Our AGM was held on Wednesday 13 April and was well attended. The Chairman reported that we had had a very successful year, membership had increased and thanked all the Committee and Branch members for their support which resulted in Harrogate being a very active branch.
Reports were also given by our Treasurer, Social Events Co-ordinator, Welfare Co-ordinator and a representative of the Healthy Walker’s Group who also mentioned the walks enjoyed by the recently introduced Healthy Strollers Group.
Members were invited to vote on the re-election of officers of the Committee and gifts were presented to the Minutes Secretary, and three members of the catering team who were stepping down and also two members who have assisted with various tasks over the years. Following the business meeting, home-made cakes and preserves were sold and we launched our new venture - ‘A Secret Ingredient’. The idea of producing member’s favourite recipes and selling them for charity was launched by the Healthy Walkers whilst enjoying a cup of tea in Kettlewell! Fifteen recipes have been printed and were on sale with some cakes to taste.
Members were reminded to visit the Harrogate Library between 18 April and 3 May to view the display of Branch activities and it was announced that there would be a New Member’s Coffee Morning on Thursday 19 May at Starbeck Methodist Church.
Gillian Oldfield
Joy Allan, the chairman of the Trustees of Horticap, gave an inspiring talk about the formation of Horticap , its aims and the goals it has achieved along the way to its present form as a leading horticultural nursery in Harrogate.
In 1982 it was noticed by the staff at the Starbeck Adult Training Centre that gardening was very therapeutic for the students. As a result of this, staff from the centre and Alan Ravenscroft ,the Head of Parks and Gardens in Harrogate at the time, along with other interested groups, looked for a piece of land to start a horticultural project and obtained Bluecoat Wood.
In 1984 the mammoth task of clearing the land and installing services began and Joy showed us some slides that gave a very clear picture of the problems they had. Further slides demonstrated how work has progressed over the years with the addition of more greenhouses and poly tunnels, proper buildings that are used as classrooms, a mess hall and toilet facilities. There is also crew bus that is used by students who go out to do maintenance work in gardens.
A lot of support is given to Horticap by its patron Alan Titchmarsh who attended many of the events organised in 2004 to mark the 21st birthday of the project.
Horticap now has 40 students attending for 2-8 sessions per week. In addition to horticulture other skills are taught such as basic IT skills.
