Let’s do this together YOUR

Lockdown could have been my time to shine. I could have got fit, learned a language or how to play the ukulele. I could have made it really count.

But despite having all the time in the world, I never got round to any of those things because I was too busy self-medicating with wine and crisps, and bingeing on “just one more episode” on Netflix into the early hours of the morning.

Which is why I’m definitely not going to be nominated for a National Lottery Award this year unless they are running a category for Heroic

Wine Drinking.

Going back to the dark days of the pandemic, many of you wrote in asking for us to give shout outs to the local heroes who went over and above the call of duty to help you in your hour of need. The sort of people who, unlike me, did shine during lockdown because they had ruddy great halos above their heads.

Some of them might have been working for food banks, outreach programmes, or even a local charity whose volunteers went and got your prescriptions and shopping for you while you were shielding. These are the people who deserve to be recognised now.

Stories about previous award winners have been running all week in the paper, and it’s been humbling to read how many of them used the worst times of their lives for helping others, like the heartbroken couple who lost their baby at the age of 37 weeks, and went on to set up the Baby Loss Retreat.

But this year, The National Lottery Awards want the public to nominate the people whose resilience, bravery and kindness made a difference to you or helped their community through one of the most challenging times in our living history.

The categories for this year are Culture, Arts & Film, Heritage, Sport, Community/charity and Young Hero (under 18). All you have to do to nominate your local hero is complete an entry form at lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards by midnight on June 7.

All nominees must work or act for a National Lottery-funded organisation or receive funding.

Frankly I’m more likely to win the lottery than one of their awards but, as the adverts said, it could be you… or at least someone you know, so get nominating!

Email me at siobhan.mcnally@mirror.co.uk or write to Community Corner, PO Box 791, Winchester SO23 3RP.