Gracious Street Methodist Church Archives

Knaresborough church hopes new solar panels could power nearby homesRefugees set up Harrogate district’s first Afghan pop-up restaurant

A pop-up-restaurant created by Afghan refugees will hold its launch event this month in Knaresborough.

The Afghan Kitchen will offer food and drink for up to 60 diners at Gracious Street Methodist Church, with both meat and vegetarian menus available.

The initiative is the brainchild of Nahid Hamidi, who fled Afghanistan in August 2021 when the Taliban seized control of country. Her husband, Jamil, was an interpreter for the British Army – and was even injured in the line of duty – but his role with British armed forces made him and his family an immediate target, so even though they had visas to travel to the UK and were packed and ready to go, they were forced to leave with nothing in an American cargo plane.

University educated, Nahid was the director of an international charity in the northern province, Badakhshan, and speaks English well. But after the family moved to Harrogate in November 2021, she quickly recognised how difficult it was for many of her fellow countrywomen who lacked the necessary English skills to find work.

She told the Stray Ferret:

“I worked for a charity in Afghanistan, and helping is like my hobby! I wanted to help my Afghan lady friends, because they really want to work, and cooking is one thing they really know how to do – we all learned to cook from our mothers.

“I’m employing two of them so far, but eventually I hope to employ 20 or more. I want to run these events in Skipton, York, and right across Yorkshire.”

Photo of diners at an Afghan lunch cooked by Nahid for the Refugee Council.

Diners at an Afghan lunch cooked by Nahid for the Refugee Council earlier this year.

The Afghan Kitchen is supported by Harrogate District of Sanctuary, which has been helping the Hamidis and other Afghan families since their arrival in the region.

Nahid said:

“I really hope it all goes well. There will be Afghan food, Afghan music, and hopefully also an Afghan atmosphere – a real Afghan experience.

“I just want to get feedback as good as I received from the Refugee Council when I cooked lunch for 32 of them – they really liked my food. In Afghanistan, if someone visits and we can’t feed them, it just doesn’t feel right. But if we can, then we’re happy!”

Photo of diners at an Afghan lunch cooked by Nahid for the Refugee Council earlier this year.

Feedback from the Refugee Council lunch for 32 people was overwhelmingly positive.

The first Afghan Kitchen pop-up restaurant will be held on Saturday, September 23 from 7pm to 9.30pm. Tickets are running out fast, but a second event is planned for Harrogate, on Saturday, October 21 at Kairos Church, just off Cold Bath Road.

Two set menus are available: a meat menu at £20 and a vegetarian menu for £17. Both include a starter, main course, bread, salad and dessert. Gracious Street Methodist Church is not licensed, so no alcohol is permitted on the premises.

Tickets for either of these events can be reserved by emailing TheAfghanKitchenYorkshire@gmail.com.

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Knaresborough to host series of events on bereavement

Gracious Street Methodist Church in Knaresborough is to host a series of events on bereavement, grief and loss.

The church will host an art exhibition featuring work created in response to grief and loss between May 11 and June 16.

Amateur and professional artists have provided illustrations, paintings, poetry, short films and music for the exhibition, which will launch during Dying Matters Awareness Week. The annual week encourages people to talk more openly about death.

The church will then stage further events aimed at people wishing to find out more about support available around death, dying and bereavement.

On May 12, a free drop in between 11am and 2pm will include stalls by Full Circle Funerals, solicitors Grahame Stowe Bateson, bereavement support organisation Just B and Supporting Older People.

The church will then host a ‘music and words’ session on May 19 between 11am and 2pm where Leeds-based charity The Swan Song Project will run a free musical workshop between 11am and 12.30pm and there will be small information stalls by Full Circle Funerals and Just B Bereavement Services.

On May 26, as part of Dementia Action Week, Dementia Forward, Graham Stowe Bateson, Home Instead and Full Circle Funerals will have stalls to support people who would like to talk about living with dementia or how to consider and express your end of life wishes.

Further events on environmentally friendly funerals will be held on June 2 and on support around bereavement and end of life care / planning in younger people on June 9.

For more information about any of these events contact david@fullcirclefunerals.co.uk.

River Nidd testing begins as clean-up campaign gathers pace

There is no shortage of concern about the state of the River Nidd, as a busy public meeting in Knaresborough demonstrated this week.

About 70 people turned up at Gracious Street Methodist Church on Tuesday to listen to academics, anglers, environmentalists and politicians and to find out how they could get involved in the attempt to achieve bathing water status.

Just two rivers in England — the Wharfe in Ilkley and Wolvercote Mill Stream in Oxfordshire — currently have bathing water status, which obliges the Environment Agency to put plans in place to monitor and protect the water.

Nidd Action Group has been set up to coordinate the initiative.

James McKay, a Knaresborough resident and manager of the Water-Wiser centre at the University of Leeds, told the Stray Ferret at last week’s meeting Nidd sampling had begun and the campaign had the funds and expertise to achieve its goal.

Mr McKay said the group needed to demonstrate enough people used the river recreationally for the campaign to be successful.

James McKay speaking at the meeting

He said the process of achieving bathing water status wasn’t easy but “it’s the only thing we can do to make a real difference to water companies”.

Mr McKay said water companies were obliged in 2023 to update their water resource management plans for the next five years and the goal was to achieve bathing water status by then. He added:

“If we succeed it won’t have an immediate effect. The first thing that would happen is Yorkshire Water would have to do its own sampling. But over the next couple of years it could start to make a big difference.”

Untreated sewage

Although Knaresborough Lido is the focus of the campaign, if bathing water status is achieved it would bring improvements to the upper reaches of the 56-mile Nidd, including around Pateley Bridge, which flow into the Lido.

Alan Paterson addressing the meeting

Alan Paterson, of Nidd Action Group, told the meeting the three main causes of river pollution were sewage, agricultural contaminants and urban run-off. He said the first two were the main issues affecting the Nidd.

In 2021, Yorkshire Water pumped untreated sewage from 81 locations into the River Nidd 2,552 times – for 18,346 hours, or 764 days.

Mr Paterson said Yorkshire Water’s plans to clean-up the Nidd were “good but would take far too long” and bathing water status would oblige it to act sooner.

Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, has led on the campaign to achieve bathing water status and has been looking for volunteers to undertake surveys before he can submit an application. He has also raised the matter in Parliament.

Mr Jones wasn’t at the meeting but Stephen Culpin, a member of his office, was. Mr Culpin said afterwards the intention was to finalise and submit the application by the end of October.

Mr Jones (left) with Frank Maguire, the owner of Knareborough Lido.

The government’s record on sewage discharge has been fiercely debated. Mr Paterson said declining funding to key regulators such as the Environment Agency suggested ministers did not take the issue that seriously but he added that although the action group was “entirely apolitical”, Mr Jones deserved praise for his efforts.

“If he gets some brownie points then fair play to him because we need that bathing water status to improve the quality of water Yorkshire Water is discharging. I’d be deliriously happy if my MP, Julian Smith (the Conservative for Skipton and Ripon) got involved but he hasn’t.”

Mr Paterson added “rivers should be safe and clean to play and bathe in — it’s a right, not a privilege” and people attending the meeting were encouraged to volunteer by undertaking roles such as counting river users.

Wild swimming

Numerous groups attended the meeting but some river users, such as wild swimmers and kayakers, weren’t and some felt the campaign still needed joining-up more.

But the turnout and enthusiasm generated widespread optimism that people might soon be able to swim in the Nidd without a high risk of falling ill, as happened last summer.

Tuesday’s meeting at Gracious Street Methodist Church

Shan Oakes, a Knaresborough town councillor and member of Harrogate and District Green Party said:

“It was a hugely successful event and I feel confident that more like it will follow, bringing the community together to try to stop the pollution and bring back life to our lovely river.”

Yorkshire Water ‘keen to work in partnership’

Two days after the meeting, councillors on North Yorkshire County Council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee questioned a representative of Yorkshire Water as the issue of bathing water status was aired again.

Monika Slater, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Bilton Grange and New Park, told the meeting Leeds University researchers were now taking Nidd samples monthly and this would increase to fortnightly in May.

But she added the samples had so far discovered the harmful bacteria E. coli was at “concerningly high” levels.

Bilton Conservation Society is also sampling at Oak Beck, which empties in the Nidd at Bilton.

Sarah Robinson, from the corporate affairs team at Yorkshire Water, told the meeting:

“There are lots of influences on bathing water quality. It isn’t just about our assets — in some ways that would be easier because we could control that. “

The big issue for the Nidd, Ms Robinson added, was going to be agriculture, such as chemical run-off caused by farmers’ sprays. Dogs running in water also had “a massive impact”, she added. But she said the company was “very keen to work in partnership” to address problems.

The next six months will determine whether the good intentions, and the disparate interests, can be harnessed to achieve real change for the Nidd.

Public meeting to save River Nidd in Knaresborough from ‘ecological disaster’

A public meeting is being held in Knaresborough this month as part of a campaign to achieve bathing water status on part of the River Nidd.

Concerns about Nidd water quality increased last summer amid reports of numerous people falling ill.

Nidd Action Group, which includes individual Knaresborough town councillors, environmental campaigners, anglers, councillors and community groups, is holding the meeting at Gracious Street Methodist Church on March 14.

Members of the public are invited to attend to find out how they can get involved.

The action group was formed after Nidd Catchment Angling Group held a meeting in October last year to address water quality concerns.

The action group aims to achieve bathing water status at the Lido, which would oblige the Environment Agency to put plans in place to monitor and protect the water.

Knaresborough town councillor Shan Oakes said:

“The campaign is focussing on raising public awareness and initially getting bathing water status for parts of the Nidd near the town including the Lido – which would then lead to an imperative to clean up the whole river.”

Academics and research students from the University of Leeds will give short talks at the meeting on the issues and those involved will answer questions.

A leaflet advertising the event says the Nidd “is facing ecological disaster due to pollution (especially sewage)”.

It adds:

“Presentations will be repeated each hour—3.30pm, 4.30pm, 5.30pm, 6pm so it doesn’t matter what time you turn up: any time between 3-6pm.

“This event is a conversation: the campaign team would like to hear about how you use and value the river.

“There will be opportunity to join the campaign as a volunteer, and also to sign up to take part in bathing water status consultation this summer—an essential step towards a ‘Cleaner Nidd, Fit for Life’.”

Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, has also been campaigning for bathing water status on the Nidd. It is understood a member of his staff will attend the meeting.

Last year Wolvercote Mill Stream in Oxford became only the second inland waterway in the country, after the River Wharfe in Ilkley, to be awarded bathing water status by the government.

Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal: Making hearty meals from food waste

Like many people, Ian Booth’s job changed significantly when the covid pandemic began.

He had spent the previous year as manager of Resurrected Bites’ pay-as-you-feel café at St Mark’s Church.

In early 2020, along with the community interest company’s founder, Michelle Hayes, he had opened a new café at Gracious Street Methodist Church in Knaresborough and was in the process of launching another, at West Park United Reformed Church in Harrogate.

That March, they found themselves intercepting four tons of food waste each week and distributing it to people who were struggling.

Volunteers collected surplus food from supermarkets five days a week instead of two, and hospitality businesses forced to close their doors emptied their kitchens into vans and car boots.

Ian said:

“I wasn’t really anything like aware of the food poverty issue in the Harrogate area – not the scale of it. I realised people were going to be struggling, but not to this extent.

“As we were anticipating all this food waste, my immediate thought was to provide food to people who were struggling. Michelle had the same idea.

“We tapped into a huge food poverty issue in the area. We didn’t want to abandon that when the pandemic ended.

“That’s when we thought about adopting the community grocery model.”

Meanwhile, in 2021, Ian was back in the kitchen at the cafés, drawing on skills he had developed while living and working as a pastor at a church in France with his family.

“I’ve always enjoyed cooking – I do lots of it and in big quantities. We have five kids and we did so many church events.

“Because we’ve got a large family and always lived on a fairly low income, it’s a case of ‘see what’s cheap and make the most of it’.”

That experience is ideally suited to the demands of running the cafés, which take their ingredients from the Resurrected Bites warehouse.

Anything that can’t be sold in the community groceries will find its way onto the menus: catering packs of rice or chopped tomatoes, bacon, couscous, chickpeas, beef, potatoes, carrots… In late summer, a huge volume of apples arrived each week as people found their trees were producing more than they could use at home.

Ian said:

“I enjoy the creative bit – it can be very challenging. My mind starts whirring instantly about menus.

“We try and produce five main courses, a soup, a couple of desserts.”

When I visit Gracious Street Methodist Church one Friday lunchtime, roast beef and vegetables are on the menu.

It is delicious: hearty and warming on a cold day, a reminder of classic home cooking. Ian has exacting standards, though, and is constrained by what has arrived at the warehouse:

“We would normally never do roast beef without Yorkshire puddings, but we didn’t have any eggs.”

The tables are packed. Single people, pairs of friends, young families – they all share the space and make cheerful conversation as they order and eat.

The Gracious Street café is the busier of the two, I’m told, no doubt because it runs on the same day the community grocery is open in another room at the church. Knaresborough itself is a popular place to be on a Friday morning and some of the customers tell me they call in to the café after doing their shopping.

The cafés are not just aimed at people on tight budgets who might struggle to afford to eat out elsewhere, though.

Ian said:

“Often, people don’t come because they think it’s just for people who are struggling. We’re absolutely dependent on people who can afford to give generously.

“At the same time, it’s great when people come who can’t afford to, knowing that someone who is struggling has had a good hot meal.”

Many benefits

Ian is a passionate environmentalist – one of the reasons for his involvement in a project that aims to cut food waste.

He has been surprised by the many other benefits people get from Resurrected Bites. Not only does it support people to feed themselves and their families with dignity by paying for their shops, it also helps people who might have been struggling in other ways.

“Quite a number of people have come in and volunteered who have said, ‘this has been so good for my mental health’. It’s the sort of thing I wouldn’t have thought of.

“We had one guy who was helping with cooking. He was a good cook. He has gone on to work for a local charity, cooking for them. It’s brilliant.

“They asked me for a reference for him and I was able to say I couldn’t think of anybody better suited to this job. He has got that kind of compassionate heart.

“It’s great to have that experience and go on to use it in such a positive way.”

Resurrected Bites has close ties to local charities and organisations. There isn’t much that can’t be used in its cafes or community groceries, but when there is, it’s redirected to someone who can make use of it.

Volunteers helped to reopen Resurrected Bites’ cafes after covid

Approaching retirement in a couple of years, Ian is looking to cut down his hours at the cafes over the coming months.

At the same time, a new café is being planned in Killinghall. It means new volunteers and a new café manager will be needed – and Ian can only reflect on what a privilege it will be for those involved:

“I always think one of the best things about my job is the people I work with.

“We’re totally reliant on volunteers. The sort of people that volunteer are nice people, kind and caring, thinking of others.

“I just feel so blessed to have so many nice people to work with.”

Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal: ‘It’s our privilege to care for each other’

This year’s Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal is for Resurrected Bites in Harrogate and Knaresborough. Today, community grocery manager Carolyn Aitken tells us why working with people who rely on the groceries has been such an uplifting experience. Please give generously to support local people who are struggling this Christmas. They need your help.

When I took on the role of community grocery manager a year ago, I had never imagined what a privilege it would be.

That I would meet some of the most amazing people I’ve ever known, that this would be a role in which I would see such a broad spectrum of life and experience such a wide range of emotions, often all in one day.

From the heart-breaking revelation of a recently widowed wife or a bereaved parent, to the overwhelming kindness and generosity of a young couple who have given up their weekly takeaway to buy food to help others.

From the dad with a family to support, who lost everything including his home and business during the pandemic, or the beautiful young mother fighting long covid whilst caring for a newborn, to a group of elderly residents in shared accommodation giving a jar or packet or tin each week to help us to fill our shelves.

Volunteers who daily go above and beyond, collecting food from supermarkets late at night in all weathers or early mornings before most of us are awake, or who give up mornings or afternoons week after week to restock shelves and ensure everything’s displayed beautifully or to run the stores or cafes, always with a caring smile and a kind word for each customer.

We all wish we weren’t needed – everyone who plays a part in the life of Resurrected Bites agrees that there shouldn’t be the food waste that we collect each week – that we are a society that wilfully throws away perfectly good produce, because it’s not quite the right shape or size or has just passed its best, or there’s just been too much produced, and that such waste is wrong.

We agree that community groceries and foodbanks shouldn’t be needed in the UK in 2022, but we are moved by the needs of so many and so we try to make life just a little better for those in our community who are struggling.

Every day we wish we could do more – we can signpost our customers to other agencies and organisations who may also be able to help, with needs such as debt management, fuel vouchers, benefits advice or simply where to access clothes or furniture, but our hope is that one day, it won’t be like this.

That is the hope of our founder and director Michelle, who tirelessly works long hours, securing grants, arranging fundraisers, co-ordinating a plethora of supporters and volunteers, juggling a small team running the cafes, the community groceries, the pay-as-you-can tables and the warehouse. Resurrected Bites was her vision, one that was so inspirational that it has been caught by the communities of Harrogate and Knaresborough and grown into the amazing work it is today.

And it’s that word ‘community’ that shines out of all that we do and all that we’re a part of. Our tiny, beautiful corner of Yorkshire is incredibly community focused, people have told me that’s why they moved here to live.

As a community they care for one another, and as a community, it will be our privilege to continue to care for them, while we can.

Nobody in the Harrogate district should go hungry this Christmas.

It costs £300 to run the community grocery for one day. Please help to keep it open for everyone who relies on it.

Click here to contribute now. Thank you.

Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal: Ukrainian refugees relying on Resurrected Bites for food in Knaresborough

This year’s Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal is for Resurrected Bites in Harrogate and Knaresborough. Today, Vicky meets a Ukrainian family who have relied on its support this year. Please give generously to support local people who are struggling this Christmas. They need your help.

“We thought we would come here for a year, then we would go back to Ukraine. Now… I don’t know.”

Andre and Irina left their home near Kyiv after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They arrived in Knaresborough with their two daughters – then aged three and 11 months – in late May.

With few possessions and no income they were directed towards Resurrected Bites. Andre said:

“Before September, I was looking for work. In September I started a course at Harrogate College in electrical engineering.

“I have a university degree in electrical engineering. I had a good job. UK wiring systems are different, so the course means I will be able to get a job here.”

Both he and Irina, who has been a full-time mum since their children were born, have also been learning English as a second language.

Their eldest daughter, now four, is enrolled in a local pre-school and is becoming more settled every day. Her younger sister will, hopefully, sign up after she turns two next year.

The family have been living in rooms at a local pub, arranged through the government’s Ukraine programme, but this was only for six months. They have recently been forced to find a new home in order to continue receiving support from the programme for the next six months.

He said:

“After this time, we will have to pay rent. I have no job and I will only be able to find a job after my course ends in July.

“How will I pay for our accommodation until then?”

Not only have the family been supported by Resurrected Bites, they have also become part of the community at Gracious Street Methodist Church, practising their Christian faith and getting to know others in the area.

Andre has begun volunteering in the community grocery on his day off college, giving back support to the organisation that has helped his family.

They are permitted to stay here for three years and to find jobs, but those three years don’t count towards any future citizenship application. That would require a further five years in the UK.

The future remains uncertain for them in so many ways. Returning to Ukraine would not be simple either: the population of the capital city is less than half what it used to be and Andre said it took many years to rebuild after the devastation of the Second World War.

Some of Andre’s family members are now living elsewhere in the UK, but Irina’s parents are still in Ukraine. She said:

“They are OK, but very afraid. It’s a very hard life for them.”

The family still see Ukraine as their home, but at the moment it would be impossible to return. Andre added:

“There’s no electricity – only for a few hours a day. Russian forces destroyed the electricity station. There’s no water.

“It’s winter in Ukraine and it’s freezing. I don’t know how many people will die, because the freeze is very dangerous.”

They are just one example of the Ukrainian refugees living in the Harrogate district who are being supported by Resurrected Bites.

The organisation is a lifeline to people who have fled the war and are trying to build a new life for themselves in the Harrogate district.

Like Andre, many are retraining and hoping to find employment – but the ticking clock of the government’s year-long support hangs over them all.

In the meantime, organisations like Resurrected Bites are ensuring none of them go without food this winter.

Nobody in the Harrogate district should go hungry this Christmas.

It costs £300 to run the community grocery for one day. Please help to keep it open for everyone who relies on it.

Click here to contribute now. Thank you.

Where would you turn if you couldn’t afford to feed your family?

This year’s Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal is for Resurrected Bites in Harrogate and Knaresborough. Please read Vicky’s story about the charity’s community grocery below and give generously to support local people who are struggling this Christmas. They need your help.

At 9am on a Friday morning, Gracious Street Methodist Church in Knaresborough is already humming with energy.

The doors to the community grocery run by Resurrected Bites have just opened, but the volunteers have been here for well over an hour.

Amid the scene of boxes being unpacked and food being moved around by a dozen people, I meet grocery manager Carolyn Aitken, who tells me:

“It’s always manic on a Friday morning! It’s our busiest day.

“About 11am is our busiest time. We might get a bit of a break for a coffee, then it’s generally quieter through the rest of the day.”

The grocery was stocked yesterday, she says, with tinned and packaged food, but deliveries of fresh and frozen items continue to arrive throughout the morning.

They mostly arrive with volunteers who have been picking up food from shops across the Harrogate district.

Some are fresh foods about to go out of date, but perfectly safe be frozen to eat later. Others are tinned and packaged foods which will last for months more, but their best before dates don’t meet the exacting needs of supermarkets.

Catherine Crompton is the warehouse manager for Resurrected Bites. She uses her professional experience in food technology and PhD in food science to ensure everything that is sold is still of the right standard, including being properly labelled with allergens.

A delivery from Greggs is meticulously labelled before going on sale

As well as the new stock arriving, there is a steady stream of customers coming to the grocery. To be part of the scheme, each has gone through a registration process, ensuring they are in real need.

These aren’t necessarily people who are unemployed: some have faced a crisis, such as the loss of a partner, serious ill health, or a dramatic change in circumstances. Some simply can’t cover all their outgoings, especially as bills rise.

Carolyn said:

“We have had people who I know work, who use us. That’s all kinds of wrong.

“We give people the opportunity to pay in advance, so they know they can come every week and do their shop until the next time they get their money. It takes the pressure off.”

Members pay an annual membership fee of £5 and then a nominal charge for each shop: £3 for a small household, or £6 for a family of four or more.

Food waste

There are shelves and cabinets heaving with everything you might find in a supermarket: tinned tuna and beans, dried pasta, rice, breakfast cereal, meat, fruit and vegetables, custard, toothpaste, nappies, cleaning products and more.

There’s a counter of bread, cakes and other baked goods – all considered not good enough for supermarkets to sell to their customers, but all perfectly fresh and delicious enough to eat.

Looking at the amount of food here, it’s genuinely shocking to realise that it could all have been thrown in the bin.

Resurrected Bites has intercepted tons and tons of food waste since its first community grocery opened at New Park in Harrogate in October 2021, followed by Gracious Street in December. In total, 5,600 shops have been done by people who could not otherwise afford to feed themselves and their families.

Some of the people who rely on the grocery tell me they feel more comfortable with its model than with hand-outs, because it saves perfectly edible food from landfill – and because they pay.

Deborah Stocks began taking food parcels from Resurrected Bites during covid, when she was caring for her husband who had cancer. He died in late 2020 and, the following year, she began volunteering.

She collects donations from local supermarkets and brings them to Gracious Street on a Friday.

When we meet, she’s sitting with her mum, Jackie Lowden, who tells me:

“I’m on my own and I’m a pensioner. I live in a bungalow, but I haven’t put the heating on this year. I can’t afford it.

“Deborah told me about Resurrected Bites, and I thought, ‘that’s not for me’. But I can’t afford to buy food – it’s that ‘heat or eat’ thing.

“The good thing about this is that you do pay, it’s not just a hand-out. And now I volunteer too.”

Many of the volunteers are grocery members themselves. There’s a real sense of everyone pitching in to ensure it meets the needs of the community – and a very welcoming atmosphere to visitors old and new.

A big operation

But this is no simple set-up. There are 150 volunteers and five staff ensuring Resurrected Bites runs like clockwork.

They sort food in the warehouse, distribute it to the community groceries and cafés, check stock levels, help customers and ensure anyone who needs help can access it.

While Resurrected Bites takes plenty of tinned tuna, dried pasta and soup, it’s often short on ingredients for cooing and baking, such as flour and sugar. Tea bags are plentiful, but instant coffee is not.

To fill the gaps, Resurrected Bites has to buy supplies every week. They often come from national food waste charity Fareshare, which redistributes items from supermarkets and other suppliers.

Retired nurse Jennie Naylor began volunteering with Resurrected Bites during the covid pandemic, along with her husband Paul, and now helps at the community grocery once a week.

“We really enjoy it, while I would say being shocked at the number of people in this situation.

“It’s the meeting people. We both enjoy feeling useful and giving something to our community.

“We’ve enjoyed getting to know the other volunteers as well – they’re all just wonderful.”

I can’t imagine opening my cupboards at home to find nothing there, while my children are hungry and I know I can’t afford to buy anything. It must be incredibly stressful.

To know an organisation like Resurrected Bites is there to support you when times are tough must be an enormous relief.

Nobody in the Harrogate district should go hungry this Christmas.

It costs £300 to run the community grocery for one day. Please help to keep it open for everyone who relies on it.

Click here to contribute now.

Knaresborough Connectors aim to bring community together in ‘living rooms’

A community organisation in Knaresborough is hoping to bring people together for mutual support through the cost of living crisis.

Knaresborough Connectors is establishing a number of “public living rooms” – a home from home offering a comfortable, warm space to be.

Rather than inviting the elderly or vulnerable to sit in them, though, the group is keen to ensure the whole community comes together through the rooms for everyone’s benefit.

Director Nick Garrett said:

“We aren’t going for the idea of welcoming in poor people from the cold. All the evidence says if you target towards frail, elderly people, they don’t come. This is for anyone and everyone.

“The rooms will be like someone’s living room at home: warm and comfy and with nice furnishings.

“[Knaresborough councillor] Hannah Gostlow’s background is in interior design. She’s designing some really cool-looking living rooms for us.”

The first community living room will be in Knaresborough Library‘s chill-out zone, which is currently being designed and transformed by volunteers.

A further two will follow at Chain Lane Community Hub and Gracious Street Methodist Church. There will also be a co-working space at 8 York Place.

The aim is for people to use them as a social space. They might go there to knit, to have a cup of tea or watch TV, or to play board games or read books. While there, they might meet others who want to learn to knit or play a game, or who might simply want someone to talk to.

Mr Garrett said the community living rooms would run alongside support from Resurrected Bites, which runs a community grocery and a pay-as-you-feel cafe in the town.

Knaresborough Connectors is also using social prescribing, encouraging people and businesses in the community to refer others to its team to access what they need.

He said:

“There was a hairdresser in Knaresborough who was cutting a customer’s hair and he told her he was on the brink of homelessness. She contacted us through someone else and he’s now been rehoused.

“There will be lots of people like that coming out of the woodwork because they can’t afford things. There’s also lots of support and advice from Knaresborough Connectors.”

The group is now urging everyone in the town to get involved in one of three ways: engaging with people simply by saying hello, using talents and gifts to help others, and sharing what they can, such as donating to local charity shops and community organisations.

Mr Garrett said research showed reducing social isolation also helped to relieve pressure on the NHS as people were less likely to visit the GP or be admitted to hospital if they were well supported in the community.

By engaging people who are struggling to be part of the network of support, Mr Garrett said everyone could make a difference for each other.

For more details, visit the Warm and Welcome page of the Knaresborough Connectors website.