Newark and Sherwood residents encouraged to nominate heroes from the area as part of BIG Christmas Giveback campaign

Residents are being encouraged to nominate heroes from the area as part of a new Christmas campaign offering £1,500 in gift cards.

The Big Christmas Giveback has launched across the county, with organisers calling for nominations for people, community groups and organisations making a positive difference in the area.

The winner of the most nominations will receive a £1,000 Newark and Sherwood Gift Card, while one of their nominators will also walk away with a £500 gift card.

Launched earlier this year, the Newark and Sherwood Gift Card can be spent in more than 90 businesses, including shops, restaurants, attractions, salons and services.

Claire Penny, portfolio holder for sustainable economic growth at Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “Our local businesses give so much to our community, and we launched the Newark and Sherwood Gift Card to make it easy to support them.

“As The BIG Christmas Giveback goes live, I’d love to see nominations for the hardworking local business owners, charities, community groups and individuals who go above and beyond to make our communities strong, vibrant and successful.”

The scheme is part of the award-winning Town & City Gift Card initiative from fintech company Miconex, whose programmes operate with over 20,000 businesses worldwide and have generated more than £45m of local spending.

Nominations are now open at www.lovelocalwin.co.uk, where residents can also watch a short video about the campaign.

Colin Munro, chief executive of Miconex, added: “It’s fantastic to see The BIG Christmas Giveback go live in Newark and Sherwood.

“It’s free to nominate a person or organisation, and we’ll be sharing nomination stories as they come through so we can shine a light on the incredible work that goes on in our communities.”