Thank you to everyone who joined us at our AGM event on Wednesday 9 October at The Arches @ Holy Trinity, Ripon.  

We were welcomed by HARCVS Chair, John Fox, and delighted that the Mayor of Ripon, Cllr Eamon Parkin; the Mayor of Pateley Bridge, Cllr Chris Skaife; the Mayor of Boroughbridge, Cllr Geoff Haldenby and the Chairman of North Yorkshire County Council, Cllr Jim Clark attended the event.

Four trustees were elected to our Board of Trustees.  We were pleased to welcome a new trustee, Caroline Shead (Macmillan Cancer Support), and 3 existing trustees were re-elected to serve a further term:  Kevin Douglas (Harrogate & District Cycle Action); Ruth Newton (Sharow & Copt Hewick PCC); John Fox (Friend of Harrogate Hospital and Community Charity)

Karen reviewed the year for HARCVS and looked to new opportunities and challenges as we move forward as a multi-purpose charity. In her presentation, Karen highlighted achievements in what had been a year of consolidation for our core CVS services, following major changes in funding the previous year.  Continued core grant funding from Harrogate Borough Council has been vital to our ability to offer support to charities and volunteers.  

It had been a year of working in partnership, enabling the quality of the services we continue to offer to support the local voluntary and community sector and older and vulnerable people to be maintained, as well as supporting the development of new products and services.

Julie Proudler, Ripon Services Co-ordinator, explained how HARCVS services helped people to stay connected, to get out and about in the community and be safe and well at home.  

Going forward, it was important that voluntary and community sector organisations supporting good health and wellbeing were involved in plans for services, with the integration of health and social care services in the District.

Our HARCVS Impact Report gives examples of how we have made a positive difference in Harrogate District over the last year. 

The Connecting Ripon network was set up about 6 years ago, with support from Ripon City Council, and four times a year brings together the many local organisations and groups doing fantastic work in and around the City.  Four Connecting Ripon members were given the opportunity to share how they work to give hope for a positive future.  We enjoyed inspiring contributions from Ripon Community Link, Ripon Museums, National Trust Skell Valley Project and C3 Cathedral Community Connections. They all demonstrated how their work links to our HARCVS vision ‘People in the Harrogate District benefit from leading fulfilling and active lives and make a positive contribution to local community life.’

These slides from the event give a bit of background and the achievements to date on the Skell Valley Partnership Project and these images show how the  C3 Cathedral Community Connections team is involved in the Ripon community, working in partnership. Ripon Community Link members enjoy a varied community based activities programme connecting with many local organisations, as illustrated by these slides