L to R: Sue Garden, Mandy Jones, Paul Denton, Jacqui Shepherd, George Pearce, Diane Hall, Liz Gallacher. Front row: Brian Horton & Dorothy Horton
8 April 2011
Keech Hospice Care celebrated the 15th anniversary of its weekly charity lottery with the announcement that is has raised a total of almost £6 million for the adult and children’s hospices since it began back in 1996.
George Pearce and Paul Denton, who were both integral to the founding of our lottery, were invited to return to the hospice on the official anniversary, Tuesday 5th April. There they joined the current lottery team to celebrate the achievements of the last 15 years and presented a £1000 cheque to the lucky 15th anniversary winners, Mr and Mrs Horton, from Arlesey.
Mr Pearce, from Luton, said: “Having been there at the very beginning, it is wonderful to see how the hospice lottery has gone from strength to strength and I feel very privileged to be here at this milestone.”
Mr Denton, who lives in Luton, added: “The lottery was profitable from the start but we never dreamed it would reach such levels. It’s a true testament as to how local people have continued to get involved in helping our magnificent local charity.”
At its debut on 5th April 1996, the lottery sold 3,274 tickets; today it averages around 11,000 ticket sales each week! The majority of these come from people who have signed up as regular members who play for the chance to win one of 40 cash prizes, including a jackpot of £1000.
In recent years the lottery team at Keech have come up with a host of other ways to get involved. People can now buy lottery gift membership certificates as presents for any special occasion and, lottery ‘favours’ have also been created, making the perfect alternatives to sugared almonds at weddings, raffle tickets at a fundraiser or plastic toys in a Christmas cracker!
Pensioners, Brian and Dorothy Horton, have been joint members of the charity’s lottery for almost five years and were delighted to hear of their recent win, which came the day before Brian celebrated his 74th birthday.
Dorothy commented: “The hospices do such good work for the community and playing this lottery is a really easy way for us to do something to help. I don’t know why but I had a kind of premonition that we were going to win this week and I kept looking out for the postman! Lucky for us that premonition came true!”
Every year, Keech Hospice Care supports around 250 adult patients from Luton and South Bedfordshire and around 300 families with a life-limited child from across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Milton Keynes. To do this requires millions of pounds, over 75% of which has to be raised through voluntary donations and community support. The money Keech raises through its lottery makes a significant contribution each week. It’s enough to sponsor the running of the adult day hospice or it could help pay for patient care in two of its children’s hospice bedrooms!
Fundraising Director, Jacqui Shepherd, commented: “Good hospice care is not a luxury; it’s an essential part of any community. When someone has to cope with a life-limiting illness or witness a loved one go through it, the support offered by hospices can make such a difference. At Keech we continually need to raise huge sums of money to keep our services going. I would personally like to congratulate the lottery team for their hard work and say a huge thank you to everyone who has ever offered their support through our lottery.”
If you would like to find out more about how to join our weekly lottery, lottery gift membership or lottery favours, please click on the links above.
