Thank you to everyone who joined us at our 2022 AGM at Friends Meeting House to look back over a year of change and community and to look forward to connecting and collaborating across the district as we navigate the challenges of this winter and beyond. 

We're delighted that Ian Bergel and Caroline Shead were re-elected to the Board of Trustees to serve a further term. Thank you very much to John Fox who stepped down from the Board having served his maximum 6 year term, the last 4 years as our Chair.  

Frances reviewed the year for HADCA and our presentation highlighted achievements in both our community action and frontline community services work. Everything we do is underpinned by our commitment to connecting and collaborating to support people to live active and fulfilling lives, whatever challenges they face. 

In the end it’s all about people and we’ve worked really hard to support our wonderful local voluntary and community sector organisations this year. We’ve also focused on helping people reconnect with their community, conscious that so many had been missing company and had lost mobility and confidence during the extended time at home. 

It will be a challenging year ahead for all local members, partners and the people in our communities.  The HADCA team is here to work alongside you, to ensure that people have access to the support they need and to nurture the culture of volunteering and neighbourliness that has long existed in the district. 

Our HADCA Impact Report gives examples of how we have made a positive difference in Harrogate District over the last year. We hope to demonstrate how the actions of our amazing volunteers and staff team feed in to creating a stronger local community where people are able to access activities, services, advice or connections, enabling them to lead fulfilling and active lives and make a positive contribution to local community life, in line with our vision.  

We were delighted to welcome Jan Garrill, Chief Executive of Two Ridings Community Foundation, as our guest speaker. People in this country are facing an economic crisis of a magnitude not experienced for decades and local funds and community philanthropy are needed now more than ever. Jan wanted to focus on finding the positive and reminded local charities to never underestimate the impact of their work on local people.  
You can view Jan’s presentation here and visit the Two Ridings website here