Worthing man’s latest matchstick creation for charity

A cancer patient dubbed “the matchstick man” is displaying his latest model in a Worthing pub to raise money for a cancer charity.

Mick Holloway, 58, of Littlehampton Road, Worthing, has been building 3D models out of thousands of matchsticks for 20 years.

His latest model, a paddle steamer, will be on display at the Thomas A’Becket pub in Rectory Road, Worthing, for about a month, from Thursday.

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The models usually take a year to build but after being diagnosed with throat cancer two years ago, it took Mick three years.

He said: “I usually run a competition for people to guess the number of matchsticks it took to build.

“I’ve always given the winner the model to take home but this time I’m offering six bottles of wine as it’s taken so long to build, I can’t let it go.”

The model is over three feet long and two feet tall and also has working parts.

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Mick added: “Every inch of it is matchsticks, nothing else.It’s fully three-dimensional, too.”

The models are built from specifically designed plans.

In order to build such large models, Mick enlarges the plans to A3 paper size.

His next plan is to build an eight foot-tall model of the Eiffel Tower.

“I’ve written to France to try to get the blueprints for the tower and I think I would be able to build it within a year.”

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Over the years, Mick has made between 30 and 40 models, all of which have raised money for charity.

They have included an air ambulance and a steam engine.

Mick is inviting people to make donations by visiting the pub and entering the competition to guess the number of matchsticks.

The chosen charity, Cancer Research, is one close to his heart.

He said: “I just want to raise as much money as possible for a fantastic cause,”

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