A Harrogate district private school receives over £8m a year from the government to pay the school fees of children whose parents serve in the British Army.

Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate is an independent boarding school for boys and girls at Thorpe Underwood, close to Little Ouseburn.

The school has a capacity of 1,600 pupils and around 400 are children of people serving in the armed forces. It’s situated about 30 miles from ITC Catterick and 17 miles from Harrogate’s Army Foundation College.

Members of the military are entitled to use the Continuity of Education Allowance grant, which is a state payment that covers 90% of the cost to send a child to private boarding school.

The grant is paid so children do not have their education disrupted when their parents’ army jobs require them to move around the world.

However, it can also be used by troops serving in the UK and many of the families using it are well-paid officers.

One critic of the CEA grant told the Stray Ferret the payments to Queen Ethelburga’s were effectively a “state subsidy of a very large private school” and an obstacle to social mobility.

Long-standing relationship

The Stray Ferret sent a freedom of information request to the Ministry of Defence to ask which private schools in the district have been in receipt of the CEA grant over the past three years.

Other private schools, such as Harrogate’s Ashville College, also receive the grant but not on the scale of QE, whose relationship with the armed forces goes back over 100 years.

The figures show that in 2020/21, QE had 427 children receiving the grant, worth a total of £8.5m.

Over the last three years, Ashville College has received around £300,000 a year for between 18 and 20 children. Ripon Grammar School and Harrogate Ladies’ College also received the grant for a small number of children.

‘State subsidy’

Robert Verkaik is a journalist and author who wrote a book on the public school system called Posh Boys. He is also the former home affairs editor at the Independent newspaper.

Mr Verkaik told the Stray Ferret he was troubled by the amount of money received by QE, which he called “morally and economically wrong”.

Social mobility charity the Sutton Trust has said people at the top of the armed forces were seven times more likely to go to private schools — a situation that Mr Verkaik believes is reinforced by the CEA grant.

Robert Verkaik

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The journalist submitted an FOI request of his own to the MOD in 2015 that revealed, across the UK, the majority of troops using the grant are ranked officer or above.

These include lieutenant colonels, colonels, brigadiers and generals, who are paid between £75,000 and £123,000.

Mr Verkaik said:

“Taxpayers’ money should not be used to fund privileged and wealthy families.

“The grant is an obstacle to social mobility. What happens with the CEA is that officer families receive the bulk of the subsidy. So all you’re doing is promoting the education of already very privileged children”.

State boarding schools

Whilst the CEA grant covers most of the cost for children to attend private boarding schools like Queen Ethelburga’s, 10% of the fees are expected to be paid for by the family.

But with boarding fees of between £11,214 and £14,012 per term at QE, Mr Verkaik says a lance corporal earning under £30,000 would not be able to afford the 10% termly contribution, which still equates to thousands of pounds a year for one child.

He believes children of people serving in the forces should go to state boarding schools instead and save the taxpayer millions.

“The children of non-officer ranks don’t benefit to the same extent. It’s exacerbating the hold a narrow group of families have over the education of children.”

QE response

Queen Ethelburga’s said the college provided a “secure and supportive home from home for students whose parents may need to travel or live abroad for work”.

The school did not respond to our questions that asked what rank the armed forces personnel who send their children to the school hold, and how many are based in the UK.

Dan Machin, Queen Ethelburga’s principal said:

“Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate (QE) has a long-standing relationship with the British forces, welcoming students from forces military families for over 100 years.  QE is CEA-accredited, which means that forces families can use the Continuity of Education Allowance offered by the Ministry of Defence to assist with the funding of a boarding place for their child, at any school of their choice. The aim of the grant is to provide continuity of education for forces children.

“Across the collegiate there is an understanding of the importance of providing a secure and supportive home from home for students whose parents may need to travel or live abroad for work. Staff strive to create the right learning and living environment in which every one of the students at QE can thrive.  QE also has two specialist forces liaison officers, a keeping in touch club for students, and support clinics.

“In these sessions, staff help students to contact parents who may be deployed abroad, chat about issues that are important to them and anything else that they might need help and support with. Our forces children contribute significantly to our QE community with their approach to their education, boarding and activities. They are a valuable part of our QE family.

“In addition to being CEA-accredited, QE is signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant to further our commitment to families, particularly by offering the possibility of employment opportunities to veterans from all branches of the armed forces, to whom we all owe a great debt.  QE also has its own Combined Cadet Force, bringing together an army section (Yorkshire Regiment) and an RAF section. The CCF offers students the chance to develop real life skills that will help them achieve success in life and in the workplace.

“This holistic approach to supporting forces families makes QE a very popular choice.”

Dan Machin

A British Army spokesman said:

“The Ministry of Defence provides support to eligible service personnel with school age children in order to help them provide the continuity in their child’s education that can be difficult to achieve within the state education system, due to the inherent mobility of service life.”

“Continuity of Education Allowance is one of a range of measures for service personnel of all ranks and their families to allow greater parental choice in providing a stable education for their children.”

Harrogate Borough Council is set to sell four flats on Knaresborough High Street that were restored and brought back into use.

The council bought the Grade II listed properties in 2019 after they had been unoccupied for several years.

Renovation began with planning permission and listed building consent in 2020, and has just been completed.

Now, senior councillors look set to sign off on selling the leasehold of the town centre properties for an estimated £879,900.

However, the authority will retain control over the freehold of the flats. It also intends to keep the freehold of two retail units that were part of the refurbishment.

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A report due before councillors at next Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting says retaining the freehold would help “retain control over the quality and frequency of future external repair and maintenance” of the properties.

The properties are valued at:

• Flat 80A £295,000
• Flat 82A £195,000
• Flat 82B £199,950
• Flat 82C £189,950

Cllr Graham Swift, deputy leader and cabinet member for resources, enterprise and economic development at the council, said previously:

“These properties had been a blight on the high street in Knaresborough for several years.

“But after they were brought to our attention by Cllr Darling, we recognised the potential they could have to provide both homes and business spaces, we took the necessary steps to purchase them.”

Vaccination sites in the Harrogate district are preparing to get busy again following the announcement of spring booster jabs.

Covid clinics in Harrogate, Ripon, Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge have wound down or paused since December.

But that is about to change after the government said people aged 75 and over, care home residents and people with weakened immune systems can now book fourth jabs.

Yorkshire Health Network, which is a federation of 17 GP practices in the Harrogate district, operates sites at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate and Ripon Races.

The showground will have its next clinic from 8.30am to 5pm on April 1.

The Ripon Races site.

Dates at Ripon Races are being finalised so they don’t clash with horse race meetings.

Tim Yarrow, operations manager at Yorkshire Health Network, said:

“We anticipate uptake to be high in the 75 and overs as Harrogate has a large population in that cohort.”

Read more:

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• Harrogate district covid rate more than doubles in 12 days

Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge

Homecare Pharmacy Services’ site in Knaresborough.

Homecare Pharmacy’ Service‘s vaccination site at Chain Lane in Knaresborough is to add Monday covid clinics to its existing Friday and Saturday clinics. Bookings are encouraged to avoid having to wait.

Pateley Bridge Pharmacy, which paused its vaccination programme in December, plans to start again soon.

Samina Khan, who owns the pharmacy, said:

“I think we will restart in April, with bookings from March 25, but we are still finalising details.”

Infections rocketing

It comes as infection rates continue to soar in the Harrogate district.

The seven-day infection rate is now 885 per 100,000 people. It was 343 at the start of the month.

It is the highest rate in North Yorkshire and above the England rate of 833.

Harrogate West and Pannal Ash is the worst affected area in the county. It has recorded 135 positive cases in the last seven days.

Vandals have drawn a swastika, ‘Z’ and ‘IRA’ on the front and back of a gravestone in Ripon Cemetery.

North Yorkshire Police said today the attack was particularly shocking for Ripon’s military personnel.

It added it will be stepping-up patrols in the Ripon area “to prevent further incidents of this nature”. The cemetery is based on Kirby Road, close to Ripon Grammar School.

‘Z’ has appeared on the side of some Russian military vehicles in Ukraine.

Inspector Alex Langley, from the Ripon neighbourhood policing team said:

“Members of the public are quite rightly shocked by these instances of vandalism. This is particularly upsetting for the large military community that we have in Ripon.

“Incidents of this nature will not be tolerated, and I would urge anyone who has any information to contact us “.

Police urge anyone with information to contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for Katie Bell. Alternatively you can email katie.bell@northyorkshire.police.uk

Quote reference number 12220048095.

If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

About 60 volunteers who gave up their time to help administer over 10,000 covid jabs in Pateley Bridge have been treated to a thank-you meal.

Samina Khan, owner of Pateley Bridge Pharmacy, and Dr Lewis Caplin, a GP who played a key role in the Nidderdale town’s vaccination programme, organised the event.

The pharmacy wound down its programme in December but is now set to provide more clinics following the announcement that people aged 75 and over, care home residents and those with weakened immune systems can book spring boosters.

Pateley Bridge Pharmacy was awarded an NHS England contract to give jabs at its third time of applying.

Some opposed the move, saying local people could attend the GP-run vaccine centres in Harrogate and Ripon. But not everyone was able to get to those locations easily.

Ms Khan said:

“A lot of our patients were relying on transport to get to the other places and it was costing them £60 for round trips, which is a lot of money.”

The pharmacy began giving jabs in April and administered 350 a day at its peak.

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Ms Khan said if Dr Caplin, a retired GP in Pateley Bridge, hadn’t agreed to oversee the vaccinations “I don’t think I would have been able to pursue it”.

The volunteers, who included vaccinators, marshals and administrative staff, enjoyed a free Indian meal at Cardamon Black restaurant in Harrogate on Sunday.

Ms Khan, who has also given volunteers gift vouchers, said:

“It was just to say thank you to them because they have given up their time to help protect the local community.”

The pharmacy plans to start providing jabs again in April.

All photos by Natasha Audsley

Harrogate roads policing sergeant Paul Cording has published photos of a car that crashed into a Harrogate home over the weekend.

Sgt Cording, who regularly tweets about police life on the road, said the driver, who has not been named, had been charged with drink-driving and would appear in court next month. He tweeted:

“Thankfully no injuries and no one was in the garden at the time.”

He posted about the incident at about 7am yesterday morning.

RTC in #Harrogate where car has crashed into garden of residential property. Thankfully no injuries & no one was in the garden at the time. The driver has been arrested, interviewed & charged with drink driving. They have a date in court next month #Fatal5 pic.twitter.com/47QUe0oYK9

— Sgt Paul Cording BEM (@OscarRomeo1268) March 20, 2022

During two busy weekend night shifts, Sgt Cording also tweeted about a car driver in Ripon refusing to stop when asked by police and the recovery of class A drugs.

The driver of this vehicle decided they didn’t want to stop for Police in #Ripon and made off. Vehicle located a short time later with significant rear end damage and tyres tracks towards a sizeable tree!! Vehicle seized & enquiries ongoing pic.twitter.com/ZWgGr3uUtx

— Sgt Paul Cording BEM (@OscarRomeo1268) March 20, 2022

A flying start to the shift after this vehicle was stopped on the outskirts of #Harrogate I was then joined my my colleagues from #OpExpedite and a search recovered a substantial amount of believed Class A drugs #OneInCustody #PWITS #Result pic.twitter.com/H391LkXuVj

— Sgt Paul Cording BEM (@OscarRomeo1268) March 21, 2022

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Bettys and Taylors Family Fund is inviting parish councils and schools to apply for grants of up to £5,000.

The fund supports Yorkshire-based groups working to improve the lives of local children and young people through food.

Cookery courses, healthy eating initiatives and food hygiene are examples of the kind of schemes eligible for funding.

Grants range from £500 to £5,000 and must benefit people living in Yorkshire.

Parish councils and schools are eligible to apply providing the grant is used for purposes outside their usual remit.

As Bettys and Taylors is a food and hospitality business, the fund aims to support local food-based projects.

The fund opened for applications this week and closes on April 28. Groups will find out by mid-June if they have been successful.

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Long before ‘wellness’ became a buzzword, the Victorians were effectively already practising it.

And Harrogate led the way — even back then.

The wealthy and fashionable flocked to the spa town to experience its green open spaces and recuperative and healing powers of spring waters, which were first discovered by William Slingsby in the late 16th century.

Health and wellbeing hotspot

Now, more than a century after the Victorian era, Harrogate Borough Council’s new tourism body, Destination Harrogate, is set to promote the district as a health and wellbeing hotspot once again.

It will draw on the district’s rich spa heritage and accessibility to the great outdoors to attract visitors, events and investment to create a strong local economy.

The approach forms one of three key objectives in a three-year plan, which sets out a vision, priorities and actions that will be put in place to make the district “a first choice destination”.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret, Gemma Rio, head of Destination Harrogate, explained what this would involve.

She said:

“People have been coming to Harrogate since 1571 to take the waters and have a leisure experience, so that’s not new, but it has developed over the years.

“Now you can still go to the Royal Pump Room Museum and understand the spa heritage and our roots and how we became this great leisure destination, but you can also go to the Turkish Baths, you can go and have an incredible spa experience at Rudding Park or Grantley Hall.

“So the whole district is very good at that traditional health and wellbeing piece.”

Rudding Park Spa.

Wellbeing different for everyone

Ms Rio, who was appointed in October 2020, said one lesson that had been learnt as a result of the pandemic was that health and wellbeing is different to everyone.

She said:

“For some people it is a massage and a jacuzzi, but to others it’s a walk in the Nidderdale AONB, or it’s seeing a show at the theatre, or it’s just being with family around the table at one of our great independent restaurants. So that’s what we are going to try and pull out in our campaign.”

The multi-channel campaign, which will have a digital marketing focus, is being launched in April and will run for most of the year.

Ms Rio said:

“If someone is a really avid walker, we want to tell them that story and plan itineraries for them around walking and country pubs.

“Our supporting campaigns will also try and pick up the same messages.

“Every year Visit Harrogate ran a successful gardening campaign. Our partners loved that campaign, they have seen some great results from it.

“Obviously as a destination, gardening is a real strength of ours as well. We’ve got RHS Harlow Carr, Newby Hall and various places that have great gardens.

“So even our gardens campaign is going to try and link in with the health and wellbeing priority as well.”

RHS Garden Harlow Carr.

Read more:

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Attracting business events

The focus on health and wellbeing will also be used to attract more leisure and business events, with one of the target sectors for conferences being the medical industry, Ms Rio explained.

She said:

“Where else to hold your medical conference than a destination that has this incredible spa heritage and medical story to tell?

“Where better to base you new health and wellbeing business, or really any business?

“If you want to invest in a place, knowing that you’re going to be somewhere where your employees health and wellbeing will be looked after. A place where their work/life balance will be stronger. It’s much easier to employ people to come and join you if you base yourself somewhere like the Harrogate district.

“It’s a really exciting campaign.”

Collaboration is key

Ms Rio said when the three-year blueprint, known as the Destination Management Plan (DMP), was written, a consultation with residents and businesses was carried out in order to come up with the three main priorities set out in the document.

She said:

“This theme came up over and over again and I think in many ways it’s a bit of a no-brainer. We’ve got the history, we’ve got a great story to tell.

“Health and wellbeing has rocketed as a trend over the past couple of years. Plus we already have strong products, like the Turkish Baths. So it’s not trying to promote something that we are not actually that good at.

“It’s not rocket science what we have come up with. But I think what we have not done as a destination is work together to really push that in the same way that a place like Bath does.

“The story has always been there but we haven’t really taken advantage of it in a way that we can now.

“Everyone is really keen to work with us to see this become a success, and I think as a destination that’s the only way it can work. That collaboration is absolutely key.”

‘Core part’ of district’s identity

Ms Rio said the health and wellbeing campaign will continue to evolve and grow as a “core part” of the district’s identity.

She said:

“Other campaigns will run alongside it to highlight other strands such as retail or arts and culture, but there will always be this golden thread running through it.

“A trip to Harrogate district is good for you, regardless of whether you are into massage, theatre or walking.”

Nidderdale AONB.

One of the main messages that will be promoted by the campaign will be length of stay, which will aim to encourage visitors to come for long weekends or weeks away in the district.

Ms Rio added:

“The way we do that is we try and prepare itineraries. So we are adding some functionality to the Visit Harrogate website this year that makes it easy for someone to say ‘I’m going to go to this experience in the morning, have lunch at this pub, stay at this hotel’. That helps to encourage people to stay longer, which benefits the local economy.”

Lightwater Valley will reopen next weekend, with new attractions and activities to attract families of younger children.

The adventure park near Ripon said visitors can expect a new discovery woods, dodgems, new food outlets, a hall of mirrors, an old-school amusement arcade and a new character for children to meet.

Ebor the Lightwater Dragon will meet and greet visitors and have his photo taken.

The friendly dragon is part of the park’s re-brand towards younger children aged up to 12 and will be at the centre of the daily entertainment programme throughout the year.

Discovery Woods will include a lakeside nature trail, a mud kitchen and cloud gazing.

Read more:

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The park would not be complete without its rides, of which it has more than 35.

Some old favourites like the Eagle’s Claw, Skyrider and the Lady Bird rollercoaster will reopen alongside some gentler rides such as the carousel and the Lightwater Express train.

The Eagle’s Claw

The park has not confirmed if larger rides like the Ultimate will reopen but with its focus now on younger children some rides no longer fit the brief.

Treetop Trails, where visitors can walk across trampoline nets high above the park, will reopen.

Public leisure centres in the Harrogate district are experiencing their greatest investment ever.

Harrogate Borough Council is spending more than £40m on new pools in Ripon and Knaresborough and on a major refurbishment of The Hydro in Harrogate.

Mark Tweedie, managing director of Brimhams Active, oversees 250 staff responsible for delivering services at these sites as well as several others.

Brimhams is the council-owned company set up last year to promote health and wellbeing in the district.

It operates swimming pools in Harrogate, Ripon, Knaresborough, Pateley Bridge and Starbeck. All of these sites, except the magnificent old Starbeck Baths and the soon-to-be-rebuilt Knaresborough Pool, also have leisure or fitness centres.

Mark Tweedie with Jack Laugher at the opening of Ripon’s new facility.

Brimhams also oversees Fairfax Wellbeing and Community Hub in Harrogate, Jennyfield Styan Community Centre, a children’s nursery and the Harrogate Turkish Baths.

Mr Tweedie, 54, a former PE teacher with considerable experience of the leisure sector, was hired by the council in November 2020 to support the creation of Brimhams before transferring to his current role in July last year.

He says he was attracted by the council’s vision of using leisure to improve the health and wellbeing of people in the district, backed by its willingness to invest serious money to make it happen.

Difficult start

It hasn’t been an easy ride. There have been costly delays at the new Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon due to sinkhole issues that long pre-date Mr Tweedie. A report due imminently will determine how much more work needs to be done before the site can fully open. He says:

“I’m absolutely confident it will be resolved. Yes, it’s been frustrating. I know customers have been desperate to come back since Spa Baths closed.”

There has been some discontent about the consultation and need for a new leisure centre in Knaresborough, where work is due to begin next month on a 65-week building programme due to finish in July next year.

How Knaresborough’s new pool will look.

Mr Tweedie says the transition from old to new site will be “seamless”, with the current facility operating until the new one opens — something that didn’t happen in Ripon, where the Spa Baths closed four months before the new pool opened due to delays.

Now there is the looming nine-month closure of The Hydro, which will leave Harrogate without a council-run pool.

Staffing has also been difficult — Brimhams has been consistently operating with 20 to 30 vacancies. Opening hours have been affected. Mr Tweedie says:

“It’s been a significant challenge, and it’s shared across the sector nationally.”

Read more:

• Ripon leisure centre named after local Olympic hero Jack Laugher
• £28m contracts for new Knaresborough pool and Harrogate Hydro upgrades approved
• Harrogate Hydro set to close for nine months

But there is little doubt that when all the projects are completed, the district’s facilities will be significantly better than they were pre-Brimhams. He says:

“We are through the worst and back on track and people in the Harrogate district and our staff have got a lot to look forward to.”

Aim to nearly double membership 

The aim is to increase total membership at the sites in Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough to 5,000 within six months of the new facilities opening. Membership totalled about 3,000 at its pre-covid peak so it would be a considerable achievement but Mr Tweedie is “very confident” of achieving it. He says 400 people joined the Ripon centre in the fortnight after it opened.

How the refurbished Hydro will look.

Brimhams’s current monthly rate is £38.95. Customers at The Hydro are being offered a reduced rate of £32 to use the other sites while it is being refurbished. They will also be able to take part in group exercise sessions at the nearby Jennyfield Styan Community Centre.

Large private gym chains such as Pure Gym and Coach Gyms, which offer membership at about £20 a month, have extended their tentacles into the district, which can’t make life easy for council-run alternatives, but Mr Tweedie insists they are serving different markets.

“The private sector is dealing with the 15% that want to join a gym. The question is, what happens to the other 85%? How do we use public facilities to reach out to them?”

He talks about Brimhams taking “a more holistic approach” that leads to a “deeper and more purposeful relationship” with customers. People won’t come just to use the pool or gym, he says, but also to access a wider range of service that are being developed, such as mental health support, nutritional advice and mindfulness. It’s no coincidence that two Brimhams Active sites now include ‘wellbeing’ in their names — it’s clearly the way ahead.

A new software system, due to go live at the end of the month, will enable online booking and a “better digital relationship with customers”, as well as capturing footfall data that Brimhams can use to improve services.

Will it consider 24-hour opening, as many private gyms are? Mr Tweedie says:

“We have no plans for 24/7. We feel we can deal with our customer base between the hours of 6.30am and 10pm.”

Starbeck Baths

The scale of the council’s investment in leisure leads Mr Tweedie to say confidently there are no plans to reduce services or close Starbeck Baths, which is a constant threat to such an ageing facility. He adds:

“What the commercial approach is not about is reducing wages and staff and providing the bare bones of a service.”

All change next year

But his reassurances are tempered by the fact that Harrogate Borough Council will be abolished next year and control of Brimhams will transfer to the new North Yorkshire Council.

Brimhams staff will have a new employer from April 1 and, in time, a new strategy run by different managers.

Mr Tweedie, who lives in Morpeth and divides his time working from home and in the Harrogate district, says it could take at least a couple of years to implement whatever model the new council introduces so his role could exist for some time yet. He says:

“I want to deliver our three-year strategic plan and I am already working with other district leisure service leaders and North Yorkshire colleagues to manage the transition to the unitary authority.”

The important thing, he adds, is that customers don’t notice any sudden changes next year and that frontline staff, such as lifeguards and receptionists, are looked after. He says:

“It’s business as usual for us. We have a vision. We have a strategy. We have a plan we will deliver on that with a high level of tenacity.

Nidderdale Pool and Leisure Centre in Pateley Bridge.