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September 2019
Appeal for 3,000 knitted poppies MANSFIELD District Council is again appealing for people to knit poppies to help decorate the town for Remembrance Sunday. For the past two years, residents — and people from further afield — have supported the People’s Poppies campaign by knitting more than 15,000 poppies for spectacular displays on the Old Town Hall. Now the council is appealing for people to get out their knitting and crochet needles again. It is aiming to add another 3,000 poppies to the displays. In particular, it is asking people to make poppy bunting by knitting and stitching together two-metre strings of poppies and providing poppies to decorate other parts of the town centre, including the Bentinck Memorial. The council hopes to provide a poppy scarf for the leaning man statue at the bottom of Church Street, which is on the route of the Remembrance Day parade. Coun Stuart Richardson, portfolio holder regeneration and growth, said: “We want to make the town centre look even more stunning for Remembrance Sunday to show respect to those Servicemen and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for this country. Let’s show how much Mansfield cares.” The displays will go up before 10th November on part of the route for the Remembrance Sunday parade, which goes through the town centre via West Gate and into the Market Place on the way to St Peter’s Church. Poppies can be left at the Civic Centre, Mansfield, marked for the attention of the marketing and communications team. They will be collected until Friday, 20th September, and opportunities will be held in the Market Place in the autumn for supporters to help create the garlands. If you are interested in helping you can speak to the events team on 01623 463376 or email events@mansfield.gov. uk for more information. Details and poppy knitting patterns to download can be found online at www. mansfield.gov.uk/poppies
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Feline fine after £1m scratchcard success! A COUPLE scooped a £1m National Lottery scratchcard prize thanks to their pet cat.
Andrew Hancock bought the winning scratchcard when he drove to a petrol station to buy food for six-year-old Shortcake — after forgetting to pick it up on his way home from work. Andrew and his wife, Paula, who run Jasper’s catering business, said if it wasn’t for Shortcake they wouldn’t be millionaires. And the Boughton couple have promised to upgrade their pet cat’s meals to only the best from now on. Andrew said: “We needed more cat food for Shortcake, our ginger tom, and I said I’d get some on the way home from work — but I forgot. “So, I decided to take Paula’s car and fill up with fuel (at the Esso petrol station on Old Rufford Road, Ollerton) and get the cat food. “While paying for the food I bought the £5 scratchcard because I’d won £100 twice before on the same type of card. “I decided to scratch the symbols while sitting in the car at the petrol
station as I realised I had forgotten to buy the cat food. “I scratched off the lucky symbol — a duck — and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. “I looked and looked again and started to get a bit hot when I realised I had won. “I went home and called Paula as soon as I walked through the front door. I don’t usually swear, but I did, and beckoned her over to check the ticket with me. “After checking the ticket quite a few times and just staring at it, I called the National Lottery to claim the prize. “If it wasn’t for Shortcake, we wouldn’t be millionaires.” Paula, a councillor on Ollerton Town Council, added: “Claiming the money was exactly like on the adverts. We had a lovely old lady who said ‘congratulations, you’ve won £1 million’, and we just couldn’t believe it. “Andrew couldn’t stop singing and jumping up and down. I was the same but burst into tears when I saw my mum and dad.”
THIS year’s Mansfield Sports Recognition Awards will take place on 9th December at the Civic Quarter in Mansfield. During September nominations will be sought for the various awards to salute the district’s best teams, clubs, coaches, volunteers, sportsmen and
sportswomen. The awards include: lJunior Team of the Year lJunior Disabled Sportsperson of the Year lJunior Sports Leader of the Year lTeam of the Year lSportsperson of the Year lDisabled Sportsperson of the Year
WIN Disney and Odeon tickets — page 15
Full Shebang Festival coming to town — page 15
ANDREW and Paula Hancock, and their lucky cat Shortcake. PHOTO: Courtesy Mansfield Chad
Nominations wanted for sports recognition awards lJunior Sportsperson of the Year lCoach of the Year lVolunteer of the Year lClub of the Year The annual ceremony is organised by Mansfield District Council in association with The Armchair Club, a group of businessmen who
More memories of the Granada in Mansfield — pages 12 and 13
A LEVEL G N I N E V E OPEN Thursday 26 September I 5.30-7.30pm Derby Road campus, NG18 5BH Register your attendance today
www.wnc.ac.uk/oe 0808 100 3626
have supported the area’s sporting community since 1982. Details of how to nominate will be posted at www.mansfield.gov.uk and www.armchairclub.org shortly. Tickets for the event cost £6 (adult) and £3 (junior). Nominees are given two free tickets. Tickets are available at www.eventbrite.co.uk — search for Mansfield Sports Recognition Awards. For further information, contact the council’s sports development officer, Shaun Hird, at shird@mansfield.gov. uk or call 01623 463371.