Mansfield shoppers urged to win cash for schools

Four Seasons Shopping Centre is giving away the cash in its annual Shop for Schools promotion – backed by the Chad – with £3,000 for the winner and £1,000 for the runner-up.

Shoppers can earn points by spending in the shopping centre – with every £1 spent worth one point – and then donate the points to the school of their choice.

A spokeswoman for the promotion said: “To gain points, shoppers must collect receipts from stores at the shopping cntre and exchange them for point’s vouchers to be posted in the dedicated letter box located at the customer service desk.”

And the school with the most points at the end of the promotion, on Tuesday, April 19, will win the cash – while every school receiving 500 points or more at the end will receive a vegetable box.

Now in its 12th year, the campaign began on Saturday, and several schools have already made a storming start, with Wynndale Primary School currently leading the way, ahead of The Flying High Academy Ladybrook.

Rebekah O’Neill, Four Seasons centre manager, said this year’s campaign was likely to be the most successful yet.

She said: ”We invited local schools to sign up to take part in the initiative at the beginning of the year and we had a terrific response, with 28 schools joining up on the first day alone.

Last year, Wynndale received the £3,000 top prize for the third consecutive year, with Farmilo Primary School receiving the runner-up prize of £1,000.

Rebekah said: “Last year’s winners and runner-up spent their prize money on a combination of new books, equipment and specialist training courses, so the children really benefited.

“As the theme of the 2016 event is Healthy Eating, this year we’re also going to give every single school taking part a ‘Grow Your Own Vegetables’ box to help establish their own vegetable patches.

“It’s so easy for people to play their part and support the efforts of the schools.

“Shop For Schools is an important part of the year for us, as it enables us to give something back to the local community.

“We’re incredibly proud of how successful the scheme has been previously and we’re looking forward to another fantastic year.”

For more, see www.fourseasonsshopping.co.uk

Six steps to Shop for Schools

* Make your purchases from any store in the shoppung centre until Tuesday, April 19;

* Show your receipts at the customer service desk outside Debenhams;

* Swap your receipt for points vouchers - £1 equals one point;

* Post your points voichers in the Four Seasons’ letterbox for the school you wish to support;

* Look out for bonus points vouchers appearing in the Chad today and for the next few weeks;

* Check out your school’s progress in the centre, in the Chad and at www.fourseasonsshopping.co.uk