Mawhood, operations manager at NGN, told the Stray Ferret today:  

“Upon starting the work, we realised that there were some unforeseen engineering difficulties and we therefore sought an extension to complete the works until July 7. We are pleased, however, that, using a different technique, work has finished today. The filling in of holes and laying tarmac will be completed tomorrow and then all traffic management will be removed. 

“Once again, apologies for any inconvenience caused and bearing with us. Safety is our first priority and works can sometimes take longer than anticipated depending on any problems that may arise. We have been working closely with North Yorkshire Council throughout the process and keeping them informed of our developments.” 

Read more:

• Busy Knaresborough junction reopens after roadworks end early
• Three months of roadworks between Ripon and Harrogate start tomorrow
• Road closure continues after gas pipe problem found in Knaresborough

This story is sponsored by Howard Conrad.

Yorkshire’s number-one Apple specialist repair company is offering Mac owners a free software tune-up this summer.

The service, which is like a “digital spring-clean”, would normally cost £49, but Howard Conrad, an independent firm based in Harrogate, is offering it free of charge throughout the month of July, with absolutely no strings or obligations.

Steve Murray, who has been a Mac technician at Howard Conrad for over six years, said: 

“A lot of people don’t realise how easily they can accumulate years’ worth of redundant software updates and applications; ultimately they will clog up your system and slow it down. We’ve even seen people lose personal data due to software faults caused by storage issues.”

All Howard Conrad’s repairs come with a three-year warranty.

Steve said:

There’s long been a myth that you can’t get a virus on a Mac, but it’s not true. They maybe less common than they are on windows computers, but they adapt and overcome defences, and can still infect Apple devices. You shouldn’t just rely on your Mac’s security software – it’s no guarantee of safety.”

Howard Conrad, which is based on Leeds Road, was founded over a decade ago and specialises in repairing iPads, iPhones and Macs. All its repairs come with a three-year warranty. 

Steve said: 

“We’ve built up a really good reputation across the region and put a huge amount of effort into keeping up to date on all the latest Apple technology. A lot of our time is spent learning and researching, and we all help each other keep on top of developments. 

“It’s more of a passion project than a job, to be honest, because we’re all massive Apple fans, so that definitely helps.” 

Find out more: 

Howard Conrad’s free Apple Mac software tune-up offer can only be accessed using the Stray Ferret link – just click here.

To find out more about Howard Conrad’s services, visit the website or speak to a Harrogate-based technician on 01423 228420. 

Police have re-opened a Harrogate street after a suspected First World War artillery shell was discovered this afternoon.

A cordon was put up after the discovery at Rossett Avenue in Harrogate.

North Yorkshire Police tweeted at 2.33pm this afternoon:

“Cordon in place after munition found in Harrogate.

“We’re at a location on Rossett Ave after the discovery of a suspected WW1 shell.

“A cordon is in place to keep everyone safe, so please avoid the area.”

But the road re-opened quickly after officers discovered it was a decommissioned shell filled with sand.

Police tweeted:

https://twitter.com/NYP_Harrogate/status/1674056849513934851

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A military helicopter was involved in a near-miss collision with a model airplane over Harrogate.

The UK Airprox Board, which investigates the risk of aircraft collisions, has published a report into the incident, which happened on April 17 this year.

It involved a model aircraft flying directly towards a Chinook helicopter as it prepared to land.

The report said the pilot, who was 150ft above ground level, saw the model aircraft come into “close proximity”.

It said:

“A crewman spotted the model aircraft as it flew directly towards the [Chinook] from the nine o’clock position. As the model aircraft approached, it dived below the [Chinook] either by the force of the downwash or under the control of the remote operator.

“It was the flash of the change in the wing profile that made the aircraft visible as the wing cross-section increased.”

It added:

“Once on the ground at Harrogate, the crew discussed the event and elected to continue with the sortie as it was a model aircraft and had not interfered with the [Chinook]. 

“The model was described as a green/brown replica historic model aircraft without lights.

“The UK Airprox Board secretariat contacted the local scale-model flying club but efforts to trace the pilot were unsuccessful.”

Despite the crew reporting that the risk of crash was low, the board certified the incident as a B risk rating – the second highest rating.

Seven of 18 monthly incidents were given a B risk by Airprox — all the others were rated lower risk.

The board resolved that safety had been “much reduced” during the incident and had “not been assured”.

It added:

“The board considered that the pilot’s overall account of the incident portrayed a situation where safety had been much reduced below the norm to the extent that safety had not been assured.”

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Hampsthwaite Methodist Church, which closed in October 2021, has been put up for sale for £175,000.

The church, which dates back to 1904, has been a feature of Hampsthwaite life for more than a century. It served as a Sunday school as well as a place of worship.

It is among a group of churches being sold by Nidd Valley Methodist Circuit in Harrogate. The asking price has not been revealed.

Rev Ben Clowes, superintendent minister of the circuit, said:

“Hampsthwaite chapel stood at the heart of the community for over 100 years and the work of the people there is remembered very fondly by many across the area.

“The time has come to sell this property as our mission to the village of Hampsthwaite continues from our other local churches.”

The single-storey building on Hollins Lane includes a main hall, two school rooms, a kitchen, toilets, a small basement and garden space at the front.

The organ was relocated to another Methodist church in Hebden Bridge by a specialist company from Norfolk, W & A Boggis, which dismantled it, transported the parts and then rebuilt it in situ in Hebden Bridge.

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Commercial property consultants Lambert Smith Hampton, which has been instructed to find a buyer, has said the site has development potential for a variety of uses, subject to planning permissions and other consents.

Richard Corby, director at Lambert Smith Hampton, said:

“We are excited to be marketing this outstanding opportunity to acquire an important historical asset in the beautiful North Yorkshire village of Hampsthwaite, just 5 miles from Harrogate.

“Several individuals have already come forward with a wide range of proposed uses for the building, so we need to assess what will be the best outcome for the church.”