Lincoln’s first trampoline park springs to life this winter

A group of Lincolnshire women have raised over £7,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support after completing a collective 400 mile walk for charity.

Twelve cancer nurses from Lincoln County Hospital’s Waddington Ward, as well as a prison officer and two Macmillan nurses, stepped out into the Lake District for the challenge, which saw each of them walk a gruelling 26 miles.

The walkers had been training together for months, and after the initial event was cancelled due to COVID-19 in 2020, they are all “on cloud nine” after finishing the mammoth task.

It took place on Saturday, June 19 and the march across the Lake District lasted over 12 hours for some, with the group setting off at 7.10am and the last person arriving at the finish line at 9.30pm.

Marie Beck and Beth McDowall with their medals for completing the Mighty Hike.

The ‘Mighty Hike’ was in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, and at the time of reporting the women who took part have raised over £7,000 collectively.

Amanda Gill is one of the walkers who took part, and despite suffering from effects of long COVID, she incredibly managed to achieve 23 of the 26 miles.

She said: “The walk mainly took us off road and it included mountainous and rocky areas. I remember at one point the path was very narrow and it was scary because there was a sheer drop at the side of us.

“It was a really sunny day but, although it didn’t rain, it was very humid for everyone.

“Overall, it was both physically hard and very emotionally challenging.

“We are still buzzing after completing it. Personally, I am really proud of everyone, including myself because I basically managed to keep going up until the last couple of miles.”

There’s still time to donate to the cause, and you can do so by visiting the JustGiving page set up by Amanda Gill, one of the walkers.

Lincoln City will face Premier League opposition and three fellow Lincolnshire clubs when their pre-season schedule starts next month.

The Imps will begin preparations for the 2021/22 season with an away match against Championship side Reading on Saturday, July 10.

That game will be followed by a match with Nottingham Forest three days later, before a Lincolnshire derby with Boston United on Saturday, July 17 — both away matches.

A look at Lincoln City’s pre-season schedule for the 2021/22 season. | Photo: Lincoln City FC

Next up will be Norwich City away on Tuesday, July 20, fresh off their promotion to the Premier League last season.

Two more Lincolnshire derbies against non-league Gainsborough Trinity (Wednesday, July 21) in the Lincs Senior Cup and League Two Scunthorpe United (Tuesday, July 27) are rounded off with a trip to Salford City on July 31.

Michael Appleton will be hoping to get some much-needed minutes for his first team players as they prepare for their third season in League One, after the heartbreak of play-off final defeat against Blackpool last season.

All fixtures will be played behind closed doors, though this could be subject to change, and further information on coverage of these games will be made available in due course.

Kick off times are as follows:

• Reading – Saturday, July 10, 1pm kick off
• Nottingham Forest XI – Tuesday, July 13, 2pm kick off
• Boston United – Saturday, July 17, 3pm kick off
• Norwich City – Tuesday, July 20, 2.30pm kick off
• Gainsborough Trinity – Wednesday, July 21, 7.45pm kick off
• Scunthorpe United – Tuesday, July 27, 7.30pm kick off
• Salford City – Saturday, July 31, 3pm kick off

A police officer’s career was left in tatters after he used a handheld mobile phone to record footage of himself listening to music while at the wheel of his marked vehicle.

PC Matthew Breathwick was caught after he used the Snapchat social media application to share the footage with colleagues while on duty.

The incident occured during a night shift on November 6 while PC Breathwick was driving a police van at 50mph on the A17 in Lincolnshire.

PC Breathwick, who was based in Spalding, was convicted in March this year of using a handheld mobile phone while driving and resigned from the force.

A Lincolnshire Police misconduct hearing was told the officer repeatedly lied about the incident after being challenged by colleagues who viewed his Snapchat footage.

The hearing was told a police officer who was sat next to PC Breathwick in the van became so angry when she was alerted to the footage by Snapchat that she asked to be dropped off and made her own way back to Spalding police station.

David Ring, prosecuting, said: “To be blunt it beggars belief that a serving police officer behaved in that way, especially at night, driving at 50mph on the A17.”

Mr Ring said the two officers were heading towards Long Sutton on the A17 when they used Bluetooth to put music on the van’s stereo.

PC Breathwick’s colleague was alerted to his behaviour by an alert to her own mobile phone from a shared Snapchat group.

Mr Ring said the message showed footage from inside the police van with audio playing and gave the username ‘Breathers.’

PC Breathwick’s colleague looked across and noticed him flipping back his handheld mobile phone.

The footage drew immediate responses from some of PC Breathwick’s colleagues who were also alerted by his Snapchat message and were concerned about his use of a handheld mobile phone while driving a police van.

Mr Ring said PC Breathwick responded by claiming his phone had remained in his stab vest and the camera had been activated by his fleece coat.

He then continued to lie about his use of the phone when he was confronted by a senior colleague the following day.

Mr Ring said PC Breathwick’s conduct showed persistent dishonesty and went against the public campaign of Lincolnshire Police that handheld mobile phones should not be used while driving.

“A police officer, while on duty, doing exactly what the public are told not to do,” Mr Ring added.

Breathwick, who did not attend the hearing, admitted four charges of professional misconduct and was respresented by Sergeant Lee Willoughby from Lincolnshire Police Federation.

Sgt Willoughby told the hearing: “There is genuine remorse, a silly act has resulted in the end of a previously unblemished career.”

Lincolnshire Police Chief Constable Chris Haward found Breathwick guilty of gross misconduct and ruled the officer would have been dismissed from the Force if he had not already resigned.

Chief Constable Haward admitted it was a decision he had made with a “heavy heart” after reading a wealth of testimonials about the officer.

“They speak of a person who helped others, not only as a police officer, but as a coastguard.”