A teacher has won a new car in a raffle organised by Beaumond House Community Hospice and Pratt and Gelsthorpe of Newark.
More than 24408 tickets were sold in the raffle, which was launched at the hospice ball in February. Volunteers and staff sold tickets at dozens of events in Newark and district throughout the year.
The hospice joined forces with motor dealers Pratt and Gelsthorpe for the raffle as part of its centenary celebrations.
A ticket bought by Mrs Megan Willis of Newark, a primary school teacher, was drawn as the winner by managing director Mr Richard Gelsthorpe.
Mrs Willis, who has a one-year-old daughter, said she couldn’t believe it when she learned she had won.
“The last time I entered a raffle I won a bottle of champagne which was a brilliant prize ,” she said. “But a car really tops that.”
Mrs Willis said she had bought 30 tickets during the course of the year at events including an open day at the hospice, the beer festival and the dragon boat race.
“My family have always supported Beaumond House and its events so I was happy to buy the tickets whenever I saw them being sold,” she said. “But I never ever thought I would win. I am still expecting somebody to tell me they were just kidding.”
Cathy Lowe, Fundraising and Marketing Manager, said: “ We would like to thank Richard and his team at Pratt and Gelsthorpe for making this raffle possible and for allowing us to take the support car whenever and wherever we needed to promote the raffle. We also want to thank every single person who bought a ticket and help us to sell the 24408 tickets. This is a tremendous achievement and something we have not even attempted to do before. Despite tickets being bought from far and afield it is wonderful that the car has been won by a local family as this helps to reinforce our message that Beaumond House is here to support local people when they need us most. “