Winter wonderlands, snowmen, a rocking horse, lions, witches and Scrooge himself provided a fantastic array of shop windows across Harrogate Borough in Soroptimist International of Harrogate and District’s annual charity shop Christmas window competition. The competition is judged in three zones – Harrogate Town, Ripon and Boroughbridge; Knaresborough with Starbeck. The winners and highly commended shops in Harrogate Town were announced on 16th November at the Big Switch. Judging of the other zones took place on the 27th November. The criteria for judging was Impact, innovation and the spirit of Christmas and this year the judges were very impressed by how this had been interpreted by the shops.
Harrogate and District Soroptimists were pleased to welcome the Deputy Mayor of Harrogate Borough Cllr Christine Willoughby and her consort Andrew Willoughby to join President Nicola Harding in announcing the winners and highly commended shops from Knaresborough with Starbeck and Ripon with Boroughbridge at an event held at the White Hart Hotel on the 6th December.
The winning shop in Ripon with Boroughbridge is Saint Michaels in Ripon with high commendations to Scope, Ripon and Leonard Cheshire Disability in Boroughbridge. The Winning Shop in Knaresborough with Starbeck is Age Concern, Knaresborough with high commendation to Saint Michaels in Starbeck and Saint Michaels in Knaresborough. We were also delighted to welcome the representatives from the winning and highly commended shops in Harrogate Town.
Soroptimist International is a women’s volunteer organisation whose objects are to improve the lives of women and children. Charity shops and the organisations they represent share common values in making a difference to the lives of others. The shops sourced by donations and run with volunteers really do help make that difference. The windows are fantastic and well worth a look but go soon as nearly everything is for sale and when it’s gone its gone.
Full list of Winners and Highly Commended
Harrogate Town winner Scope
Highly commended Oxfam, Save the Children & The Fair Trade Shop
Knaresborough with Starbeck winner Age UK Knaresborough
Highly commended Saint Michaels Starbeck & Saint Michaels Knaresborough
Ripon and Boroughbridge winner Saint Michaels, Ripon
Highly commended Scope, Ripon and Leonard Cheshire, Boroughbridge