A report has revealed the extent families across the Harrogate district are facing hardship, where 5,725 children are living in poverty.

The national campaign group End Child Poverty and researchers from Loughborough University have produced the report which is based on figures from 2019/20 before the pandemic hit.

It uses government statistics to calculate the number of children who live in a household where income is 60% below the median household income of £29,900.

For a family of one adult and two children, this would leave them with £280 a week after housing costs.

According to the report, of all the children in the Harrogate district, 20.1% are considered to live in poverty – below the UK average of 31%.

The group is calling on the government to create a “credible plan” to end child poverty which it said must include a commitment to increase child benefits.

Scarily high

While Harrogate has the lowest child poverty percentage in Yorkshire, the figure still represents over one-fifth of all children living here.

Ruth Jackman is a volunteer for The Village in Harrogate which works to alleviate material poverty among families with small children

She said 5,725 children is a “heartbreaking” and “scarily high” figure.

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Ms Jackman said child poverty is often a hidden problem in the area with some women scared or embarrassed to come forward to ask for help.

She said:

“Harrogate comes across as very middle class and wealthy, but there are extremes on both sides.

“In some ways Harrogate is tougher place not to have money. Some people have a sense of shame or embarrasment. It must be incredibly hard.”

Ms Jackman added many young mums who have contacted The Village have particularly struggled during the covid pandemic. She said it’s been harder to find jobs which in turn has made it harder to pay housing costs or bills.

Families in need

The government measures child poverty differently and said over the last 10 years, child poverty fell from 28% (3.7 million) to 25% (3.5 million).

A spokesperson said:

“Latest figures show that the number of children in absolute poverty has fallen by 300,000 since 2010.

“We are committed to supporting families most in need, spending billions more on welfare and planning a long-term route out of poverty by protecting jobs through furlough and helping people find new work through our Plan for Jobs.

“We also introduced our £269 million Covid Local Support Grant to help children and families stay warm and well-fed throughout the pandemic.”

Harrogate District Hospital currently has no patients with covid for the first time in nine months.

At the peak of the second wave in mid-February there were 68 covid patients at the hospital.

Now, the hospital has recorded zero covid inpatients – the first time since August 28.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust tweeted its praise to colleagues for their “immense efforts” over the past year.

It also thanked the local community for doing their bit to suppress the virus.

“And thank you to our local communities for following guidance, making sacrifices, being understanding and doing your bit. Especially if you’ve had the vaccine. Please, keep following the guidance and remain vigilant.”

For the first day since 28 August 2020, we have zero inpatients with Covid-19 in Harrogate District Hospital!

Thank you to our hospital-based colleagues for their immense efforts throughout the past year and a bit. An incredible effort. pic.twitter.com/F2J8cUTLE1

— Harrogate NHS FT (@HarrogateNHSFT) May 24, 2021

There has not been a covid death at the hospital now for six weeks. 179 people who tested positive for covid have died at the hospital since the pandemic began.

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• Harrogate hospital will not reopen walk-in service for hearing aid clinic

Temporary two-way traffic lights on Nab Bridge on the A658 Harrogate Road could be in place for some time yet due to safety fears.

North Yorkshire County Council and Network Rail are currently working out how best to protect the bridge barrier that has been hit nine times in the last 18 months.

They both have concerns about debris falling onto the railway tracks below.

40mph speed signs were placed on moveable frames by the side of the road but they were stolen so NYCC said it is now waiting to erect the speed signs on steel posts concreted into the ground.

It has also commissioned consultants to look at the best long-term solution for the bridge.

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Melisa Burnham, North Yorkshire County Council area highways manager said:

“Temporary two way traffic lights are currently in place until a temporary 40mph can be introduced.

“The speed signs, and then the traffic lights, were introduced as a necessary safety measure to slow vehicles down in order to repair the vehicle restraint barrier (VRS) protecting Nab Bridge.

“Although the barrier and a blocked gully from recent flooding have both been repaired, there has been no further damage to the barrier since the lights have been in place.

“Clearly we have to make sure safety is a priority as we cannot allow the risk of vehicles breaching the VRS and falling onto the main railway line below. Network Rail has placed additional concrete blocks on their land to supplement the VRS barrier. We are now working with Network Rail to find a better long term solution at this location.

“We have commissioned our consultants to look at preliminary designs and costings for safety improvements. We are also in consultation with local residents, including the Nab Bridge riding school about any potential improvements.”

Harrogate District Hospital will not reopen its hearing aid repair clinic as a walk-in service despite the easing of coronavirus restrictions.

The clinic closed its doors to become a postal-only service early on in the pandemic, a move which has now become permanent.

Hospital bosses said the change had been well received by patients.

If the audiology team is unable to resolve a problem remotely then they will offer a short repair appointment. The team will not be able to help anyone without an appointment.

Anyone who needs a repair or new equipment should call 01423 553320 or send the team an email.

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• Four covid cases reported in Harrogate district

This postal-only service has been in place for many years in Ripon, York and Scarborough. It brings Harrogate into line with the wider service.

Christine Brindle, the lead audiologist at the hospital, said:

“We’ve chosen to move in line with our wider service across the county and switch to a postal service first and foremost.

“This helps reduce the number of people coming into the hospital who don’t have to. It also means patients don’t have to make the journey to come in.

“Before the pandemic we’d often see queues of 30 to 40 people, which isn’t now appropriate. This change has actually been well-received by the majority of patients.”

Northern Powergrid will spend £1.5 million of government funding in Harrogate to increase the town’s energy capacity and help prepare for future decarbonisation.

The money will be spent on infrastructure upgrades that will support more electric bus use, electric vehicle charging points or other future net-zero needs.

The funding has come from the government’s energy regulator Ofgem and is part of £53 million that will be spent on 14 projects across the north of England.

Patrick Erwin, policy and markets director at Northern Powergrid, said:

“This is targeted investment in the region’s energy networks, which will kick-start projects and increase prosperity across the north.

“We play a critical role powering the everyday lives of the communities we serve. Electricity is one of the most important building blocks for economic growth. In the coming years, our reliance on electricity will increase as we turn to electricity to heat our homes and power our cars.”

Read more:

• Locations of 34 electric vehicle charge points revealed
• Harrogate businesses go electric as number of cars licensed doubles

Meanwhile, latest figures from the Department for Transport show that the number of electric vehicles licensed in Harrogate has nearly doubled since 2019.

According to the data, the number registered in the district increased from 446 at the start of 2019 to 863 by the third quarter of 2020.

By comparison, the UK saw the number of vehicles licensed increase from 199,886 to 355,872.

The government will ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030.

A mobile testing site has opened in Harrogate today for the first time and is set to be there three days a week “until further notice”.

NHS test and trace staff set up the site this morning at West Park car park on Tower Street.

The car park will close on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday each week for testing.

It comes as workers continue to dismantle the permanent testing centre in the Dragon Road car park near Asda, which closed on Sunday (May 23).

Health officials announced in March that the Dragon Road site would close as the Harrogate Convention Centre. The centre said it needs the space for parking.

Read more:

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• Total vaccine doses in Harrogate district near 170,000

The move from a permanent centre to a mobile unit is a further sign that the emergency response to the pandemic is scaling back.

Matthew Robinson, head of resilience and emergencies at North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“The advantages of mobile testing sites is that we can flex and strengthen as we go.

“If cases are increasing in a particular area we will continue to provide more frequent testing in that location.”

The site at the Dragon Road car park is now closed.

This follows news that the vaccination centres in Harrogate and Ripon will also close in August.

Local pharmacy sites in Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge will play a larger part in the vaccine roll out.

For more information on testing go to www.northyorks.gov.uk/book-coronavirus-covid-19-test-if-youve-got-symptoms

In June 2020, Tracey Lee won an employment tribunal against Airline Taxis after they sacked her in January of last year.

But she has given up hope of ever receiving the £25,501 a judge ordered the company to pay her.

Almost a year on from the tribunal she is yet to receive a penny from the taxi firm and described the “horrible” process of trying to get her money back through the courts.

She said the system is stacked against individuals who have been unfairly dismissed.

The tribunal

Ms Lee worked on the phones for the taxi company, which is based on East Parade on Harrogate, on and off for around three years.

She said the work environment soured due to a change in management and, following a disagreement, she was sacked.

She challenged the decision in an employment tribunal in June 2020, where she was successful.

Airline Taxis failed to turn up to the hearing, but the judge ordered the company to pay Ms Lee £25,501, which included loss of earnings.

She said:

“The way they treated me was diabolical. It’s not fair what they did.”

Money struggles

In July 2020, Ms Lee went to Huddersfield County Court to try and obtain a court order to get her money back.

The court ordered bailiffs to try and recover the money from Airline Taxis. However, they have tried and failed to reclaim money or assets from the company on two separate occasions, the latest being in March 2021.

In an email sent to Ms Lee, the bailiffs said: “As suspected, there has not been a good outcome to your file” as “there was nothing to levy upon or apply pressure”.

This is because the company has no assets, including its taxis. They are instead in the name of its sole director Mohammed Suleman.

Ms Lee said she was even advised by a solicitor to “not waste any more money” on the case. She is now resigned to not seeing any of the money she is owed.

She said in the months following her dismissal, she struggled to find a new job and went into rent arrears.

“I had to sign on, it was horrible”.

Ms Lee has since found another job in Harrogate but is angry that the company has been able to avoid paying her the money, despite the employment tribunal, county court ruling and visits from bailiffs.

She added:

“The sting in the tail is that they are still trading. It’s disgusting. They are driving around like they don’t have a care in the world.”

The Stray Ferret asked Airline Taxis to respond but we did not receive a reply.

A Harrogate charity is in need of new premises to continue supporting struggling families across the town.

The Harrogate Clothes Bank offers free clothing to those in need and is currently based at McCarthy’s Storage World on Ripon Road.

The charity’s home is being let out from August so it is on the hunt for a unit of between 1,000 to 1,500 square feet it can use for free, or somewhere it can rent for well below market price.

The clothes bank is run entirely by volunteers and was set up in 2016. Families in Harrogate who find themselves in financial difficulty can get in touch with the charity on Facebook and let it know what they need.

Before the pandemic the charity was supporting 60 to 70 families each month but it says since April this has dropped to 30 to 35 families. It said this is because organisations that handle referrals could be unaware it is running fully again.

The charity expects numbers to rise again in coming months.

Co-ordinator Mike Procter said:

“There are many reasons why people may need our help, it could be due to long-term financial issues or a crisis situation causing critical need such as escaping an abusive relationship.

“We will continue to help as many people as we can.”

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The charity has said location is important. Ideally it would be based on Knaresborough Road around Starbeck or Ripon Road near Jennyfield.

Mr Procter added that if no location was found the clothes bank would have to work out of several smaller spaces and offer a delivery service.

This would mean people’s options would be vastly reduced as they would be unable to come in and choose their clothes.

It is currently in need of summer clothing donations for children and adults.

The centre is open on Saturdays between 10.30am to 12.30pm for donation drop-offs and pick-ups. It is holding a pop-up clothing sale at St Mark’s Church, Harrogate, on Sunday to raise funds.

Harrogate Clothes Bank works closely with other charities including The Village, which offers free baby clothing in Harrogate. The charity shares its space with the Canaan Trust that provides free white goods and furniture.

Another partner is Resurrected Bites in Knaresborough, which makes meals out of food headed for landfill.

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. See below for details on how to contribute.

Time for a Harrogate museum?

Having read some articles by Harrogate historian Malcolm Neeson, recently published by the Stray Ferret, I was reflecting on how many historical exhibits there must be in and around Harrogate, which are in storage possibly.

As the town centre is now changing following the pandemic, there are lots of empty properties available.

Could now be the time for Harrogate to celebrate its history by creating a museum? This might complement the excellent Royal Pump Room Museum and enhance the historic walks in Harrogate in the future.

Jane Malster, Harrogate

Vaccinated people should not have to pay for covid tests when we go abroad

I can not get my head around the fact we have had second covid injections but when we go on holiday we have to pay for a test.

We have to pay nearly £100 to test before we go into a country and the same amount again when we come back. Now we have had second injections we still have to wear masks and test. It’s puzzling a lot of people. I thought the vaccine would be the end of it.

If it isn’t, why put everyone through the injection? Fully vaccinated people should not have to pay to do a test. It’s wrong and costs a lot of money, especially if there are a few adults in the family.

Diana Pollitt, Harrogate

Noisy car exhausts blight Harrogate life

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Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

Stray Kitchen is our column all about food written by renowned local produce expert, food writer and chef, Stephanie Moon. Stephanie is a champion of food produced in the UK and particularly in Yorkshire and the Harrogate district. 

As the Hotel & Restaurant industry and catering outlets dust off their aprons, I keep hearing fellow chefs saying “It is great to get back to normal”.

I am not sure many chefs I know are normal! I mean that as the utmost compliment – but myself and my comrades are anything but…

These past few months have been the toughest, and I’ve been hearing that many hospitality people have become disillusioned with the career and perhaps gone to do something completely different – but as a town that thrives on being hospitable, Harrogate and the food it produces needs its chefs.

Where have they gone? Some may now be drivers, carers, and shop workers or just loving having Saturday nights with their family.

Chefs are an unusual breed, as I said before. Anyone who wants to put themselves under pressure like that and thrives on it perhaps needs their head testing- but we love it.

As the final for Great British Menu gets underway this week and the chefs are in a boiling pot of creativity and competing – it makes me think, chefs will always want to create and compete and push themselves. Perhaps the chefs of tomorrow are creating in their home kitchens and making tea for their family’s tonight. Good luck to them and know that a challenging, yet promising and rewarding career is still out there. If you are a Chef that has wondered if it’s time for a change, I say wait: remember the creative side, the passion and the fun that the kitchen can bring.

Our normal IS coming back!

Being a chef is in your blood, and there’s no denying we love it.

Happy Cooking

Steph x

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