A second charity has partnered with Knaresborough’s Marks and Spencer store to use its surplus food to provide meals for those in need.

The charity, Helping Hands UK, was suggested by local customers after the M&S store put an appeal out for charities on Facebook.

Helping Hands UK is an established charity with hubs across the country. The Yorkshire hub accepts donations from a number of retailers already, with M&S now joining the list.

The charity reuses surplus food and makes meals or food boxes to be delivered to those in need locally. It also takes hot meals and drinks into city centres to feed those living on the streets.

Its founder, Toni Mella, lives in Pudsey. She has worked with people and groups within the Harrogate district for years and wanted to thank them for their support and for suggesting her charity to M&S. She said:

“There’s some great food coming from M&S. I just feel privileged that we have been chosen. I am so proud of what me and the team are doing day by day.”

All of the people working for the charity are volunteers who come from all walks of life. Including NHS workers and some who have been homeless or experienced addiction.

Ms Mella said this partnership with M&S gives them the opportunity to support more people with the extra food and praised the work of her volunteers.

Some of the food collected last weekend went into family boxes and used to make hot meals for the elderly.

Read more:

• Harrogate Neighbours has launched “special boxes” to make sure no occasion is missed.
• Nidderdale community comes together to ensure no one will go hungry.

The Knaresborough store already supports Resurrected Bites, a charity based in the Harrogate district. The charity has changed what it offers during the pandemic to give boxes of food and toiletries to vulnerable families.

James Smithson, store manager at M&S Knaresborough, said:

“When we have surplus food, our absolute priority is for it to end up on someone’s plate. We already work with the brilliant Resurrected Bites to help those in need, and we’re delighted to now be partnered with Helping Hands UK as well.

“Both of these organisations do a brilliant job supporting the local community and we are pleased to be working with them to help feed those in need.”

Elderly care charity Harrogate Neighbours is helping people in the district celebrate special occasions by selling ‘afternoon tea’ boxes and added extras delivered to their door.

The boxes cost £9.95 and include a selection of home-made cakes as well as ham and cheese sandwiches.

The charity is also providing added extras, such as flowers and balloons, to help create memorable moments.

Shirley and Mick Flynn will celebrate their 50th Valentine’s Day together this week and will be the first people to receive a complimentary ‘Special Moments’ box on February 14.

The couple were both born and raised in Harrogate and have been married for 46 years. In 2018, they moved into Harrogate Neighbours’ extra care facility The Cuttings, where they receive extra support from carers.

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Inside one of the special boxes.

£1 from every box sold will be donated to Resurrected Bites, which supports families in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Nidderdale and Ripon affected by the pandemic with food parcels.

Speaking on behalf of Harrogate Neighbours, CEO Sue Cawthray said:

“Celebrating special occasions can be difficult to do in lockdown, particularly within the older generation, so we wanted to provide an affordable service that people could access to celebrate special days like Valentine’s Day, birthdays and anniversaries.

“We’re so lucky to have the kitchen space on site to create made-to-order boxes and the amazing volunteers who will help us to deliver the boxes. Due to this, we are also in a position to donate £1 from every box sold to the fantastic Resurrected Bites initiative to support families all over the region who have been adversely affected by the pandemic.”

To order your Special Moments box in time for Valentine’s Day, call Harrogate Neighbours on 01423 888777.

A Harrogate prep school has launched a charity book to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support after one of its students completed his cancer treatment.

Highfield Prep School wanted to celebrate head boy Ralph Tasker’s end of treatment whilst raising money for the charity.

The Highfield Joke Book is packed full of jokes written by the pupils covering everything from food to animals.

Channel 4 presenter Sandi Toksvig, star of the Great British Bake Off and QI, loved the idea of the book and wrote a humorous foreword. She said:

“People have always had it in common that we could do with a laugh. I think a day without laughter is like a day without biscuits.

“It’s also a double whammy of a winner because not only will it do you good, it will also raise money for Macmillan so even people who haven’t read it will feel better. How marvellous. Well done”.

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The pupils have already raised £2,000 for Macmillan through fundraising events held last term on ‘Ralph Day’. They now hope they can boost this will the sale of the joke book.

The book will be on sale within the school for £5, with at least £4 from each copy going to Macmillan.

A teenager from Harrogate is raising £3000 for the British Exploring Society so she can go on a three week expedition to the Canadian Yukon.

Ellie Bestington has a passion for the natural world and hopes to one day to find a career that helps protect it.

Not only will this trip push her out of her comfort zone, mentally and physically, Ellie will also be working side-by-side with experts.

The Canadian Yukon is a wild territory in northwest Canada. The 17 year old will be hiking up mountains, sleeping in a tent and digging her own toilet!

Ellie is hoping to get valuable experience from this educational trip and will be making media projects as she goes.

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Ellie has to cover the costs of her flights and kit. The £3000 is money for the British Exploring Society to continue offering these trips for young people.

Ellie said:

“I wanted to push myself in a harsh environment, it’ll be good to see how I may be tested. I will be learning and helping experts understand more about the area. In the future I want to help find ways to manage climate change but I need to know how and why it’s happened first so I want to fully immerse myself.”

Ellie with her dad, Simon, enjoying one of their favourite hobbies together, walking.

To help raise the funds Ellie and her dad, Simon Bestington, will attempt the three Yorkshire Peaks in the summer wearing pink tutus. Ellie is determined to get to Canada and says her dad will do all he can to help her raise the money, even if it does mean a pink tutu is involved.

The British Exploring Society is a youth development charity which offers young people the opportunity to challenge themselves in new environments.

To support Ellie’s fundraiser, click here.

A Harrogate man, who set up a charity to honour his son who took his life, held an event today to encourage businesses to improve workplace wellbeing.

Steve Phillip founded The Jordan Legacy to improve people’s wellbeing and the support available to them.

Mr Phillip and other family members hope the charity will provide support for people in their darkest times.

Jordan was 34 when he took his life in December 2019. Since then, his family, friends and partner have been determined to remember him and “live by his values”.

Mr Phillip described his son as “very considerate, a lot of fun and always the first there if you had a problem”. He said he knew he wanted to do more to help others.

Jordan Phillip

Today, the charity held an event to promote the #HopeForLifeUK Day it plans to hold on December 4 this year.

That date will be the second anniversary of Jordan’s death and the aim is to bring people together to discuss suicide prevention.

The charity works with businesses to encourage workplace wellbeing and mental health training and to ensure they have people and facilities in place to support staff.

It also works to bring community organisations together to discuss suicide openly and plan how it can be prevented.

Those attending today’s online event were asked to make a contribution; this may be to read a book on mental health, train as a mental health first-aider or fundraise for the charity. Whatever it is, the charity asks it be promoted using the #HopeForLifeUK Day. Mr Phillip said:

“Today is all about getting businesses, people and organisations involved to discuss suicide prevention and to put practical action in place to help people with their mental health.”

Read more:

• Harrogate baby loss charity offers support so families don’t feel “alone”.
• Harrogate disability charity thanks national charity for making Yorkshire’s countryside accessible to all.

Mr Phillip began working for the charity full-time eight weeks ago after previously being employed as a social media and LinkedIn consultant. He was also the vice president of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce until 2016.

Mr Phillip said lockdown is having a huge impact on people’s wellbeing and he hopes to continue promoting the charity and the work it does to ensure people feel supported.

The charity’s website also has a number of resources available for people.

A Harrogate charity has been described as “the club you never want to be a part of”.

Yet Our Angels offers vital support for many families across the district after the loss of a baby. It was set up by Emma Lofthouse in 2009, after she lost her son Charlie 35 weeks into her pregnancy the year before.

Losing Charlie came as a huge shock to Emma, who already had two children. She said she wanted something to put her energy into and a way to keep talking about her son.

Our Angels started as a support group for anyone affected by baby loss, whether that is an early miscarriage or a neonatal death.

Mrs Lofthouse said:

“I was astonished there was no support in Harrogate. I felt lost and alone.”

Every year the charity gets families together to send bubbles into the air in memory of their loss. Photograph: Our Angels

The charity now fundraises thousands of pounds for Harrogate District Hospital’s maternity ward and training for midwives across the county.

Mrs Lofthouse said she believes it’s important for midwives to be trained to support the family straight away, as the midwife is often the first person there when they lose their baby.

Along with the trustees, Mrs Lofthouse runs monthly meetings at the Majestic Hotel in Harrogate where families can come to talk about their babies and get emotional support.

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Mrs Lofthouse said:

“We can’t stop this happening but we can offer support after it does.

“People don’t want to talk about baby loss because it is heart breaking, but it is also so much more common that people think. It shouldn’t be a taboo subject.”

In October 2020, work was completed on the newly renovated and renamed Bluebell Suite at Harrogate Hospital after the charity donated £45,000.

The suite is a place where parents go after losing their baby. The charity wanted to ensure parents had everything they needed as they spend precious time with their child.

The charity also provides memory boxes to the hospital which are given to every set of parents. The box was one of the first things Mrs Lofthouse began fundraising for.

She added:

“When I left hospital I had nothing tangible to hold in his memory. This was one of the first things I wanted to fundraise for.”

The memory box is a way for the charity to tell families they aren’t alone. Photograph: Our Angels

The box includes a blanket the family can wrap their baby in and then take photographs. This way they have as a keepsake when they leave hospital. It also contains a leaflet about the charity, giving parents and other family members the option to get in touch for extra support.

Mrs Lofthouse says she will always be grateful for Our Angels giving her the chance to keep talking about her son Charlie almost 12 years on. She says she is honoured to offer families support after losing someone so precious.

To learn more about Our Angels you can find their website here or get in touch with them on Facebook, just search ‘ Our Angels charity and support group’.

A charity that delivers hot meals to older people has issued a plea for more volunteers during the lockdown.

Harrogate and Ripon Foods Angels needs extra help because of rising demand for its services and a reduction in volunteers due to shielding.

The food angels prepare and deliver about 120 meals daily for vulnerable people in Harrogate and Ripon.

Today’s plea is not only for individual volunteers but also for businesses: for instance, two staff at Harrogate firm Slingsby Gin help every Thursday.

The service not only provides meals but also helps reduce isolation among vulnerable people during the pandemic.

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• My Year: Harrogate care leader describes ‘waves of despair’ in pandemic

Sue Cawthray, chief executive of Harrogate Neighbours, which oversees the food angels, said it expected demand for meals to increase in the weeks ahead and any help would be appreciated. She added:

“New shielding guidelines have forced regular and willing volunteers to take a step down, which has left a big gap in the number of people we need to deliver the meals each day.

“We are asking those individuals or local businesses who can spare some time to please do so, so that we can continue to provide the much-needed service into the community.

Volunteers follow government guidelines and protocol, including wearing PPE.

For more information on volunteering visit here or call 01423 888777.

A church in Knaresborough has raised more than a £1,000 for African families after taking a different approach to Christmas this year.

Members of the Gracious Street Methodist Church usually send 20 to 30 cards to each other at Christmas.

But this year, instead of sending cards they made donations to the Methodist relief and development charity All We Can, which supports vulnerable communities.

The congregation raised £1,190, which will allow the charity to buy three wheelchairs for children in Ethiopia, four bikes for children in Uganda for their school journeys and five goats for families in Zimbabwe.

One member of the congregation, Brian Hoare, designed this card, which was was signed by and sent to everyone who donated.

So instead of receiving numerous cards from each other, each congregation member just received the one. The initiative reduced waste and raised money for a good cause.

Sharon Wright, the local All We Can representative and member of the congregation, said:

“We wanted to keep the congregation in touch with each other and help others too.

“This year we’ve really focussed on encouraging our congregation to reach out to others and this card is another way of doing that.”

Read more:

• Boris Johnson has backed a Christmas Eve jungle campaign that started in Harrogate.
• Harrogate’s ‘giraffle’ raised £1,000 for the local food bank.

The church has adapted this year in response to covid. It also introduced a ‘coffee at 11’ scheme to encourage everyone to sit down and ring somebody for a chat.

Sharon said:

“The pandemic has highlighted the desire for community. People don’t want to be alone.”

Harrogate Samaritans is reminding people across the district that it is here to help anyone feeling lonely or struggling over the festive season.

Last Christmas, between December 24 and January 1, Harrogate volunteers spoke to 452 people across the district.

After a difficult year for many, volunteers in Harrogate will be back on the phones around the clock to help anyone in need.

On Christmas Day alone there will be 20 volunteers in the Harrogate centre.

Throughout the pandemic Harrogate Samaritans has worked tirelessly to offer its services to local people. All the volunteers are specially trained and can offer support over the phone or via email.

A survey held by the charity has found 27% of people it spoke to were worried about their wellbeing over the festive period. The main concerns were feelings of uncertainty around changing restrictions.

Liz Wilson, director from Harrogate branch, said:

“We know that Christmas can be difficult for many people. Regardless of what happens with Covid restrictions, we want people to know that confidential support is available 24/7, and that we are there for everyone this Christmas.”

Samaritans are available 24/7 for free via phone on 116 123 or by email on jo@samaritans.org

Read more:

• St Michael’s Hospice brings families together with Christmas virtual event. 
• Harrogate’s Wesley Centre is fundraising for Christmas hampers for those alone this Christmas. 

Sales of face masks have resulted in a donation of £2,500 to a Harrogate charity this Christmas.

The Brora shop on Prospect Crescent has raised £10 from the sale of every £19 Liberty print face mask. It chose local charities Harrogate Homeless Project and Harrogate Easier Living Project (HELP) to receive the proceeds from the sales.

The money will be used to fund the latter’s Here to HELP covid-19 response service, providing practical and emotional support to people in Harrogate and Ripon who are struggling at home during the pandemic. Anna Woollven, Project Development Worker at HELP, said:

“With many people struggling in the wake of Covid-19, we are seeing lots of people turn to our trusted services. This fantastic donation will help ensure we can continue to be ‘Here to HELP’ those who need us at this challenging time. Thank you to Brora and its customers for their incredible generosity.”

HELP has seen a significant rise in demand for its support during the pandemic, with more than 5,000 calls for help received since March. The charity’s volunteers have assisted with tasks including shopping, collecting prescriptions and phone befriending.

Meanwhile, most of its usual fundraising opportunities have been called off.

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Across the country, Brora’s mask sales have raised £250,000 for charities chosen by each local shop. Victoria Stapleton, founder and creative director of Brora, said:

“So many of our communities across the UK have been really impacted by Covid-19. We felt it was particularly vital to support smaller charities so we could make a real difference to their work.

“Kate Heyworth from our Harrogate store identified HELP and the Harrogate Homeless Project as two charities who would really benefit from our donation. We are delighted to be able to contribute to their frontline work.”

The charity face masks are still available at Brora’s shop in Harrogate or on the website. For more information about HELP’s support services and volunteering opportunities, visit www.helpharrogate.org.uk  or call 01423 813096.