24 year old Melissa Grace Hatton passed away on Saturday the 3rd of July in her sleep. She had not been ill, and the family have no explanation as to how, why, or what caused this beautiful young lady to pass away.
Melissa lived a full and active life and achieved so much in her 24 years, making her parents and family very proud. Melissa was a busy young lady with her passions in life: horse riding, young farmers, cake baking and her job as a teacher.
She was an active member of the British Show Pony Society, competing annually at The Royal International Horse Show and Horse of the Year show, ran her own cake making business, Melissa had a county role with Nottinghamshire Young Farmers and was a member of Papplewick Young Farmers, where she did most of her partying. Melissa was an inspiring young teacher at Mansfield Primary School. Her adoring pupils didn’t call her Miss Hatton, they called her Miss Honey.
Melissa was one of those people who made a positive influence on the world and her untimely, unexplained death is a massive loss.
Melissa’s Aunt Vicky is a close friend of B3 and the family are also friends with the famous pioneer of women’s cricket, Enid Bakewell. Therefore, when we were asked to help raise money in Melissa’s memory, we were more than happy to help.
Enid was the guest of honour and bell ringer on the opening day of the Lords test match between England and India recently. Enid took the opportunity to get both teams to sign one of our bats to help raise money in memory of Melissa.
As you can see, there are 2 separate bats, one for each team making an impressive pair! We are now auctioning these off to the highest bidder(s) – individually or as a pair.
The money raised from the sale of these bats will go towards taking Melissa’s year 1 pupils at Mansfield Primary School on a special residential trip. The family are also hoping to create and special trophy and offer sponsorship for aspiring young showjumpers.
Anyone interested in bidding for these very special bats should email: teamb3@b3cricket.com