January 2011 Wins

26th January: Tickets to see the award winning play Mogadishu at the Royal Exchange, Manchester.

December 2010 Wins

9th December: A Beatles v Stones Book from Mature Mature Times

16th December: Roary & Fifi and the Flowertots package from Babyworld

17th December: A Trivial Pursuit Bet You Know It game from Dave

November 2010 Wins

4th November: A £2 Amazon voucher and a pair of cinema tickets.

5th November: A wind up mobile charger from Soreen

10th November: Tickets to see Michael Bolton at Blackpool Opera House from Smooth Radio. After being very unenthusiastic we had a really good evening. Michael proved himself to be a good old pro with a very varied set.

October 2010 Wins

2nd October: Bottle of Hobgoblin

5th October: Alister McGowan evening and Whisky tasting with Grants Whisky. This was an evening whiched featured a mix of storytellers from around the world, including guest storyteller Alistair McGowan, who entertained the audience with compelling, moving and humorous true tales, based on the theme of family. The event took place in the dramatic venue of Manchester Town Hall and stories were shared over Grant’s Whisky cocktails. Each guest also received a True Tales goody bag, featuring award winning Grant’s whisky, recipes and an event programme.

15th October: Tickets to see Joe Satriani at Manchester Apollo from Planet Rock.
20th October: From 'Philosophy Football a t-shirt with 'For Freedom' in Polish and with all Polish aircrew fatalities in the Battle of Britain listed.And the Sleeveprint 'So much owed by so many to so few. Battle of Britain 1940-2010.'

September 2010 Wins

September 10th: Fruseli Bar - Enough said!

September 16th: 10 packs of eco disposable nappies from Mother & Baby Magazine. Very handy for my lovely grandaughter. Like most females, even at 9 months she can't resist seeing what's in the parcel.

25th September: Sharing bag and box of jelly beans

August 20Wins

12th August: I received two tickets to the Southport Flower Show, I've no idea where they came from, but who cares we had a lovely day out. (one of my pictures with my new camera by the way).

23 Aug: Whilst having my lunch I received a telephone call from the Guardian to say I’d won a place on their guided Ullswater walk which includes a steamer trip on the lake and an afternoon tea at the ‘Inn on the Lake’. The walk is led by travel writer and northern editor of the Guardian Martin Wainwright.

July 2010 Wins

2nd July: I received an e-mail telling me I’d won a map carrying case from the Simon King website

20th July: I received an e-mail from Delicious magazine to say I’d won a Mumbai Spice Banquet for 10. This arrived as five individual boxes each containing three different curries, rice and naan bread. Enough to share with the family and a little bit besides.

27th July: An e-mail arrived in my wife’s name from netmums website to say she had won a signed Craig Ogden CD. Well worth a listen

June 2010 Wins

1st June: I received an e-mail to say I had won tickets to see Motown Magic in Manchester. Unfortunately the tickets were for the date we flew out to Florida on our prize holiday.

5th June: A very strange prize arrived, a 2010 recipe calendar from Trex. Ordinarily this wouldn't be odd, but as this is June half the year has already gone.

8th June: AT LAST MY DREAM PRIZE a digital SLR. I recieved an e-mail from the daily mail to say "I'm delighted to tell you that your name has been picked from the hat for a recent competition we ran with Nikon on the online travel section of the Daily Mail - www.dailymail.co.uk/travel. You've won a Nikon D90 digital SLR camera kit with18-105mm lens (worth £1029.99 RRP)."

What the e-mail didn't say was the prize also included a training day worth £180 which will teach me how to get the best from my lovely camera.

I'm already out and about getting to grips with it, stand by with news of some prize winning photos on here

11th June: I recieved a letter and vouchers for a years supply of PG Tips - very handy in our house

End June: The only prize to arrive whils we were on holiday was an Elizabeth Arden product from Glamour magazine. Not sure what it does but the Mrs seems pleased with it

May 2010 Wins

18th May: I received an e-mail which read “You may remember you entered our March issue competition and I am pleased to inform you that you are one of ten lucky winners.
Just to remind you, you have won a Wireless Sonos Hi-Fi, worth £428! So…congratulations!”

20th May: A package was waiting when I returned home, it contained a DVD of the film Pandorum. Not the best of films.

APRIL 2010 WINS

9th April: I won a limited edition Dr Who coin from the royal mint

16th April: I won a lovely book about 'The Art of Wildlife' from Geographic Magazine

23rd April: I received an e-mail to say I'd won a mixed case of ciders and fruit juices from Orchard Pig

27th April: Was met by the postman on leaving the house, he presented me with a lovely hamper of Organix babyfood. The day got better when I returned home and waiting for me was a set of Stieg Larsson audio books from his 'Millenium Trilogy' - 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' etc.

March 2010 Wins

2nd Mar: I received an e-mail to say I’d won a Blu-ray DVD player and ten DVDs. Two days later the prize was delivered, a lovely Samsung Blu-ray DVD and a nice selection of DVDs including ‘The Matrix Trilogy’, ‘The Oceans 11,12 & 13 Trilogy’, ‘Michael Jackson’s – This Is IT’, ‘UP’, ‘The Fantastic Mr Fox’, ‘District 19’, Casion Royale, Gladiator, the ‘Mission Impossible Trilogy’ and ‘Mama Mia’. I really need to win a HD TV now to complement it.


4th Mar: I received an e-mail in my daughter’s name saying that she had won a Luxury Family Hotels Break and a hamper of Plum’s organic baby foods. The break is a two night dinner, bed and breakfast midweek break in a lovely spa hotel – the one they have chosen is The Elms at Worcester. The hamper arrived, a lovely presented large box tied up with a purple ribbon. Inside were a large variety of baby foods for the early months of baby’s venture into solid foods.

23rd March: I received an e-mail from Outdoormagic saying I'd won a National Geographic Walkabout Satchel worth £145

February 2010 wins

Not a great February

18th Feb: Received a £5.00 Farmfoods voucher from Lancashire Telegraph.

25th Feb: A parcel arrived containing a book from Penguin Books, called ‘The Postmistress’ *

January 2010 Wins

2nd Jan: Won a t-shirt from St Helier Cider whilst on their internet site

6th Jan: I received a letter from Lancashire Telegraph to say I’d won tickets to see Swan Lake at Blackpool Grand Theatre on Friday 8th January. Heavy snow made it difficult for us to get through, but as our granddaughter Lucy had been born in Blackpool the day before we had an added incentive. It was a very enjoyable evening in the beautiful Victorian theatre.

15th Jan: A neat little box arrived from Tyrell’s – it contain five packets of different flavoured crisps

18th Jan: I received an e-mail saying I’d won a 2.25kg bag of McCain’s Home Fries. I also had delivered a hessian shopping bag.

22nd Jan: I received an e-mail to fro ‘whatsonstage.com’ to say I’d won tickets to see the play ‘Raisin in the Sun’ at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. It is a play about a black family in Chicago at the time of the Civil Rights Movement.

December 2009 wins

9th December: Opened an e-mail sent yesterday, I have won an organic turkey and all the trimmings from the Well Hung Meat Co. the competition was from OMSCO. The parcel contained a 5kg turkey, two packs of chipolata sausages, two packs of streaky bacon, two packs of minced pork and cranberry sauce.

14th December: Received a package which contained a Philadelphia cookbook not sure from where, but looks to be some interesting recipes.

23rd December: A woolly hat arrived today from Carling

November 2009 Wins

13th Nov: A set of facial products arrived, I don’t know from where

18th Nov: I received an e-mail saying:

Congratulations! You are a winner of the VisitLiverpool.com Nowhere Boy competition! You have won :- Two tickets to the Charity Premier of Nowhere Boy at the Liverpool ONE Odeon with attendance of stars such as David Morrissey and Director Sam Taylor- Wood on Monday 23rd November 2009.

In addition to the tickets you have won an overnight accommodation in Liverpool at the Crowne Plaza Liverpool on the 23rd November and a meal at one of our amazing restaurants.

We had a nice room at the Crowne Plaza, overlooking the River Mersey.

We were met at the Odeon at Liverpool ONE by Janine from the VisitLiverpool who gave us the tickets. We walked up the red carpet and to the screen where the Premier was to take place. We were shown to our seats and awaited the start of the film.

After short speeches by David Morrissey and Sam Taylor-Wood the film began. It was a film about the early life of John Lennon. It was very enjoyable and the portrayal of Lennon by Aaron Johnson was excellent.

Following the film we were taken by taxi to the Il Forno Italian restaurant where we had a lovely meal. Dale had braised chicken livers, followed by rack of lamb with a ice cream desert to finish. I had a ravioli dish to start, followed by a platter of various grilled fish, this was all finished with a panocotta dessert. After finishing off a bottle of very nice wine and our coffees we climbed into a taxi and returned to our hotel.

25th Nov: I received a letter from Lancashire Telegraph telling me I had won a £200 Christmas hamper in conjunction with Parcels2Go.

October 2009 Wins

6th Oct: A book about wildlife arrived from DK. It appears to be a children’s book so will make a nice Christmas present for someone.

9th Oct: After entering a competition on the web I was informed that I’d won some cinema tickets, after looking a little deeper it appears we also get a goodie bag on the night and also entered into a draw to win a trip to New York.

12th Oct: Whilst sitting down to tea I missed a telephone call on my mobile. Luckily the lady who attempted to call me left a message. We’d won tickets to the musical ‘Chicago’ at the Palace Theatre staring Gary Wilmot. The production was excellent though Gary Wilmot was quite weak.

20th Oct: I received an e-mail to say I’d won tickets to see Phil Nichol at the Comedy Store, Manchester. It was an interesting venue. Unfortunately the act mistook being crude for being the same as being funny, the crowd did not agree. A number of people walked out in the middle of the performance, a further number of us did that British thing of staying put, applauding politely then moaning afterwards.

25th Oct: A coin celebrating the 50th anniversary of the mini arrived from the Royal Mint.

26th Oct: A bag of Taylors coffee arrived

27th Oct: I received an e-mail to say I’d won a signed Paolo Nutini CD and a Tunetribe t-shirt

28th Oct: Successfully applied for some preview screening ticket to see Harry Brown .

September 2009 wins

7th Sept: I received an e-mail which read:-

"I am pleased to inform you that you are the winner of our "Win a Holiday to Florida" competition, which we ran last month.

The prize is for a holiday for: Return flights for two adults and two children under 12 at the time of travel to Orlando, 7 nights accommodation in a family apartment on a self-catering basis, 8 days car hire. The prize is valid for 12 months.

Could I ask that you contact during business hours to confirm you eligibility for the prize and to talk you through what happens next.

Again, my congratulations on your win. I shall confirm this email to you with a letter sent by registered post".

We wrote back asking if we could extend the holiday by a further week at our own expense and if possible, if we could fly from Manchester. We received the following response:-

I have fantastic news for you!
　
I have booked this for you and as a gesture of good will (sic), we are going to cover the cost for an extra 7 days for you.
　
I will send out a letter in the post to you tonight so that you will receive it tomorrow.　 The basic run down is:
　
Flying out from Manchester, staying at the Renaissance at SeaWorld on International Drive and 15 days car hire.　

I will put flight times etc in the letter.
　
If you could tell me the date you would like to do your Dolphin swim I will also have this arranged.

What a fantastic response. Turn out the prize also includes tickets to Seaworld, Busch Gardens, Discovery Cove and Aquatica

Also on browsing the internet I found that I had won £40 of Amazon vouchers from a site call Allworkandnoplay, which will be very handy for Christmas.

9th Sept: I received an e-mail that informed me that I won a hamper of Italian and Greek food and wine from Vickery.TV. Two large boxes arrived filled with mainly Italian goods – some interesting meals look likely to follow.

August 2009 Wins

3rd August: I received an e-mail from RBS to say I’d won a copy of Jackie Stewart’s biography – "Winning is not Enough".

13th Aug: Another box of Clipper tea arrived.

20th Aug: A tube of Nixwax leather cream arrived

27th Aug: A signed limited edition book called ‘The Six’ arrived not too sure from where

28th Aug: Another book arrived today obviously from the same source as above. This book is a detective story called ‘Hypothermia’.

30th Aug: I received an e-mail from Manchester Evening News to say I’d won tickets to the play ‘Prick Up Your Ears’ at the Lowry Theatre. This is a play about the dramatist Joe Orton and starred Matt Lucas.

July 2009 wins

1st July: - When driving home my phone rang, it was a very nice lady from the Lancashire Telegraph to say I’d won a pair of tickets to see Lancashire play Hampshire in the semi-final of the Friends Provident Trophy. It was a lovely day with some great fielding, unfortunately Lancashire’s batting wasn’t up to the task and they lost convincingly.

3rd July: - Unusually a package arrived for me at work containing a win; it was a mini-stapler from Rexel.

4th July: - I won a MP3 download from Papermate

8th July: - I received a letter from Smooth Radio informing me that I’d won a ‘Manly Meal’ for two at The Monroe in Liverpool. The meal was to consist of a pie, a pint and a pudding. The Monroe is a nicely updated pub near the centre of Liverpool. We were informed that the pie promotion to which the competition referred was the previous month, however, the chef had made us a chicken pie specially. The chicken pie turned out to be chicken and apricot, served with chunky chips and red wine gravy and was delicious. We followed this up with bread and butter pudding and coffee. A very nice experience.

9th July: - I won a book from ‘liberalengland’ called ‘A Useful Fiction’.

13th July: - I took a call from ‘Scuzz Magazine’ to say I’d won a pair of tickets to see ‘Nine Inch Nails’. This was very pleasing as they are one of my daughter’s favourite bands. They were supported by Jane’s Addiction. Both bands seemed a bit tuneless to my ears but as most of the others there seemed to be enjoying it I have to concede that it may be me that was out of step.

15th July: - I received an e-mail saying that I’d won 5 iTune downloads. Also a box of Clipper tea arrived.

17th July: - I took a phone call from a lady at Real Radio to say I’d won a couple of tickets to the Amir Khan WBA Light Welterweight World Title Fight at the MEN. After picking up the tickets I negotiated with a ticket tout and picked up £100 for the tickets. We decided to go for a meal at Café Istanbul in Manchester, after a lovely meal with a few drinks I still had money left over so a good prize all round.

18th July: - A pair of Flyfit earplugs arrived. These earplugs relieve pressure and cut down ambient noise when flying. They were well used, especially at take off, on our trip to America

May and June 2009 Wins

1st May: A Defender Seed Feeder and bag of Sunflower Hearts from CJ WildBird Foods


21st May: - I received a letter from Planet Rock which contained a pair of tickets to see George Thoroughgood at the Apollo, Manchester. He performed an excellent set to a very appreciative audience.

June went the same way as April with no wins at all.