Children's hospice launches Christmas raffle – with £6k first prize

Hope House and Ty Gobaith children's hospices said the money raised from the public buying raffle tickets will be vital this year, with the charity facing a£1.25 million shortfall in funding due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

For 2020 the hospices have joined forces with North Wales-based jewellers Clogau to offer the first prize winner £6,000, which can either be taken in a lump sum, or £500 a month. The second prize is £2,500 and the third prize will be £1,500.

Simi Epstein, director of fundraising, said: “We were expecting to end the year with a massive shortfall in income, but further lockdowns in Wales, and now in England, are going to hit us even more with our charity shops closing once again.

“Every year we get fantastic support for our raffle, which plays a huge part in helping us provide care for the children and families who need us.

“This year it has taken on a new level of importance and we hope our supporters, who we have posted raffle tickets too, will be as generous as they’ve been in the past.

"We are also hoping that even more people who believe in what we do and who want to help in these challenging times will get behind us, go online and buy some tickets, and perhaps even win a spectacular prize!"

By buying a raffle ticket, which cost just £1 each, people will directly be helping support more than 750 local families who are either caring for a terminally ill child, or whose child has died. It costs £6.5 million a year to run the hospices, and during these ever-changing times the costs are increasing, with an estimated extra £300,000 needed to fund PPE.

The managing director of Clogau Ben Roberts said getting involved in helping provide the prize amounts for the raffle was something the company felt it had to do to help in the face of the pandemic.

“We have been supporting the hospices for a number of years and I have, up until Covid-19, been a regular visitor, meeting the children and the families that use the services there,” said Ben.

“The hospices are very positive places. When you spend time getting to know the children and the staff you can really see the fantastic work that is being done and how much the impact the charity makes on people’s lives.”

He added: "As soon as I was approached by the fundraising team to see if I wanted to get involved in supporting the raffle I didn’t have to think about it, I said yes straight away.

“We hope that sponsoring the prize money for the raffle will encourage more people to play and in turn support the hospices carrying on with their vital work in our local communities.”

People can buy books of raffle tickets from hopehouse.org.uk/christmas-raffle or the fundraising office on 01691 671 671.