Over £13m raised as charity lottery celebrates 1000th draw

As reported by the Daily Gazette Standard, the innovative charity lottery scheme, Your Hospice Lottery, has celebrated its 1,000th draw, announcing it has raised a total of over  £9m for St Helena Hospice

Operational now for over 19 years,  the charity lottery scheme has raised more than £13m for 13 organisations across the UK, thus directly paying for 20,000 visits by a community nurse to patients’ homes, in excess of 400,000 counselling sessions or 26,000 days of inpatient care per patient.

Gemma Zweck, lottery business manager, stated: “We could not have reached this landmark 1,000th draw without the valued support of our loyal players who have contributed to the lottery over the last 19 years.

“Even in these uncertain times we have been amazed by the generosity of players contributing even more to their chosen hospice by adding another play or simply staying with us through sheer dedication.

“The beauty of the lottery is that it has been the one form of income that our partner hospices could rely on during Covid-19 when shops were closed and fundraising events postponed.

“Thank you to every one of our players, past and present, by pledging £1 per play every week you make every moment count for patients and their families.”

Regarding the £9m raised for the St Helena Hospice, the funds help it to continue providing palliative care to residents across north Essex.

Colchester resident Edward Mandy, who is part of an exclusive group of three to be included in every draw, spoke to the Daily Gazette Standard, stating: “I didn’t think back then it would still be going on 19 years later. St Helena is such a brilliant and well thought of charity in Colchester I wanted to support them.”

To take part in the weekly draw, players nominate their chosen hospice and pledge £1 each week to take part in the draw. A rollover top prize of £1,000 is available every week, with the biggest prize ever being given out coming earlier in the year at a total of £19,000.