The sky was the limit for 84-year-old Burnley grandma Joan Sagar, who splashed her £5,000 charity raffle winnings on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Australia.
Joan, who won the Derian House Christmas raffle last year, told the charity she planned to spend her winnings on the dream trip to visit her son and grandchildren – a journey she never believed she would be able to make again.
And almost 12 months later, she sent the charity a photograph of herself enjoying a sip of bubbly on the business-class flight she had enjoyed.
Kind Joan also donated £1,000 back to Derian House to allow the charity to pay for a family of a seriously ill child to enjoy a holiday too.
Derian House is running its Christmas Raffle again this year – with just two weeks left to enter.
For £1 a ticket entries will have chance to win £5,000 in time for Christmas, with £1,000 second prize, and £500 third prize. 20 runners-up will also take home prizes of £25.
Joan said: “When the lovely people from Derian House came to present me with my prize they asked me what I thought I would do with the money. I said that I would put it towards a trip over to Australia to visit my son and two grandchildren, and I may even go Business Class – which I did!
“I want to thank the charity. I have wholehearted admiration for the wonderful work that they do.”
The raffle closes on Friday 6 December, and the winner will be drawn on Friday 13 December.
Last year’s Christmas Raffle raised £33,000 for Derian House – enough to send 33 families on a free week’s holiday to one of the charity’s adapted lodges. The fundraising team hopes that this year’s draw will raise even more vital funds for the 400 families the charity cares for.
Sarah Proctor, Lottery and Individual Giving Manager at Derian House, said: “We are over-the-moon that Joan has been able to see her son and grandchildren on the other side of the world, and to treat herself to business class!
“The amount of money raised in our Christmas raffle will make a real difference to seriously ill children and young people from across the North West. 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.”
Raffle now open – play now by visiting www.derianraffle.co.uk
Derian House, based in Chorley, Lancashire, cares for more than 400 seriously ill babies, children, young people and their families from across the North West helping them to make the most of every moment.
