Burnley grandma splashes £5K charity raffle winnings on once-in-a-lifetime trip to Australia to see her grandchildren

Joan Sagar, 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. Some 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, December 6th, and the winner will be drawn on Friday, December 13th.

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: “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.”

Take part in the raffle by visiting www.derianraffle.co.uk