An incredible Harrogate man who really stepped up to the plate has single handedly cooked more than 6,000 meals for charity since the start of the pandemic.
Paul Welch started by cooking meals for his daughters who both work in the NHS. But he wanted to help more people so partnered with Supporting Older People (SOP).
Those behind SOP were delighted to work with Paul. The small and local charity was able to use its connections and experience to distribute the meals to those most in need.
Kate Rogata, the director of SOP, told the Stray Ferret:
“There is a lot of hidden poverty in Harrogate. The coronavirus pandemic has really excacerbated the problem. For some people Paul’s meals have been a lifeline. It’s not just older people that we help but anyone who is vulnerable and in need of a helping hand.”
The Supporting Older People team celebrating with Paul Welch as he passed the 5,000 meal milestone. Photo: Ernesto Rogata
There is no sign of stopping for 58-year-old Paul who uses a wheelchair after a paragliding accident 20 years ago. He spends 10 hours every day preparing, cooking and freezing food.
He has recently been reinvigorated after a major donation of £10,000 from Techbuyer, which has its UK base in Harrogate. That money will help him cook many more meals.
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It will also go towards one of his new projects. With Christmas looking like it will be particularly difficult for many this year, he wants to cook a three course dinner for more than 250 people.
He said, on reaching his major milestone, that he has “been thrilled to help people, particularly older people, then it’s definitely worthwhile.”
Supporting Older People had to adapt at the start of the pandemic. Instead of its usual meet ups and home visits the charity had to move online and by phone.
The charity also used its network of volunteers, which has grown to 200 during the pandemic, to deliver free weekly Asda essential hampers.
It also hopes, in the next couple of weeks, to establish coronavirus secure afternoon tea for up to six people.
Mrs Rogata added that while telephone calls help with loneliness that many still miss meeting up with people face to face.
Image Gallery: Brackenfield School pupils create art with 100 leavesA collaboration with a local artist has seen Harrogate pupils challenged to create works of art from 100 leaves.
The autumnal project asked Brackenfield School students and their families to use fallen leaves to produce an artistic piece, pattern or design.
Open to all year groups, the competition saw year 6 pupil Harry crowned the winner by artist James Brunt.
A lion’s mane of leaves
An autumnal hedgehog
The winning entry, by Harry
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A cheery sunflower
A seasonal heart
A Harrogate restaurant will cook meals and deliver food parcels to families in need over half term, following a controversial vote in the House of Commons over free school meals.
Ozgur Babat, the owner of Portofino Ristorante Italian restaurant on Albert Street, said he took action after the government voted down a Labour Party motion to extend free school meals over half-term and the Christmas holidays. There are currently around 2,000 children in Harrogate receiving free school meals.
He said:
“When I saw they’d cancelled free meals for kids, that was heartbreaking really. I have a daughter, she’s only two and a half. I put myself in that position where I couldn’t afford to buy the food for her. How would I feel?”
On Monday, staff at Portofinos will begin preparing pizzas in the kitchen as well as food parcels with rice, pasta and flour. Families can send the restaurant a message on Facebook to get food delivered to their door, with no questions asked.
He said:
“Even if we can touch one person, that will make us happy.”
However, Mr Babat said the restaurant has already received messages from 10 families in Harrogate who require food for their children.
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Mr Babat said even though his independent restaurant is “struggling to survive” because of the pandemic, this was something he felt he had to do. He now hopes other restaurants in Harrogate will follow his lead and join in if they can.
While some people may say it should be the government’s job to ensure that children in need are fed, rather than charity or local businesses, Mr Babat said he is not interested in the politics of what his restaurant is doing.
He added:
New giant book will light up Harrogate this weekend“We’re not thinking anything about politics. The kids are our future. It’s all about humanity and how we can help the people. Hopefully we won’t send any kids to bed without their bellies being hungry.”
A new book unlike any you have seen before will light up the Library Gardens in Harrogate for this weekend only.
The light installation will shine bright as authors take to the digital stage for the Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival.
As the sun sets the pages will turn and share well-known tales as well as the story of Harrogate.
The free exhibition will also feature ten-word stories from best-selling authors and Harrogate residents – the same as those that have been popping up around town on posters.
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The organisers Harrogate Festivals International say there will be plenty of room for watching the book and they will also ensure social distancing measures are followed.
Harrogate’s literature festival is now in its 12th year but will, like many events, be online due to social distancing requirements.
The festival will run from today until Sunday. It will be streamed on HIF Player on the Harrogate International Festivals’ website.
It comes at a difficult time for the organisation, which has been forced to cut more than half of its jobs.
Harrogate International Festivals said it made the cuts after missing out on an estimated £850,000 due to coronavirus. The arts charity, which was set up in 1966, now has just four staff remaining.
Harrogate events company folds after 46 yearsA Harrogate events company, which employed more than 30 people, is set to go into liquidation.
Andrew Manby, director of family events firm Joe Manby Ltd, had been vocal in calling for more government support for the beleaguered conference and exhibition industry.
The sector has been decimated since the pandemic in March. But Joe Manby Ltd, like many others, had been preparing for a safe and limited return in October until the government intervened.
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Mr Manby told the Stray Ferret “it was a heartbreaking decision” after 46 years in the business:
“We were ready to start business again this month. We had run trials and proved that we could hold events safely.
“But at the last minute Boris Johnson put the cat among the pigeons and said we were not allowed. It is particularly frustrating seeing UK-based businesses like ours running events abroad.”
Joe Manby Ltd organised more than 50 events a year. In May last year it secured a three-year contract to provide events services for the Harrogate Bridal Show.
Mr Manby, who is one of the founder’s sons, believes many businesses in the events industry are in a similar position.
He said the government’s job retention scheme had kept the business ticking over but it was difficult to survive without a clear date for return.
Coronavirus has hit Harrogate’s events industry particularly hard.
The town usually hosts a string of major events, conferences and exhibitions but the convention centre’s conversion into a Nightingale hospital changed this.
Harrogate district restaurants extend discount meals into NovemberThe government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme may have ended but some restaurants in the Harrogate district have announced they will still be offering their own versions of the initiative in November.
The Eat Out scheme offered discounted dining on Mondays to Wednesdays during August.
It proved so popular that months later, some restaurants are continuing to provide cut price deals.
La Feria, on Cold Bath Road, is offering a 50% discount on food up to £10 from Monday to Wednesday until the end of November.
With 25 staff, Jez Verity, the director, was keen to support his staff when the furlough scheme ended this month.
Thanks to the ongoing discount, the restaurant has had more than 100 people in every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Mr Verity said:
“It was a big, big success in August, I think all businesses in Harrogate had significantly benefited on those three days.
“We decided to carry it on in September and see what happened. The customers really embraced it, they knew what it was and it was easy to understand.
“It’s also a way for us to say a thank you to customers for supporting us, and really give something back to them.”
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Other restaurants offering similar deals are All Bar One, which is offering £10 off food with the download of their app until 12th November, and the Queens Head Inn at Kettlesing, which is extending their discount of 50% off food from Monday to Wednesday until the end of next month.
West Park and Al Bivio are also looking to encourage business on quieter days of the weeks, offering half price vouchers through The Stray Ferret.
Let us know if your restaurant is running a similar promotion in November and we will add your details to this article.
Sneak peek at Italian restaurant opening in HarrogateA new Italian restaurant is opening in Harrogate tomorrow to serve up fresh pasta and speciality wines.
Pranzo Italian, at 31-33 Cold Bath Road, is the second restaurant from chef Marco Greco. He opened his first in Ilkley two and a half years ago.
Marco cooking up a mafalde with four-hour braised beef shin ragu.
This new Harrogate restaurant will be open every day from 12pm to 10pm except on Sundays when it will close at 6pm.
Although it has meat, fish and vegetarian options, Pranzo Harrogate does not have a large menu. It believes in serving a few dishes it can perfect.
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As the restaurant has a large kitchen space downstairs, the chefs will be able to make fresh pasta each and every day.
Marco Greco, on the eve of Pranzo Harrogate’s opening, told the Stray Ferret:
“I have been looking for a new place for about a year. I know it is not the best time to open a new business, it was a bit crazy. But we are already fully booked for the opening night so it is looking good and I think it will be worth it.”
Pranzo Harrogate is the new Italian restaurant on Cold Bath Road.
Pranzo Ilkley is rated as the number two restaurant in the town on TripAdvisor.
Mr Greco has Italian heritage, learned to cook with his grandmother and followed in the footsteps of his dad who also opened an Italian restaurant.
He worked in his dad’s restaurant as soon as he left school and always dreamed of opening his own place.
Pranzo Harrogate has space for 30 people inside the restaurant and a further 20 outside under current covid restrictions.
It has employed 10 staff and intends to recruit more in the future.
Harrogate and Knaresborough pedestrianisation extendedNorth Yorkshire County Council is extending temporary pedestrianisation measures in Harrogate and Knaresborough until next year.
Parking suspensions and road closures have become a familiar sight and the council confirmed today they will remain until at least January 31.
To improve the look of the scheme, traffic cones on Albert Street and James Street in Harrogate will make way for planters.
The planters will be funded by Harrogate Borough Council through the government’s £50m reopening high streets safely fund.
The two councils hope the move will reassure the public it is safe to shop in the towns.
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However, some business owners on James Street have warned of empty shops to come if the county council persisted with pedestrianisation.
The county council said in response it had listened to those views and will keep the measures under review.
Cllr Don Mackenzie, the executive member for access at the county council, said:
“We are committed to supporting the county’s recovery while ensuring people can visit shops safely and buy local. We hope that these measures are making shoppers feel confident to visit our high streets as we approach the Christmas shopping period.”
Cllr Phil Ireland, Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet member for carbon reduction and sustainability, said:
“Feedback from both businesses and visitors alike has been positive and I’m glad these measures have encouraged people back to the high street that it so desperately needs.”
Parking spaces between Princes Square and West Park on the A61 in Harrogate will be reopened, it was also announced.
The full list of measures in Harrogate:
- Albert Street – parking bays suspended
- Commercial Street – some parking bays suspended
- James Street – parking bays suspended
- Montpellier Hill – some parking bays suspended
- The Ginnel – closed between 5pm and 11pm Wednesday to Saturday and from 1pm to 11pm on Sundays
The full list of measures in Knaresborough:
- High Street – barriers in place to widen sections of footpath
- Market Place – closed on market day between 6am and 5pm on Wednesday
- Castlegate – partly closed on market day between 6am and 5pm on Wednesday
The Stray Ferret has received lots of messages about free school meals after last night’s vote in the House of Commons.
A Labour motion to extend provision of £15-a-week food vouchers to 1.4m disadvantaged children in England during holidays until Easter 2021 was voted down.
Opposition motions rarely succeed — only one has done so since 1978. They are designed to raise issues governments would prefer to ignore but the high profile support of footballer Marcus Rashford and the sensitivity of the issue generated considerable interest.
Many comments to the Stray Ferret were critical of Harrogate district Conservative MPs Andrew Jones, Julian Smith, and Nigel Adams, who all voted against the motion.
The Harrogate district is below the national average for children receiving school meals, but nevertheless almost 1 in 10 children receive them.
1,932 free meals in district
A Freedom of Information request in 2019 to North Yorkshire County Council revealed that in May 2019, 1,932 children in the Harrogate district received free school meals, which represented 8.2% of all pupils.
Last year, the county average was 10.2% and the national average was 14.1%.
However, the number of children receiving free school meals in the district had risen from October 2018, when it was 7.7% of pupils.
To qualify for free school meals a parent must apply to North Yorkshire County Council with evidence that they are receiving a benefit, such as Child Tax Credit, Income Support, or Universal Credit.
Several Conservative MPs issued a joint tweet last night defending what the government is doing for low-income families.
It said:
“We’re supporting pupils in need: Free school meals for 1.4 million children from low income families, £9 billion extra put into the welfare system to help and £63m to help councils support families in need.”
A spokesperson from Harrogate District Food Bank, a charity that supports community action, told the Stray Ferret it expected to see Harrogate families using its food bank during half-term next week.
The spokesperson said:
“”From past experiences, families in Harrogate seem to scrape through the holiday and then come to the food bank the week or two after, but we shall just wait and see if that is the case.”
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Yesterday’s motion was voted down by 322 to 261, with five Conservative MPs voting against the government.
The Stray Ferret contacted Andrew Jones, Julian Smith and Nigel Adams but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
Harrogate district braced for ‘huge rise’ in winter fuel povertyAn organisation that combats fuel poverty in North Yorkshire has warned it expects a “huge rise” in referrals this winter, especially in the Harrogate district.
Warm and Well, which is a partnership project between public, private and voluntary sector organisations to reduce the the number of cold deaths, said referrals increased by 196% between July and the end of September compared to last year.
The Harrogate district was responsible for 28% of these referrals in what are usually the quietest months for Warm and Well, which believes the surge in referrals reflects the financial impact of the pandemic.
The organisation said in a statement it “expects a huge rise in referrals this winter as the financial effects of the coronavirus take hold across the region”.
Julia Priestnall, project coordinator for Warm and Well in North Yorkshire, said:
“Our specialist advisers are working very hard to reach out to vulnerable people who are really struggling across the region. As the furlough comes to an end and the inevitable rise in redundancies there is a perfect storm of fuel poverty gathering.
“We have managed to help families in rural areas with properties that are ‘off the grid’ heat their homes when they have had no one else to turn to.”
Project coordinator Julia Priestnall
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- Those struggling during the pandemic saw a decrease in their council tax bill.
- Rural crime costs millions for North Yorkshire each year.
Warm and Well, which is managed by Citizens Advice Mid-North Yorkshire and funded by North Yorkshire County Council, helps people deal with energy debt, switching suppliers or applying for emergency energy support.
Its #GearUpForWinter campaign focuses on fuel poverty within rural areas.
The organisation has visited parts of the Yorkshire Dales to help people keep their home warm during the colder season.
To refer yourself of someone you know to Warm and Well in North Yorkshire, click here.