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[HackneyBooks @HackneyBooks]

Isn't that an Independence Day starship. Even with a Dragon Head. Even so, what does green illumination do to batters ability to pick the bowling 🏏

[Iceland Cricket @icelandcricket]

Who would like to play under these floodlights?

[HackneyBooks @HackneyBooks]

New On Hackney Books - Science And Politics by J.B.S. Haldane
Movements Of Matter
https://t.co/mFxKoBI7lU
All Free All The Time
#HackneyBooks #Science #Politics #Haldane

[HackneyBooks @HackneyBooks]

There's a plateau in Guildford 🙂

[BK @26MoreLives]

Have you ever watched the sunrise,
over the Guildford Plateau?

Delicate, elegant fingers of light…

trace through the treetops
then touch
the Loddon River Valley
below.

Have you ever seen the sun rise over the Guildford Plateau?

[HackneyBooks @HackneyBooks]

Hackney Books Evening Summary
> Ukraine Latest
> African Liquidity
> Neoliberalism Markets Over People
Read All About It
https://t.co/wjYpit6U1J
All Free All The Time
#HackneyBooks #News #Ukraine #Africa #Neoliberalism

[FTBL_Planet @FTBL_Planet]

When Niall Quinn was approaching the end of his Sunderland career in 2002, the club decided to reward him with a testimonial.

He had spent nearly 18 years playing professional football for Arsenal, Manchester City and Sunderland.

The game was arranged against The Republic of Ireland at the Stadium of Light, and with thousands of supporters expected, Quinn stood to make a considerable amount of money.

But he had other plans for it.

Quinn had enjoyed the lifestyle that came with being a professional footballer.

However looking back, there were things he regretted.

“This is my way of fighting my demons.”

“I have abused the privileged life I have had and if this match is anything, it is me paying my debt.”

By then, footballers were earning more money than ever, and Quinn had started questioning the world he had spent almost two decades living in.

“I’m uncomfortable with the way football is going, has gone.”

“If I hadn’t become a professional footballer, if I had stayed in Ireland and got a job, I think I would have been a far better person.”

“I’m convinced of that.”

So instead of keeping the proceeds from his testimonial, Quinn decided to give the lot away.

He wanted to raise £1 million for children’s charities, with £500,000 each going towards hospitals in Sunderland and Dublin, alongside support for disadvantaged children in Calcutta.

And he wanted the other players involved to do something as well.

Rather than buying them expensive watches or gifts, Quinn arranged for each player to receive a letter explaining how they could sponsor a child’s education overseas.

“It might prick a few consciences.”

“And it may just ease mine.”

“I’ve been 18 years in dreamland and now it’s pay-back time.”

When tickets went on sale, the response was extraordinary.

£200,000 was raised in the first two hours before the telephone lines crashed under the demand.

Stewards, ground staff and other workers offered their services for free.

People who could not attend were given the opportunity to buy special non-attendance tickets so they could still contribute.

But reaching £1 million was proving harder than he had hoped.

With just days remaining before the testimonial, the fundraising total was around £750,000.

Quinn was determined to reach his target, even if it meant continuing to raise money after the game.

“If I have to come back next season and do some more then I will.”

On the 14th of May 2002, 35,702 supporters turned up at the Stadium of Light.

Quinn walked out with his two children, to a standing ovation, before playing part of the match for Sunderland and part for Ireland.

Ireland won 3-0, but afterwards Quinn was more interested in what everyone had helped achieve.

He called it his, “night of all nights” and the highlight of his career.

And with the final total still uncertain, he made another promise.

“We’ve got some totting up to do, but anything short of a million and I’ll come back and top it up.”

By November, they had reached £1 million.

£450,000 went to Sunderland Royal Hospital, another £450,000 to Our Lady’s Hospital in Crumlin, with the remaining money supporting street children in Calcutta.

Quinn was later awarded an honorary MBE for his charitable work.

But despite all the praise he received, he never really saw it as giving away a million pounds of his own money.

“In truth I never had the money in my pocket to give away.”

“So it doesn’t feel like I gave away any money.”
#football

[HackneyBooks @HackneyBooks]

New On Hackney Books - Science And Politics by J.B.S. Haldane
A Simple Phenomena
https://t.co/mFxKoBHzwm
All Free All The Time
#HackneyBooks #Science #Politics #Haldane

[HackneyBooks @HackneyBooks]

🏏

[Telegraph Cricket @TeleCricket]

'Sir James Anderson deserved a better farewell than a tap on the shoulder on a drizzly Monday morning in October after more than 25 years of service to Lancashire'

@NHoultCricket argues why 👇
https://t.co/fMbg8us5na

[HackneyBooks @HackneyBooks]

🏏

[Daniel Brigham @dan_brigham]

This SA v Aus series has me oscillating between being pissed off that England lost the Ashes to this joke of an Aussie side, thinking this Aussie side is actually very decent, thinking England will win comfortably in SA, and thinking England will get crushed in SA.

[HackneyBooks @HackneyBooks]

Hackney Books Evening Summary
> Ukraine Latest
> African Liquidity
> Neoliberalism Markets Over People
Read All About It
https://t.co/wjYpit7rRh
All Free All The Time
#HackneyBooks #News #Ukraine #Africa #Neoliberalism

[HackneyBooks @HackneyBooks]

New On Hackney Books - Science And Politics by J.B.S. Haldane
Distribution Of Wealth
https://t.co/mFxKoBI7lU
All Free All The Time
#HackneyBooks #Science #Politics #Haldane

[Dale @ncakos316]

Head and Boland started and closed the day. Test cricket. Incredible.

[Hiroshi Suzuki @AmbJapanUK]

My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Aberfan.

[HackneyBooks @HackneyBooks]

🏏

[Elizabeth Ammon @legsidelizzy]

Seems like a really crap way to treat Jimmy. I get not having him as captain but I don’t believe Lancs are so awash with quality seamers they can’t offer him some sort of deal. If I were him I’d go to another county and have a Swan song season. And Stick two fingers up at Lancs

[HackneyBooks @HackneyBooks]

Hackney Books Evening Summary
> Ukraine Latest
> African Liquidity
> Neoliberalism Markets Over People
Read All About It
https://t.co/wjYpit7rRh
All Free All The Time
#HackneyBooks #News #Ukraine #Africa #Neoliberalism

[HackneyBooks @HackneyBooks]

🤔

[ianVisits @ianvisits]

Over 200,000 people are in the queue for the Bayeux Tapestry tickets.

Bring tea and buscuits.

[Vincent Stops @VincentStops]

.@LonTravelWatch wants to see a halt to floating bus stops;
Most of the London Assembly want floating bus stops halting;
The Government’s disabled transport advisory committee wants to see them halted;
The Tory Party want them halted
The RNIB want them halted;
Guide Dogs want them halted;
Pocklington Trust want them halted;
The National Federation for the Blind UK and 290 other groups want them halted.

@Heidi_Labour installed some of these schemes and wants to solve the problem ‘in the round’ but has failed to do so.

The @MayorofLondon says it’s important to consult and it’s the cyclist fault, not the design.

[HackneyBooks @HackneyBooks]

🏏

[Iceland Cricket @icelandcricket]

We have a role for him! He could do a cracking job on our lava-bedded wickets. Islensk Premier League (ÍPL) 2027 beckons.

[Karl Flinders @Karlfl]

Another investigation into Post Office software systems announced as well as changes to scandal redress schemes. #PostOfficeScandal https://t.co/01fmGjMSBB

[HackneyBooks @HackneyBooks]

New On Hackney Books - Science And Politics by JBS Haldane
Individual Evil
https://t.co/mFxKoBI7lU
All Free All The Time
#HackneyBooks #PoliticsScience #HBSHaldane

[Quite Interesting @qikipedia]

In 2003, a museum in Southend abandoned plans to exhibit a 20,000 year-old, four-foot long woolly mammoth’s tusk found in a garden in Leigh-on-Sea after a second geologist identified it as a length of Victorian drainage pipe.