Tommy’s massive surprise as he wins a MINI in the St Catherine’s car raffle

A St Catherine’s Hospice supporter who has been part of the charity’s lottery for 10 years was astounded when he won the annual car raffle at his first attempt.

Tommy Snaylam, from Moss Side, Leyland, visited the Lostock Hall hospice to receive the grand prize after patient Dorothy Jones pulled out his winning ticket.

The dad-of-three, who has six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren – with one more on the way – entered the draw after reading about it through his lottery pack.

The 78-year-old, who works as a HGV mechanic at Huntapac Produce in Tarleton, said: “I’ve been doing the lottery for about 10 years but this was the first time I’d entered the car raffle, and I never expected to win!

“It was quite a shock, and it took about half an hour after the phone call from the hospice’s lottery team for it to sink in. You don’t get calls like that every day.”

He added: “I play the lottery mainly to support the hospice, but I won £250 once which was nice. I’m not doing so bad really.”

Sheila Kennard, head of promotions at St Catherine’s, said: “The car raffle, sponsored by Bowker MINI, generated almost £40,000 for the charity this year, which will help the hospice to continue providing specialist end-of-life care to local people, as well as supporting their loved ones through a range of dedicated services.”

She added: “Our lottery costs as little as £1 a week, with a weekly jackpot of £2,000. There’s also a rollover which has reached £4,000, and there are other cash prizes too.

“Having regular contributors through the lottery scheme is invaluable to the charity because it means we can budget for the future.”

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