Celebration time as Barbara scoops £100

ROMANTIC break . . . Barbara Hodson is looking forward to a holiday

SERIOUS illness prevented Barbara Hodson from celebrating her silver wedding anniversary with husband Alan three years ago.

But thanks to her surprise win in the Chronicle’s Text-the-Ball competition the mother of two can now plan a belated celebration.

Text-the-Ball is an old favourite with a new twist as competitors have to guess the grid square of the missing ball and text in the answer.

Barbara (47) decided to play for a bit of fun and received the phone call telling her she had won £100 while she was in hospital.

After having a large part of her pancreas removed three years ago, Barbara, of Vine Street, Chadderton, has been in and out of hospital and faces more surgery this year.

She said: “It is fantastic to win because I haven’t had any good luck for so long. I missed our 25th wedding anniversary because I was so poorly and the £100 will go towards a romantic break once I am better.”

Barbara is the second woman in her family to win a version of the competition in the Chronicle after her late mother, Ellen Kelly, scooped the top prize in the late 1970s.