When Angela Danby bought a book of raffle tickets to support her local children’s hospice, she never thought she would be a winner.
But on Friday (27 June), Angela – who was preparing to go out for a meal to celebrate her daughter’s birthday that night – was surprised at her front door with the news she had won the £5,000 jackpot in the Derian House Summer Raffle.
Astounded Angela cried out: “I’ve got my rollers in!” before hugging staff from the hospice who had travelled to her home carrying giant numbers to break the good news.
£1,000 was awarded to the second prize winner, £500 to the third prize winner, and 20 runners-up won prizes of £25 in the raffle that ran from March to June.
With entries flying in from as far as Devon and Scotland, the raffle launched by the Chorley children’s hospice sold 20,637 tickets – raising a phenomenal £31,170 for the charity’s children and young adults.
And it wasn’t just ticket sales that boosted the total – the charity was inundated with donations from kind-hearted supporters that amounted to £11,533.
Winner of the top £5,000 prize is Angela Danby, a public speaker and former journalist, who lives in Rufford with her husband, Will Danby, daughter Sophia, 22, son William, 24, and rescue cat George Walter.
She said: “I was just out in the garden when the Derian House team appeared holding up the £5,000 number cards. I was moving things around as we were preparing for the scarecrow competition the next day. I wasn’t expecting it, I had forgotten I’d entered. In fact I first thought it was a scam. I was getting ready to go out – I had no makeup on and I had my rollers in!
“The surprise couldn’t have come at a better time. We all went out for food to Penelope’s in Birkdale for my daughter Sophia’s birthday, and we took out grandma too who is 90. We all had celebratory cocktails – it was a really lovely night.
“I’m going to give some of the money to my children to help towards a deposit on their first home. But some of it will definitely be going back to Derian House. They do such amazing work. And when my dad passed away two years ago, he wanted some of the money from the funeral to go to Derian House. So we’re all big supporters of the hospice. I just can’t believe it, thank you so much.”
The Derian House summer raffle closed for entries on midnight on 20 June 2025.
Sarah Proctor, Community Fundraiser at Derian House, said: “Angela’s surprise and joy at winning £5,000 was absolutely wonderful to see. Even George Walter the cat came to have a look. We hope she had a wonderful birthday meal with her daughter.
“The amount of money raised in the Derian House summer raffle will make a real difference to seriously ill children and young people from across the North West. 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.”
For full terms and conditions of the raffle visit: https://www.derianraffle.co.uk/terms-conditions/
