Starbeck library celebrates £6,000 refurbishment of children’s area

Starbeck Community Library celebrated a £6,000 refurbishment of the children’s section on Saturday.

The building faced closure in 2017 when North Yorkshire County Council withdrew funding from smaller libraries.

Thanks to the support of volunteers, it has continued to operate but needed to find new revenue streams to upgrade facilities.

This year the library secured a £6,000 grant from the National Lottery Community Fund’s Awards for All programme. Starbeck Post Office boosted the total by £500.

The income enabled Starbeck-based Amara Jane Furnishing to refurbish the children’s area.

The refurbished children’s area.

Tina Harper, a volunteer who looks after the children’s area, said local people had indicated the “faded and jaded” area was most in need of improvement.

The funding has paid for a new rug, sofa and shelving and enabled the section to be brightened up.

Julia Moseley, one of the volunteers that helped save the library when it faced closure, cut a ribbon to mark the refurbishment at Saturday’s celebration.

You can find out more about the library here.

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Seven Harrogate district charities receive National Lottery grants worth £450,000

Seven voluntary organisations in the Harrogate district have received National Lottery cash injections totalling nearly £450,000.

They are among 300 organisations in Yorkshire and Humberside to receive a share of more than £13 million awarded by the National Lottery Community Fund.

Dementia Forward, based in Burton Leonard, was awarded almost £240,000, which was the largest donation made to a North Yorkshire charity.

The grant will provide three-year funding for its time out together group for people aged 35 to 65 with young onset dementia.

The group enables younger people with this rare form of dementia, who receive little support, to socialise and go on day trips.

The time out together members at Dementia Forward.

Debby Lennox, community liaison manager at Dementia Forward, said:

“The real testament to the success of this project and the need for it to continue is the difference that it is making to the people we support and their families – it truly is life changing.”

The other local groups rewarded were:

Ripon Community Link — £170,000

Ripon Community Link supports adults and young people with learning disabilities.

The charity offers members the chance to work in a café or shop based at Ripon Walled Gardens, and aims to boost self-confidence and employability skills.

The funding will be used to employ more staff to support members working and encourage them to serve customers.

Emerging Voices — £5,780

Emerging Voices is a Harrogate-based project which uses music to improve mental health.

Members can receive mentoring from musicians and teachers. They are offered support with songwriting, singing and playing instruments.

It will use the donation to restart a wellbeing choir and mentoring services.

It hopes the choir will bring people together and reduce isolation.

St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Harrogate — £10,000

 St Joseph’s Catholic Church, on Skipton Road, will use its award to contribute towards the replacement of a boiler in the church hall.

The hall is used by groups to host community events and private functions.

Starbeck Community Library — £6,000

 Starbeck Community Library, located on the High Street, will use the donation to improve the children’s reading area.

It hopes a new and improved reading area will encourage families to stay at the library for longer and, in turn, improve children’s development.

Autism Angels — £10,000

 Summerbridge-based charity Autism Angels offers horse riding sessions to children with autism.

It also offers support to parents, siblings and carers.

The grant will be used to fund additional support sessions for parents and carers. It hopes to start a father’s support group and a parenting programme.

The charity also hopes the funding will reduce isolation and increase awareness and knowledge.

The Robinson Library — £7,500

The Robinson Library in Timble is used as a village hall to house community events, as well as health and wellbeing activities.

The money will be used to refurbish the kitchen.

Joe Dobson, head of funding for Yorkshire and Humberside at the National Lottery Community Fund, said:

“We’re delighted that local groups are using our funding to strengthen communities and improve lives in our region.

“Their passion, creativity and commitment are making a real difference to local people’s lives, and this deserves recognition.”

The fund aims to distribute at least £4 billion by 2030 to support community activities, inclusivity and improve the environment.

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Developers reveal details of new 25-home Kingsley Farm scheme

Developers held a drop-in session yesterday to discuss their latest plans for a 25-home scheme in the Kingsley area of Harrogate.

Quarters Kingsley received planning permission to build up to 30 homes on the site of the former chicken farm at Kingsley Farm in January.

The company, based in Felliscliffe, is now preparing to submit a reserved matters planning application to North Yorkshire Council, which seeks to finalise details such as the layout, design and appearance.

Development director David Williams and architect Nigel Jacques displayed a proposed site design and answered questions at Starbeck Community Library between 4pm and 8pm at yesterday’s event.

Starbeck Community Library

It revealed Quarters Kingsley plans to build a new road off Kingsley Road, which would provide access to 20 of the properties. The other five would be served by a road off Hawthorn Place.

The main access road would be supplemented by short private roads leading to clusters of houses, which unlike many developments will not be built in straight lines. Each cluster will include a range of two- to five-bed properties.

The proposed design would retain an ancient woodland and also include an orchard and five-metre “ecological edge” at the site boundary to encourage wildlife such as badgers. However, three trees would be felled.

Mr Jacques said the amenities and “blended” nature of the design would make it a desirable place to live and open up private land for local access. He added:

“We want to provide a true community site that cuts across age and financial stature.”

Mr Williams said the fact Quarters Kingsley planned to build 25 homes rather than the permitted 30 highlighted it was willing to listen to concerns.

He added:

“We are a local developer with a genuine and sincere desire to deliver something unique.”

Some 600 new houses have been approved in the Kingsley area in recent years and residents have expressed frustration about the long-term impact of so much development.

Mr Jacques and Mr Williams declined to discuss concerns about the level of development in Kingsley but said they were keen to engage with local people before submitting the reserved matters application.

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Donation will improve children’s area at Starbeck Library

A post office has made a donation to Starbeck Community Library to help improve its children’s area.

Andrew Hart and Asma Ola, of Starbeck Post Office and Starbeck Community Group, presented a £500 cheque to Peter Davies, chair of Starbeck Community Library trustees.

The money is set to go towards improvements to the children’s section at the volunteer-run library, including more seating and an alcove.

Mr Davies explained that new projectors would also be bought to help advertise events and information at the library.

He said:

“This has come just in time to do the things that we really needed to do.”

The donation comes as part of ongoing support to the library from Starbeck Post Office and Starbeck Community Group.

Mr Hart said:

“Since we started Starbeck Community Group on Facebook, Starbeck Post Office have put almost £15,000 back into the community in and around Starbeck.

“We want to work with both the residents and traders in rejuvenating Starbeck and helping its many good causes.

“We have some great supporters and volunteers who are working on and planning several projects as we speak.”

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Starbeck and Bilton community libraries set for 10-year council deal

Community libraries in Bilton and Starbeck are set to be given 10-year leases to continue their services.

North Yorkshire County Council‘s executive will be asked next week to approve the proposal, which aims to give long-term stability to libraries run by volunteers.

Both Bilton and Woodfield, and Starbeck, were previously run by NYCC but difficulties with funding led them to handing over day-to-day running to the communities.

The county’s libraries budget fell from £7.8m in 2010 to £4.3m in 2017, prompting communities to rally to ensure their facilities stayed open. Across the county, 1,700 volunteers came forward.

Bilton and Woodfield was the area’s first community library, celebrating its 10th anniversary earlier this year.

The libraries have continued to receive support from the council with books and IT services, as well as support from paid library service staff.

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for libraries, Cllr Greg White, said:

“We take great pride in the community-run model with our service being in the top 10 per cent of performance nationally. Working in partnership with communities alongside volunteers in all libraries allows the service to meet local needs.

“There continues to be interest from other local authorities and central government as it is proven to retain high standards whilst delivering savings. The original leases of five years were introduced as the new model was unique and unproven. However, it has been a great success so we are proposing to introduce longer leases which will avoid costs around future renewals.”

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Around half of North Yorkshire’s book-lending is via community libraries across the county and almost 40% of active library users belong to them.

During the summer, more than 1,000 people visited community libraries to claim household support fund vouchers, while 3,500 children used them to complete the summer reading challenge.

Libraries manager Chrys Mellor said:

“During the pandemic many of the community libraries became the base for community support organisations who were vital in the delivery of food, prescriptions and books.

“During the cost of living crisis our libraries are offering warm spaces for vulnerable people in their communities, providing a range of activities.

“Residents should be proud of their communities and library service for retaining such a high-class service which is delivered at a local level.”