THEY say that it is better to give than receive, which is the motto that one Colne man is living by.

Jimmy Trigg, 49, of Birtwistle Avenue, decided that he would spread a little joy by leaving envelopes containing scratch cards in locations across the town.

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Now, after having left £100-worth of scratch cards, he has taken to dishing out gifts donated by local businesses as well.

He kicked off the idea by leaving 10 envelopes all containing scratch cards marked “It’s yours, Gud Luck” in various locations including the library, in the market and on benches.

Jimmy later took to social media site Facebook to get the word out about the gestures, initially using the using the name “Gary Luk” as an alias, but was forced to reveal his identity because of Facebook policy.

As well as the scratch card hunts, he has set up a page called “The Gud Luck Club” where he posts free offers from businesses in and around Colne.

He invites the members on his page to nominate someone who they believe is worthy of the prize, and after seven days a third party selects the winner. So far free gifts have included a hair cut, a taxi ride to and from a destination, a ride down the Zip wire at Urban Altitude and 10 free meals for elderly or disabled people.

The only criteria to take part is that the recipient lives in Colne or that Colne is their nearest town.

His next scratch card hunt is due to take place on Saturday, when he says he will leave 11 cards in envelopes as well as a number of gifts from businesses.

Jimmy said: “I came up with the idea because the general public are always called upon to give to charities and causes, but often don’t get anything themselves.

“I started putting them in the areas across the town centre but then decided that I needed to let people know about them and give people clues to where they were.

“So far I have spent £100 of my own money on the cards.

“I originally planned to continue until Easter but I think I will continue as long as the gifts are being donated.”

Businesses from the Colne area that would like to to donate a gift should call Jimmy Trigg on 07956 135819.