St Giles Hospice has thanked people in the community for their generous support after its summer raffle raised more than £87,000 – one of its best-ever totals.

The money raised will be used to support the care of patients and their families living with a terminal illness.

Elinor Eustace, Income Generation Director at St Giles Hospice, said: “Once again our dedicated supporters have overwhelmed us with their kindness by playing our summer raffle and making additional donations on top of their ticket purchases.

“We’ve never needed our community more than we have done over the last 18 months. They have really stepped up with their amazing support, at a time when everyone has also been coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We had to temporarily close our charity shops and cancel our fundraising events during the lockdowns so our raffles have become more vital than ever in supporting our care services. The £87,000 raised will help to ensure that St Giles can be there for our patients in the local community and their families when they need us the most."

Claire Barton and her sister Melanie Floyd, from Lichfield, helped St Giles to promote this summer’s raffle to thank the hospice for looking after their father David ‘Chas’ Chandler.

Musician Chas was supported for at home for six months by the St Giles community nurse team before he was admitted to the hospice for end of life care in November 2019.

Claire said: "We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported the summer raffle this year. Your generosity will make a huge difference to local patients and their families at a time when they need the hospice’s support the most.

"At any moment you could find out that a family member or a friend needs the care of St Giles and we want to ensure that it is there in future for families like ours."

Prizes in this year’s summer raffle included a jackpot of £8,000, a second prize of £2,000 and other cash prizes.

The £8,000 jackpot prize winner, Miss M from Lichfield, who has chosen to remain anonymous, said: “I felt completely overwhelmed when I received a call from St Giles to tell me I had won first prize in the raffle! I was speechless. How unexpected and what an incredible thing to happen from supporting the charity in a small way.

“Donations I have made to the hospice came through knowing a very special person whose amazing spirit lives on through many. Thank you for all that you do St Giles.”

The other top five prize winners came from Burton, Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth and Swadlincote.

St Giles runs two raffles each year in addition to the weekly lottery, providing vital income for the hospice. It costs more than £10 million to provide the care St Giles offers every year and the hospice needs to raise £850,000 each month to keep its services going.

For more information about St Giles Hospice and the expert care it provides, please visit www.stgileshospice.com