BBC Radio’s Mark Murphy wants our help to build a statue to Kevin Beattie. Here’s how you can help remember a true Ipswich Town legend...

Wow, what a week it’s been, we’ve launched a campaign to erect a statue in memory of the late Kevin Beattie, I’ve ended up on the sides of eleven dustcarts and Ipswich Town won a game of football!

I was frozen to the core last Saturday at Ipswich Town but it was worth it to see them win a game at home. It’s been a very long time. The conditions were absolutely appalling and so was much of the game but a win is a win and we badly needed that.

Let’s hope Town can win again today and get closer to saving themselves from relegation. It’s going to be tough but hopefully they can get going properly in the New Year.

I’ll be down in the Portman Road fan zone this afternoon for my BBC Radio Suffolk Life’s a Pitch show and I’ll be shouting for them from my seat in Sir Bobby Robson upper.

With me in the fan zone today will be Town greats Terry Butcher and Russell Osman. I’ll also have with me a bucket for donations to “THE BEAT GOES ON” appeal to erect a statue to Ipswich Town’s greatest ever player, my former Life’s a Pitch co-host and friend Kevin Beattie.

We launched the appeal on Tuesday which would have been Beat’s 65th birthday. It’s got the support of this newspaper, BBC Radio Suffolk, TWTD.co.uk, his family and former team mates.

It’s got off to an incredible start with the total so far in excess of £12,000.

That’s brilliant but we need a total of £110,000 and with loads of great fundraising events planned for 2019.

I have no doubt we can reach that target.

When Beat died suddenly it was a massive shock to all of us and lots of people called for a memorial soon after. A group of us including his daughter Emma went away and sounded out the idea of a statue and so here we are with the appeal up and running.

Local sculptor Sean Hedges-Quinn has been commissioned to build the statue and there’s no better person to do it.

He’s the man who immortalised Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Bobby Robson and Beat will hopefully join them later this year.

We have statues of our two greatest managers and now we’ll have our greatest ever player immortalised in the same way. We’re hoping to have the unveiling on what would have been his 66th birthday, December 18th 2019.

With your help we can get there, if every season ticket holder gave a tenner we’d be there by Christmas.

Full details of how to donate are at the bottom of the page.

So how did I end up on 11 dustcarts? If you live in or around Ipswich you’ll know there’s a bit of a battle between two commercial radio stations with loads of bus adverts. After having a light-hearted moan on air about why I couldn’t be on a bus, Ipswich Borough Council called and offered me the opportunity of a lifetime to be 11 of their bin lorries.

How could I refuse, especially as its all part of their “Love your streets” campaign which aims to get Ipswich residents helping to keep our county town tidy.

I think it’s a brilliant idea with more to come on it in 2019.

So don’t be too surprised if you see me going past your front window!

That’s it for this week apart from to wish you and yours a very Happy Christmas and to warn you not to mention Brexit over Christmas dinner!