A JOBSEEKER has taken to social media site Twitter in his bid to find work after 11 months of being unemployed.

Robert Parrott, of Cleethorpes, says he applies for 50 to 60 roles each day, and posts details of his applications for his Twitter followers to see.

His entrepreneurial approach is now garnering support from fellow users of the site.

The 25-year-old, a keen cyclist, has been out of work since leaving the Lincolnshire Co-op last July, and has applied for thousands of jobs in the days and months since.

He said: "I'm just desperate to get into work and I took to Twitter because I wanted people to see that I was actually seeking work and that I am motivated."

Robert said he receives regular messages of encouragement from fellow Twitter users.

Each morning he tweets: "25-year-old seeking full or part time work in #grimsby #cleethorpes. I have over six years retail experience."

He then posts details of the roles he has applied for that day, as well as a link to his online CV.

Robert said he is looking for work in retail, administration or in a warehouse, but will seriously consider anything that becomes available.

He said: "I don't let being out of work get me down, but it can be frustrating.

"I've only had two interviews since leaving my last job. One of those was for Tesco as a delivery driver, but they said I wasn't ready to drive the vans as I've only been driving for two years.

"I would say I am applying for 50 to 60 jobs a day, I just try to fire them out, but it takes time.

"I'd say I hear back from ten or 15 each day, but I try to call each of them to ask for feedback. If I'm out and about I take CVs with me to drop into places.

"I just want to show that I am willing and taking to Twitter is part of that."

Robert said his key skills are with people and customer service. He has a level two qualification in City and Guilds IT and is studying a course in business administration from home.

He also studies English and maths part time at Franklin College.

He receives just £244 a fortnight in benefits, including Employment Support Allowance, and lives on around £60 a week.

He said: "I just want to try to better myself.

"I really want to work because I have always done it. Getting back into work would really improve things for me.

"I'm willing to learn and I'm hard working. I'd like to get into retail but I'm open to any avenues, I'm just desperate for work."

Rob can be contacted on 07906 576835 or by e-mail at rob.parrott8@gmail.com. His CV can be viewed at bit.ly/Gy-Clee

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JAMES McKeown admits it's a relief that he'll continue to receive one-to-one coaching next season following the return of former stopper Paul Crichton.

As reported, Crichton will assist the Mariners with some goalkeeping coaching next season, following the departure of Steve Croudson to Hull City at the end of last season.

McKeown, who signed a new two-year deal with the club last month, says he's looking forward to working with the 45-year-old, who made well over a century appearances for Town as a player in the 1990s.

He told the Telegraph: "I said when I signed my new contract that it was a big thing for me when Stevie left.

"Purely from a coaching point of view, he was excellent for me and we had a good relationship on top of that.

"It was obviously disappointing when he went but, in football there will always be someone else who comes along.

"The big thing for me as a goalkeeper is to work with someone who I can get on with and someone who understands me and what I need – I think I'll have that in Paul.

"I know a lot about him and have heard good things from his time at Huddersfield as their keeper coach.

"During my time at Peterborough, I was there with Joe Lewis, who also worked with Paul during his time at Norwich City.

"So although I don't know him personally yet, I do know a bit about him and his background.

"I don't know all the ins and outs of what he'll be doing with the club, but I'm looking forward to it."

He added: "It's a big relief for me to know that we've got someone on board, and that it's someone with the level of experience of Paul – he's played and coached at a good level.

"From the outside looking in, I don't think people realise just how differently goalkeepers train to the outfield lads and how unique it is.

"Goalkeepers see things differently, so to be able to work with someone with Paul's experience, is great for me.

"I've never worked without a keeper coach in the past and I can't imagine what it would be like to, so I'm glad Paul is on board – in whatever capacity – and I'm looking forward to meeting him next week."

ENGLAND fans weren't about to let a World Cup exit spoil their evening – packing into Grimsby and Clee's pubs for the Three Lions' final match.

Defeats to Italy and Uruguay couldn't dampen the spirits for long, and the supporters were back on song yesterday evening for the clash with Costa Rica.

Unfortunately, Roy Hodgson's men couldn't end on a high, drawing 0-0 with the Group D winners in Belo Horizonte.

Striker Daniel Sturridge missed three good chances for England and was unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty in the first half after a clash with Oscar Duarte.

However, the national side finished bottom of their group, with Italy also crashing out at the first stage following a 1-0 loss to Uruguay.

Hodgson felt his side were unlucky to bow out of the World Cup in Brazil without a victory.

"We showed what a good team we can be," he said.

"We are disappointed not to finish with a victory but I don't think I could have asked for a much better performance.

"Apart from the first 10 or 12 minutes of the game I thought we dominated it totally.

"Unfortunately we didn't take our goal chances. Had we taken them it would have been a comfortable victory."

He added: "We created the chances – that is important, and normally Daniel (Sturridge) is so clinical.

"I am not that concerned. I know he will take the goal chances in the future.

"The important thing is to keep giving him the opportunity."

READ the story behind one of the area's most fascinating sporting stars – with our fantastic Guy Martin competition.

The Grimsby Telegraph, in association with Keith Martin Photography, have a free signed copy of Martin's best-selling autobiography up for grabs.

The signed copy comes with a photograph of the daredevil signing the book, and has a special 'signed copy' sticker on the front cover.

Signed copies are not available in any shops in the UK, and only 200 copies are exclusively available from Keith Martin Photography.

To win the free signed book, simply answer this question:

Q. How many podiums has Guy, pictured, had at the famous Isle of Man TT Races?

A. 10

B. 15

C. 20

To enter, simply send your answer by email to sport@grimsbytelegraph.co.uk titling your email 'Guy Martin Book Competition, with your name, address and daytime phone number.

Closing date: 10am on Friday, June 27, 2014.

Call Keith Martin Photography on 01469 573063 or Dean Martin on 07788 802420 to purchase a copy of 'Guy Martin: My Autobiography' for just £40 +£5 package and postage – on a first come first served basis.

Keith Martin Photography is one of only three suppliers of official Guy Martin products in the UK.

Terms and Conditions: Standard Local World promotion rules apply see www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/houserules. First correct entry drawn at random will receive a signed copy of Guy Martin's autobiography, Winner will be contacted by email and required to collect their prize from the Grimsby Telegraph reception.

PAUL Crichton hopes he can be someone for Grimsby Town number one James McKeown to "bounce off".

As reported, the 45-year-old has agreed to lend the Mariners' keepers a helping hand on the training ground.

That will see him work with first-team gloveman McKeown – along with Town's Youth-team talents.

"I've seen James play a few times, and he's obviously a good keeper," Crichton remarked.

"If I can come in, put on some good sessions and help him out, I'll be delighted.

"I was fortunate enough to have some great goalkeeping coaches who worked me hard. It's someone to bounce off and provide some feedback when needed.

"I managed to get more than 500 league games under my belt, and have been coaching for seven or eight years full-time.

"So it's another pair of eyes and someone to put on sessions who can hopefully help the keepers improve."

Crichton – who made 150 appearances for Town as a player in the 1990s – added: "I'm not attached to anyone at the moment but had a really good time at Grimsby Town as a player.

"Alan Buckley picked me up on a free transfer and when Rhys Wilmot got injured I came in and managed to keep my place for three years.

"We were playing in the Championship and there were some great people there, like Arthur Mann and Alan, who helped me out.

"I was only a kid really, but hopefully I repaid them for that opportunity."

A DECISION on the potential closure of Grimsby's ice rink is likely to be made "within a fortnight".

It comes after Councillor Mick Burnett, portfolio holder for culture and sport at North East Lincolnshire Council, was grilled by angry residents at a public meeting.

Organised by Terry Tidswell, chairman of the Grimsby Ice Hockey Club, the question and answer session was attended by a number of residents and users of the facility outside the Grimsby Leisure Centre.

There he admitted that the closure of the ice rink on June 6 was due to a hole in a pipe which had been there for "a long, long time."

He confirmed that the council is looking at a number of options, including closing the rink altogether but a decision won't be made for a couple of weeks.

Councillor Burnett said: "We are now looking into the best way to get the rink back into action and to get the best value for money.

"I can assure you it is a priority and it is important to both me and my colleagues. We want to have an ice rink in the borough and we are very proud of our leisure facilities.

"But we did not anticipate failure of this scale.

"Just to make it clear, we will use every penny we can to get the ice rink prepared.

"I will guarantee that we will look at it if someone comes to us approved and can offer us their work at a reasonable price."

Users of the facility have become frustrated and are worried the facility will never reopen – something he admitted was a possibility, but not the council's preferred option. As reported, North East Lincolnshire Council told the Grimsby Telegraph that it is considering all options – due to the age of the Cromwell Road site and the fact that a new £8.4 million leisure centre is planned, which does not include an ice rink.

From January 2015, the cooling system will also become obsolete due to new European legislation.

An online petition has been launched by former ice hockey player Alex Walsh, from Waltham, and a Facebook page has also been set up by Chris Curtis, a game co-ordinator for Grimsby Ice Bears.

Both have garnered significant support in the past few days.

A further petition, launched in 2009, gained more than 32,000 signatures. Victoria Ayling, UKIPs candidate for the Great Grimsby seat, also vented her anger at Monday night's public meeting.

Talking afterwards, she said: "I feel the ice rink has been utterly neglected and it is absolutely outrageous what has happened to it.

"The council chooses to follow EU directives when they don't have to. He didn't answer a number of questions and the council are just making excuses. They can't guarantee anything.

"I am totally behind Terry's campaign and I think it would be a great loss to Great Grimsby if the rink was to close.

When asked what the sports clubs should do in the meantime without their facilities, Councillor Burnett said there was "not a lot they can do".

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SATURDAY is the day when hundreds of Grimsby residents could be at least £2,000 richer … and we could even have a new millionaire!

Following the news last week of a major windfall in the town thanks to the People's Postcode Lottery, more details have now been released.

We can reveal that all those people who play that particular Lottery in the DN31 2 postcode will receive at least £2,000, but for anybody who matches the entire as-yet-secret seven-digit postcode, it is likely to be substantially more as the total share to give away is £2 million – and organisers are describing the amount to be won by those households as "the lion's share".

And as a household can play more than once, and those who have been playing longer than others will get more money, anything is possible, and millionaires have been made through it before. All will be revealed in People's Park from 11am on Saturday when everyone who plays in that postcode, which covers 3,496 homes, has been asked to gather to find out their winnings. Golden envelopes will be handed over to them all with the amount in it.

It has not yet been revealed how many people in the postcode – which covers the town centre area including Dudley Street and up to Cromwell Road – play the Postcode Lottery.

People's Postcode Lottery ambassador Judie McCourt will be hosting an official celebration at People's Park on Saturday, between 11am and 1pm.

Winners will gather to celebrate at a Postcode Millions party, where they will learn just how much of the £2 million prize pot they have won.

Log onto www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk on Saturday to find out how many people have won, how much they have won, and who they are!

Judie said she is delighted to be heading to Grimsby to present the winners with their cheques.

She said: "I can't wait to get up on stage and start pulling those cheques out the gold envelopes.

"I hope the crowd are as excited as I am. Congratulations to all the winners!"

It's not just players of People's Postcode Lottery who win, with charities and good causes worldwide having been awarded more than £43.3 million by the scheme.

The winners' celebration will see a number of supported charities in attendance including Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT), Girl Guiding and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

Leah Cardus, from YDMT, is looking forward to meeting all the happy players.

She said: "This is the first time that I'll be attending a Postcode Millions event and I am so excited to meet all the players and thank them for their unwavering support.

"The support means so much to the team at YDMT and I'm sure to all the other charities that receive funding, this is the perfect opportunity for us to say a massive thank you!

"Best of luck to everyone attending the event, I'm sure it will be a great day for everyone involved."

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GRIMSBY Town will definitely be challenging at the top of the Conference again – but it will be tough for Halifax to rival them this season.

That's the view of the Shaymen's assistant manager – and former Mariner – Lee Nogan.

The Welshman, who spent two seasons at Blundell Park, helped Neil Aspin to mastermind two victories over the Mariners, on Halifax's way to sealing a place in the play-offs.

But speaking to the Telegraph, Nogan admitted that, this time around, it's going to be difficult for his part-time outfit to replicate the success of what was the club's first season in the Conference Premier for five years.

"Being honest, we overachieved at Halifax last season and it's about handling the increased expectations now," he said.

"We're part-time – we train two nights a week – and people often don't realise that.

"We've got to be realistic – last season, initially we were just happy to survive and that's no disrespect to the players or being detrimental to them.

"But there are a lot of good professional teams in this league or teams who do three mornings a week, so are near enough full-time.

"There aren't many part-time clubs like us, doing what we're doing, so it's going to be tough this season.

"But if we finish mid-table, I think we'll have had another successful season."

On Town's chances this time around, he added: "Grimsby have always been known for playing good football within a 4-4-2 system – it's just always been that way.

"From what I've seen of them over the years, regardless of the managers who have come and gone, that philosophy has seemed to stay.

"We obviously pitted our wits against them last season and tried to come out on top, and managed it on both occasions, but they were both tough games.

"Grimsby will be up there again this season, no doubt about that.

"They've made some good signings so far and, like last season, they'll be one of the teams that everyone wants to beat.

"They got into the play-offs for the second season on the trot last year and Paul Hurst knows what it's all about.

"I fully expect them to be there or thereabouts this season."

I'm very happy to have to joined the cast of Sacha Baron Cohen's new movie #Grimsby

— Sam Hazeldine (@samuelhazeldine) June 25, 2014

STEERING clear of cigarettes and alcohol is the key to a long life – according to this 103-year-old.

Alice Skelton celebrated her birthday with a surprise party at her home at Cambridge Park Care Home, in Grimsby.

She said: "I've not had a drink or a cigarette since the Second World War.

"I had some during the conflict because you needed them to get you through. I was working in farming so you had to smoke to keep the flies off you – but I've had none since!"

The mum-of-five and great-great- grandmother welcomed 34 guests, many of them from within her large family, to celebrate at her birthday party.

Born in South Killingholme way back in 1911, Alice has never lived away from North East Lincolnshire.

She worked in service for two years in her late teens, for the Mayor and Mayoress, but had to find something else to do when they moved to London.

She attributes much of her good health now to her time working in the open air on a farm in her younger days.

She has been married twice, once for four years and again for 50 – but late husband George Skelton died almost 20 years ago.

And she lived independently in Immingham's Stratford House up until August last year, when she moved to Cambridge Park, in Grimsby.

She said: "I don't feel too bad, even though I'm 103.

"I have my good and bad days but all that's really wrong is my memory, which could be a little better.

"When I look back I have tried to enjoy everything."

Alice praised her "special" carers at Cambridge Park.

"I love being here, they all look after me," she said.

"One of them mentioned to me on Sunday that I was having this party, I was just over the moon and it was lovely to have all of my relations there."

Emma Winchester, unit manager at the care home, said Alice was fiercely independent and popular among staff and residents.

"She's an absolute pleasure and we love having her here," she said.

"She's still very independent and is of sound mind, even at 103. For her age that's amazing.

"She gets on with everybody and has a lot of friends here. She's still going strong."

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THE memorial to those who lost their lives with the Royal Naval Patrol Services will be maintained forever.

That was the pledge given to the veterans who created the memorial on Grimsby's Royal Dock to the thousands who were killed in the Second World War.

Captain Martin Gough, the dockmaster for Grimsby and Immingham ports told guests attending the annual memorial service, the marker would continue to be maintained by Associated British Ports.

He said: "As time passes and the remaining veterans '"cross the bar'" ABP will continue to maintain it as a token of the esteem in which we hold them."

The memorial was started in 2001 by the veterans with the help of ABP ports director Dennis Dunn.

It was to replace the plaque on the west side of Grimsby's Dock Tower, which was beyond refurbishment.

The memorial is a tribute to the 128 local men and the 39 trawlers lost during the Second World War while keeping the vital shipping lanes of The River Humber and its approaches open.

Captain Gough stood in for veteran Tom Walkley, 91, who is a former chairman of the now disbanded Royal Navy Patrol Service Veterans' Association. He was not well enough to lead the service, which was held on Seafarers' Day yesterday.

The veterans were represented by Harry Redman, 93, of Cleethorpes.

He was stationed on the River Clyde and in Iceland.

He said: "It is very important that we keep the memorial going. Tom got all the mines and bollards for the memorial, so we could continue to honour those men who should have been here today."

He added: "We have got to think of the men who lost their lives."

The veteran told how the association decided to have their own memorial at Grimsby Docks in 2001.

He served aboard the trawler Barbarian which was commissioned by the Royal Navy to clear rivers and shipping lanes of mines. He was in the Royal Navy Reserve.

Captain Gough said the Royal Naval Patrol Service was a "navy within a navy" and were affectionately known as "Churchill's pirates". He said: "That is because they managed to disregard most of the naval rules and regulations. It was formed with great haste by the Admiralty in 1939 and disbanded in similar fashion in 1946.

"During its formation, the service cleared a total of 33,580 mines but at a cost of 659 vessels and 13,890 personnel, of which there were 2,385 men who gave their lives but whose bodies were not recovered, so they have no grave but the sea."

Minesweepers operating out of HMS Beaver, in Grimsby, cleared 1,700 sea mines in the River Humber and its approaches.

Captain Gough said: "The crews reportedly treated the clearance of the mines as a sort of sport, each boat trying to out do the others, almost regardless of the dangers they faced."

He said a memorial service will continue to be held each Armistice Day on November 11.

The Mayor of North East Lincolnshire, Councillor Alex Baxter, said: "It is vitally important that we remember them each and every year. The service they provided in the Humber and the shipping lanes is an inspiration to future generations.

"Calling them Churchill's Pirates sums them up. They did their duty well."

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