Latest news with #NorthYorkshire
BBC News
4 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
'There are so many hidden costs to raising a disabled child'
"Our bills are always higher."For Amanda, a mother of two sons, raising a disabled child comes with hidden costs that have forced her out of the seven-year-old boy, William, has medical conditions that leave him unable to attend mainstream school and with significant care has never been able to return to her job managing an opticians because of the difficulties in finding a specialist childcare provider able to accommodate from Skipton in North Yorkshire, told the BBC that her family also faced financial pressure because of the equipment and clothing that William needs. "I'm not a natural stay-at-home mum, I enjoyed working," she be able to afford to go back to work, Amanda would have to have childcare and claim it back through Universal Credit, but the carer would need to be Ofsted-registered."Finding someone who's registered and willing to look after a child with William's needs is nearby impossible." Her plight has been highlighted by The Family Fund charity, which has warned that families with children with additional needs are at risk of falling into debt because of care has epileptic encephalopathy, a genetic condition that can cause developmental delays, a movement disorder called ataxia and learning he was first diagnosed, Amanda was told that he may not survive until adulthood."He has a high risk of SUDEP (Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy) where some children pass away in their sleep. When your child sleeps in you think 'is this going to be the day that they don't wake up'."Amanda said there was no "downtime" for parents in her situation and she faced "full-on and long days"."It's hard to explain because he is such an adorable lively boy, everyone who meets him adores him, but he never stops."She said the main challenge was William's behaviour."If you take him to a body of water, he will want to go in that. If we go to a soft play, he will pull on hair. The isolation is the hardest thing."You have no control over anything that happens, you just have to ride the waves and deal with it really." Her household budget is impacted by William's love of water and by food wastage."He has an obsession with water so we use water a lot. Wastage of food is a big one, I want to try and get him eating different things but he is restricted on what he will try."She said nappies and incontinence swimwear "cost a bomb" as does his clothing, which needs holes for his gastrostomy - a surgical opening in the stomach for a feeding tube."When we go out, we seem to pay more for specialist stuff, £50 or more for an hour so they can have fun and be by themselves or with children with additional needs."William has a place at a special school nearby, which has a nurse on site who can deal with his seizures, but holiday childcare remains a problem."I try to explain to people with neurotypical children that their kids can go to an after-school club, or a holiday club by themselves."William might get vouchers but he can't go to anything without a carer and they need training." The Family Fund provides grants for families with disabled and seriously ill children, and the charity said half of its service users cannot meet day-to-day living costs despite being in receipt of state disability has spent her grant on a garden house for William to play executive Cheryl Ward CBE said: "As caring costs increase for families, barriers to paid work as a route out of poverty remain unchanged, including a lack of suitable childcare."Until these challenges are addressed, families raising disabled and seriously ill children can't escape the cycle of living in debt, going without essentials like food, clothing and furniture and experiencing poor mental health."Amanda added: "Everything is so expensive, I wouldn't be able to feasibly buy a garden house for him." 'No choice' Amanda said that when families have a disabled child their "whole life is caring for them".She has an older son, Jake, and her partner has two children from a previous relationship."You feel guilty for saying it but you feel trapped. They will always be children. It feels like a jail sentence, which is awful to say as they are your kids."She said a year ago she would cry "every single day"."It was too much. Not having enough sleep and feeling out of control."All you get from people is 'I don't know how you do it'."Really, I have no choice. If I break down there is no one else. Unless it gets to a real crisis, there is no help there."Amanda said she had been proactive in accessing support which had made a difference."I use a carers' resource and they are my rock, they do coffee mornings, and the hospice provides counselling and support."I found communicating with other parents one of the better things, you just don't feel alone." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
On this day: multiple award wins for cheesemaker Shepherds Purse
On this day in 2024, the York Press reported that a North Yorkshire cheesemaker had scooped top honours at that year's Virtual Cheese Awards. Shepherds Purse became the first British producer to win two category golds in the same year, taking home Best Artisan Soft and Best Blue, alongside two additional class golds and three class bronze awards. The judges confirmed Buffalo Blue, by Shepherds Purse, as the artisan soft cheese category winner, saying: "It has an aroma that is clean and rich, which makes you want to dive in. "It has a great mouthfeel which is deceptively light and smooth, plus it has a rich and creamy taste." Yorkshire Blue topped the blue cheese category, with the panel describing it as "creamy but with a real hit of blue." More information about Shepherds Purse is available at
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Calls for Drax to be forced to fully disclose its biomass sourcing
The owner of the Drax wood-burning power station should be forced to disclose full details of its tree consumption, campaigners have argued, as MPs review the billions in renewables subsidies the North Yorkshire plant receives. A delegated legislation committee will decide on Monday whether to pass the government's plans to extend billpayer-funded subsidies to the country's biomass power generators, of which Drax is by far the biggest. Green campaigners said a condition of any extension should be that Drax published a key report by KPMG into its operations and sourcing. Reports by the auditor have been provided to the government and the energy regulator Ofgem but not the public. Ofgem has said KPMG shows Drax has not breached rules on sourcing trees for burning from environmentally sustainable forests. However, in separate incidents, Drax had been found to have supplied inaccurate data for subsidies in the past, leading to a £25m fine. Media investigations also found Drax using wood from old-growth forests in the US. Drax is expected to receive more than £10bn in renewable energy subsidies between 2012 and 2027, the current regime period, according to the thinktank Ember. Kingsmill Bond, an energy strategist at Ember, said: 'Burning trees for electricity is extremely inefficient and expensive, and is not effective at mitigating climate change. 'The collapse in the price of solar, wind and batteries in the last five years means that burning trees for electricity is now an obsolete technology. Before we pour any more subsidy into Drax, MPs need to see the KMPG report on where the wood has been coming from.' The government plans to halve the subsidies available for biomass power generation under a revised regime from 2027. MPs on the delegated legislation committee are expected to vote on Monday on the statutory instrument enabling this. Almuth Ernsting, the co-director of the campaign group Biofuelwatch, said: 'If those subsidies are approved, it would result in more carbon emissions, more destructive logging of wildlife-rich forests in the south-eastern US and elsewhere, and more pollution suffered by communities living next to pellet plants in that region – pollution which community activists have denounced as 'environmental racism'.' Mark Campanale, the founder of the Carbon Tracker Initiative, added: 'At a time when renewables powered by wind, solar with back up batteries are growing exponentially around the world, it seems remarkable that the UK still needs to rely on dirty combustion like Drax to reach its climate targets. Instead of importing and burning wood, with all its associated emissions, the UK should be doubling down on natural sources of energy available to us, wind and solar.' A spokesperson for Drax said: 'In their investigation Ofgem found no evidence that our biomass failed to meet the sustainability criteria of the RO [renewable obligation] scheme, nor that the ROCs [renewable obligation certificates] we received for the renewable power we produced had been provided incorrectly. 'Their new statement on the reports we commissioned from KPMG, as well as the prior comments in a public accounts committee hearing by Ofgem's director of audit and compliance, confirm that they reviewed these documents as part of their investigation and found no evidence within them that we were in breach of our sustainability obligations and therefore wrong to receive RO funding.' The spokesperson added: 'Drax provides secure renewable power to millions of homes and businesses when they need it, not just when the wind is blowing, or the sun is shining. The science underpinning biomass generation is supported by the world's leading climate experts, including the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the UK's Climate Change Committee.' A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: 'We are halving the amount of support for Drax, saving money on people's energy bills and contributing to our energy security. Drax will operate for less of the time under a clean power system and will need to use 100% sustainably sourced biomass, with not a penny of subsidy paid for anything less.' The Guardian understands there would be substantial penalties for any breach of the sustainability criteria.
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Man airlifted to hospital after falling into water near Richmond
A man has been airlifted to hospital after falling into the water at a North Yorkshire beauty Ambulance Service said it was called to the incident at Richmond Falls, near Richmond, at 16:41 air ambulances attended the scene and the man was taken to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough at about 18:00, an ambulance service spokesperson confirmed. They did not provide an update on his condition.A series of rocky steps along the River Swale make up what is known as Richmond Falls, a popular spot with walkers and swimmers. The incident comes after a schoolgirl died after falling into a reservoir in Ripponden, West Yorkshire on Saturday emergency services recovered the body of a girl who had entered the River Thames in Gravesend, Kent along with a boy on boy was taken to hospital, where he remained in a stable condition as of Saturday afternoon. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
The Independent
2 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Investigation continues days after unexplained deaths of next-door neighbours in Scarborough
Investigations are to continue this weekend after two next-door neighbours were found dead in a quiet cul-de-sac in Scarborough. Police were called on Monday to the sudden death of a 69-year-old man on Gatesgarth Close, just five days after the death of a 49-year-old man in an adjoining property. The two men's deaths are being treated as unexplained, and residents at two properties on the street were evacuated as a precaution. In an update on Friday, four days after the second fatality, North Yorkshire Police said searches were continuing and a police presence would remain at the scene over the weekend until the investigation is completed. There is no suggestion that there is any risk to the wider community and enquiries so far have not led to any change in this position, police said. A cordon had been put in place at the two properties while an examination with specialist officers took place, with tests being carried out to determine the presence of any environmental factors that may have led to their deaths. In a statement, North Yorkshire Police said: 'Searches are continuing at properties in Gatesgarth Close in Scarborough today (30 May) and a police presence will remain at the scene over the weekend until all work at the properties has been completed. 'To recap, on Monday 26 May, police were called to the sudden death of a 69-year-old man. Officers became concerned as the death followed a similar incident on 21 May when emergency services were called to the sudden death of a 49-year-old man in an adjoining property. 'The investigation is continuing to establish the circumstances that led to their deaths and the cause. 'At this time there is no suggestion that there is any risk to the wider community and our enquiries so far have not led to any change in this position. 'Our thanks go to local people, in particular the residents of Gatesgarth Close for their patience and understanding while we remain at the scene. 'Our thoughts remain with the men's families who are being supported by specially trained officers at this sad time.'
