St Giles Hospice is celebrating a very special anniversary as it marks 25 years since the first draw of its popular weekly lottery.
In the quarter of a century since the first winner was announced on 28th February 1997, the lottery has raised an amazing £20 MILLION to support the hospice’s care for patients, and their families, who are living with a terminal illness.
As only around a third of its funding comes from Government, St Giles Hospice relies upon donations and fundraising to raise the £850,000 it needs each month to fund its care services.
Alison Jerram, Individual Giving Manager at St Giles Hospice, said: “The whole team at St Giles would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who takes part in our lottery – whether you have been playing since that very first draw or have signed up more recently.
“Thank you so much for helping us to raise over £20 million for St Giles!
“Our loyal lottery players have made a huge contribution towards funding the care we offer to local families when they need us the most, and it’s always one of the most delightful parts of our job to be able to ring up a lucky winner and make their day.”
For just £1, players have a chance to win a weekly jackpot of £1,000 and up to £20,000 in the rollover draw.
Over the past 25 years the St Giles Hospice Lottery has held more than 1,300 draws and sold more than 35 million lottery tickets.
There have been more than 250,000 individual prize winners, including 20 lucky players who have won a larger jackpot since the rollover was introduced in 2017. The most recent lottery rollover winner collected a total of £18,000 just last month.