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Lottery funding helps Harrogate’s older adults stay active at home

A Harrogate organisation that encourages older adults to become more active has received £100,000 in funding to go towards its at home exercise classes.

North Yorkshire Sport is based in Harrogate but offers support to those over 65 across the county. Its main aim is to encourage local people to become active and improve their mental and physical wellbeing.

The funding comes from The National Lottery Community Fund and will be used to offer local adults tailored exercise sessions at their homes.

The organisation discovered that many older adults don’t have access to online resources so were missing out on exercise classes due to the pandemic.

Its new home exercise programme will allow participants to receive two face to face visits each week, for four weeks, from a qualified therapeutic exercise instructor.

This new funding means the sessions, sgarting this month, can be offered to 230 people locally.

David Watson, Chief Executive at North Yorkshire Sport says:

“We’re delighted that The National Lottery Community Fund has recognised our work in this way.

“This is important because it helps these adults to have a connection, in person, with other people whilst simultaneously supporting them to become more physically active and supporting their mental wellbeing.”

Knaresborough netballer aims to break world record for charity

A Knaresborough woman will attempt to break a world record tomorrow for the most netball goals scored in one hour.

To set the record, Sue Hobson, who plays goal shooter for the Hawks netball club in Harrogate, needs to shoot more than 756 goals – more than 12 goals a minute.

Sue is aiming to reach more than 900 goals in total and has already raised more than £1,100 for Saint Michael’s Hospice in the process. To support Sue, click here.

Speaking about why she has chosen to fundraise for the charity, Sue said:

“It just felt too unusual or quirky an activity to not try and use it for something positive, especially when there’s not a lot of positivity in the world at the moment.

“Living in the Harrogate and Knaresborough area I know people that have been helped by Saint Michael’s Hospice, and it seems like a great local charity.”

Sue has been training for this challenge since the beginning of lockdown, when her regular netball training sessions and matches stopped.

After setting herself challenges in her back garden, such as scoring 100 goals in a row, she began researching world records for netball.

Sue said the support from other local organisations, such as King James’s School and Harrogate Netball League, have spurred her on to complete the challenge.

Harrogate district Parkruns on track to return next month

Harrogate district Parkruns look set to return by the end of October.

Parkrun sees runners of all abilities take part in a 5km run every Saturday morning. But the organisers paused the event at the beginning of March, just ahead of the national lockdown.

Now, after months of drawing up plans and waiting for social distancing rules to relax, Parkrun is ready to resume.

Parkrun holds three events in the Harrogate district: in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon.

Crowding at the starting and finishing lines is one of the main concerns. The official Parkrun framework admits there is no way to maintain social distance at these points.

But Tom Williams, the global chief operating officer of Parkrun and Harrogate resident, told the Stray Ferret the benefits outweighed the coronavirus risks:

“We are a charity but it has been a huge challenge to support people’s health and wellbeing in a virtual way. I believe that by bringing back the Parkrun it will make a big difference.

“Where we have already brought the Parkrun back [in other countries] we have seen runners return in their numbers so we expect the same in the UK.”

The government has banned social gatherings of more than six people from Monday, but with some exceptions.

Mr Williams said he did not think the new rules would affect Parkrun because it is an outdoor sports event with minimal contact but he said it would monitor the situation.

In one of Parkrun’s recent surveys, almost 80% of respondents said they would return to Parkrun in four weeks’ time if the events were to come back in a safe way.

Harrogate fitness centre responds to craze for new sport

A health and fitness centre in Harrogate has had plans approved to build more padel courts and changing facilities due to increased demand for the sport.

Harrogate Sports and Fitness Centre on Hookstone Wood Road offers a range of different facilities including a gym, squash courts, studios and therapy rooms. However, its padel courts are seeing particularly high demand.

The only courts of their kind in the region, they see people travel from Hull, Liverpool and Manchester to play. Padel, a racket sport described as being a mix between squash and tennis, is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK.

Since reopening the courts on July 4, the Harrogate centre has seen an increased demand from people wanting to use the facilities. The courts are currently booked from 7am until 10pm, seven days a week, until the end of August.

Planning approval has been granted for a new glass-enclosed padel court.

Plans to build another glass-enclosed court along with changing rooms and toilets have recently been approved. The addition will be funded by the centre, the Lawn Tennis Association and Sport England.

James Gaston, general manager at Harrogate Sports and Fitness Centre, told the Stray Ferret that people of all ages come down to exercise:

“The whole point is to try and encourage people to play sports and make exercising cheap for communities. We try and make it so there’s something for everybody here from young people to older people. It’s like a big family.”

The sports centre also has a cafe which serves healthy food and drink.

Leo Campagna, a member at the club who is nearly 80 and plays squash most days of the week, told the Stray Ferret:

“I am nearly 80 and people my age have difficulty keeping fit. When you stop exercising you start to stiffen up and so you have to keep going. I am so glad to be able to play squash again. I come nearly every day of the week.”

WATCH: Harrogate Rugby Club gets back to business

Players at Harrogate RUFC say it is “great” to finally be able to get back on the pitch.

The club is having to train in much smaller groups with the players focusing specifically on their fitness and ball skills. Despite not being able to play competitively yet, the players are getting match fit for when the time finally comes.

The players have enjoyed getting back into the swing of things.

Director of Rugby at Harrogate RUFC, David Doherty, told The Stray Ferret:

“It’s brilliant to have the players back. It’s obviously challenging given the government guidelines, but the boys have embraced it.”

Training takes place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings with both the men and women playing in small ‘pods’ with no contact.

Harrogate boxers get ready to fight back

A Harrogate based community boxing club says it is excited to get back in the ring after over three months out.

Harrogate Amateur Boxing Club is a voluntary group which caters for all ages and abilities. In the last year the team of boxers has won 8 out of 11 of its fights until lockdown cut the season short.

Since then, the boxers have kept their fitness up by doing home workouts and have recently moved training outdoors in small groups. However, on July 25 the club will be able to open its gym doors again.

Jacob Millar boxes for the club and won the Youth Yorkshire Challenge back in November. He told The Stray Ferret that he is looking forward to getting back into training.

He said:

“Training during lockdown has been okay, it’s more the motivation that has been lacking because there’s so little to look forward to. It will be great to get back to the gym and continue training.”

Ben Smith and Jacob Millar pictured with winning belt.

Normally the club runs sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from beginners to ‘active boxers.’ Head coach Ben Smith told The Stray Ferret:

“Our aim is to incorporate discipline in a fun learning environment where young people can enjoy themselves and learn how to take care of themselves in and out of the ring.”

Harrogate school organises ‘Question of Sport’ with local stars

Pupils and staff from Ashville College in Harrogate have been joined by a number of sportsmen and women during an online Q&A sessions.

Director of Sport at Ashville College, Dominic Bradburne, organised talks with athletes from the world of cricket, hockey, netball and rugby. Pupils then had the opportunity to ask questions about their careers.

The live sessions began with Worcestershire County Cricket Club players Ed Barnard and Pat Brown. They were followed by Bath Rugby Union players Joe Cokanasiga and Zach Mercer.

The students also had the opportunity to speak to England hockey players Ollie Payne and Nick Park as well as former England Netball international Anna Carter.

Nick Park currently plays hockey for England.

Director of Sport Dominic Bradburne said:

“I’d like to thank all of the sportsmen and sportswomen for participating in our question and answer sessions. The aim of the evenings is for the audience…to find out about the individuals, their careers, early influences, training programmes and future aspirations.”

He acknowledged that video conferencing is the new normal and hopes to carry on the sessions on a regular basis.

Harrogate Rugby Club reopens clubhouse doors

Harrogate RUFC welcomed back familiar faces and reopened its club house doors.

It was the “first time the club house opened since lockdown” and players and supporters enjoyed a BBQ and a long-awaited pint. Food was enjoyed outside and a one-way system was adopted through the clubhouse.

As well as this, the rugby club launched its “Ride to Rudding” scheme, which was originally due to have started before lockdown. The initiative encourages people to cycle to the club rather than drive.

Andy Annat provided the BBQ for the reopening of the clubhouse.

Mike Cowling, commercial chairman for Harrogate RUFC told The Stray Ferret:

“We were always planning to launch the scheme officially, but lockdown delayed that. This is the start of something going forward, we had about a dozen people ride to the event at the weekend which is great.”

The club was given a small transport grant from Harrogate Borough Council which allowed it to install a bike shelter to further encourage players and supporters to cycle to the club.

In order to encourage more people to cycle, the club held a free prize draw for all those who arrived on bikes across the weekend. The winner was Woody Auld who plays for the U10’s.

Union concerns over leisure ‘ridiculous’, says council

Harrogate Borough Council has described union concerns that the authority is being tight-lipped over its leisure plans as “ridiculous”.

The authority was responding to concerns from Unison that the council had not kept union bosses informed over proposals and that it had “no overwhelming support”.

But, the council said the plan, which it has consulted residents on, will save the authority £400,000 a year.

It comes as the council faces an estimated £15 million deficit as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a report due before the authority’s cabinet next week, the company would be called Brimham’s Active and has a target set up date of August 2021.

If given the go-ahead, it would mean facilities such as Harrogate Hydro, the Turkish Baths and Ripon Leisure Centre would be run by the new company.

Unison bosses said they were concerned that not enough information had been shared with them about the proposal, but the council has said it would be unrealistic to provide a running commentary on the company.

A spokesperson for the council said:

“For Unison to suggest we have been “tight lipped” is ridiculous.

“The union is aware of the proposal to create a local authority controlled company to manage our sport and leisure services.

“To expect a running commentary while a report is prepared for councillors to consider at next week’s meeting of cabinet is unrealistic.

“The proposal would enable us to save £400,000 a year and invest in new facilities for the benefit of people across the district.

“Our valued colleagues would be transferred to the new company on exactly the same terms and conditions they enjoy now.”

Council plans for leisure have ‘no overwhelming support’, say Unions

Union bosses in Harrogate have claimed there is no overwhelming public support for council-run leisure services to be handed over to an arms-length company.

Officials from Unison have sought further information on the proposal after they say they have had no contact from the authority on the matter.

Harrogate Borough Council has consulted with residents on plans to hand over services to an authority-run company which it says will save £400,000 a year.

It comes as the council faces an estimated £15 million deficit as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

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