What would you do with a £10,000 lump sum or £1,000 a month for a year?
Our annual Sue Ryder Lottery Super Draw is set to take place on Friday 31st May, offering an array of cash prizes while helping to support our palliative, neurological and bereavement care across the UK. Meet lucky Aileen, who scooped a £10,000 cash prize in our lottery in 2017, and find out what she did with her winnings.
Just six months after she became a regular lottery player, Aileen Frisby celebrated a win that saw her jet off to visit family in Australia. She’s also been able to present her three children with a windfall sum – and donate money back to Sue Ryder, who made her win possible.
Aileen, who lives in Stamford in Lincolnshire, signed up to play the weekly Sue Ryder Lottery in March 2017 when a canvasser knocked on her door. Money from our lottery helps support the palliative care provided by her local Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice in Peterborough to the tune of around £250,000 a year.
“A couple of friends had mentioned they played charity lotteries and I’d seen adverts for similar games and thought it was something I could do,” she recalled, “so I suppose I was in the right frame of mind when I got the knock on the door!”
Aileen’s big win
Aileen pays £1 a week to be entered into the lottery. In September 2017, she received a call telling her she’d scooped the £10,000 jackpot.
“I’d missed a couple of calls from the fundraisers at Thorpe Hall Hospice but it didn’t sound urgent so I thought I’d perhaps won £50,” said 65-year-old Aileen. “When I finally spoke to Joely and she said I’d won £10,000, I really didn’t know what to say. I left her on the end of the phone in silence!”
Aileen has since taken the first of two trips to Australia where she has two brothers, a son and daughter, and four grandchildren.
“It was two years since I’d been to see them so the money came at the perfect time to plan another trip,” said Aileen. “I tend to go over for three months at a time so I can spend quality time with everyone.
“And I’m hoping there will be enough left over for a second trip – so I can continue to enjoy the money for a while yet!”
Seeing the difference playing our lottery makes
Aileen dropped by Thorpe Hall Hospice in Longthorpe to find out where the money she pays to play the Sue Ryder Lottery is spent. She met fundraiser Joely Garner who introduced her to staff and volunteers, and who was delighted to receive a cheque from Aileen, thanks to the win.
“It’s a wonderful place,” said Aileen. “I’m very impressed by what I’ve seen.”
For Joely, the chance to make the winning call to Aileen was a real pleasure. “I’ve never rung anyone up to tell them they’ve won £10,000 before,” she said. “The phone line went ever so quiet!
“We’re so grateful that Aileen chose to donate some of her winnings to us.”
How to enter this year’s Super Draw
This year’s Super Draw is the biggest and best yet, boasting a top prize of £1,000 a month for a whole year or a £10,000 lump sum. There are also second, third and fourth prizes of £1,000, £100 and £50 respectively, plus an additional 10 prizes of £100 and 200 runner-up prizes of £5 to be won.
Tickets cost £1 each, and if you buy yours before Monday 29th April you will receive an extra free* entry on top of the first ticket you buy.
If you’re already a weekly Sue Ryder Lottery player, your active tickets will automatically be entered into the Super Draw – plus, you can still grab some extra tickets to boost your chances of being that big winner!
Every £1 ticket bought or sold means that someone facing the most difficult time of their lives doesn’t have to face it alone. Whether in our care centres, out in the community or online, you’ll be making a huge difference when it really matters. We can’t thank you enough.
Enter the Sue Ryder Lottery Super Draw