A series of activities is to take place in Mansfield town centre to help celebrate the work of service personnel.

Mansfield Business Improvement District (Mansfield BID) has been awarded £2,000 from the Ministry of Defence so that the activities can take place as part of Armed Forces Day on July 4th.

Members of Help the Heroes organisation will take part in the event, as will the Royal British Legion and members of the Mansfield-based Joint Forces Alliance.

There will be a tea party, an opportunity for youngsters to take part in practice drills, weapons displays and children will be taught the basics of bomb finding and detonation.

Sarah Nelson, who applied for the MoD funding, said: “Mansfield will be able to play its part in thanking the service personnel who do so much to help protect this country.

“Mansfield has a proud history of supporting the armed forces. Hundreds of people recently turned out to welcome the 2nd Battalion, Mercian Regiment as it marched through town.”

The funding application was submitted after the opportunity was highlighted by the Grantfinder system.

Grantfinder is a service that the BID subscribes to on behalf of levy payers. It is used to identify sources of potential funding for specific projects.

More details of the event can be found at www.mansfieldbid.com or by following the updates on the I Love Mansfield Facebook page.