The coronavirus pandemic has badly affected the Guide Dog’s programme to train new dogs and the charity’s ability to raise money.

So the fundraising group of the Harrogate branch has combined with 400 other groups to support the ’12 Guide Dogs of Christmas’ event.

From today to December 12 the Guide Dogs charity will showcase a different dog online each day. The aim of the event is to fund twelve new life-changing guide dogs for those in the waiting list across the UK.

Within Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough there are five guide dog owners with a further four people waiting for their special companion. Funds raised from activities such as these go towards dog training.

In 2016 Kate Hammond, from Harrogate, was matched with her guide dog Sheba. She says the support from Guide Dogs and its local branches has meant her and Sheba “bonded very quickly”.

She said:

“Four and a half years ago I hardly ever left my home because my confidence had been shattered by my rapidly deteriorating vision.

“Then I was matched with Sheba. She has been an absolute life changer! Sheba quickly learnt my usual routes and we go for long walks every day with Sheba moving me out of the way of obstructions such as low hanging branches, wheelie bins and even puddles.

“Sheba has given me my independence back and with it a much, much happier life. I am eternally grateful to the Guide Dogs Charity for matching us together.”

This Christmas fundraiser will support owners across the UK.

During the pandemic, the Harrogate branch has adapted its services using online platforms to support its users. It says the pandemic will have a knock-on effect. It’s meant some people have to wait longer to get the right dog for them.

Nicola Ridgway, fundraising relationship manager for the Harrogate area, said:

“Fundraising groups have been unable to carry out the thousands of collections planned across the UK which could equate to a loss of £870,000 in 2020. That is why campaigns like our 12 Guide Dogs of Christmas which we are launching on the 1st December are so important to us right now and we are very grateful for any support people feel able to give to this.”

To support the appeal, click here.

The staff and trustees at Harrogate Mind are walking 1932 miles next month to raise money and awareness for the importance of your mental health.

This festive challenge will see the team walk the distance from The Acorn Centre, central Harrogate, to Lapland between December 1 and December 25.

There are 15 staff members and trustees taking part, meaning each of them has to walk, run or cycle almost 130 miles in 24 days.

The charity said it hopes to promote the benefits of exercise for a person’s mental health through this fundraising campaign.

Tina Chamberlain, CEO of Mind in the Harrogate district, said everyone had worked really hard during the pandemic and even they can sometimes forget to work on their own mental health.

She said:

“We are often too busy taking calls from people to take a lunch break and the long days mean that you don’t feel like exercising when you leave work either. I noticed it was all starting to take its toll on staff.

“We came up with the idea that we would walk the 1932 miles from Harrogate to Lapland. Having this goal has really galvanised the team.”

Read more:

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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

Two women from Knaresborough have shaved their heads to fundraise for The Forest School in Knaresborough – the school supports children with additional needs.

Sarah Bennington and Michelle Czupcyck both work at the school and wanted to do their bit to raise much needed funds. The school is in need of new playground equipment and additional sports facilities.

The women shaved their heads today at the school.

The pair had hopes to raise £500 but have already surpassed that by raising an additional £100.

To support their efforts, click here.

Children at The Forest School, Knaresborough.

Sarah Bennington sacrificed her blue locks for the cause. She has worked at the school for eight years, she said:

“We decided to do Brave the Shave to raise money for the playground equipment. The kids at this school are fantastic and deserve everything we can raise money to get for them.

“The many questions we get asked are why shaving your hair? My answer to that is you only live once; my hair will grow back and for me I will be interested in what colour it will grow back as my hair is always different colours.”

Read more:

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• One Harrogate charity is offering internships to members of the deaf community for its cafe opening next year. 

The school’s headteacher, Michelle Farr, thanked the women for their efforts saying the impact on the children with access to the new equipment will be “immense”.

She said:

“The staff never cease to amaze me with their dedication and support for our pupils. Sarah and Michelle decided they wanted to help our fundraising campaign by Braving the Shave and I am extremely grateful to them.

“Some of our play equipment failed a safety test and had to be removed, and some of our playground was reduced due to building additional classrooms. The redevelopment will allow the children to play and socialise independently in a safe environment.”

A charity supporting people with disabilities is offering members of the deaf community the opportunity to work in its cafe next year.

Artizan International is a Harrogate-based charity offering art and crafts workshops for differently-abled people. It also sells crafts made by disabled artisans in Ecuador and Peru in its Oxford Street store.

In Spring 2021, the charity has plans to open a cafe offering supported internships to members of the deaf community. Those involved will be trained in barista work and general hospitality.

The hope is the training the interns receive will allow them to pursue a career in the catering industry. The long term visions is for the cafe to be completely deaf run.

Artizan International isn’t able to run its usual workshops during the pandemic.

“At Artizan as we look forward, we want to create valued opportunities for those living with disabilities in our community. The cafe would be an ideal opportunity for those in the deaf community to either train and volunteer or develop the experience further into potential careers in hospitality locally.”

Read more:

• Take a sneak peek inside Artizan International’s new shop. 
• Kirkby Malzeard supports campaign for young girl’s fundraising efforts for a new wheelchair. 

Susie Hart, the charity’s founder, opened a cafe run by the deaf community in Tanzania previously so has experience in running similar projects successfully.

The charity opened its shop three weeks before lockdown two hit but it says it has stayed “busy” with online orders and prepping new products for the shop when it is allowed to reopen next week.

A Harrogate sixth form pupil has raised almost £5,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support after hosting and performing in her own virtual concert.

Niamh Boyle, 17, staged her first concert for the charity, which supported her aunt and uncle in their final days, in 2018.

That event raised £12,000 and now Niamh has generated another significant sum for Macmillan from her second concert, which was held online and included performances from current and former Ashville pupils.

Niamh editing the performances during her school holidays before broadcasting them on her Youtube channel in September.

She has far exceeded her £3,000 target.

Niamh said:

“It just goes to show that Macmillan is a charity close to so many hearts.

“I hope that we can do a live one again next time. I can’t wait to do more for this amazing charity.”

Read more:

• Kirkby Malzeard residents help raise money local girl’s wheelchair. 
• Harrogate-based cancer charity says covid could have caused many people to miss an early-diagnosis.

The concert included 25 songs from musicals. Niamh performed in three solos and three duets.

Adele Burrough, fundraising manager for Macmillan, said Niamh’s efforts would help people living with cancer, adding:

“Niamh’s remarkable efforts have also made sure that cancer doesn’t become the ‘forgotten C’ during this pandemic.

“Right now, there are around 179,000 people living with cancer across Yorkshire. When coronavirus hit, thousands of vital cancer treatments and appointments were postponed or cancelled.”

Several hundred people in Yorkshire have missed potentially life-saving early cancer diagnosis because of covid, according to a Harrogate-based research charity.

Dr Kathryn Scott, chief executive of Yorkshire Cancer Research, gave the figure in an interview with the Stray Ferret.

The NHS halted screenings in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr Scott said:

“We have lost some opportunities to find early cancers. People were also very nervous to go to the doctors. Then the people that do go have delays in diagnosis and treatment.

“The NHS tried innovative ways to get around that. But it is still a sad fact that we think several hundred people have missed out on early diagnosis in Yorkshire.”

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She added that when people miss out on early diagnosis they often have to go through more invasive treatments and have a worse chance of survival.

Dr Scott spoke to us after the publication of the charity’s annual accounts for the year ending 31 March 2020, which showed total income had increased from £12.8 million to £18.7 million.

Royalty income accounted for £12 million – up from £6.7 million – of this.

The charity, however, is expecting its next accounts to be more challenging because of covid, with fundraising income likely to be down by more than £1 million.

£8.3 million for new cancer research

To combat what Dr Scott sees as a “big hill to climb” with cancer, the charity is pumping another £8.3 million into new research.

Of this sum, £3.4 million will be used to fund research into whether chemotherapy before surgery in bowel cancer patients improves survival rates.

Other projects it funds will look into ways to use medication to slow the spread of prostate cancer, urine tests to detect bladder cancer and whether vaping products can help those with mental illness quit smoking.

How coronavirus vaccine push can help cancer research

There has been much excitement about the development of coronavirus vaccines with efficacy of up to 95%.

Dr Scott hopes the development of new technologies, such as synthetic DNA-based vaccines, could be adapted to improve cancer treatments. She said:

“One of the benefits of the way they have run the clinical trials is the new technology and the new techniques they’re using in those trials.

“It really compresses the time and so absolutely in the future, fingers crossed, we can get cancer treatments and therapies through that pipeline faster.”

Although the pandemic is likely to hit Yorkshire Cancer Research hard financially, it believes its future is bright, and that it will be able to continue with its aim of helping 2,000 more people survive cancer every year in Yorkshire.

Frank’s Fund is a Harrogate-based charity set up by the Ashton family after their son Frank died from a rare form of bone cancer last year.

Frank Ashton was a “brave, funny, kind and positive” young man who loved playing sports and going to Nando’s with friends.

He lived in Harrogate with his family and beloved dog Barney and attended St Aidan’s high school.

But in May 2016 the family’s world changed when Frank was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma. Frank went through relentless rounds of chemotherapy, all the time staying positive.

Frank’s family said he was always smiling.

By May 2017, Frank’s tumour had been removed during an eight hour operation and he had gone through 12 months of chemotherapy – he was in remission.

Only five months later, in September 2017, the cancer came back. This was just before Frank’s 13th birthday. Louise Ashton, Frank’s mum, said:

“With a cancer like this when it comes back there is no treatment, it’s like being given a life sentence. The doctors said he has two years to live, he had another seven months of chemo.”

Over the next year Frank continued to remain positive and see his friends but in January 2019 his health was failing fast and Frank died a month later, aged 14.

Frank’s Fund was set up to keep Frank’s memory alive and remind people of the positive person he was.

Louise added:

“He had a fantastic smile and we miss him massively. We set up the charity to keep Frank’s memory alive, we want him to be remembered as the funny boy he was.”

Frank’s Fund was set up to raise funds to go to dedicated cancer research. Primary bone cancer received just 0.028% of funding from major UK cancer charities in 2018/2019. The treatment and survival rates of this cancer haven’t improved in over 30 years.

To donate to the fund click here.

Louise said:

“It’s really shocking how little this cancer receives. The best way for people to fund bone cancer research is to give to a dedicated charity. I would have been really angry if I knew how little funding went into research when Frank was alive.

But now we are doing something about it with Frank’s Fund.”

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Frank’s family with Maisie Adam a charity patron (second from the left) and other comedians who performed during the charity’s comedy night last year.

The family are determined to raise as much as they can to follow Frank’s wishes to prevent children suffering as he did.

This year several of their fundraising events have been cancelled but they are continuing to fundraise with a virtual comedy night on December 11 and selling Christmas cards, follow the charity on Facebook to see updates.

A young gymnast from Knaresborough inspired by her sister has raised more than £1,000 for charity.

Imani Jones, who attends Harrogate Gymnastics Club, wanted to do something positive in lockdown so she decided to do 1,021 flips to help Shine 21, which helps young children with Down syndrome.

Her 11-month-old sister Felicity has Down syndrome so it is a cause close to Imani’s heart.

She started the challenge on Sunday and needs to complete an average of 50 flips a day to reach her target.

Thanks to lots of generous people donating in the first few days, Imani has already beaten her fundraising target of £1,021 and now hopes to raise as much as possible.

Read more:

• Harrogate illustrator designs Leeds United charity Christmas card
• Ripon soldiers take on 700-mile barefoot charity fundraiser

Depending on the type of flip the nine-year-old gymnast performs, it can take between a few minutes to about an hour to complete her daily target.

Chris Jones, Imani’s dad, told the Stray Ferret her daughter started training in gymnastics at the age of four and had never stopped bouncing or flipping.

The money will go towards a £10,000 overall target to set up Shine 21 as a new charity in North Yorkshire.

Donations will go towards providing resources for people with Down syndrome aged below five as well as for speech and language therapy.

To support Imani, click or tap here for more details.

Imani Jones with her young sister, who inspired the fundraiser.

A Harrogate illustrator has designed a Leeds United Christmas card to raise money for Yorkshire Cancer Research.

Graeme Bandeira’s wintry scene features the iconic Billy Bremner statue wearing a blue Santa hat at Elland Road, with Yorkshire Cancer Research’s rose on the East Stand.

The cards are being sold in packs of five for £6, with £2 from each pack donated to Yorkshire Cancer Research, which is based in Harrogate.

Leeds United, who have many supporters in the Harrogate district, began a charity partnership with Yorkshire Cancer Research in September to raise awareness of the organisation’s work.

Dr Kathryn Scott, chief executive at Yorkshire Cancer Research, said:

“We were keen to mark our partnership with Leeds United in a special way and offer the fans an opportunity to celebrate Christmas while raising money to save lives in Yorkshire.

“Inviting Graeme to design our Christmas card felt like the perfect choice. We hope Leeds United supporters will love it as much as we do.”

Left to right: Angus Kinnear, chief executive at Leeds United, Graeme Bandeira and Dr Kathryn Scott, chief executive of Yorkshire Cancer Research.

Mr Bandeira said:

“It’s been an absolute pleasure to join forces with two Yorkshire icons and it being for such a great cause too.”

Money raised from the cards will fund research, end of life care and cancer screening.

The packs of cards can be bought online here or in any of the five Leeds United stores if they are allowed to reopen before Christmas.

Mr Bandeira is also auctioning the original artwork on eBay to raise will be donated to Yorkshire Cancer Research. To make a bid, click here.

Read more:

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Paul Bell, executive director at Leeds United, said:

“Christmas is always a special time of the year and it’s fantastic that we’re able to mark the occasion this season with our official charity partner.

“We know our supporters will get behind the initiative, with money raised from the sales helping to support the world-leading research taking place to help more people survive cancer.”