A hospice is celebrating the first person to win a prize in its recently-launched fundraising lottery.

Elaine King, who lives in Tenbury Wells, won £100 in the St Richard’s Hospice Lottery in her first week of playing.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Mrs King, whose husband was cared for by the Worcester-based charity. “It made me smile and I just thought it was lovely.”

The hospice launched its new lottery in July and is offering players the chance to win up to £25,000 each week.

The online-only subscription lottery costs from £1 per week – with 73p from each entry going directly to St Richard’s Hospice.

Mrs King, who signed up to the lottery on July 12, said: “The hospice looked after my husband, who was living with Motor Neurone Disease. It just did a marvellous job – it looked after me, it looked after the family. You are made to feel very special and very safe.”

Following her win, she decided to give the money back to the hospice by donating for a dragonfly sculpture as part of its upcoming Celebration Garden, due to be installed on Saturday, August 10 at St Andrew’s Spire, Worcester.

Since the lottery launched, 216 players have signed-up – helping to raise funds for the hospice’s care to patients with serious, progressive illnesses, their loved ones and bereaved people across Worcestershire.

So far, three people have won prizes in the new lottery.

Rachel Jones, Fundraising Manager, said: “We are delighted for Elaine and so very grateful for her generous donation back to the hospice.

“We are thrilled with the success of the lottery so far and it’s fabulous to see a player win in her first week.

“We hope people will be inspired by Elaine’s win and will sign-up to play while helping us care for patients and their loved ones when they need us most.”

The draw takes place every Saturday, with a chance to win prizes including £25,000, £1,000, £100 and £10.

As well as the chance to win up to £25,000, there is also a special monthly prize draw for regular players.

To find out more about the St Richard’s Hospice Lottery and to sign-up, visit strichardslottery.org.uk

St Richard’s Hospice cares for adults with a serious progressive illness, improving their quality of life from diagnosis, during treatment and to their last days. It also supports their loved ones.

Each year the hospice team supports more than 3,300 patients, family members and bereaved people in Worcestershire.

St Richard’s is an independent charity and relies on donations and gifts in Wills for the majority of its income with 22% funded by the NHS.

The hospice is also raising funds for the Build 2020 Appeal and is part way through developing a bigger hospice, enabling more patients and families to be cared for in Worcestershire. The total cost for expanding and redeveloping the existing building in Wildwood Drive, Worcester, is £5.3m.

For more information about St Richard’s Hospice visit www.strichards.org.uk