Twenty three community organisations have shared £55,000 in the latest round of grants awarded by The Local Fund for the Harrogate District.

The successful applicants are small organisations that can use the funding to make a big difference on a range of initiatives, including helping older people participate in activities and addressing loneliness.

They include fortnightly lunch club Lifeline Harrogate,  Knaresborough Museum Association, Jennyruth Workshops in Ripon and Boroughbridge and District Community Care.

The Local Fund was created in 2017 to fund local voluntary organisations.

It is supported by North Yorkshire Council, Harrogate and District Community Action and Two Ridings Community Foundation. It also receives at least 10p from every ticket sold by the Local Lotto.

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Celia McKeon, chief executive of Two Ridings Community Foundation, said the grants would “make a huge impact on the wellbeing of local people all over the district”. She added:

“This round of funding has been really interesting and far reaching, distributing grants to address rural isolation alongside activities and support in the local towns.”

Ms McKeon urged local people and businesses who wanted their charitable giving to benefit the communities they live in to invest in the fund.

Here are details of the successful applicants.

The Stray Ferret is to host its monthly Business Club meeting this Thursday.  The breakfast meeting is one of the Club’s most well attended events.

The meeting will start at 8am at Banyan on John Street.

The Business Club Breakfast is an opportunity to connect with like-minded professionals, share ideas, and explore potential collaborations – and enjoy a coffee and bacon sandwich.

Get your tickets now by clicking or tapping here.

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Rooster’s Brewing Co. has pledged to donate 10p from every pint of its White Rose beer to a Harrogate charity.

The brewery based at Hornbeam Park aims to raise £850.00 to support Harrogate & District Community Action (HADCA) which supports communities, charities and volunteers throughout the Harrogate District of North Yorkshire.

Brewed to coincide with Yorkshire Day on August 1 st , Rooster’s, owned by Ian Fozard and his sons, Tom and Oliver, has brewed White Rose every year since 2011, choosing a different local cause each year.  The firm has donated over £10,000 for a variety of local charities over this period.

Tom Fozard, Rooster’s Commercial Director said:

“Rooster’s is pleased to be able to play a small part in helping a local charity such as Harrogate & District Community Action carry out the vital services they provide.

“The challenges that many people are facing on a day to day basis right now, especially the energy crisis that has fuelled a substantial rise in the cost of living has lead to a growing need for support in lots of different ways.

“It’s also comforting to know that, with White Rose only being available as a cask beer served in pubs, drinkers will also be able to support the hospitality industry with each pint supped too.”

Karen Weaver, HADCA Strategic Lead, said:

“We’re delighted that Rooster’s have chosen to support HADCA as the charity to benefit from the sale of the special limited release White Rose this year. Since 1988 HADCA has been connecting and supporting local charities, volunteers and people across Harrogate district communities.

“We champion community action using our Volunteering Directory and provide a fully searchable ‘Where To Turn’ directory of support and activities supporting good health and wellbeing”

More than double the number of people expected turned up to help tidy up Starbeck in the pouring rain this morning.

The volunteers were part of  UK’s The Big Help Out which encouraged people to try some voluntary work on the third day of The King’s Coronation celebrations.

Starbeck’s community rose to the occasion and this morning, despite the weather, a small army of more than 100 people turned up at St Andrew’s Church to help out – some doing some pretty tough jobs.

The event was supported by the Starbeck Residents Association, Starbeck in Bloom, Starbeck Lights and the church.

The Starbeck volunteers

Adrienne Amos, one of the organisers, told the Stray Ferret that plans had begun back in January:

“Once the new year had started we realised that it was going to come around very quickly. Phil our vicar offered the church as a hub and we know that lots of people in Starbeck are very community minded.

“We met all the different groups and decided that the easiest thing to do was to simplify it so we have gardeners who are edging and weeding, we have got street furniture cleaners and litter pickers.”

The Lancaster family, mum Sarah, dad Phil and Nina 13, Sol 12 and Reuben 9 all came along to help – their designated task was to litter pick along Spa Lane.

Sarah said:

“You can just put a little bit into the community to improve it and do some good in the world and it is good for the soul – it doesn’t matter where you live, you can put something back.”

Reuben, who is a local cub,  told the Stray Ferret that he didn’t mind being dragged out on a wet Monday “it’s good for the environment” he said.

Edging the pathway seemed to be the toughest job on offer. Ben Nichols, one of those braving a bad back tomorrow said  the King’s event had pushed him into doing something he’d been meaning to do for ages:

“This is my first time volunteering properly. I’ve been wanting to do it for a really long time. It was that final little push- everyone is getting involved and there are more things going on. It’s a nicer way to get everyone involved.”

One of the organisers, Neil Holmes, cleaning some street furniture

Valley Gardens, Harrogate 

Across Harrogate, in Valley Gardens,  Harrogate and District Community Action (HADCA) had set up a stall with leaflets of information and advice on where to get involved – the organisation has a volunteer directory on its website.

Karen Weaver, from HADCA (pictured below) said:

“We’re here as part of The Big Help Out, and it’s all about getting people to think about what you can do in your community. It doesn’t have to be a regular commitment, it can be one-off. There are all sort of possibilities – our online directory has more than 200 opportunities to get involved in the district so there is something for everyone whatever your interest.”

Community Fit’s Anna Gazier (L) and Lisa Tilburn who work with HADCA had been litter picking

The Harrogate District Soroptimists took part of today’s Big Help Out by holding a tombola tent in Valley Gardens to raise money for local young carers.

Oatlands 

A free barbecue, drinks, children’s crafts, face paints and coronation cakes helped the community in Oatlands celebrate the Big Help Out.

Organised by volunteers from Oatlands Community Group, the event helped to highlight the facilities on offer at the community centre and the activities it hosts on a regular basis.

From community meals for people living along to baby bundle evenings packing up donations to the special care baby unit at Harrogate District Hospital, the venue is used for events throughout the month – along with private hire for birthday parties and more.

Today proved popular with locals, with dozens of families visiting this afternoon.

Organiser Vic Smith-Dunn said:

“It has been really great. We’re fortunate we could do a lot of it indoors and the barbecue was under the gazebo, so the rain didn’t matter.
“I was worried people would stay away because of the weather but they haven’t. It has been a lovely afternoon.”

A Harrogate charity chief executive has been awarded the MBE at Windsor Palace.

Frances Elliot, who leads Harrogate and District Community Action, received the accolade yesterday from Princess Anne.

It was awarded in the 2021 Queen’s birthday honours for services to the community in Harrogate during the pandemic.

Ms Elliot said:

“It was good to have the opportunity to be able to tell her about the crucial role our volunteers and staff have played in supporting our community here in Harrogate and Ripon.

“Whilst it was slightly nerve-wracking when I first got there, I was put at ease and made to feel very welcome by everyone at Windsor Castle.”

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Ms Elliot has been involved in the district’s voluntary sector for 10 years. For nine of these years, she led HADCA’s Harrogate Easier Living Project, which offers practical support services assisting people to live safe and well at home.

In May 2020, she took over as HADCA chief executive from Karen Weaver and spearheaded the charity’s response to covid.

Proud to have been awarded an MBE at Windsor, in recognition of what we have collectively achieved during the pandemic. I feel so lucky to lead a caring & resourceful staff team @hadcacharity @HELP_Harrogate & none of it possible without our kind & committed volunteers. pic.twitter.com/o5OpomNXn8

— Frances Elliot (@FrancesElliot) February 16, 2022

HADCA supports other charities in the district as well as providing services.

It coordinated more than 250 volunteers to help local people on over 8,000 occasions with practical and emotional support when they were shielding or self-isolating during the pandemic.

About 20,000 people are expected to receive booster jabs at Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground between December 6 and 22. Another 35,000 are set to follow in the New Year.

Most people who go agree it’s a slick, well-run operation. That it works so well is down to the efforts of 50 staff and 60 volunteers behind the life-saving operation.

The Stray Ferret spoke to some of those on site this week. The 60 volunteers are divided into four teams of 15 volunteers a day supplied on alternate days by community groups Boroughbridge Community Care, Harrogate and District Community Action, Nidderdale Plus and Knaresborough Connectors.

The Boroughbridge team, led by volunteer coordinator Jan Seymour, was on duty when we visited.

Ms Seymour was holding a box of chocolates, donated by a patient. All such gifts get shared between the helpers. She jokes:

“The people we like most are the ones that bring us chocolate and cake!

Jan Seymour

The set-up at the Yorkshire Event Centre is the same as it was from February to August this year when some 120,000 first and second dose vaccines were administered.

The volunteers remain relentlessly cheerful and helpful but there is a wearier feel to the place than there was in spring. Ms Seymour says:

“When we opened in February everyone was absolutely desperate to get it. Now the attitude is ‘I’m a bit busy today, can I come tomorrow?'”.

Volunteers typically do half a day each, either from 8am to 1pm or 1pm to 6pm. They meet and greet people, direct traffic and take people to one of the 16 vaccination pods, which can cater for up to eight vaccinators. Ms Seymour says:

“During lockdown it was easy to get volunteers but recently it’s become harder. Some people are back at work and many volunteers are older people who have childcare duties.

“The majority of patients are absolutely wonderful. They could not be more thankful. We get the odd one who isn’t. One guy had a go at me on Monday when he said ‘why can’t I go to my doctor for this? But that’s unusual. Most people are great.”

Staffing fatigue

Yorkshire Health Network, which is a federation of the 17 GP practices in the Harrogate district, manages the vaccination sites at Harrogate and Ripon racecourse.

Tim Yarrow, operations manager for the network, says the Harrogate site can handle greater numbers of walk-in patients because of its size and abundant parking.

Tim Yarrow

The quietest time, he says, is early to mid afternoon, then numbers soar towards the end of the day as many people try to get in at the end of their working days. The decision to allow walk-ins this week sparked a surge of visitors with queues of up to an hour at peak times.

Mr Yarrow says:

“We set this up in one-and-a-half days. It was easier second time round. We knew the snagging points from last time.

“The main challenge is staffing fatigue. During lockdown we had a lot of people with not a lot else to do. As people have gone back to their day jobs their availability has become more sparse.”

Yorkshire Agricultural Society, which owns the site, has “bent over backwards to enable it to happen”, says Mr Yarrow. When the site re-opens in January, jabs will take place in another building at the showground so the society can resume holding events in the Yorkshire Event Centre.

Moderna provided

Barnaby Roe, general manager of Yorkshire Health Network, oversees the operation at the showground.

In a makeshift office on site, he explains that the 50 staff are comprised of GP practice staff, who are helping for free on their days off, members of Yorkshire Health Network, pharmacists, pharmacist technicians and nurses. Half work the morning shift and half work in the afternoon.

“This programme will be for 20,000 to December 22 then going forward we think it will be another 35,000.”

Barnaby Roe

The site is giving doses of the Moderna booster but also administers some Pfizer jabs to children from immunosuppressed families.

“The people who work here have done it for some time and it’s down to a fine art.”

Booster appointments can be booked at the showground here. The site provided some walk-in appointments this week for over-18s who were eligible for jabs and has yet to decide whether they will be available next week.

Voluntary organisations can apply from today for grants of between £200 and £3,000 from the Local Fund for the Harrogate District.

The fund, which has opened for its second funding round, will award about £30,000 to £40,000 in total.

Not-for-profit groups in the Harrogate district running projects or wanting to restart their activities and services after covid are eligible to apply.

Applications need to be received by June 21 and grants will be awarded in late July.

The fund, which is a partnership between Harrogate Borough Council, Harrogate and District Community Action and Two Ridings Community Foundation, was established in 2018 to provide grant funding to local voluntary organisations.

Harrogate firm Full Circle Funerals has boosted the amount available in this funding round by contributing £10,000.

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Sarah Jones, chief executive of Full Circle Funerals, said:

“We have been very keen to do something positive to help activities and projects resume after covid and the Local Fund seemed like the perfect opportunity to offer far-reaching support where it is most needed.”

Jan Garrill, chief executive of Two Ridings Community Foundation, said:

“The Local Fund in this round will focus on supporting community-inspired and led projects, activities and events.

“We know many local groups are keen to re-start activities once the current covid restrictions are lifted and we want to be able to support them with grants.”

Councillor Sam Gibbs, chair of Harrogate Borough Council’s voluntary and community sector liaison group and Local Fund grants panel member, said:

“The Local Fund provides continuous support for our local voluntary and community sector organisations and charities across the Harrogate district and the residents they support.

“It has been an incredibly tough year for them. And now, more than ever, it is critical these charities can access funds for projects.

Further details are available on the Two Ridings Community Foundation website and the HADCA website.