7 uplifting good Northampton news stories you might have missed this week - from £120,000 lottery ticket winner to a pet parrot reunited with its owner after five months missing

Here are seven uplifting stories from the past week which will make you smile.

Trip to buy carrots at village shop lands £120,000 EuroMillions windfall for Northamptonshire couple

Cricket fan Martin Gilbey was hit for six when he scooped nearly £120,000 on the EuroMillions lottery — all because he went to the shop to buy carrots for Sunday dinner.

Martin, 50, and his partner Tracy Priest had to check the numbers over and over again before the Northamptonshire couple finally believed they had struck lucky.

'It's unbelievable', says Northampton dad after thousands follow his Facebook page dedicated to walking

A website and Facebook page which has listed around 150 walks in Northamptonshire has recorded just over half a million visitors in 2020 and gone from 1,500 Facebook followers to 15,400 in the space of a year.

Dave Askew, from East Hunsbury, said it is 'unbelievable' the level of following his site has picked up, and he believes the Facebook page, Northamptonshire Walks, has grown due to the positive interactions people have with each other on there.

Aldi says thanks to its staff in Northamptonshire with a New Year pay rise

Hundreds of Aldi supermarket staff in Northamptonshire have landed a New Year pay rise to say thank you for working through the pandemic.

The grocery chain, which has 13 sites in the county, will boost hourly rates to a minimum £9.55 an hour.

New rates are also boosted by the fact Aldi is still one of the only UK supermarkets to pay staff for breaks during shifts

Rosco the parrot reunited with 13-year-old owner FIVE MONTHS after going missing from his Northampton home

A parrot that went missing from his Northampton home in August last year has been found a couple of miles away.

Rosco the parrot, who belongs to Tianna Coulson, took off from his home in Abington five months ago.

The Quaker parrot had been spotted a few times over the months, but his 13-year-old owner and her grandmother were not able to get hold of him.

Northampton dad to trek 35km while carrying the seven stone he has lost to raise money for terminally ill children

A Northampton dad-of-three who has lost seven stone will temporarily reacquaint himself with the weight to complete a trek for a terminally ill children’s charity.

Adam Gregory from Pineham village, decided towards the end of 2019 that he needed to lose weight.

The 34-year-old joined Slimming World, ‘ate less and moved more’ and managed to shift 45kgs - seven stone - in just 15 months.

Northamptonshire village pub opens permanent shop after success of pop-up lockdown supermarket

A village pub in Northamptonshire has opened a permanent shop onsite after finding success with a pop-up supermarket during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Plough at Shutlanger's restaurant turned into a store in March last year to feed villagers and those who did not want to go a large supermarket.

Historic Northampton abbey gifts free annual pass to every household in Delapre and Briar Hill area

Every household in walking distance of Northampton's historic Delapre Abbey will be getting a free annual pass in the post this year.

More than 7,500 families in the Delapre and Briar Hill area will reportedly be invited to tour the historic house as much as they like from 2021 to 2022. The grounds themselves are free to all.