Fundraising for 15-year-old Liza Bartienieva, who was orphaned following a tragic accident that claimed the lives of her mother, brother and half sister, received a £4,000 boost at Ripon’s Black Swan over the weekend.
Regulars of the Westgate pub and members of the wider community dug deep to support the teenager, whose father also died earlier this year.
But there was disappointment when it was discovered that an anonymous donation of £10,000 to the GoFundMe page set up for her will not be added to the fund.
Donna Chilcott who set up the page, which has received more than 1,300 donations, told the Stray Ferret:
“I have been contacted by GoFundMe and told that the person who donated the £10,000 has retracted their donation.
“This is disappointing, but we have still raised more than £31,000, which is an incredible amount in less than a week and when you consider that the initial target set was £3,000.”
Saturday’s fundraiser at the Black Swan raised £4,000.
She added:
“Working alongside Sara and Kelly Hirst who run the Black Swan, we achieved this through the generosity of the Ripon community, businesses and regular pub customers and we cannot thank them enough for their kindness.”
Freddie Cleary
The money raised at the pub’s fundraiser will be added to the GoFundMe page which stood at £27,331 this morning.
Kelly Hirst, added:
“The situation that Liza faces has captured the hearts of the people of Ripon and everyone that we approached wanted to help by either donating prizes for the raffle that we held or by putting money in the donations bucket that we had on the bar.”
Live music was part of Saturday’s event and among the performers was Ripon singer-songwriter Freddie Cleary, who donated more than £600 to the GoFundMe page raised while busking in the city.
Liza has been looked after by a Ripon family since the accident occurred on Sunday September 3.
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Eve of coronation celebrations highlight Ripon’s royal connections
Residents were rocking in Ripon last night as the ancient city kicked off celebrations for the new king and queen with an eve of coronation concert.
With connections to monarchy going back to 886 AD, when Alfred the Great is said to have recognised the bravery of locals for fighting off a Viking incursion with the award of a ceremonial horn, Ripon has remained staunchly royal and loyal.
The Market Square, where Royalists forces of Charles I fought off Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentary troops in a Civil War skirmish in 1643, provided a fitting setting to celebrate the imminent crowning of the descendant who shares his name.
Crowds in front of Ripon Town Hall
The stage for last night’s free concert featuring the tribute acts Jersey Beyond, Aftersun Party Band (pictured below) and Complete Madness (main picture) was located in front of Ripon Town Hall where two plaques are in place to mark visits of the then Prince of Wales
The first came in 1994, and the second in 2002, when he became a Freeman of the City in recognition of his contribution to Ripon’s regeneration, which included the building of a new library and The Arcade retail development.
Amid the nostalgic rock and pop music from the 60s, 70s and 80s, came the ever-present link to the city’s historic past, when Patricio Maglio, a member of the city’s hornblower team, set the watch at 9pm.
Today (Saturday) following the Coronation of their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla in Westminster Abbey – which can be watched on large television screens in Ripon Cathedral starting at 9.30am – there will be further revelry on Market Square, with musical entertainment from 3pm and free fairground rides from 11am until 8pm.
The festivities will finish with a fireworks display between 10.50pm and 11pm.
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Fireworks finale will end Ripon’s coronation day celebrations
A fireworks display will provide a spectacular end to coronation day celebrations in Ripon’s Market Square on Saturday night.
North Yorkshire Council and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service have given the go-ahead to a 10-minute display starting at 10.50pm.
The return of pyrotechnics to the city centre follows the cancellation in 2021 and 2022 of Ripon’s traditional New Year’s Eve displays, because of safety concerns about the launch area for the fireworks at the rear of the town hall.
This issue has now been resolved with approval given to a new launch area on The Arcade Car Park.
The Market Square, which has been decked in bunting created by Ripon Community Poppy Project, will be a focal point for the free-to-attend event organised by Ripon City Council to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
Today (Saturday) from 11am until 8pm, there will be free fairground rides and from 3pm onwards there will be performances on stage from Cilla & Friends; Katherine Jenkins tribute, Midnight Soul Sisters, and an 80s Pop tribute band.
The Flash: Queen tribute band takes centre stage at 9.30pm to give a rousing build up to the fireworks finale.
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Ripon to host another weekend of free family entertainment
As the school summer holidays draw to a close, families can look forward to another free weekend of entertainment on Ripon Market Square.
The August Bank Holiday weekend, will see the return of fairground rounds for young children and a climbing wall for those a little older.
The event-staged by Ripon City Council on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 August, follows the Yorkshire Day weekend, that brought hundreds of people to the city centre.
The fairground rides and the climbing wall will be in place from 2pm until 8pm on the Saturday and 10am until 4pm on the Sunday.
All the fun of the fairground – for free
Following the same pattern as the Yorkshire Day Weekend, there will be musical entertainment from 7pm on Bank Holiday Saturday.
This will feature three tribute acts, singing a selection of chart-topping hits from the best-known boy bands, Paloma Faith and ABBA.
On Bank Holiday Sunday, in addition to the fairground rides, Market Square will host another Little Bird Artisan Market.
Open from 10am until 3pm, it will again include stalls selling goods ranging from food to home furnishings, produced by local and Yorkshire-based traders.
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In addition, to activities in the city centre, two temporary toilets have been installed by the city council for families visiting the Borrage Green Lane paddling pool.
These will remain in place until the end of the summer holidays.