Stories to make you smile from across Yorkshire

57 minutes ago

Fiona CallowYorkshire

News image — Our round-up of uplifting stories across Yorkshire this week

BBC/Jane Tomlinson Appeal/Leeds Teaching Hospital Three images side by side; on the left a man with thick black-rimmed glasses and a blue denim shirt, in the middle, a woman with short brown hair and a green blazer holds a large check, on the right an older woman with glasses and a white shirt with red roses. — Our round-up of uplifting stories across Yorkshire this week

Every week in Yorkshire we cover uplifting and feel-good stories about people, places and animals across our region - and we like to shout about them.

This week we feature five hoglets found under decking, a 92-year-old whose tumour shrunk thanks to "pioneering" new techniques, and an unexpected benefit to the recent warm weather.

Berry mixed weather has a sweet side

Patrick Wilson Patrick Wilson, who has grey hair, wearing a green polo shirt. He is bent down in a strawberry field, holding a large red strawberry by the stem. — Patrick Wilson, who owns a pick-your-own farm in East Yorkshire, says his strawberries are beautiful this year

From spring frosts to a May heatwave, the great British weather has been as mercurial as ever.

But the topsy-turvy conditions have been a boon for fruit growers who are seeing sweeter, juicier strawberries this year, according to industry body British Berry Growers.

Patrick Wilson, 60, who runs a pick-your-own farm in Gilberdyke, East Yorkshire, said the cooler spring delayed the onset of flowering, before rainfall and the heatwave "really brought the fruit on and ripened it up".

It means his crop is now "lovely, red and sweet".

Artist who had transplant designs donor cards

Artist Pete McKee in his studio in Sheffield wearing a blue shirt and brown trousers, surrounded by paints and brushes — Pete McKee inside his studio in Sheffield

Artist Pete McKee has designed five new organ donor cards to encourage more people to sign up to the national register, after undergoing a life-saving transplant himself.

McKee, from Sheffield, received a donor liver in 2017 after discovering he had a hereditary condition affecting his lungs and liver.

The designs have been commissioned for the British Transplant Games, but McKee hopes to also produce illustrations for more general donor cards in future.

Baby hedgehogs found under decking

Anne Morley/Your Family Vets Baby hedgehogs snuggled in a garden. — The hoglets were found under garden decking in Knaresborough last week

Five baby hedgehogs are being nursed back to health after they were found without their mother in North Yorkshire

The hoglets were discovered under decking in a garden in Knaresborough - but with no sign of their mum, the homeowner contacted the local vet for help.

Your Family Vets in the town contacted resident Anne Morley, who is known for caring for wildlife in the area.

"True to form, she was straight there and more than happy to help," the vets said.

Charities get £176k from cancer foundation

Jane Tomlinson Appeal Two people are standing indoors against a blue-green wall, holding a large ceremonial cheque from the “Jane Tomlinson Appeal.” The cheque is dated “14/5/26” and made out for “Fourteen thousand eight hundred pounds,” with the amount “£14,800” written in a large box on the right. Beneath the amount, handwritten text reads “For and on behalf of Hull and Ousea Home From Hospital” — Hull Churches Home From Hospital Service was one of the charities selected

Charities across Yorkshire are set to receive a £176,000 boost from a foundation set up by an amateur athlete who raised millions while suffering from breast cancer.

The Jane Tomlinson Appeal, founded by the Wakefield mother who died in 2007, announced it plans to invest in 15 charities including organisations in York, Sheffield, Leeds and Hull.

The foundation's "Big Charity Giveaway" launched in January and more than 300 charities applied for support.

Tomlinson's husband Mike, trustee of the appeal, said: "This investment is about backing charities making a real difference in communities every day."

Woman, 92, first in UK for new cancer treatment

Leeds Teaching Hospitals A white-haired woman wearing large plastic framed spectacles is seated in an upholstered armchair, slightly angled toward the camera. She is wearing a short-sleeved top with a floral pattern. — Brenda Iveson was told usual cancer treatments would not work for a tumour in her liver

A 92-year-old great-grandmother who was told her cancer was inoperable has become the first person in the UK to receive a "pioneering" treatment that has shrunk her tumour by about 80%.

Brenda Iveson, from Harrogate, was diagnosed with a tumour in her liver, but because of its location and her frailty, doctors said other treatments "were not suitable".

However, specialists at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust instead offered her a "minimally invasive procedure", using robotic-guided electrochemotherapy.

Brenda said: "I had been told there was nothing that could be done. I'm so glad I went ahead, it wasn't painful or debilitating and I feel very well."

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