Spades, benches and fish: Yorkshire stories to make you smile

Stories this week included lift off for the air ambulance and bums on seats at Scarborough railway station

Across Yorkshire there are people doing amazing things every day of the week, and we want to highlight them.

This week the saw people from across the region take a record-breaking rest on a rather long bench, donate used tech devices to help others get online and work to remove barriers on rivers to enable fish to swim more freely.

Take a look below and enjoy some positive news stories from across BBC Yorkshire.

World's longest station bench breaks record

Ever struggled to find a seat on the platform while waiting for a train? Not at Scarborough railway station, which claims to be home to the "world's longest station bench".

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the first British passenger rail journey, hundreds of people squeezed on to the Grade II listed bench on platform one.

At 456ft (139m) long, the bench is the length of about 12 double-decker buses and was installed in 1883 to accommodate growing numbers of Victorian tourists heading to the seaside.

At the event, 239 people, many of whom donned Victorian outfits, filled the vast seat - breaking the previous record of 200 people seated side-by-side.

Find out more about the record-breaking seat

Spades in ground for air ambulance

The site is due to be completed in summer 2026

Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) has started work on building a new home for the charity near Thirsk in North Yorkshire, after planning permission was granted for a site.

Work is due to be completed by the end of 2026.

The base at Skipton-on-Swale is the "perfect spot" according to charity chair Mike Harrop, who said they had been looking to buy land for the project for several years.

The YAA is currently based at RAF Topcliffe, but its new home, just 3.5 miles (5.6km) away, will be purpose built for the charity's needs.

Find out more about plans for the new base

Tech access for all

Muhammed Zaid Zafar Ali says he uses his refurbished PC for work and study

A charity that refurbishes devices has helped hundreds of people get online after it received a huge increase in donations.

Giroscope recycles PCs, laptops and smartphones and received 600 in the past year - compared to 650 during the previous four years.

Muhammed Zaid Zafar Ali, 18, received a refurbished PC for work and university. He said it was "really easy to use and navigate".

He added: "I use mine for work and university.

"My dad was wanting one and then word spread across my family and now more and more people are wanting them."

Find out more about the scheme's success

Just keep swimming

It is hoped the work will open up the waterways to revive ecosystems and allow fish to move freely

Yorkshire's fish can now swim more freely after a project to remove barriers left in rivers by the region's industrial past.

The work is part of a £21m programme to support fish migration and improve habitats by removing or modifying structures, many associated with mills and heavy industries that were powered by Yorkshire's waterways.

Over the past 10 years, more than 100 obstacles have been removed, including the Hirst Mill Weir on the River Aire, Stocksbridge Weir on the River Don, and Bowers Mill Weir on the Black Brook near Halifax.

Find out more about the project

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