Tributes paid to mum with 'beautiful soul' who died suddenly in Mansfield town centre

Andrea Allsop suffered a devastating cardiac arrest outside Mansfield Bus Station on Monday (October 17).

Her loving daughter Emma Clarkson was by her side in her final moments.

“The staff were amazing and got a defibrillator to her and managed the crowds,” Emma said.

“Some lovely ladies helped perform CPR on my mum and keep me calm and focused during the event, while we waited for the paramedics to arrive.

“The paramedics tried for a while, every effort, to bring my mum back but when we got her to King’s Mill, she was very quickly pronounced dead at the young age of 61. She’d only recently celebrated her birthday.”

Andrea leaves behind four adult children and 16 grandchildren, all aged between four and 20 years old.

“All of us adored her so very much,” Emma said.

“We loved the very bones of her.

“Not only had she dedicated the first part of her life to raising her children, she had also dedicated the last 16 years of her life to raising and caring for her grandson, who has Autism Spectrum Disorder.”

Andrea was well-known and loved within the local community, having worked in the bakery department at Morrisons in Sutton-in-Ashfield throughout the 1990s.

The much-loved grandmother also worked for Glenair in the early 2000s.

A proud moment Emma holds dear is being featured alongside her mother in the Chad back in 1983 as the newspaper’s chosen ‘Baby of the Year’.

Andrea was also known to take part in many charity fundraisers – having recently had her hair cut off and donated to charity.

Emma said: “Mum was well-known and well-loved by many communities through the years.

“Her formative years were spent in Mansfield Woodhouse and her most recent years in Sutton-in-Ashfield.

“She loved people and welcomed them into her life, helping them wherever she could and being a friend and an ear to all.”

The devastated family are now desperately trying to gather together funds to give Andrea the send-off she deserves.

Her children have set up an online fundraising page in the hopes that the community will rally together to help.

“Nobody expected her to leave our lives so suddenly,” Emma said.

“Her four children, including myself, Craig, Tracie and Andrew, are now trying to arrange a send-off worthy of her big and beautiful personality and attitude to life.

“Funerals are incredibly expensive and we all have young children, some with disabilities and extra needs. And with the cost of living, nobody can truly afford to die.

“We have very little time to find a hefty sum of money just to give mum the basics. We want to give her the world – like she did for us.

“We are asking if anyone can help, especially if you knew her, her beautiful soul, her infectious personality, and the absolute solid love she had for her family.”

The fundraising page adds: “No donation is too small and every penny goes towards making sure we can give her one last day, to be able to say goodbye.”

You can donate to the fundraising page in honour of Andrea here.