A 101-year-old woman in Spalding is knitting clothes to send over to Ukraine as she remembers the “heartache, the pain and worry” she felt when she was was separated from her husband for three years during World War II.
Elsie Pepper is part of a team of volunteers helping The Craft Outlet at the Springfields Shopping Centre in Spalding to knit hats, scarves and gloves, to help Ukrainian refugees.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought the feelings back to the fore again for Elise Pepper, who remembers the “fear and loneliness like yesterday” of when she was separated from her husband George during the war.
Family-run business The Craft Outlet also has a personal connection to the tragic situation as manager Eric Pepper’s wife Natasha, 50, who moved to Lincolnshire in 2006, is from Ukraine and has a lot of family and friends still in her home country.
In a few days they will be collecting Natasha’s 83-year-old mother from the Ukrainian border and whatever is knitted by then will be transported, with more to follow in the coming weeks.
Elise, who retired to Lincolnshire from London with her husband George, said: “At 101-years-old you’d be correct in assuming I’ve seen many things in my time. In WW2 as a young woman me and my husband were separated by war for three years.
“I remember the heart ache, the pain and worry. Perhaps most of all I remember the fear and loneliness like yesterday. It never leaves me.
“Today we see the same happening here in Europe before our very eyes as families are wrenched apart through no fault of their own.
“I remember the nation came together and each of us did the little we could do and a lot of little made a big difference. Please do the little you can do. We have a group of volunteers who will make sure it gets to the people in need. If I at my age can do a bit then I sure you can too.”
The Craft Outlet is located at the Springfields Outlet Shopping Centre in Spalding.
The Craft Outlet was launched by Elsie’s son Eric Pepper at the Springfields Outlet Shopping Centre in Spalding around 10 years ago.
It will be hosting weekly knitting and crochet sessions every Monday and Friday between 10am-5pm, and from 11am on Sundays. The firm’s suppliers have sponsored the initiative and have provided wool free of charge.
Eric told The Lincolnite: “I am proud of my mum. She has always been looking after people in the community, we grew up with it and we don’t see things any other way and want to do our bit to help.
“We know people who are in desperate straights in Ukraine and having their lives torn apart. My mother would say this is reminiscent of the Second World War – the ugliness and pain of separation and something that is unbelievable and for no reason.
“My mother is 101 and is a very wise woman, but age has taken its toll on her short-term memory. But she is fully aware of the pain and suffering, which she remembers like yesterday and wants to do her bit to help.”
Anyone wanting to get involved should pop into the store or call the shop on 01775 722249. The Craft Outlet can also collect knitted donations from anyone living in Sleaford, which can be delivered with the other clothes.
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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
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