A new CrossFit gym in Ripon is set to host its official open day tomorrow under the ownership of a local military man and his wife.

CrossFit Ripon’s opening will provide an opportunity to see the space, meet the team, watch live weightlifting demos, and even take part in fitness challenges.

There will also be several local vendors and businesses at the opening offering food and drinks, as well as skincare and nutritional advice.

The gym has already achieved 90% of its membership capacity in the weeks leading up to the official opening and is welcoming more potential customers at the new facility tomorrow.

Owners Mick and Sarah Meegan, who already run a smaller training studio in the city, faced a nine-month planning battle to secure the CrossFit Ripon unit.

They hope the new gym will tackle obesity and improve physical and mental wellbeing.

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CrossFit involves various high-intensity strength and conditioning exercises and has risen to popularity over the past two decades.

Mr Meegan, who is serving his final year of 21 years of military service, posted on social media:

“Our long-awaited open day is almost here, lots of hard graft has been going in at CFR HQ to make our training space pretty special.

“You guys won’t be disappointed.

“We look forward to meeting you all and getting you starting on your fitness journeys.”

The gym will be open every day and membership prices begin at £80 per month.

The open day will take place tomorrow at the unit on Ripon Business Park. It will run from noon until 4pm.

A conference will take place in Harrogate on September 24 based around the themes of peace and demilitarisation.

It will happen from 10am to 6pm at Friends Meeting House on Queen Parade and has been organised by Harrogate Quakers and HUFUD (Humanity United for Universal Demilitarisation).

The wars in Ukraine and Yemen are expected to be touched upon and speakers will also discuss the environmental impact of war.

Speakers include Columbian human rights activist Angelo Cardona, Shan Oakes & Victoria Wild from Extinction Rebellion Harrogate, Martin Schweiger from Menwith Hill Accountability Campaign and artist and peace campaigner Shahina Jaffer.

It’s free to attend and for a full list of speakers click here.

The day will end at 6pm with a 30-minute peace concert by musicians from the Harrogate Philharmonic Orchestra and guests.

Paul Whitmore from Harrogate Quakers said:

“This will be a good conference to learn more about how the world and individuals are affected by militarism and what you can do to counteract it.”

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Ripon-based soldiers in the 21 Engineer Regiment have begun a deployment in Cyprus as part of a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force.

The soldiers will spend the next six months carrying out patrols on the buffer zone that runs between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

The UN force was set up in 1964 to prevent further fighting between the two island communities.

Sappers from the regiment took up their duties on Monday in a ceremony in the country’s capital, Nicosia.

Lieutenant colonel Perry Bishop, commanding officer of 21 Engineer Regiment said:

“Peacekeeping poses some unique challenges that I have not experienced elsewhere in my career.”

“The Regiment’s soldiers understand the importance of this mission, and are eager to put the British Army’s world-leading training to good effect.”

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21 Engineer Regiment has three squadrons based in Ripon.

In recent years, it has seen a significant focus on support to UN peacekeeping operations.

This has included deployments to Cyprus, Somalia, and South Sudan.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service has recruited 40 military personnel to offer additional support as it experiences “operational pressures” during the pandemic.

The service said as a result of the Omicron variant it is facing rising numbers of staff going into isolation and calls for help from the public.

This has forced the service to redeploy remaining staff to frontline services and bring in military support for less urgent jobs.

The 40 military personal will be working alongside paramedics to attend minor cases and assist with hospital transfers and discharges.

Nick Smith, executive director of operations, said:

“As part of our resilience planning, we have always had the option of making a request to the military for help and we have now asked for that assistance.

“We will be able to use military personnel to work alongside our staff, enabling us to support patients and get people the treatment they need sooner. This, in turn, will free up our staff to attend to serious and life-threatening cases.”

The new recruits will begin training with the ambulance service next week and are expected to start working with patients within a fortnight.

They will receive training in driving ambulances, manual handling, kit familiarisation and basic life support.

The service has insisted it is still “fully operational” and said it expects the military will assist paramedics for a “number of weeks”.

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The ambulance service is also temporarily suspending some non-emergency transport to general outpatient appointments.

It will, however, continue to offer transport to patients receiving life-saving treatment, such as renal dialysis or chemotherapy, treatment for covid, those being discharged or admitted to hospital or transferred between hospital sites.

The army could be drafted in to help with the Harrogate district’s booster vaccine rollout amid concern about the new coronavirus variant Omicron.

Public health officials in North Yorkshire said today they were looking at ways to increase capacity for vaccines after the minimum gap for boosters was halved to three months.

More sites, more vaccines and use of the army are among the options being considered.

The Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate will re-open as a vaccine site for coronavirus booster jabs on Monday.

It was scheduled to operate for just over a fortnight until December 22 but in a press conference today, public health officials confirmed they were in talks to extend this until March.

So far in North Yorkshire and York, the booster rollout in over-75s is 89% complete, 70 to 74-year-olds is 86% complete, 65 to 69-year-olds is 72% complete and 60 to 64-year-olds is 53% complete.

Boosters are below 50% for the remaining cohorts. Among 55 to 59-year-olds it is at 39%, 50 to 54-year-olds are at 32% and 40 to 49-year-olds are at 19%.

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Amanda Bloor, accountable officer for NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said:

“Across North Yorkshire we are currently adapting our vaccination programme to deliver a significantly enhanced booster offer.

“This includes exploring some of the following options. We are looking at more sites coming online, including both hospitals and pharmacy sites.

“We are looking at some of the existing sites we have got doing more vaccinations. We are also looking to recruit more support to help deliver vaccinations.

“We are thinking about support from military personnel nationally and also we anticipate a national effort to recruit additional volunteers to help deliver the programme.

“All of these actions are underway across North Yorkshire and they are happening at pace.”

A mobile coronavirus testing site has been set up in the car park at the Hydro in Harrogate.

The Jenny Field Drive drive-through site will offer testing to key workers by appointment only and is one of four being run by the military in North Yorkshire.

A mobile coronavirus testing centre has opened at the Hydro, Harrogate

Permanent sites have been set up at Poppleton park and ride near York and at Temple Green in Leeds. North Yorkshire County Council said the mobile testing unit was for “key worker and priority testing”.

Signs ask visitors to keep their windows closed

On arrival, people are being asked to keep their car windows closed except when prompted to do otherwise. Following guided lanes, they pull up to be passed a swab test which they then drop into a box to be sent away for testing.

Military personnel are running the mobile testing site

The new site at the Hydro is the latest option made available to key workers after the government promised to ramp up testing drastically. As well as ordering home testing kits, people can go online to book an appointment at one of the permanent sites or mobile testing units.

Vehicles are guided through the mobile testing site

Used swabs are deposited in a box to be sent off for testing

Last week, care homes told The Stray Ferret that there was a mixed picture with testing availability. Some had been able to access home tests and appointments, while one was quoted a three-week wait for an appointment in Leeds.