Branch Activities

As a Retirement Fellowship, the well-being of our members is one of our prime concerns. The Branch has a Welfare Team which is led by a Co-ordinator. Their role is to maintain contact with members who are ill or in hospital. In addition to sending cards, they visit them at home or in hospital taking small gifts of flowers or fruit and the best wishes of the Branch..

When one of our members dies, we send a donation to the charity nominated by the family of the deceased.
For 2010/11 we have chosen Martin House Hospice as our nominated charity. In previous years we have sent donations to:
St. Michael’s Hospice, the Harrogate Homeless Project. the Yorkshire Air Ambulance , the Open Arms Project, Malawi and Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Our group meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month to enjoy a five-to-six mile walk in the lovely countryside around Harrogate. As well as being a good way to keep fit and healthy, we also enjoy the like-minded companionship. Members who have cars give lifts to those who do not, which enables us to be independent of public transport.
Each January we have a planning meeting at which the year’s potential walks are discussed and a planned programme is agreed. Our 2011 programme is posted on the “Programmes” page.

The outings that are organised by our Social Events Team lead by our Coordinator are very popular with many of our members.
During the last three years we have been to Boundary Mills at Colne, Richmond and Kiplin Hall, and Ripley Castle with a cream tea. We have also enjoyed visits to the Crich Tramway Museum and to Castle Howard to see the wonderful “Castle Howard at Christmas”.
Following the Royal Hall’s refurbishment we had a very interesting conducted tour and, in the spring, we went to the Lake District.
At Christmas we experienced the atmosphere of the Lincoln Christmas Market and, in May 2010, 44 members and friends had a conducted tour of Allerton Castle and then in September we travelled on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway to Whitby.
We recently added a Summer Lunch at The Spa Hotel, Ripon to our usual Christmas Lunch celebration and both of these are very successful.
Theatre outings have been well received and these have included “Carousel”, “Oliver” and the Brighouse and Raistrick Brass Band Christmas Concert. In December members and friends attended the NHS Carol Service in York Minster which is a very memorable experience.
We opened 2011 with a trip to Leeds to see the M & S “Marks in Time“ exhibition, a theatre trip in March to see “Hello Dolly” and a visit to Bowes Museum in April.
In addition to our one-day outings we have an annual 5-day holiday each year and these have included Bath, where we had a guided tour around the city, and to Wells, Longleat and Stonehenge.
Our most recent holiday was to “Midsomer Murders“ country and included a visit to Turville where “The Vicar of Dibley” was filmed. We went to Henley-on-Thames and to Maple Durham House near Marlow. Oxford and Windsor were included in this itinerary.
This year we enjoyed our holiday in Torquay and several other trips.

“I joined the Retirement Fellowship because I am a retired employee of the NHS in Darlington and have bought a house in Harrogate, hoping to re-locate in the future. I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to meet some friends before my move. Members of Harrogate Branch have made me feel very welcome. I also joined the walking group which I thoroughly enjoy, and the monthly meetings which are most entertaining.”