Fundraiser to thank charity who supported military family through bereavement
Jo hopes to complete 280,000 steps for charity this month
Wayne Shipstone served in both the Royal Air Force and Army before his death. His wife Jo, and twin children Alfie and George, marched in his memory at the Remembrance Day parade in London in November 2021.
A woman living in Lincolnshire is aiming to complete 280,000 steps in February to raise money for a charity close to her heart who supported her and her twin boys after the death of her military-serving husband.
Wayne Shipstone, 44, died in June 2021, leaving behind his wife Jo and their 11-year-old twins Alfie and George. Jo said Wayne started drinking to banish his demons, which she believes were possibly linked to PTSD from serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.
After Wayne’s death the family were supported by a charity called Scotty’s Little Soldiers, which was set up by war widow Nikki Scott in 2010 to provide assistance to hundreds of bereaved British Forces’ children and young people around the UK and beyond.
Jo, 45, told The Lincolnite that she can’t thank the charity enough for helping her and her children through what was the most difficult time of their lives.
The charity ensured that Jo, George and Alfie were among 45 Scotty members to attend the national Remembrance Day parade in London in November 2021, where they proudly marched in memory of Wayne.
Jo began her fundraising challenge in Wayne’s memory on February 1 to help raise vital funds for the charity, who are continuing to support the family – donate to the fundraiser here.
Alfie and George Shipstone have been supported by the Scotty’s Little Soldiers charity since the death of their father Wayne.
Jo, who now lives in Ruskington with her twin boys, told The Lincolnite: “They have helped with counselling and respite care, funding to send us on trips and to the national Remembrance Day parade in London, and Christmas/birthday presents for the boys to remind them that they are not on their own. They also sent us to a party with other affected children and they are just amazing.
“The charity shows that not everything happens in active duty, and there are children whose parents (serving in the military) die for various reasons. They are a great support and the charity is like a family community. I have a phone number that me, or the kids, can call day or night if we are struggling.”
George and Alfie attended the 2021 Remembrance Day parade in London in memory of their dad Wayne.
Wayne joined the forces in his early 20s as a supplier at RAF Benson and Mareham, where he held the rank of Corporal. He then made a career change and worked for Stagecoach for several years and the family moved to Lincolnshire in 2009 just a few months after Wayne and Jo got married.
Wayne later rejoined the military, this time the army, in 2012. He was a Lance Corporal with the Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS) and was based at RAF Coningsby while living with his family in accommodation at RAF Digby.
Wayne served with the Military Provost Guard Service at RAF Coningsby.
He was medically discharged on January 31 last year before he was tragically found dead on June 1, 2021.
Although the couple had previously parted ways, Jo said she will be forever grateful for the time they did spend with each other and their twin boys.
The Shipstone family at Anfield – the home of Liverpool FC.
Jo said Wayne was an “amazing dad and always put the boys first”.
Jo, who is a nursery nurse at a pre-school in Lincoln, said: “Wayne will always have a place in my heart and I will always be grateful for our boys.
“He was an amazing dad and always put the boys first. He would do anything to make them happy. He was an amazing person and always backed them 100% and loved to see them do well.”
The fundraising event has been organised by Scotty’s Little Soldiers and encourages participants to set themselves the challenge of completing 280,000 steps before the end of February.
Jo, George and Alfie were among 45 Scotty members to attend the national Remembrance Day parade in London in November 2021.
Jo said Navenby JFC have been a great support to her twin boys Alfie and George.
Jo is now about halfway through her fundraising challenge and said she has had “great support from family and friends”, while George and Alfie have been running with her during half-term.
She added that the charity paid the membership fees for her sons to join Navenby JFC, which she said “has not only helped me financially, but also the boys who have great bonds with the other players and the management, who are great positive male role models.”
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Nominations are open for schools and education settings to be recognised in the 2022 Lincolnshire Education Excellence Awards.
The event is organised by Stonebow Media, publishers of The Lincolnite, to celebrate the best school and teachers in Greater Lincolnshire.
The headline sponsors making the awards possible are Lincoln College Group.
Twelve categories are now open for nominations. The deadline for nominations is June 3, with a judging lunch scheduled for June 7.
Nominations are open from parents, carers, friends, families or education settings themselves, so if you know someone who deserving of winning now is the time to vote!
The awards ceremony will be held at the Engine Shed on July 7.
It’s been a week since the controversial statue of Margaret Thatcher was installed in Grantham’s St Peter’s Hill.
The £300,000 bronze monument immediately caused a stir and debate from both supporters and opponents of the first female Prime Minister of the UK.
Within hours of its 7am installation last Sunday, it had already been egged by a man later revealed to be 59-year-old Jeremy Webster, a deputy director at the Attenborough Arts Centre at the University of Leicester.
Mr Webster’s mother-in-law recently described his actions as “childish”.
Quoted in the MailOnline she said: “Margaret Thatcher lasted a long time in power. She was a trailblazer as the first woman prime minister and she had such energy, even though I know she slept very little.
“I’m very surprised to hear about all of this [egg throwing]. I’m going to have to call my daughter. I wouldn’t have thought Jeremy would be the sort of person to do this. It seems very childish to me – he has a responsible job.”
There have been reports of other antisocial behaviour taking place including people urinating up the statue, but investigations into these are yet to be confirmed by officials.
Away from the statue itself, others took to social media to react to the new monument.
Twitterer @BolsoverBeast thought Mr Webster’s actions should be expanded as a way to… get more people involved?
I think it would be a good idea to put Thatcher’s statue on a low loader and tow it slowly around the country so that we all have a chance to throw something at it. pic.twitter.com/uftMqr0LgR
— Chloe Schlosberg (@ChloeSchlosberg) May 19, 2022
Some called back to the fate of other statues
@Irritatedllama called back to the fate of slave trader Edward Colston who was thrown into the Bristol Harby in June 2020.
It's absolutely disgraceful that people are throwing eggs at the Margaret Thatcher statue in Grantham! We need to deploy a taskforce to give it jolly good wash!#Granthampic.twitter.com/RKftKUls4u
It wasn’t long before a parody account of the statue was set up on Twitter – nor before “she” was interacting with other parody accounts.
It was awful. I could see almost all of Grantham
— That Statue of Thatcher (@thatcher_statue) May 18, 2022
A… positive view?
There were supporters of the statue, however, Darren Grimes from GBNews was one of the few popular posts calling on people not to “give in to threats of petty vandalism”. He later posted the statue should be in parliament – where it was previously rejected from.
I honestly think Margaret Thatcher would have found this first round of petty vandalism of her statue to be utterly hilarious.
The statue looks absolutely glorious.
Almost a decade on from her passing, she’s still winding them up!
Some, like @Jonnyhibberd were more measured in their response.
I don't see a problem with a Thatcher statue and I also don't see a problem with people throwing eggs at it. Thatcher is an important part of our history, and so is what a lot of people thought about her.
— Jonathan Hibberd 🇺🇦 (@Jonnyhibberd) May 18, 2022