Harrogate shops launch team hampers for Horticap

A group of Harrogate shops on Otley Road has launched a hamper raffle to try and raise £1,000 for Horticap.

Nicola Jones, the owner of Harlow House and Beauty, has organised the raffle along with other shops on the street.

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All money raised will go towards fitting out Horticap’s new cafe. The charity, which helps adults with learning disabilities, hopes to open it in the next few months.

There are six prizes in total which include vouchers, fruits, beauty treatments, hair treatments and cakes in hampers.

Nicola Jones is the owner at Harlow House of Beauty.

People can buy tickets at £2 a strip from the Wharfedale Fruiterers, Harlow House and Beauty, The Kitchen, The Sandwich Deli and Le Salon.

It has been a difficult few months for Nicola Jones from Harlow House and Beauty after she had to cancel treatments. She told the Stray Ferret:

“The first couple of weeks was great because everyone was desperate to get back and we were approaching August 1 when we were expecting to start with face treatments. But we had a day’s notice to tell us that we actually couldn’t start with those treatments again and we still don’t know what’s happening.”

Harrogate personal trainer ends classes after more than 30 years

A personal trainer from Harrogate has decided to end his classes after more than 30 years due to coronavirus restrictions.

Ray Thomson started Pulse Beats circuit training in 1989. He has taught thousands over the years and has done most of his classes in recent years at Harrogate Grammar School.

But with tough requirements on indoor exercise Mr Thomson does not believe that his classes are viable anymore. He will still continue with his sports and posture massages.

When Ray Thomson made the announcement he was inundated with messages of support and memories from his former students.

A fancy dress picture from the archives in the 1990s.

Mr Thomson said:

“I wanted to leave a legacy where people fondly remember the classes as a place where they had fun.

“Exercise should never be a chore, it should be something you enjoy.

“One of my favourite memories was when we had a noise complaint from one of our neighbours. We were whooping and hollering when he was watching Coronation Street.”

When the Stray Ferret asked Mr Thomson if he would ever start the classes again, he said “never say never” but added that now was not the time.

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Mr Thomson also raised fears about Harrogate’s exercise industry after the news that one of his former colleagues was forced to put Gambaru fitness into liquidation.

He added that the exercise industry has been hit by coronavirus and there will be more closures to come but he believes that a resurgance will follow.

Harrogate district care homes report one more coronavirus death

Harrogate district care homes have reported one more coronavirus death in the latest weekly figures – meaning they have reported three deaths in four weeks.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures today, which cover up until July 31, show that care homes across the district have reported 107 deaths where coronavirus is the cause of death.

The figures also reveal that there have been five deaths at home, one death at a hospice, and two more deaths at “other communal establishments”, since the start of the outbreak.

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Meanwhile, Harrogate District NHS Foundation Trust remains at 82 coronavirus deaths. The coronavirus positive death happened there on July 15.

The hospital reported a couple of weeks ago that it did not have any coronavirus patients. For that reason, the Stray Ferret paused its daily reporting of the coronavirus statistics.

However, this week’s ONS data revealed that there have been seven extra deaths at the hospital where covid is mentioned on the death certificate. However, they are not part of the official statistics, which only include cases where the virus is the cause of death.

Hundreds of meteors will fall over Harrogate tonight

Hundreds of meteors will fall over Harrogate skies tonight.

Around 60 to 100 meteors will fall from the sky every hour, but stargazers may struggle with finding somewhere clear to view them because of predicted thunderstorms.

The event is called the Perseid meteor shower and happens every year.

It is expected to be most visible in the early hours of tomorrow morning between midnight and 5am.

Tristan Campbell, an astrophotographer from Harrogate said:

“The weather doesn’t currently look as though it’s going to be clear until at least 1am and unfortunately the moon rises around then which makes the meteors harder to see.”

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Meteors, more commonly known as shooting stars, are formed as debris falls from the tail of a comet. Since July 14, earth has been ploughing through particles left behind from the Swift-Tuttle comet, which turn into bright falling specks.

As Perseid meteors are so bright, Tristan said if the skies remain clear they will be visible from most gardens, although a better location would be somewhere dark with little light pollution. Tristan’s personal favourite spot to shoot is in Crimple Valley.

He said:

“If I’m feeling more adventurous I’ll head out to Nidderdale for much darker skies.”

The shower can be seen across the whole of the UK and is expected to continue until August 24. More information can be found on the Royal Museums Greenwich website.

Harrogate out-of-work benefits claims rise slightly

There has been a slight rise in the number of people claiming out-of-work benefits in the Harrogate district.

In July, there were 3,885 people claiming out-of-work benefits, up slightly from 3,740 in June. Of those, 2,235 were men and 1,650 were women.

The figures were published today by the Office for National Statistics and are accurate up to July 9. They reveal that 4.1% of the district’s population were claiming out-of-work benefits, a decrease from 3.9% in June.

Harrogate is below the UK figure of 6.4% for people claiming the benefits, which includes Job Seekers’ Allowance and Universal Credit.

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The figures have remained stable over the past couple of months but with the government’s furlough scheme winding down ahead of it closing completely in October, the long-term outlook for jobs in the Harrogate district remains uncertain.

According to Harrogate & Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones, 15,200 people have had their jobs protected in the district through the furlough scheme since it began.

Last week, a study undertaken by the County Councils Network suggested that more than 50% of all jobs in Harrogate are “at risk” due to the economic impact of coronavirus.

Harrogate A level students anxiously await results day

The Stray Ferret has been out speaking to A-level students ahead of their big day on Thursday.

With A-level exams cancelled, students’ futures are in the hands of predicted grades and a process of standardisation. This uncertainty has led to heightened nerves across the district.

On Thursday, August, 13 students will find out their grades and, for some, whether they have got into the university of their choice.

But even the process of finding out their results will be a different experience to usual.

India Shenton, a student at St Aidan’s sixth form, told the Stray Ferret:

“We are being emailed our results on the day… I would have preferred to have sat the exams and then gone in to find out the results with all my friends as it’s all part of it, isn’t it?… But there’s nothing we can do about it.

“I am quite nervous, I feel like If I had been able to sit the exams then at least then I would have an idea of how they had gone.”

Georgina Bygrave, a student at King James sixth form, said:

“We are getting an email in the morning with our grades. It’s sad but I get that it’s the safest way. I personally don’t think it’s very accurate as if we had been told ages ago that we weren’t going to sit the exams we would have tried harder in school…

“Everyone knows exams are important so you put all your effort in, whereas with homework you might just do it the night before and then you might get a rubbish grade for it, not thinking it’s going to impact your actual A level result.”

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Zac Hall, a student at Harrogate Grammar School, said:

“We will be getting an email at 8am to our school email with the results. I’m not feeling great about it as I didn’t do very well in my mocks, but I was just planning on revising harder closer to the time. I guess it wasn’t the best mindset to have, but it is what it is.

“I am having a year out anyway, so I could always resit the year and try a bit harder. It was the same with my GCSEs – I didn’t do well in the mocks but then when the actual GCSEs came I did pretty well… Hopefully it might be a reflection of that, but who knows?… I’ll find out on Thursday.”

Schools and colleges were asked to predict the grades pupils would have achieved in each subject if they had sat the exams. These predictions were sent to the exam boards along with the order of who they think will do best.

The exam boards put together the information, taking into account data for previous years, to make adjustments to the predictions. The aim was to make sure the results were fair and consistent and in line with results from previous years.

There have been concerns about the results already issued in Scotland, with many pupils receiving lower grades than they had expected. The Scottish government has apologised for the problems.

Coronavirus drive-through testing in Harrogate today

A coronavirus mobile testing centre is running today at the Harrogate Old Education Offices on Ainsty Road.

The Department for Health and Social Care will be helping people with tests at the site, which must be booked before arrival.

North Yorkshire County Council is urging all essential workers to get a test, as well as anyone with coronavirus symptoms as listed on the NHS website.

The drive-through will be in Harrogate at the same location on Friday, August 14. More than 200 slots are available in Harrogate this week.

Tests can be booked from 8pm the night before on the Gov.UK website.

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Harrogate restaurant hosts Humpit pop up

Humpit, the hummus and pitta chain, is opening a pop-up in one of Harrogate’s independent restaurants this week.

Farmhouse restaurant, on Station Parade, will host Humpit’s newest pop-up takeaway bar. From Thursday, August 13, the stall will open Thursday to Saturday from 11.30am to 3pm to catch the lunchtime trade.

The two business owners struck up the partnership after realising over lockdown they were neighbours. The closing of restaurants for three months was difficult for both and this pop-up has come as an opportunity to rebuild their customer bases.

Jonathan Phillips, co-owner of Humpit, said:

“Businesses need to help each other in the current economy, and we’d always wanted to come to Harrogate. We’re two companies working together collaboratively to support each other which is super important right now. Currently we just have to keep going – if there is another lockdown, we just have to work through it.

“Its a real no-brainer for us. I was worried about us at some point, and at the beginning of lockdown it was nerve-wracking, but now we’re ready to move forward and projects like this are exciting.”

HUMPIT filled wrap

Humpit have six outlets on university campuses across the country, which have all had to remain closed.

Both food outlets cater for all, but focus on vegan dishes. Humpit is currently the largest vegan chain in the UK.

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Jordan Aspinall, owner of Farmhouse, hopes this venture alongside the popular Eat Out to Help Out scheme will cover the losses lockdown caused. He said:

“It just makes perfect sense. We have always been open to pop-ups like this and Jonathan just came along and it happened to work. I can’t see why it would be a problem unless my sales drastically decline but I’m happy for it to keep going for as long as it can.

“We were on the edge over lockdown, so I have absolutely nothing to lose having Humpit here – I actually think it could bring trade to us.”

Terminal cancer diagnosis inspires Harrogate art teacher

An art teacher from Harrogate who has a terminal cancer diagnosis will use her last exhibition to raise money for the staff who tried to save her life.

Sharon Tinayre Carrick is well-known as a teacher at Rosset Adult Learning centre, where she gets students to use art to improve their wellbeing.

The bowel cancer diagnosis doctors gave her last year meant that she had no work to do so needed something to occupy her time. Sharon found that she needed to practice what she had taught.

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Months of treatment did not work for Sharon and resulted in her body rejecting anything the doctors at the Sir Robert Ogden Macmillian Centre would try to treat her with.

Mrs Carrick, who signs her work by her middle name Tinayre, used her experience with cancer and her bucket list and 50th birthday trip to Venice as inspiration.

Gallopers by Tinayre

The “Was I really there!” is a mixture of different mediums from the start of her cancer diagnosis leading up to Sharon’s trip to Venice.

Art in the Mill in Knaresborough will host the exhibition from August 28 to September 11. All profits will go towards the Sir Robert Ogden Macmillian Centre.

Sharon Carrick told the Stray Ferret while on treatment at St Michael’s Hospice:

“We had planned to hold the exhibition earlier in the year but had to postpone because of coronavirus, so that was really tough. My terminal diagnosis came on the same day that I got the date for my new exhibition. I hope that I can make it to the show.”

Harrogate high speed police chase ends in crash and arrest

A high speed police chase in Harrogate last night ended in a crash and the arrest of a 19-year-old suspected burglar.

Earlier in the night, at around 2.45am, burglars entered a house on St Helen’s Road before fleeing in a Mercedes parked on the driveway.

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Just 15 minutes later North Yorkshire Police took a second report of a ‘two in one’ burglary on St Clement’s Road where another Mercedes was reported stolen.

The police started to chase the car which drove off at speed along Hookstone Chase and Forest Moor Road, causing damage to parked cars. It crashed on Thistle Hill in Knaresborough.

@NYPDogSection and @HarrogatePolice assist in area search. We continue patrol and find Male suspected to be involved. #arrested sus burglary and other offences. #OperationalSupport @teamnyp 2/2 pic.twitter.com/65QqOl486Y

— NYP Operational Support Unit (@NYPRoadCrime) August 10, 2020

Shortly after, the police arrested a 19-year-old man from the Harrogate area and took him into custody where he remains for questioning.

North Yorkshire Police has asked anyone with information or footage from last night to call them on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Use North Yorkshire Police reference numbers 12200137651 for the St Helen’s Road burglary and 12200137663 for the St Clement’s Road burglary,