A local charity that provides meals and care to older people has rebranded its core service, with a dose of heavenly inspiration.
Harrogate Neighbours provides older people with a daily hot meal, preventing social isolation and enabling them to stay in their own homes where possible.
To mark National Meals on Wheels Week (October 30 to November 3), the service is now known as ‘Harrogate Neighbours Meals on Wheels Delivered by Angels‘. It is run by 50 volunteers known as ‘angels’, who deliver over 150 meals every day.
Sue Cawthray, chief executive of Harrogate Neighbours, said:
“Last year, we delivered meals by horse and carriage and the service-users loved it.
“We wanted to do something a little bit different this year, so we decided to deliver the meals on a vintage 1950s tractor by an angel, which evoked lovely memories for our clients.”
Demand for the service is growing, and the charity is calling for more volunteers to deliver even more meals.
New ‘angel’ Zac Evans said:
“It’s not about finding time – it’s making time to support the local community. Dressing up as an angel and delivering the meals by tractor was an amazing experience and something I certainly won’t forget!
“Being a volunteer and making the time makes a real difference to the service-users we get the chance to meet and have a chat with.”
‘Angel’ Zac Evans making a delivery.
Now in its 11th year, Harrogate Neighbours relies on support from local authorities, businesses and the wider community, and Sue said more government funding was needed to support older and vulnerable people, who without the volunteers who run the service would not receive a nutritionally balanced, hot daily meal. She said:
“The future of meals on wheels looks bleak unless the government can do more to support this much-needed service.
“We are supporting an ageing population, and the service is a lifeline for older and vulnerable people living in our community. We are calling for the government to ensure funding is available to local councils to safeguard the service now and in the future.”
In addition to the domiciliary care and hot meal service it provides, the charity also operates two sites: Heath Lodge Community Haven, a residential care home, and The Cuttings, an extra care housing scheme.
Read more:
- Harrogate Neighbours opens care home in Boroughbridge
- Harrogate Neighbours warns of care home closures
- Council to bid for government funding to progress Harrogate social housing schemes
Business Breakfast: Harrogate businesswoman wins lifetime achievement award
It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. The fourth in our series of networking events, with Banyan Bar & Kitchen, is a breakfast event on April 27 from 8am.
Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.
A Harrogate businesswoman has won a lifetime achievement award.
Sue Cawthray, who is chief executive of Harrogate Neighbours, was praised for her service to care catering at the Public Sector Catering Awards 2023.
The ceremony, which was held at the London Hilton Metropole on April 13, saw Ms Cawthray given the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The awards celebrate the best catering operators working across schools, hospitals, care homes, universities, prisons, catering colleges and the military.
Ms Cawthray said:
“I am absolutely shocked and did not expect it.
“I am just so grateful that I have been given the opportunity to do the job I do every day. I believe at Harrogate Neighbours we make a difference to people’s lives every day.”
She added:
“I have the most amazing team at Harrogate Neighbours who are dedicated and hardworking.
“I am just so grateful for the work they put in as well as their dedication and commitment because we do it together.”
Knaresborough not-for-profit exceeds numeracy scheme targets
A Knaresborough not-for-profit organisation has celebrated reaching its annual target for a numeracy scheme.
Better Connect launched its Multiply programme as part of a government initiative to improve maths skills for people from all backgrounds.
The scheme is scheduled to run for three years.
The organisation has gone on to exceed its targets for the first year of the scheme and have helped over 450 adults across eight districts in North Yorkshire, as well as engaging over 250 local employers to get involved.
Emma Lyons, Multiply programme manager at Better Connect, said:
“We’ve just completed year one, and we’ve absolutely smashed it. There’s been such great provision by such great partners, and we are really excited to move the programme forward on to year two.
“We’ve got even bigger and even better, so watch this space.”
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Harrogate Neighbours opens care home in Boroughbridge
Not-for-profit care provider Harrogate Neighbours has opened a care home in Boroughbridge.
Heath Lodge Community Haven is a 31-bed home providing residential and dementia care.
The site was previously a North Yorkshire County Council-run care home called Springfield Garth.
Harrogate Neighbours acquired it as part of a swap agreement that saw the council take over the voluntary organisation’s former 28-bed Heath Lodge care home on Pannal Ash Road in Harrogate.
Harrogate Neighbours hopes its Boroughbridge home will eventually offer the same services as those provided at The Cuttings, its 55-flat development in Starbeck that includes domiciliary care as well as meals on wheels to older and vulnerable people living nearby.
It spent £500,000 refurbishing the York Road site with the help of Yorkshire interior design firm Design Tonic, which donated furniture and staff time to help create a warm and welcoming environment for residents, relatives and staff.
Design Tonic advised on colour palettes to create a calming and comfortable atmosphere and refurnished the ground floor bedrooms with fresh paint and new curtains and carpet. It also re-designed the entrance area using splashes of gold and built a feature reception desk.
Sue Cawthray, chief executive of Harrogate Neighbours said:
“We can’t thank the wonderful team at Design Tonic enough. As a not-for-profit organisation, we rely on the generosity of local businesses.
“The staff, residents and relatives have all commented on how fantastic the entrance area looks – we’re so grateful for all their hard work.”
Read more:
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- Government ‘refuses to consider’ compensating North Yorkshire for scrapped care pilot
Design Tonic founder Amanda Cook, said:
“Working with Harrogate Neighbours and seeing first-hand the impact the transformation has had on residents and staff is why we do what we do.
“We work with a number of local charities that we align ourselves with and it’s great to share our expertise and give something back – particularly when we know what a huge difference it makes.”
Heath Lodge Community Haven received a ‘Good’ rating in all areas following a recent Care Quality Commission visit.
Delaying cap on costs would be a ‘slap in the face’, say Harrogate care leaders
Social care leaders have warned that another delay in the government’s long-promised cap on care costs would be a “slap in the face” for the struggling sector.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is reportedly preparing to put back the £86,000 cap on the amount people pay for care across their lifetime by a year or more.
And now there are further uncertainties over the planned reforms after the resignation of prime minister Liz Truss on Thursday.
Mike Padgham, chair of the Independent Care Group which provides services in North Yorkshire and York, said not introducing the cap as planned in October 2023 would be a “betrayal” of people who are facing the “nightmare of paying their care costs and having to sell their homes to do so”.
He said:
“It is seven years since the introduction of a cap on care costs was first hit by delays and we cannot keep seeing this reform get kicked further and further down the road.”
Sue Cawthray, chief executive of care charity Harrogate Neighbours, also said there had been no let up for the sector which is struggling with rising costs and staffing shortages, and that another delay by the government would be a “slap in the face”.
She said:
“We seem to be stuck on a merry-go-round and just can’t get off because of all the challenges that are being thrown at us.
“When is the government going to recognise the terrible situation that health and social care finds itself in?”
Although the reforms are planned for next October, the cap and other measures which mean people with assets under £20,000 won’t have to contribute to their care costs are due to be trialled several months earlier in North Yorkshire.
Read more:
- Reassurances issued over ‘onerous’ social care revamp across Harrogate district
- Social care pilot scheme in Harrogate district ‘could bankrupt council’ without more funding
North Yorkshire County Council was chosen as one of six local authorities to introduce the changes in January as part of a “trailblazer” scheme.
The authority declined to comment on the national reports of delays.
The long-awaited reforms to fix the broken social care system come as the average weekly cost of residential care in the Harrogate district has risen to £1,029.
That figure remains the highest in North Yorkshire and is equivalent to almost £54,000 a year.
Harrogate care costs climb to £54,000 a year as ‘colossal’ price rises biteHarrogate’s high care costs are being compounded by the cost of living crisis as bosses warn that they have no choice but to pass on some of the “colossal” price rises to residents.
With care homes being hit by huge increases in energy and food prices, the average weekly cost of a residential care home in the district is now £1,029.
That figure remains the highest in North Yorkshire and is equivalent to almost £54,000 a year.
The climbing costs come at a time of significant workforce pressures as care homes continue to rely upon agency staff and constantly recruit to try to fill vacancies.
Sue Cawthray, chief executive of care charity Harrogate Neighbours, described the price rises as “colossal” and said further increases in insurance costs and workers’ wages were adding to the pressures of keeping care services running.
Sue Cawthray, chief executive of Harrogate Neighbours
She added that the only way for care homes to be able to keep their costs down was for the government to provide more funding and support for services.
Ms Cawthray said:
“There is a serious shortage of funding in health and social care.
“This has been going on year after year and the situation is only getting worse as more people get older and need to go into care.”
After years of funding cuts and promises to fix the broken care system, the government earlier this year announced a new £86,000 cap on the amount anyone will have to spend on care over their lifetime.
This was due to be funded by a 1.25% rise in National Insurance, however, the tax rise was reversed by prime minister Liz Truss and funding will now come from general taxation.
The price cap and other measures are to be tested out as part of a “trailblazer” scheme which has seen North Yorkshire County Council chosen as one of six local authorities to introduce the reforms several months ahead of elsewhere.
Read more:
- Reassurances issued over ‘onerous’ social care revamp across Harrogate district
- Social care pilot scheme in Harrogate district ‘could bankrupt council’ without more funding
There are, however, questions over when this will begin next year and if it will entail a huge bill for the county council.
Aside from the trial, Cllr Michael Harrison, executive member for health and adult services at the authority, said it was doing “everything possible” to support the care sector, although he added these efforts were being made “within the constraints of the funding allocated by central government”.
He said:
“We continue to make the case to the government for comprehensive reform and funding of social care.
“The council is implementing a three-year deal to address the actual cost of care provided by care homes, ahead of many other local authorities.
“We are now working with the sector on a similar long-term plan for home care.”
Meanwhile, the county council has further plans to build an extra care facility after purchasing a £1.8 million plot of land at Harrogate’s Cardale Park, and there are also proposals to introduce “micro-providers” in more rural areas.
Cllr Harrison added:
‘She was a remarkable woman’ – Harrogate Neighbours pays tribute to the Queen“In the Harrogate area, we are pursuing several projects to try to improve market conditions, including identifying potential new opportunities to provide care directly.
“We are also hoping to see the introduction of micro-providers in rural areas and are working with care providers to pilot new workforce models, attracting people to the sector with the prospect of the rewarding careers which can result from caring for others.”
Staff and residents at care and assistance service Harrogate Neighbours have paid tribute to the Queen.
The CEO, Sue Cawthray, said she wanted to express her “deepfelt sorrow.” She added:
“We will all have our own personal memories of a remarkable woman and I am sure over the coming days and weeks we will gain strength as we come together to mourn as a nation.”
Residents have also recalled their past experiences and meetings with the Queen.
Kate Smith, 89, said:
“I remember sleeping on The Mall at the age of 19 years old to watch The Queen’s Coronation it was a wonderful experience and something that has stayed with me all my life. She was a remarkable woman.”
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This sentiment was shared by Chris Taylor, who looks after maintenance and the grounds at the company’s The Cuttings retirement complex. He said:
“I served in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards from 1976 to 1991. HM The Queen was my Colonel in Chief. On two occasions I had the privilege of meeting Her Majesty.
“I was one of her escorts for a regimental tercentenary celebrations and in later years I was part of an armoured escort from Edinburgh Castle to St Giles Cathedrals. She made all of us feel at ease during her visits.”
Harrogate Neighbours have said that they ‘would like to thank Her Majesty The Queen for serving the people for over 70 years with commitment, dedication and unwavering and selfless loyalty to our country and the commonwealth.’
Ms Cawthray added that the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service which the team received in 2020 would be treasured.
She confirmed that the flag on the company’s site would be flown at half-mast during the mourning period.
Harrogate Neighbours warns of care home closuresThe chief executive of a Harrogate care charity has warned the energy crisis could force some care homes to close without urgent government action.
Sue Cawthray, chief executive of Harrogate Neighbours, said spiralling bills were already being felt by care providers, with the charity’s own gas costs more than doubling over the last 12 months to over £90,000.
She added the looming winter and further price rises was a “huge concern” for the care sector, which looks after the most vulnerable in society. Ms Cawthray said:
“Those working in social care are responsible for people’s lives and we have got to make sure that not only are our residents warm, but also that food costs are addressed.
“I have a colleague who is a small care provider and very concerned about how he is actually going to pay the wages, nevermind keep people warm.”
New prime minister Liz Truss has pledged to “act immediately” on the energy crisis – with a price freeze funded by government-backed loans to energy companies widely expected.
Read more:
- Dacre Banks pub gives warning as it faces £65,000 energy bill
- £70,000 energy bill increase forces Harrogate district farm shop to close
But with the full details of the plans yet to be announced, Ms Cawthray said the charity was already looking at different ways to reduce its energy costs, including the use of heating monitors in residential rooms and solar panels.
She added that any government plans must include care homes and charities like Harrogate Neighbours, which provides residential care and a hot meal delivery service. She said:
“The government needs to be helping out everybody – it worries me just how people are going to cope.
“We use a huge amount of energy, not just in our residential areas but also in our kitchens and for our meals on wheels service so we have really got to think about our costs.
“This is a huge concern for us as we are a not-for-profit organisation
“At The Cuttings, our residents are responsible for their own bills so we have got to ensure they are not going to be turning down their heating to save money.
“We are going to have to be creative and innovative, as we always are.”