Harrogate’s newly-established cat rescue is being crippled by vet fees as it takes in an unprecedented number of animals.

Celia Dakin, who set up the Harrogate Cat Rescue in April this year, says many come with hidden problems.

She has seen a big spike recently in abandoned adult cats in particular. Just last week the rescue took in 12 cats from Bradford.

Some of the cats have problems with their bladder or their stomachs and many need to be neutered. All of those treatments come at a cost.

On average at the moment Celia is spending around £1,000 on those bills. The rescue will struggle financially without more support.

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Celia told the Stray Ferret that she has never seen demand like it in all her years rescuing cats:

“It is insane, absolutely insane. Just now I have taken a call about another two cats that need to be rescued from a road in Darley.

“There are a lot of adult cats coming in at the moment. I cannot keep up with it all, I think it is just awful.”

Harrogate Cat Rescue owner, with one of her own cats Geoff.

While it is hard for Celia to know the reasons for the spike in rescue cats, many of the reasons she comes across are a direct or indirect result of coronavirus.

One woman gave up her cat after being made redundant following months on furlough. Many more come from relationship breakdowns, with coronavirus causing tensions.

The Harrogate Cat Rescue will always try to make room for the new cats but has asked people to donate to its fundraising page here.

A new independent pizzeria that specialises in Neapolitan sourdough bases will open in Harrogate later this month.

Pizza Social will open on Mount Parade, next door to North Bar and near to Harrogate Theatre, and will add to a growing list of venues in the town offering a slice of Italy’s most famous export.

Will Pemberton, who has been a chef for over 16 years including a spell as a tutor at Bettys Cookery School, decided to start making pizza during a drinking session at the Harewood Arms in Folifoot.

He started selling pizzas from a gazebo outside the pub “as a laugh” but as word of mouth spread, he was so successful he ended up regularly shifting 200 a night.

A Pizza Social pizza.

He since kitted out a horsebox with a pizza oven, to sell pizza at weddings, festivals and events across Yorkshire.

The next step was a bricks and mortar venue, and since moving into a former Christian book shop in October, it’s been all go preparing for launch.

He said:

“Pizza has always been popular but now more than ever. We’ll follow Neapolitan traditions to make the sourdough, which takes about two days. It’s a labour of love.”

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Everything in Pizza Social is made in-house with all bases being made with sourdough, which has a fluffy crust and a thin base. Will says sourdough is lighter on the stomach than other bases.

There will also be vegan pizzas on the menu and potentially gluten-free options in the future.

For added authenticity, Pizza Social will source the best flour, tomatoes and cheese from Italy – combined with local Yorkshire ingredients.

There will be space for 20 diners inside and 20 more on tables outside. It will offer takeaway but as collection only for now.

Will is excited to expand his business.

He said:

“Opening a restaurant is a ballsy thing to do but if we can make it a success now, we can make it anytime, with the support of the Harrogate public.”

There have been 29 new positive coronavirus cases in the Harrogate district according to Public Health England.

It brings the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 3,851.

Yesterday 2 covid deaths were confirmed at Harrogate District Hospital both occurred on Thursday December 10.  It brings the total number of covid-19 deaths at the hospital to 106.

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• Two men given jail sentences for dealing heroin and cocaine in Valley Gardens

As of the 7th December the seven day rate for the Harrogate district is 88 per 100,000– the highest rate remains in Scarborough which has a seven day rate of 169.

Tucked away down Church Lane in Knaresborough is every child’s dream: rooms full of toys to pick from.

Based in St Mary’s Church, the Harrogate and Knaresborough Toy Library has been around for decades but still remains unknown to some parents and guardians across the district.

Stacked high with doll houses, dinosaurs and board games, the library’s store room would make any child’s imagination run wild.

Before the pandemic, children could come in and pick two new toys to take home every other week. The toys were then returned and swapped for others.

It meant they can play with new and fun toys in a sustainable way.

Now, the toys are picked via the online library and picked up using click and collect.

The library has hundreds of toys ready to be enjoyed by local children.

For a £30 membership fee each year, the charity offers something for every child no matter their age, gender or interests, with the main aim being for them to have fun.

The charity also wants to help people who may be struggling to buy their children presents, especially this Christmas.

Lauren Rogerson has been working for the charity for three years. She said:

“If someone was struggling we’d try our best to help. We’re really passionate here about helping everyone in our community.”

Over lockdown, it has received toy donations and says it can put together bundles for children based on their age and interests to give as presents on Christmas Day.

A handful of the donations ready for new homes.

Lauren and her colleague, Rachael Bolton, run the toy library with a board of trustees. It is clear to see the pair are passionate about what they do.

Rachael added:

“We want to make sure out toys are educational too. Parents can pick up story packs with a book inside and toys to match or one of our pre-school packs.”

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As well as the toy library the charity offers play sessions for parents and children, but these have been suspended due to covid.

Lauren identified a gap in social support for new mums during the pandemic. She set up a new mother and baby group to help women socialise and feel supported.

The group is running from Chain Lane Community Hub in Knaresborough and she hopes it will continue in the new year.

Prior to lockdown, the charity’s members enjoyed play sessions.

The charity buys most of its toys second-hand or from online sellers with a few being bought brand new. The duo are hoping to go from strength to strength and become a real community hub for parents and guardians.

To donate to the charity, click here, or to become a member click here.

A school in Harrogate has planted 500 native trees to help boost the local environment.

Working with the Woodland Trust on its Big Climate Fightback campaign, Ashville College has planted the saplings to enhance existing hedges and establish new ones on the south-west edge of its 64-acre site.

Grounds staff used a mix of hazel, blackthorn, crab apple, dog rose and rowan, which they hope will provide a habitat for wildlife and produce pollen, nectar, nuts, fruit and berries for insects, birds and small mammals.

Ashville’s estates director, Aaron Reid, said:

“We would rather plant hedges than erect metal fencing, as they are attractive, long lasting, store carbon and provide wildlife habitat corridors connecting to the surrounding countryside.”

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• Speed sign to be installed outside Western Primary School
• Thousands of new trees could be planted in Harrogate

It is the latest in a series of initiatives by the school to reduce its carbon footprint. Now, it sources all of its electricity from renewable sources, has solar panels on one of its classroom blocks, and collects rainfall from the sports centre roof to water the cricket pitches.

Green waste is chipped and used as mulch or compost, local contractors are used whenever possible to reduce travel time and support the surrounding economy, and the catering team avoids single use plastic and recycles its used cooking oil into soap and biofuel.

Cathy Price, Ashville College teacher and Global to Local Action in Methodist Schools co-ordinator and the school’s Green Committee lead, said:

“When it comes to the environment and climate change, there is plenty of pupil interaction.

“In addition to the subjects being covered in the curriculum, we have a very active Green Committee which works hard to encourage pupils to think about how their actions can either harm or benefit the environment.

“In the past, the committee has organised litter picking in the Pinewoods and the beach at Filey. The environment is everyone’s responsibility and even the smallest actions can help to make a very big difference.

“We look forward to getting back to larger-scale environmental pupil projects and excursions when government coronavirus guidelines permit.”

Two county lines drug dealers have received jail sentences for selling heroin and crack cocaine in Valley Gardens in Harrogate.

York Crown Court heard how Ethan Bodally and Ben Bland, from Leeds and both in their early twenties ,were caught by undercover police officers.

Sentenced at York Crown Court yesterday both men admitted two counts of possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply.

Prosecutor James Howard said two plain-clothed police officers spotted the dealers on January 7 last year.

Mr Howard said the area was a “well-known” drug-dealing spot and the officers were first alerted by the “disparity of age between the defendants and suspected drug users”

Police found £85 on Bland which he had hidden in his sock. He was taken into custody and questioned, during which a member of the public rang police and told them that he had seen a man matching his description hiding “a bag in a bush”.

Police retrieved the bag and found heroin and crack cocaine amounting to over £1,000.

Bodally, 22, of Stanks Drive, Seacroft, had eight previous convictions and was currently serving a four-and-half year prison sentence for a previous offence of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs in Scarborough in 2017.

He was on bail for those offences, before they reached court, when he started supplying in Harrogate.

James Littlehales, for Bodally, said his client had been put under “extreme pressure” by drug bosses to meet a £5,000 debt which included a brutal attack that left him with a broken thigh bone.

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Judge Simon Hickey told the defendants:

“Anyone who deals in Class A drugs is potentially dealing out misery, death, degradation and huge economic damage.

“You mix yourself with dangerous drugs and dangerous people and dangerous consequences occur. You, Bodally, had your femur broken, (according to your barrister), and that explains why you found yourself dealing in Harrogate and that’s why you and your co-defendant came from Leeds.”

Jailing Bodally for two years, Mr Hickey said it was the “least sentence” he could impose. The 24-month prison term would mean an extra year on top of his existing sentence.

Bland, 21, of Poole Crescent, Cross Gates, Leeds was given a two-year suspended prison sentence and was ordered to carry out 200 hours’ unpaid work and complete a 19-session thinking-skills programme.

School children treated residents at a Harrogate care home to Christmas carols to lift their spirits.

The year two group at Brackenfield School donned their Santa hats and headed down to Manor House on a misty Friday morning.

From a safe distance outside the care home, which threw open the doors, the children sang their hearts out.

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It was about a month in the planning but the care home residents were delighted after a tough year caused by coronavirus.

They were so happy with the display that they replied by singing silent night.

Three new walking and cycling schemes in Harrogate could potentially get the go-ahead after the government announced over £1m in funding.

North Yorkshire County Council has accepted the grant as part of a five-year, £2 billion programme by the Department for Transport to improve walking and cycling infrastructure.

£1,011,750 has been awarded to NYCC in total, which will go towards three schemes in Harrogate plus one in Whitby.

The schemes under consideration in Harrogate are:

• Oatlands Drive, Harrogate: segregated cycle lanes along an existing cycle route, improved crossing facilities at four locations and other improvements;
• A59, Maple Close, Harrogate to Knaresborough: segregated cycle lanes along an existing cycle route and improved crossing facilities at either end;
• Victoria Avenue, Harrogate, Princes Square to Station Parade: pedestrian crossing improvements, segregated cycling infrastructure and bike storage facilities.

In a statement the council said it will now consult with local residents and stakeholders before deciding which schemes can be taken forward “within the available budget and timescales.”

Read more:

• Government awards North Yorkshire £1 million for walking and cycling

• Highfield pupils earn ‘eco-points’ for walking and cycling to school

NYCC’s councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, said:

“The grant awarded to us by the DfT comes with strict conditions. The schemes need to be delivered quickly, should reallocate road space from vehicles in favour of cyclists and pedestrians, and offer alternatives to existing, well-used bus routes.

“All 300 schemes put forward by organisations and members of the public were assessed within the limitations of timescale and cost. Many exceeded by large margins the amount of funding available.

“Following these assessments, those schemes which were most suitable were included in our bid. Whilst this meant that a number of very worthwhile proposals had to be omitted this time, we are confident that there will be many more funding opportunities for them in future.”

Funding for the programme has been released in phases. The county council made a second bid for £1 million worth of funding in August amid criticism it was not ambitious enough in the first phase.

In the first wave of emergency funding, the authority received £133,000 from government – half the potential amount available.

Harrogate and District Foundation Trust has been allocated £800,000 for hospital maintenance in a funding announcement from the government.

The Department of Health and Social Care has awarded £600 million across 174 health trusts aimed at tackling critical improvements for hospitals.

It comes as part of a wider £1.5 billion fund announced earlier this year, which also includes plans to modernise mental health facilities, expand A&E capacity and improve infection control ahead of winter.

A total of 1,800 projects have been funded, with six granted funding in Harrogate.

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The trust said the funds will help to tackle backlog maintenance work, including upgrades to the hospital’s water and fire systems.

Harrogate Integrated Facilities (HIF), a subsidiary of the trust which deals with the hospital’s estates, will carry out the work.

Jonathan Coulter, deputy chief executive and director of finance at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust and chief executive of HIF, said: 

“We’re really pleased to have received these additional funds. They allow us to invest in backlog maintenance and improve the Harrogate District Hospital environment. It is much needed, and very welcome.

“The money is going towards vital upgrades to water systems, fire systems and lifts as well as the resurfacing of the goods yard.”

Matt Hancock, secretary of state for health and social care, said:

“Alongside delivering on our manifesto commitment to build 40 new hospitals and 20 major hospital upgrades across the country, this investment will help our NHS build back better.

“These crucial maintenance projects will deliver immediate benefits and provide NHS staff with the facilities they need to provide world-class care to their patients this winter, helping ensure the NHS is always there for you when you need it.”

In August, the trust also received £527,000 to help increase capacity at Harrogate hospital’s accident and emergency department.

A four-metre tall elf has made his debut in Harrogate ahead of his festive tour around the town centre.

Harry the Harrogate Elf made his first appearance at the Yorkshire Hotel this morning and will move to a new location every day for a total of nine days.

The Harrogate BID, which is behind the festive campaign to bring people into the town centre, is keeping the details of the tour under wraps.

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• Harrogate BID manager to stand down

He will be in shop windows and and a variety of spaces outdoors where people can see him for a safe distance.

When Harry the “naughty elf” appeared at the hotel this morning he got stuck in the lights. The fire service was soon on scene to rescue him.

Sara Ferguson, the acting chair at Harrogate BID, said:

“We always wanted to do something spectacular this December, but Covid made planning especially tricky.

“However, we persevered, and I’m delighted to say Harry the Harrogate Elf’s first adventure has been unveiled today.

“We want as many people to come and see Harry on his adventures, and because these will be taking place over nine days, there is no need to rush.”

The elf will be on display from today until Monday and will appear again from December 18 until December 22.

Watch the rescue of Harry the Harrogate Elf on the Stray Ferret’s Facebook page as part of a live video.