Harrogate was favoured with a rare royal visit today, when Princess Anne made three separate appearances in the town.
As patron of the UK’s two Police Treatment Centres, the Princess Royal visited the new clinical services wing at St Andrews PTC on Harlow Moor Road.
The PTCs treat injured and ill police members through its physiotherapy and psychological wellbeing programmes, and the new facility was created to meet the increased demand for psychological wellbeing support.
Patrick Cairns, chief executive of the PTC, said:
“For Her Royal Highness to convey her support for the police treatment centres by becoming our patron is a tremendous honour for our charity and it is clear that the Princess Royal understands the challenges that the police service are currently under and the work that we do in treating ill and injured police officers for a range of physical and mental health injuries.”
Credit: Tim Hardy.
The princess then headed to Starbeck charity Claro Enterprises, whose commercial workshops enable people with long-term mental health conditions to function in a real work environment.
It was the princess’s second visit to Claro Enterprises; her first visit 30 years ago prompted several changes at the charity, including the development of ongoing revenue streams via partnerships with some of the region’s best-known companies, such as Betty’s, Farrah’s and Robert Thompson’s Craftsmen, maker of Mouseman furniture.
Claro Enterprises general manager Owen Jones said:
“It was a real privilege to receive a second visit from Princess Anne today. We had about 40 people here to meet her and they loved it.
“She was great – from the moment she got out of the car, she was relaxed and very personable, talking to everybody and taking a real interest in what they do. It was fantastic.”
Finally, she headed up Station Parade and dropped in on Woods Fine Linen, the long-established family business which has supplied royal households since it was founded in 1895.
William Woods and his daughter, interior design director Sarah Woods (second left), greet the Princess Royal as crowds look on.
William Woods, chief executive of Woods Fine Linen, told the Princess Royal:
“Words cannot adequately describe our gratitude and appreciation of your visit today. It means a huge amount to us all and encourages us to maintain our family values of quality, high standards and sustainability in everything we do. We have never been part of the throwaway society.”
Mr Woods presented the princess with a selection of products, including one of his company’s famous linen dishcloths and a luxury pillow wrapped in brown paper and string — as has been the tradition at Woods for over 125 years.
He also gave her the two volumes of Wells and Swells: The Golden Age of Harrogate Spa, 1842–1923, by his good friend and local historian, the late Malcolm Neesam.
The royal helicopter landed on the Stray and then took Princess Anne to West Yorkshire. Photo: Lucy Arundel.
Mr Woods added:
“Her Royal Highness was delightful. She’s a very knowledgeable lady, and she’d clearly done her homework.”
The Princess Royal, 73, has long been regarded as one of the hardest-working royals – last year, she attended 214 engagements – and following her three stops in Harrogate, her helicopter took off from the Stray to take her to further engagements in West Yorkshire.
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Victorian church clock restored in Harrogate district
Villagers are celebrating the restoration of their Victorian church clock following a £7,000 restoration project.
Residents came together last year to launch the platinum jubilee clock restoration project for St Bartholomew’s Church in Arkendale, which is between Knaresborough and Boroughbridge.
A community event has been held to unveil the clock, which features gold leaf gilded dials that match the original, and the clock mechanism has been deep-cleaned.
Cllr Robert Windass, a Conservative who represents Boroughbridge and Claro on North Yorkshire Council, was the largest funder with £2,500 from his locality budget.
The locality budget provides £10,000 for each councillor to spend on specific local activities each year.
Cllr Windass said:
“I’m delighted to join the community in celebrating the long-awaited unveiling of the church clock. The large-scale project involved making new clock faces to match the original, and the mechanism was overhauled to make sure it will run for many years to come.
“It has been a joint effort to pull this off and I’m proud to have contributed some of my locality budget to such a worthwhile cause.”
(from left), Colin Fletcher, account director at Allerton Waste Recovery Park, Cllr Robert Windass and church warden Robyn Cox
Funding also came from local sponsors and donations through a Sponsor a Numeral Campaign, as well as Thalia Waste Management at Allerton Waste Recovery Park, the Church of England’s ChurchCare scheme, the Moto Foundation and Hanson Cement at Allerton Park.
Harrogate adult mental health charity Claro Enterprises carved the plaque.
It was made using offcuts donated by furniture makers Robert Thompson’s Craftsmen, which is responsible for creating famous Mouseman furniture in Kilburn.
Robyn Cox, the warden of St Bartholomew’s Church, added:
“It’s a new moment in time at St Bartholomew’s where the community came together with support from grant-funding bodies and local businesses to restore the clock dials and mechanism. It was a project we started to celebrate the platinum jubilee of our beloved late Queen Elizabeth II.”
A place of worship has stood in the village since the 14th century, although the present building dates from 1836. It was the first church to be consecrated in the then new Diocese of Ripon in January 1837.
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Charity Corner: the Starbeck charity that puts mental health at the forefront
Claro Enterprises is a Starbeck charity offering those with mental health conditions a real work environment to find a routine and talk to others who may be feeling similar.
The charity was set up 35 years ago by Chris and Sue Brown. Ms Brown’s brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia and they found giving him jobs on their farm would really help him but when the work stopped his mental health would decline.
At the time they couldn’t find any local services to support him so through lots of fundraising the pair set up Claro Enterprises to offer people with mental health disorders the opportunity to volunteer in a real work environment.
Over the years the charity has developed and now runs a workshop and a production line and has contracts with large companies such as Bettys and EnviroVent to make products.
On a daily bases, members might be creating wooden products from scratch, or rebranding or packing products for businesses.
Two men using the charity’s wood shop.
Operations manager, Helen Wilkinson, said:
“We have people who would struggle in a normal work environment but really benefit from having a routine. It works really well for people will mental health conditions and they can choose how often they come.
“There’s a real sense of community here.”
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The charity has around 35 members who can come as regularly as they want to work, it not only helps them but also gives their families a break.
The charity also runs courses throughout the year including self esteem and wellbeing, mindfulness, IT and basic maths and English.
Veterans Woodcraft, a group helping those with mental health issues and disabilities, have helped the charity’s members learn new woodcraft skills.
It is also the base for the Starbeck Men’s Shed and Women’s Shed. These groups are for anyone in the community to learn new skills and enjoy some company.
Ms Wilkinson said the end goal is to get the members “to a point where they can do what they want”:
“Some of our members have gone on to get full time jobs and work experience which is just amazing.”
The charity is always looking for new businesses to arrange work experience placements and provide work for the members to do at their premises to allow Claro to continue to offer their facilities to those who believe they could really benefit.
Miss Wilkinson added:
Starbeck ‘Men’s Shed’ charity launches more mental health groups“It really is the bestest place in the world, we are just one big family.”
Claro Enterprises in Starbeck is launching three groups to deal with the mental health “aftermath” of the pandemic.
The charity said its workshops and courses offer people the space to work and chat to new people.
General manager Owen Jones has said more people are coming forward for mental health support after struggling in lockdown.
The first group, which starts on June 30, is an introduction to woodwork. The charity operates a commercial wood workshop making goods for businesses.
It will help new clients who have asked for a space to meet other people, but haven’t worked in a workshop before.
If restrictions ease as anticipated on July 19, the charity will re-launch its Starbeck Men’s Shed and launch the first Starbeck Ladies’ Shed. These weekly groups will again offer those suffering with their mental health the chance to be a part of group activities.
The Men’s Shed mainly works with the wood workshop and the Ladies’ Shed will offer activities such as upholstery, art and card making.
Before lockdown the Men’s Shed had 20 members.
Mr Jones said:
“We have a bank of people waiting to get out there again and meet people. We’ve seen an increase in people coming to us over the last few weeks after struggling during lockdown, it’s been a difficult time for a lot of people.”
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The charity works alongside GP practices in a Route One Partnership, which allows local doctors to refer patients struggling with their mental health to it.
The Route One Partnership includes other local charities: Wellspring Therapy and Training, Harrogate Mind and The Orb.
Since the partnership was set up six months ago the charity has received an additional 20 referrals.
Mr Jones added:
“There will be an aftermath for this [pandemic] and hopefully we can help.”