The staff and trustees at Harrogate Mind are walking 1932 miles next month to raise money and awareness for the importance of your mental health.

This festive challenge will see the team walk the distance from The Acorn Centre, central Harrogate, to Lapland between December 1 and December 25.

There are 15 staff members and trustees taking part, meaning each of them has to walk, run or cycle almost 130 miles in 24 days.

The charity said it hopes to promote the benefits of exercise for a person’s mental health through this fundraising campaign.

Tina Chamberlain, CEO of Mind in the Harrogate district, said everyone had worked really hard during the pandemic and even they can sometimes forget to work on their own mental health.

She said:

“We are often too busy taking calls from people to take a lunch break and the long days mean that you don’t feel like exercising when you leave work either. I noticed it was all starting to take its toll on staff.

“We came up with the idea that we would walk the 1932 miles from Harrogate to Lapland. Having this goal has really galvanised the team.”

Read more:

• Two Knaresborough women ‘brave the shave’ for local school.
• Mind in Harrogate calls for more volunteers for its befriending service. 

Twenty voluntary organisations in the Harrogate district have shared £415,000 from the government’s Coronavirus Community Support Fund.

The fund enables small and medium sized not-for-profit organisations to help vulnerable groups during the pandemic.

A total of 8,250 organisations shared £200 million nationally.

The largest local beneficiaries were Community Catalysts, a social enterprise in Harrogate that helps people run community businesses, which received £69,000 and the Knaresborough community arts charity Orb, which was awarded £65,000.

Other major beneficiaries included Yorkshire Yoga & Therapy Centre in Knaresborough and Harrogate’s Wesley Centre, which received £48,990 and £37,500 respectively.

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In a statement on his website, Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said:

“Over the last decade since I became the MP for our area I have seen first-hand the valuable work many of the organisations do.

“I am delighted that they are benefiting from the support fund and continuing the fantastic work they do.”

The successful applicants were:

Community Catalysts £69,000
Orb £65,000
Yorkshire Yoga and Therapy Centre £48,990
Wesley Centre £37,500
Harrogate Mind £24,700
Open Country £24,212
Harrogate and District Community Action £23,346
Disability Action Yorkshire £21,893
Artizan International £19,465
Claro Enterprises £10,000
Resurrected Bites £10,000
Cliff House Community Support Services £10,000
Saint Michael’s Hospice £9,107
Boroughbridge and District Community Care £9,000
Autism Angels £8,500
Harrogate Samaritans £8,000
Vision Support Harrogate District £7,056
New Beginnings peer support group £4,332
Happy Wanderers Ambulance Association £3,200
Harrogate and Knaresborough Toy Library £1,307

Mind in Harrogate is calling for more volunteers for its much needed mental health befriending service after only a “few” come forward.

The service gives those struggling with their mental health, or perhaps isolated due to the pandemic the opportunity to make social connections by matching them with a volunteer.

The initiative has seen the charity receive numerous referrals but these are yet to be matched by the small number of volunteers that have come forward so far.

Helen Greensit, centre development manager at Mind in Harrogate, said:

“We’ve had a few really keen volunteers but by no means do we have enough. We are getting a lot of referrals for people needing this service. We will need a lot more volunteers.”

The charity is putting a call out once again for people who have time, even an hour or two each week, to chat, meet and socialise with another member of the local community.

Read more:

• Mind in Harrogate has had to increase its services to meet the demand during the pandemic. 
• Knaresborough mental health group is there for people during the “gap” as they wait for therapy or counselling. 

Volunteers will receive the appropriate training and choose the amount of time they offer to the individual.

The team is also hoping to reach out to rural communities such as Masham and Pateley Bridge. If they don’t have a car and rely on a limited public transport service, people living in those areas can become isolated.

Helen added:

“It is a service that is needed. The need for mental health services has certainly increased during the pandemic.

We need to remember to look after everyone in our communities to help them get through it.”

To hear more about becoming a volunteer ring 01423 503335 or email office@mindinharrogate.org.uk.

A charity offering counselling and befriending services in Harrogate has said it has seen an increase in demand – and is boosting its services in response.

Mind in Harrogate has raised concerns over the impact of tighter covid restriction on people’s health.

As well as returning clients, the charity has received more calls from the public seeking advice and counselling. Common anxieties the charity is seeing include how the pandemic will affect people’s health, the impact on jobs and personal finances, and loneliness and isolation.

In response, new services including a befriending initiative and out-of-hours mental health service have begun in recent months.

Its telephone and online counselling sessions are continuing but, now, face to face counselling can take place too.

Tina Chamberlain, chief executive officer of Mind in the Harrogate district, said:

“I think it is becoming obvious that this pandemic will be around for a long time and the changes to people’s lives will mean people will need more support than ever.

“We have now started offering the counselling service face to face, as well as via Zoom and telephone, and we are getting an increasing number of calls from people needing this service.

“With winter coming, it all seems a bit bleak. For many of our service users loneliness and isolation are major factors in their mental state and so it is a worry.”

Read more:

• Another Harrogate charity reports an increase in counselling requests. 
• A Ripon-based dementia charity has warned on the impact of a second lockdown on its patients.

On Monday, the charity will begin to offer its befriending service. It will match volunteer befrienders with people who would benefit from community-based support, such as help with shopping and social meetings. 

Tina added:

“Loneliness and isolation are a big factor in mental health and many people lack the confidence to make the social connections they need so the service is a way of facilitating that. We have had many people registering for the service.

“We are looking to offer this across the district  as we know that rural isolation and lack of access to services means that people in, for example, Pateley Bridge, Masham and Boroughbridge struggle to get the support they need.”

An out-of-hours support service has also been launched, enabling people to visit the Acorn Centre on weekend evenings until 11.30pm. It offers emotional support as well as signposting and referrals to other services for people experiencing mental distress.

The service can be accessed by calling 01423 647216 or emailing ooh@mindinharrogate.org.uk.

Organisations supporting vulnerable people through the coronavirus crisis have been given a boost thanks to donations from Bilton Community Fund.

The charitable trust gave £500 each to mental health organisation MIND, domestic abuse charity IDAS and Harrogate Samaritans, which provides 24-hour telephone support. The three charities were chosen in order to help them maintain vital services for people who might be struggling more than others during the lockdown.

Bilton Community Fund distributes profits from Bilton Gala, which was held for the final time in 2019, after falling attendance and financial losses meant it was no longer viable. However, the committee has continued to run the registered charity in order to support other community groups. Chairman Stuart Frost said:

“It was an extremely difficult decision to call time on Bilton Gala after more than 40 years, but all of us on the committee were determined to keep supporting our local community in other ways.

“When the coronavirus crisis started, we discussed what we could do to help and felt that it was important to support these good causes. We’re delighted that grants from Bilton Community Fund will make a real difference to so many people.”

The fund also donated £500 to Girlguiding North Yorkshire West, which is re-developing its Birk Crag residential and training centre in Harrogate. Once complete, it will be open to Rainbow, Brownie Guide and Ranger units from across the district, including around 150 young people in Bilton.

Bilton Gala drew crowds onto the streets with its annual opening parade