Lincoln golden girl Sophie Wells to turn on city Christmas lights

Lincoln Paralympic hero Sophie Wells will be turning on the city’s Christmas lights next month.

The event will take place on November 17 on Lincoln High Street, along with singing, entertainment, and pantomime characters.

Sophie, who was born in the city, was hugely successful at the London 2012 Paralympic Games when her two individual silver medals helped Team GB get gold in the dressage.

She also hit the medal trail again earlier this year at the Rio 2016 Paralympics, where she bagged a gold medal.

Sophie took part in this week’s Olympic Parades in Manchester and London, where hundreds of thousands of people turned out to show their support for Team GB and Paralympic GB athletes.

She also visited Buckingham Palace on the evening of October 18 to attend a special Royal reception hosted by the Queen.

A special Lincoln celebration for Sophie and her team GB colleagues will take place at Lincoln Castle next month.

Local Paralympian Sophie Wells with her gold postbox in uphill Lincoln.

Sophie Wells, who was gifted a gold Lincoln postbox on her return to the city after the 2012 Paralympic games, said: “Thank you everybody so much for all your support, I am so pleased to be able to come and celebrate my recent success at the Rio Paralympics with you all.”

Kate Fenn, Civic and International Partnerships Manager at City of Lincoln Council, said: “We are proud to announce that Sophie will be attending the Christmas lights switch-on in Lincoln this year.

“She has had a phenomenal 2016, winning two gold and one silver medal at the Rio Paralympics.

“Having such a successful and inspirational athlete come to the city for this event is a huge honour for Lincoln and will help kick off our Christmas celebrations in style.”

The switch-on ceremony will also include CBBC presenter Christopher Johnson. Chris has been a regular face on CBBC, presenting Shout Out Saturday alongside Hacker T Dog.

It has been confirmed that Kerry Katona will but turning on this year’s Lincoln Christmas lights.

Others attending include Kerry Katona, with fellow stars of the Theatre Royal’s pantomime ‘Cinderella’, along with the cast of the Drill Hall’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ production.

Celebrations will start on the High Street at 5.30pm. The main switch-on will be taking place later that evening at 7pm.