One lucky winner will take home more than the top prize of £5,000 in the new Derian House Children’s Hospice Christmas raffle – they’ll also get the warm feeling of having helped sick children have their best-ever Christmas.
The charity raffle, launched today (Thursday, 5 October) will help pay for the running of the Chorley-based hospice which cares for more than 400 babies, children and young adults with life-limiting conditions, and their families.
Running for 9 weeks, the Christmas raffle will also see £1,000 handed to the second prize winner, £500 for third prize and 20 runners-up prizes of £25 given out – all in return for a £1 ticket to play.
Tickets can be bought online at www.derianraffle.co.uk or books can be bought at the hospice or in any of the Derian House charity shops.
With the winner drawn on 15 December, the lucky winner will have Christmas paid for – whether they want to treat loved ones to gifts or even escape for the festive season.
The charity hopes to raise thousands of pounds in the fundraiser, which will be used to help the children it cares for to make precious memories with their loved ones in the time they have.
Three-year-old Gaby who was born with half a heart – hypoplastic left heart syndrome – visits Derian House for playgroup, cinema visits and has enjoyed a free week’s holiday at one of the charity’s lodges.
Mum Evita, of Skelmersdale, said: We don’t know what the future holds for Gaby and so we take every day as it comes. Derian House Children’s Hospice helps us to make the most of every moment we have as a family. We love coming to weekly playgroup at the hospice, where Gaby has made friends with Isla, a little girl who has the same condition. It’s great to be able to share my hopes and fears with her mum Rachael. We may not have a long time with Gaby, but we will always have beautiful memories and pictures. I can’t thank Derian House enough for helping us to make the most of our time with her.”
Sarah Proctor, Community Fundraiser at Derian House, said: “We’re really excited to be launching our new Christmas raffle. Just think – £5,000 could be put towards those expensive gifts for the kids, or the most lavish Christmas dinner ever, or even escaping for a luxury break!
“The more tickets people buy, the greater their chance of winning – and the more families we can help. It will cost £6 million to run Derian House this year and we rely heavily on the generosity of our supporters as we only receive a small amount of this in NHS funding.
“If 500 people bought just one ticket each, it would raise enough for a month of activities, days out, and memory making for one of our families – and would make a real difference to their lives.”
The Derian House summer raffle closes for entries on midnight on Friday, 8 December, 2023. The winners will be announced on Friday, 15 December, 2023.
Every 10 tickets sold could allow the charity to buy art supplies for children to create treasured pieces for their loved ones, including hand and foot prints. The cost of 20 tickets could be used to enable a child to take part in an interactive session in the hospice sensory room.
RAFFLE NOW OPEN – PLAY NOW! www.derianraffle.co.uk
Derian House, based in Chorley, cares for more than 400 babies, children, young people and their families from across the North West and is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
