Some of Ripon’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens are at risk of missing out on payments designed to help them keep their heads above water in the current cost of living crisis.

That’s the view of Pat Clark, a church leader at the Salvation Army on Lead Lane, who is concerned that some are slipping through the net, by not claiming what is owed to them in the allotted timescale.

To assist families and individual to receive funds that they are entitled to, help is now on hand at drop-in sessions at the church hall.

These will be held on the first and third Tuesday of each month, between 9.30am and 11am. The sessions are open to people of all or no religion and the next one will be on August 16.

Ms Clark, who advises on issues of social justice, told the Stray Ferret:

“I have been investigating how residents not paying council tax by direct debit access the £150 rebate and  the bad news is that in these cases they have to apply directly through the Harrogate Borough Council website.

“This requires an email address to register an HBC account, which some people simply don’t have and there was no correspondence about this process until recently.

“Another problem with the process is that it throws up random errors which would deter most people.

“Many people don’t own a computer or a smart phone and they also get worried when an official-looking letter drops through their letterbox, assuming it is a bill, rather than information that can help them.”

Referring to a number of recent cases, she said:

“When I phoned the council, on a client’s behalf, to ask why his application had been turned down, I was told that it is happening randomly from time-to-time and each account had to be investigated and individually fixed.

“I have also been helping a client respond to an invitation to receive money from the Household Support Fund operated by North Yorkshire County Council.

“Again, the application process is online, requiring an email address and a smart phone or printer to access the e-voucher which can be spent at a supermarket.”

Ms Clark suspects that similar issues will arise when it comes to people receiving  their £400 energy grant and she recommends people living in houses of multiple occupation speak with their landlord at the earliest opportunity.

Despite the COVID-19 lockdown and its limitations on the festive season, the special spirit of Christmas is being maintained in Pateley Bridge this year.

The annual Christingle Service, that has been held at the Parish Church of St Cuthbert for more than 30 years, is going virtual and can be seen online at 6pm on Christmas Eve.

In the meantime, a video showing how Christingles are made, has been posted on the St Cuthbert Facebook page.

Organiser Mrs Joyce Liggins told the Stray Ferret:

“Many local people view the Christmas Eve service as their start to the festive season and the church is usually packed.

“In normal years the congregation make up their Christingles during the service with a candle and an orange and they make their donation to the Children’s Society in a box provided.

“Unfortunately, with the coronavirus crisis, we cannot hold the service this year, but we didn’t want the charity to lose out, so Gillian Yeadon and I asked St Aidan’s students Jasmine, Eve and Amy to sing for us and with the help of The Rev. Darryl Hall and Sue Hickson, who did video recordings, we were able to capture two Christingle events.”

An image from a Christmas past of St Cuthbert’s in Pateley Bridge (photograph courtesy of Geoff Liggins)

The Christingle tradition has, like the bringing of an evergreen tree into a house, its roots in Germany and dates back to the 18th century, when it was introduced by Moravian Bishop Johannes de Watteville.

Since 1968 Christingle services have been held across the UK to raise money for the Children’s Society charity, which helps vulnerable young people.

Read more:

• See our gallery of Christmas lights in Pateley Bridge
• Will a Nidderdale home win our prize for best festive decorations?

In 2018, St Cuthbert’s was one of 6,000 locations throughout the country to support the society’s #Christingle50 campaign, which raised more than £1.2 million.

Anybody who would like to support the Pateley Bridge Christingle this year and donate to The Children’s Society, can obtain a Christingle Collecting Candle or go to the fundraising page and give a donation online.

Collecting candles and Christingle kits can be obtained from joyce.m.liggins51@gmail.com

Donations can be made through our online fundraising page at: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Joyce-Liggins1

For five consecutive weeks, a vulnerable Ripon woman  received food boxes from a government-led scheme containing items unfit to eat.

The woman, who wishes to stay anonymous, contacted The Stray Ferret, after receiving weekly boxes containing bags of rotting potatoes and carrots and dented tins.

The woman who is currently staying in sheltered accommodation, as she recuperates following life-saving surgery, has been in self-isolation for many weeks and has shown The Stray Ferret timed and dated photographs taken on her smartphone of the sub-standard items received in boxes delivered over a five-week period.

A dented can of peach slices

To verify her claims, we have also taken our own photography of goods, which are delivered each Wednesday from a Bidfood-UK depot in Wakefield.

The woman, who initially complained direct to the depot via phone and email, was unhappy with the response received and decided to call The Stray Ferret.

She said:

“For five consecutive weeks I received boxes containing some items, particularly potatoes and carrots, that were unfit to eat. There were also numerous dented cans. I am not being ungrateful, because the boxes are delivered free of charge, but I think it is only right that people who already have health issues should receive food that is fit to eat.”

Read more:

• Ripon care home praised for no coronavirus cases
• Desperate for a trim at Ripon Barbers

In May, the government’s Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, announced that more than a million boxes of essential food had  been delivered to those at highest risk across England.  He praised national food distributors, including Bidfood, for the part played by the company in delivering packages directly to clinically vulnerable people’s doorsteps.

The food box programme, which began in late March has seen government partner with the food industry and local councils  and in May, Mr Jenrick said:

“The coronavirus emergency has brought uncertain and difficult times but the willingness of people to pull together and support those most in need is an inspiration to us all.”

Jim Gouldie, supply chain and technical services director at Bidfood:

“We’d like to apologise for the experience this individual has received, and reassure her that all feedback is incredibly important to us. Bidfood takes the quality of the products we supply very seriously and would never knowingly supply products of poor quality.

“This has come as a surprise to us as we’ve previously spoken to the lady concerned to ensure that we had addressed any issues she had faced, and taken appropriate actions to resolve the matter. We also revisited this issue subsequently, and the recipient indicated that she was happy with our response and approach.”

Mr Gouldie, added:

“Our service to Defra is managed against a strict set of performance measures, and our performance both in terms of delivery, and box contents has always been exceptional. We are, however, grateful to have received this feedback, to help us in identifying any issues so that these can be rectified going forward and will do all we can to ensure she encounters no further problems.”