News

6 community support organisations  (CSOs) are the point of contact for those who are alone and isolated by the pandemic and who have no other local support available. They provide: shopping for food and essential items, collecting prescriptions, a friendly listening ear, information & signposting to online activities or someone who can help, if they can’t. 

People who have additional needs can contact the County Council’s customer service centre on 01609 780780 (every day between 8am and 5:30pm). There is also information about the help and support available on the NYCC website

Food support services meet local needs and are listed in the HADCA Where To Turn Directory – chooose ‘Food Parcels and Meals’ as the search theme and add ‘coronavirus’ as keyword for current providers. 

Vision Support Harrogate District has been helping visually impaired members with understanding the TV Licensing changes and the practicalities of responding to the licensing letters. If anyone in the district is living with sight loss and finding this difficult (or seeking any other support/advice), the Vision Support team are here to help.

The Vision Support telephone befriending and support services are also available for anyone with sight loss who would like someone to talk or who needs a little extra support.
Call 01423 565915 or email enquiries@vshd.org.uk

Please read the TV Licensing handy guide which warns people what to look out for covering emails, letters, phone calls, text messages, home visits and how to report a scam.

Through all the ups and downs of the last few months it has been lovely to see people out and about enjoying our wonderful location or simply watching the world go quietly by whilst sitting on one of our benches. Through the next week or so, subject to weather, all the benches in our villages will be given a refurbishment so please bare with us in the meantime as we are sure once complete they will look splendid again.

1.  Ripon City Council Small Grants Scheme 2020/21

Unlike in previous years, there will be no closing date and applications will be received by RCC at each meeting of Council for review and a decision.

The fund will remain open for applications until the budget has been awarded. The Council has £20,000 of funding to allocate in the 2020/21 financial year. Individual grants will not exceed £1,000.

Guidance notes and an application form can be found on the RCC website 
 

2. Aviva Community Fund

Funding is available for fresh ideas looking to secure up to £50,000.

Projects must fall within one of two key funding areas:
• Financial capability and inclusion: giving people the tools to become more financially independent
• Community resilience: tackling inequality and improving environments to build more connected, more resilient communities

Applications are open for the next round until 13 October. 

3. Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust Coronavirus Community Fund 

Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust is working with Two Ridings Community Foundation and Cumbria Community Foundation to support charitable organisations and community groups across the national park, who are providing vital services to those who need it most.

The Fund is providing grants of up to £5,000 to support communities in the Dales to deal with the COVID-19 emergency, helping people stay healthy, safe and connected. Groups must be based within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, or within Craven or Richmondshire. 

4.  MSE Charity Grants

Grants of up to £7,500 for non-profit organisations to apply for a cash boost under the theme ‘building and developing resilience’ for projects aiming to improve and deliver personal financial life skills to people.

The grant round closes on Friday 25 September at 5pm or earlier if the fund has already have already accepted 40 applications. (still open as I type!)

5.  National Churches Trust

The trust supports a wide variety of projects at churches, chapels and meeting houses. Grants are available to any Christian place of worship in the UK that is open for regular worship.
From repairing a roof to helping to install an accessible toilet – and many other projects – grants help keep churches open for worship and community activities and allow them to continue to serve people and communities in all sorts of ways.

The grant programmes include:
Foundation Grants – for Maintenance
Grants of between £500 and £5,000 towards urgent maintenance works and small repairs identified as high priority. The final opportunity to submit an application will be 30 October 2020.

Cornerstone Grants
Grants of between £10,000 and £50,000 towards the cost of major urgent structural repair.  Projects that introduce kitchens and accessible toilets to enable increased community use will also be considered. Grants will never exceed 50% of the project cost. 

6. The Alpkit Foundation 

The Foundation is prioritising its funds to support projects that demonstrate an immediate impact on those affected by the pandemic.

The Go Nice Places, Do Good Things Grant generally supports direct action projects that work towards removing the barriers to getting outdoors. However, their grants of between £50 and £500 are now available for individuals, groups and schools that are responding to the crisis.

Examples of community responses they support include, being active in the local community to help elderly or vulnerable people, minimising the impact of self-isolation, supporting food banks or those who are homeless, and bringing adventure indoors. The Foundation’s trustees consider applications every two months. 

7. Co-Op Food Share

Stores donate good quality food directly to local community groups. To apply to be one of your local Co-op’s partners your organisation must:

• use the food to help people in the community
• be able to collect food from one or more of our stores
• not be run for profit
• be registered as a food premise with your local council

North Yorkshire County Council’s website has a dedicated area for all the latest COVID-19 related news. Visit: https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/coronavirus-advice-and-information

Community Support organisations 

North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council are working with 6 community support organisations  (CSOs) across the Harrogate District which are the point of contact for those who are alone and isolated by the pandemic and who have no other local support available.

The 6 CSOs arrange: shopping for food and essential items, collecting prescriptions, a friendly listening ear, information & signposting to online activities or someone who can help, if they can’t.

HADCA and their front-line HELP team is the Community Support Organisation for Harrogate and surrounding villages. In Ripon their team is working closely with Ripon Community House. 

People who have additional needs can contact the County Council’s customer service centre on 01609 780780 (every day between 8am and 5:30pm ). There is information about the help and support available on the NYCC website

Now the Government programme for people shielding has stopped, the Community Support Organisations are still here to help.

The Community Support Organisations are the point of contact for people who don’t know where to turn

Having taken a well earned break, the team at Resurrected Bites  are returning w/c 24 August.
They are making some changes to the way they are operating and you can read these here

For anyone finding it difficult to make ends meet in the Ripon area there is food support available from Ripon Community House

The team at Supporting Older People is working with partners to provide free Asda parcels of food and essential items together with free single portion fresh meals for anyone in need, in addition to their shopping and prescription collection and telephone befriending service for older people. The contact number is 07535 508043 if you know anyone who would benefit from any of these services.

St Peter’s Church, next to Primark in central Harrogate offer the following free services:
Monday to Saturday 8.15 – 8.45 breakfast available
Monday to Saturday 4 – 4.45 A hot takeout meal.
Sunday 1pm hot meal take out.

The Harrogate & Knaresborough Foodbanks: 10.30-12.30 Tuesdays & Fridays, Mowbray Church, Harrogate  & Monday 10.30-12.30 Holy Trinity Knaresborough there is help with a 3 day pack of in-date food and additional support. Vouchers for the foodbank can be accessed from St Peter’s Church or by contacting the Harrogate Community Support Organisation.

There is a list of businesses offering delivery (or take away) of food & essential items for people self isolating or shielding in Harrogate and the surrounding areas HERE.

Charity services, support and activities to promote good health and wellbeing in Harrogate District 

There are hundreds of charity services offering support listed in the searchable community information directory. Many are offering email, telephone and online support and activities, with a lot of information and guidance on their websites too.

To help people find the support they need, please let HADCA know about changes to your charity services and any new services, online courses and activities you are providing.
You can use the new themes (activity categories) ‘coronavirus support’ and ‘online activities’

You can add your details HERE, request a form to update your entry HERE or simply email the details of any local support you know about to hadca@hadca.org.uk.

The British Red Cross had its 150th birthday this month. All over the world, behind the corona virus pandemic is a team of humanitarian heroes working tirelessly to keep people safe and they’re in your area!

The Community Connect service provides a befriending and enabling service in the Harrogate and Rural District with up to 12 weeks of support in the community. The service has adapted during recent times due to the pandemic and has been serving the community by way of medication delivery, shopping and befriending telephone calls.

If you know anyone 65 or over whom you think could benefit from this service, they can make a referral  through their GP or can self refer.  The service is looking to provide garden visits and recruit more befriending volunteers.
For more details call: 07739 434 4008 or 07740 422 492