There was cause for celebration at St Helena Hospice this week, as the charity announced it has raised more than £8million towards providing care.
Staff and supporters gathered at the site, in Colchester, on August 2 to mark the occasion, which was made possible thanks to the hospice’s fundraising lottery.
Your Hospice Lottery was first drawn by the charity on June 8, 2001, and has since gone on to help ten other hospices across the country with its weekly draws.
Alex Howe, head of lottery at St Helena Hospice, said: “We have developed a fantastic model where we can manage the lottery operation for other hospices on a national level, keeping set up and administrative costs to a minimum, so more money can be spent on patient care and all proceeds stay within the hospice world.
“We want to be able to share our success and experience with hospices that for whatever reason are not able to run their own lottery.”
The £8million raised by the lottery so far could pay for 80,000 visits by a community nurse to patients’ homes, more than 260,000 counselling sessions or some 16,000 days of inpatient care per patient.
At the moment, more than 50,000 numbers are played in the lottery draw each week, and some 15,000 of these were recruited in just the last year.
“We could not have reached this fantastic milestone without the valued support of our loyal players who have contributed to the lottery over the last 16 years,” Ms Howe added.
“Your Hospice Lottery is going from strength to strength with the addition of two new hospice partners in the last year, reaching out to more people in more communities. It’s amazing to think how much can be raised by people simply paying £1 per week to play the lottery.”
As well as hospice care, the lottery also hands out nearly £1.3million in prizes for those taking part.
There are now 136 guaranteed cash prizes each week, from £10 to £100, plus the rollover which, if not won, goes up by £250 each week until it reaches a staggering £10,000.
To have a go, visit yourhospicelottery.org.uk.
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