Harrogate charity chief executive Frances Elliot receives MBE

A Harrogate charity chief executive has been awarded the MBE at Windsor Palace.

Frances Elliot, who leads Harrogate and District Community Action, received the accolade yesterday from Princess Anne.

It was awarded in the 2021 Queen’s birthday honours for services to the community in Harrogate during the pandemic.

Ms Elliot said:

“It was good to have the opportunity to be able to tell her about the crucial role our volunteers and staff have played in supporting our community here in Harrogate and Ripon.

“Whilst it was slightly nerve-wracking when I first got there, I was put at ease and made to feel very welcome by everyone at Windsor Castle.”

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Ms Elliot has been involved in the district’s voluntary sector for 10 years. For nine of these years, she led HADCA’s Harrogate Easier Living Project, which offers practical support services assisting people to live safe and well at home.

In May 2020, she took over as HADCA chief executive from Karen Weaver and spearheaded the charity’s response to covid.

Proud to have been awarded an MBE at Windsor, in recognition of what we have collectively achieved during the pandemic. I feel so lucky to lead a caring & resourceful staff team @hadcacharity @HELP_Harrogate & none of it possible without our kind & committed volunteers. pic.twitter.com/o5OpomNXn8

— Frances Elliot (@FrancesElliot) February 16, 2022

HADCA supports other charities in the district as well as providing services.

It coordinated more than 250 volunteers to help local people on over 8,000 occasions with practical and emotional support when they were shielding or self-isolating during the pandemic.

Will Harrogate district charities lose funding in council shake-up?

Many charities in the Harrogate district rely significantly on Harrogate Borough Council for funding.

So the council’s abolition next year could pose a threat to the financial stability of some of the best-known voluntary organisations in the district.

Richard Cooper, the Conservative leader of the council, said last month it had been a generous funder of charities and urged organisations to prepare for the change in the local government, which will see a single new unitary authority called North Yorkshire Council come into existence next year.

He said:

“One of the key things voluntary organisations must do over the next year is build relationships.”

Local Fund 

One of the district’s main funding sources for charities is the Local Fund for the Harrogate District, which was set up in 2018 as a three-way partnership between Harrogate Borough Council, Harrogate & District Community Action and Two Ridings Community Foundation.

Last year the fund awarded £85,000 to 29 community groups. Applications for its next funding round open on Monday.

Local Fund

An event last year celebrating the Local Fund.

Last year Harrogate Borough Council gave £200,000 to Two Ridings Community Foundation, which administers the fund, to go towards an endowment so that the fund continues in perpetuity.

It also receives a steady stream of income from the Local Lotto — and the future of this is less certain because it is run by Harrogate Borough Council.

At least 60% from each £1 ticket sold on the lottery, which has a weekly £25,000 jackpot, goes towards the fund.

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Jan Garrill, chief executive of Two Ridings Community Foundation, said

“The Local Fund will continue and thrive as it is a fund with Two Ridings and out of any local government process.”

But Ms Garrill added she “could not comment” on the future of the Local Lotto because it is run by the council.

Who else could be affected?

Some charities also rely on council grants for funding.

When the Stray Ferret asked for a list of recipients, the council directed us to a report from October last year that listed five beneficiaries of its voluntary and community sector strategic funding programme, which awards grants to charities to ‘deliver key services across the Harrogate district’. But it does provide other grants.

The recipients and sums received are:

Harrogate and District Community Action – £40,000

Harrogate and Craven Districts Citizens Advice – £60,000

Harrogate Homeless Project – £22,500

Nidderdale Plus Community Partnership – £8,000

Community First Yorkshire – £5,000

Frances Elliot, chief executive of Hadca, which supports other charities in the district, said that besides its £40,000 grant, it received a separate £32,000 grant from the council.

Frances Elliot

Ms Elliot said:

“It’s a difficult time for lots of organisations but it’s relatively early in the transition. I genuinely don’t know what will happen. We are optimistic for our funding over the next financial year and we will have to wait and see after that, People at the top don’t know what’s happening yet.

“We have a good relationship with both Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council and we hope that continues.”

All the North Yorkshire councils facing abolition have various workstreams underway, considering what will happen after the shake-up. The voluntary sector is among the issues being discussed.

‘Don’t destroy a model that works well’

Pateley Bridge charity Nidderdale Plus works in partnership with Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council to provide services, such as a community library, a front desk for local council and police matters and a tourist information point.

It receives three council grants worth a total of £21,000, which helps it employ 2.5 staff and manage 150 volunteers to provide the services.

Chief executive Helen Flynn said:

“We hope we don’t have to destroy this community support model that has been working so well.

“We are starting to build relationships with North Yorkshire County Council. I do feel they want to work with us. They have been good at talking to us so far.

“I wouldn’t say I was relaxed but I am engaged with developments.”

Local Fund for the Harrogate District awards £85,000 to 29 community groups

Representatives of about 30 voluntary organisations joined councillors and civic dignitaries this week to celebrate the Local Fund for the Harrogate District, which awarded £85,000 to 29 community groups this year.

The fund, which will be issuing more grants in the new year, awards up to £3,000 to small voluntary organisations that have a positive impact on the wellbeing of people in the Harrogate district.

It helped Resurrected Bites launch a community grocery store for low income people and enabled Wellspring Therapy and Training to offer reduced costs on counselling.

Other successful applicants this year included Harrogate Clothes Bank, Artizan International, the Wesley Centre, Masham Town Hall Community Charity, Harrogate Bowling Club, Chain Lane Community Centre and Harrogate & Knaresborough Toy Library, Nidderdale & Pateley Bridge Men’s Shed and Boroughbridge and District Community Care.

The fund is a three-way partnership between Harrogate Borough Council, Harrogate & District Community Action and Two Ridings Community Foundation.

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At least 60% from each ticket sold on the Local Lotto, which has a weekly £25,000 jackpot, goes towards the fund.

Harrogate Borough Council has made a £200,000 endowment donation, which will help the fund provide sustainable long-term funding.

Local Fund

This week’s celebratory event at West Park Hotel.

Jan Garrill , chief executive of Two Ridings Community Foundation, told the gathering at Harrogate’s West Park Hotel that it would match fund any donations to the Local Fund by individuals or businesses.

Karen Weaver, strategic lead at HADCA, which supports charities in the district, said:

“The Local Fund is all about addressing the hidden needs in our district, like loneliness and mental health.

“It’s so important that there is a dependable fund for small groups that make such a massive impact in the district.”

Further details of the fund are available here.