York families to get £300,000 funding support boost
Children and young people in York will benefit from work to explore how to best help families facing challenges, thanks to a £300,000 funding boost. City of York Council is one of only four local authorities chosen to partner with Foundations, the national What Works Centre for Children and Families, – and the Youth Endowment…
Trinity Leeds to host ‘Tree of Pride’
In celebration of Leeds Pride (21st July), Trinity Leeds is hosting a ‘Tree of Pride’, inviting guests to decorate the tree with their pledges to work toward a more inclusive and caring future. The community art piece will be touring the country gathering the public’s messages of love, unity, and acceptance on its journey. Guests can…
Spawforths transitions to employee ownership, empowering employees and setting the foundations for growth
Spawforths, one of the largest independent planning, masterplanning and architectural consultancies in Yorkshire, is proud to announce its transition to an employee-owned company. This strategic move is set to empower its 22 employees, allowing them to share directly in the company’s success and future growth strategy. With a rich history of innovative and award-winning work…
One of the lowest funded councils needs residents’ help to protect essential services
City of York Council is launching its biggest budget consultation ever and is asking the community to identify the services they most rely on to ensure essential services continue. The council is facing an unprecedented financial challenge that demands immediate action. As one of the lowest funded unitary authorities in England, and after more than…
York Cares Golden Moments Awards 2024: Celebrating the city’s unsung heroes
The fifteenth annual York Cares Golden Moments Awards honoured the remarkable contributions of employee-volunteers to the city of York. More than 90 guests, including the Civic Party, and ambassadors and volunteers from various York Cares member organizations and community partners, gathered at Aviva’s Wellington Row premises to celebrate the achievements of York’s unsung heroes. Some…
Join in: seven ‘Days of Action’ to help clean up Bradford, Keighley and Huddersfield
Housing provider Incommunities has announced a series of ‘Days of Action’ to help clean up local areas. The seven Days of Action will see Incommunities teaming up with local residents to undertake activities like litter picking, painting, and planting shrubs. Colleagues from Bradford Council, Kirklees Council and West Yorkshire Police will also be on hand…
54North Homes to build new sustainable homes in Leeds
Work is set to begin on a new scheme that will deliver 28 affordable and sustainable homes in the Armley area of Leeds. The properties will be built by 54North Homes on a brownfield site on Wesley Road, using funding provided by Leeds City Council and Homes England. The £5.1 million development will comprise 26…
York launches new air alert service
City of York Council has launched a new service designed to send free air pollution alerts and health advice to residents and visitors most likely to be affected by air pollution. The York Air Alert service is funded by DEFRA and aims to give advanced warning of when air pollution is expected to be higher than usual,…
York’s free school meals pilots reach 6-month milestone
School pupils at two primary schools in York are celebrating the six-month anniversary of an ambitious scheme to pilot free school meals for children in the city. Pupils in key Stage 2 (years 3-6)* at Westfield Primary Community School started receiving free school lunches at the start of the year, thanks to funding from City…
Join the conversation about new homes and area improvements in Walmgate and Fishergate
Residents of Walmgate and Fishergate are invited to drop-in sessions about the next steps to build 140 affordable, energy-efficient homes and improve local residential areas. Walmgate People living in Walmgate are invited to chat with members of the Council’s Housing Delivery Programme (HDP) and the design team including architects from Mikhail Riches. This conversation with…
Quality and quantity of council homes to increase
Councillors are looking at new and innovative ways to significantly increase the quality and quantity of affordable homes in York, so more residents can find secure and genuinely affordable homes. To do this, the Council is reporting on recent house building and buying, and has identified a number of opportunities to boost affordable housing delivery….
Council commissions new £1.8m drug and alcohol service contract to help the residents of York
City of York Council has awarded the drug and alcohol service contract to a leading health and social care charity Change Grow Live. The charity will deliver a £1.8m service to provide community-based treatment and interventions for York residents wishing to access support for substance/alcohol use. Change Grow Live helps tens of thousands of people…
Otley garden centre provides plants to renovate Leeds children’s charity garden
The team at Otley Garden Centre has provided subsidised plants to support the renovation of three areas of Leeds Children’s Charity’s Lineham Farm in Eccup. Leeds University student, Aaron Cook approached Otley Garden Centre for support when he and fellow university students wanted to renovate the garden at Lineham Farm in memory of a friend…
Spawforths transitions to employee ownership
Spawforths, one of the largest independent planning, masterplanning and architectural consultancies in Yorkshire, is proud to announce its transition to an employee-owned company. This strategic move is set to empower its 22 employees, allowing them to share directly in the company’s success and future growth strategy. With a rich history of innovative and award-winning work…
Redcentric scale Scafell Pike to raise money for Children’s Heart Surgery Fund
Redcentric have been supporting Children’s Heart Surgery Fund since 2022 when they took on their first Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge. They have raised over £20,000 in the last few years, which is an incredible achievement and has helped the charity to support every baby and child born with a heart problem in Yorkshire. This year…
Leeds charity partners with university to stop refugees and asylum seekers being ‘treated like objects’
Give a Gift and York St John University researchers aim to change the blueprint for support service design. York St John University and Give a Gift are proud to launch the findings of a 10-month study aimed at improving the lives of refugees and asylum seekers living in the UK. The work was launched after…
Azets takes Pride in diversity
Top 10 UK accountancy firm Azets in Yorkshire has strengthened its support for the LGBT+ community with backing for this June’s Pride celebrations. The company has a longstanding commitment to equality, diversity and inclusivity for its 3,000 staff in 70 offices and the clients they serve. Azets’ Yorkshire region has led the way by backing…
Bradford College receives £2.6m grant to help tackle climate change
Bradford College has been awarded a £2.6 million grant for energy-efficiency works that will contribute to ambitious national net-zero targets. Delivered by Salix and run by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Phase 3c Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) aims to slash energy bills and reduce carbon emissions. The Scheme targets public…
Drax Foundation gives £500k to boost stem education, support communities and reduce energy poverty
New funding will go to seven projects that are sited near to where Drax Group operates in England and Scotland Latest donation of over £500k will support 3,600 vulnerable people with their energy bills, enable 3,100 children to access STEM education, and help 240 schools become more energy efficient. The Drax Foundation, the charitable entity…
Yorkshire Building Society joins network helping less advantaged progress
Yorkshire Building Society has joined a network of organisations aimed at making sure colleagues can progress in their financial services careers, regardless of their background. The announcement comes ahead of Social Mobility Day, on 13 June, which aims to promote opportunities at work for all and show people from less advantaged backgrounds they can progress….
AAB raises over £100k at second AABIE charity ball
FPM, an AAB Group Company, hosted over 450 guests at the AABIE Charity Ball, held for the first time in Newry on Saturday night (June 8) Held in the city’s Canal Court, the Ball raised a remarkable £100,369 for the AABIE Charitable Initiative (known as ‘AABIE’) with all funds going directly to the charity. Feargal…
‘Tree of Pride’ set to return to White Rose this month
In celebration of Pride Month, White Rose Shopping Centre is once again hosting its ‘Tree of Pride’ on 8th and 9th June, inviting visitors to decorate the tree with their pledges to work toward a more inclusive and caring future. Following a successful debut in 2023, the community art piece will be touring the country gathering the…
Leeds Beckett experts leading new project to reduce carbon footprint of Leeds manufacturers
Business and computing experts at Leeds Beckett University are joining forces with Leeds-based Quality Bearings Online Ltd (QBOL) to reduce the company’s carbon footprint, by creating an innovative new business model for the net zero era. The project is a 30-month Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), part-funded by the Government through Innovate UK. The academics and QBOL will create…
Yorkshire Building Society colleagues clock up 6,500 hours for good causes
Colleagues at Yorkshire Building Society gave over 6,500 hours of their time to good causes in 2023 and the Society hopes that even more will get involved with community activities this year, the mutual has said ahead of Volunteers’ Week (3-9 June). Yorkshire Building Society allows each employee up to 31 hours of volunteering time…
Council support for struggling households
Ahead of Government financial support ending in September 2024 for households battling the cost of living crisis, residents are urged to claim all they are eligible for and see where they can get discounts and lower their bills. The reduced Household Support Funding for York of £1,037,906 is available until 30 September, and will provide…
The Belfrey awards Simpson contract for its major building project
St Michael le Belfrey, a thriving Grade I listed church in York city centre, has awarded the Contract for Impact – its major repair and reordering project – to Simpson, a York based construction company with significant expertise in restoration and conservation. The rigorous tender exercise was overseen by cost consultants Morham & Brotchie and…
York Children’s Services’ worker receives national award
A City of York Council staff member working with children and young people in care has won a national award for her work. Annie Whitley, a Corporate Parenting and Co Production Advisor, was nominated at the national Frontline Awards, which Celebrate amazing social workers and young people with lived experience of social work. Frontline described Annie’s…
Council launches Buzz About York
City of York Council is launching the ‘Buzz About York’ campaign to promote biodiversity and help wildlife flourish across the city. We are trialling sustainable planting in flowerbeds with long-lasting, perennial plants that will provide a good source of nectar for bees, butterflies and other pollinators. This will: increase biodiversity; provide habitats for insects and…
City of York Council celebrates the life-changing impact of its amazing foster carers during Foster Care Fortnight (13-26 May)
City of York Council is celebrating the life changing impact its foster carers have on the lives of local children and young people. The council cares for over 200 children and young people in York and local foster carers provide safe, loving homes if they can’t live with their own families. Ordinary people doing the…
Yorkshire Children’s Charity is named garden centre group’s charity of the year
The Yorkshire Garden Centres (YGC) group has announced that Yorkshire Children’s Charity will be its Charity of the Year for 2024 following a unanimous team vote. Through a series of fund-raising events and collection boxes at the tills, the teams at Yorkshire Garden Centres’ four sites at Tong, Tingley, Otley, and Bingley plus Dean’s of…
Access consultation delivers five new bays for Blue Badge holders and businesses
Following the Council’s consultation on making York city centre more accessible, five new experimental bays open today (21 May) for Blue Badge holder parking and business loading. Disabled people, residents and business have been consulting with the Council since November 2023 in a number of different ways, including drop-in sessions, online and in-person workshops. They…
Castle Howard raises record-breaking £25,000 for GOSH Charity
Castle Howard have achieved an extraordinary milestone by raising an amazing £25,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH Charity). This is the largest charitable sum raised in the North Yorkshire stately home’s recent history. Castle Howard fundraised for the charity as part of their Peter Pan-themed Christmas in Neverland event, which ran from…
New report delivers blueprint for colleges to enhance West Yorkshire’s finance and professional services sector
A new report sets out how colleges can play a leading role in supporting West Yorkshire’s flourishing finance and professional services (FPS) industry. Commissioned by Luminate Education Group, the research builds on the work of the Yorkshire and Humber Financial and Professional Services Skills Commission, and highlights how colleges are currently an untapped resource for…
City of York Council hits tree planting milestone
Almost 2,500 new trees have been planted as part of the council’s Green Streets© project. Working with local schools, parish councils and other stakeholders, trees have been planted along Malton Road and at Melrosegate Park, Huntington Environment Park, Carr Infants School, Lakeside Primary Academy, Burton Green Primary and seven other school sites. This first year of…
Painting students fix up farm with volunteer makeover
A group of Leeds College of Building students brushed up on their skills after volunteering to redecorate facilities at Herd Farm Residential and Activity Centre. Painting & Decorating and Multi-Skills students from the College spent several weeks on site, prepping walls and woodwork before painting two office rooms, a reception area, and the staff kitchen….
Oscrete lays “foundations for play” at Bradford primary schools
Employees at Bradford concrete admixture manufacturer Oscrete went back to school this month to improve the grounds at a local primary where two of the staff started their education. Oscrete’s concrete technicians and brothers Michael and Keiron Todd attended Lower Fields Primary School in Bradford between 2001 and 2011 and returned with colleagues this month…
Yorkshire bus firm Transdev’s new drive to better mental health
New training mission launches to boost care for customers and colleagues as UK marks Mental Health Awareness Week Yorkshire-based bus operator Transdev is launching a new drive to boost care for its customers and staff as the UK marks Mental Health Awareness Week. Campaigning charity The Mental Health Foundation is leading a nationwide week of…
White Rose marks Mental Health Awareness Week
White Rose Shopping Centre is celebrating Mental Health Awareness Week’s 2024 theme of Movement with a wellbeing walk on Wednesday 15th May. The event has been arranged with the centre’s long-established group of mall walkers as well as a number of White Rose brands including JD, Footasylum, M&S, McDonald’s, Wetherspoon, Superdrug, Flying Tiger, Lush, and Office….
Building a smokefree generation in York
City of York Council is helping to create a smokefree generation in York. The council has been allocated £195k government funding to help expand its existing offer to residents and provide even more support to help people quit for good over the next five years – as new figures from Action on Smoking and Health…
Yorkshire garden centre group smashes its fundraising target for its Charity of the Year
The team at Yorkshire Garden Centres is celebrating after raising over £24,000 for its 2023 Charity of the Year, Yorkshire Air Ambulance. The teams at Yorkshire Garden Centres’ four sites at Tong, Tingley, Otley and Bingley had aimed to raise £19,000 for the independent charity that relies solely on donations to provide its lifesaving rapid…
White Rose celebrates Leeds community champions
White Rose Shopping Centre has honoured heroes from South Leeds and beyond at its annual Community Awards this week (2nd May), with recipients including charity leaders, landscaping specialists, and campaigning centre visitors. The Community Awards celebrate the incredible local people working hard to benefit their local community. 2024 winners include: Lyn Morgan, a regular White…
Yorkshire Building Society welcomes new Chair at Annual General Meeting and donates £25,000 to Fareshare
Yorkshire Building Society welcomed new chair Annemarie Durbin at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Met Hotel in Leeds last week. Members voted overwhelmingly in favour of all resolutions, including the appointment of board members, and in so doing raised £25,000 for FareShare, the mutual’s charity partner. The Society donated 20p for every vote…
York businesses help support local young people leaving care
Young care leavers in York have been able to learn new skills, increase their independence and get life-enriching experiences thanks to the support of local businesses. City of York Council has been working with local businesses to help care leavers gain access to work experience, training and employment opportunities. The partnership has included GMI’s bespoke ‘Construction…
New initiative launched to boost girls’ participation in sports and elevate female coaches across Europe
With girls in Europe four times less likely than boys to engage in organised sport1, the new initiative ICOACHGIRLS (ICG), led by researchers from Leeds Beckett University, aims to promote physical activity and sport amongst primary school-age girls. Co-funded by the European Union, with Leeds Beckett University’s Dr. Ruth Brazier managing the programme, ICG is…
Leeds Beckett University using AI to support autism and ADHD diagnosis and services
Leeds Beckett University is leading a new project to develop ways of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support the diagnosis of ADHD and autism in adults, and to help with prioritisation of services. In partnership with South-West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SWYPFT), computing experts at Leeds Beckett aim to digitise the Trust’s adult ADHD…
University’s All About Respect project secures Home Office funding to tackle sexual harm and hate crime among teenagers
Project to address harassment and unwanted sexual behaviour expands to include schools and colleges in York. York St John University is pleased to announce the expansion of its ground-breaking All About Respect (AAR) project to tackle gender-based violence and harassment. All About Respect in Education has already caught the attention of the Home Office as…
Ebor Lecture: Professor Rupert Read explores climate change emergency
Spiritual orientation, climate chaos and reconnecting with nature will all be under the microscope in the first Ebor Lecture of 2024 Professor Rupert Read, Co-Director of the Climate Majority Project and Emeritus Professor at the University of East Anglia, will share his thoughts on eco-spirituality in his Ebor Spring lecture, Earth-Hope, at York St John…
TPE on track to break taboos around women’s health
TransPennine Express (TPE) has signed up to become an Endometriosis Friendly Employer, helping to drive positive change in the workplace. By joining this scheme, the train operator pledges its commitment to colleagues with endometriosis, promising to raise awareness and break taboos surrounding women’s health issues. One in ten women suffer from endometriosis, a painful and…