OKEHAMPTON is the place to be to win the Hospiscare Lottery ?two local women have scooped £1,000 each within a week. Winner Alison Rounsley said: ?All I had ever won was £5. I came back from holiday three weeks ago and I had won £50. Three weeks later and I?ve won £1,000.? And no sooner had Alison collected her cheque, than Iona Johns? number came up in the draw on September 21. Mrs Johns said said she played every week and was delighted to have won. She said: ?I support the charity because my mum died of cancer, and she had a lot of support from Hospiscare.? Mrs Johns said she would probably buy a new cooker with her winnings, but had not yet made up her mind. Mrs Rounsley, who works at Okehampton Hospital, has been playing the Hospiscare Lottery since it began in 2000, and ensures she is entered for every draw by paying £4 every month at the Hospiscare shop in The Arcade. ?I know how comforting the Hospiscare girls are to the patients,? she said. The Hospiscare Lottery raises more than £200,000 every year for the charity, which has two of its 30 community nurses based at Okehampton. They care for people with terminal illness in their own homes, giving specialist nursing care as well as dedicated emotional support. Geoff Stamp, the Hospiscare Lottery manager, said: ?More than 65p in every pound of the Hospiscare Lottery goes straight to providing services for local people, supporting our nurses in the community, at the hospital and at the hospice. ? The Hospiscare Lottery is drawn every Friday and you can play for £1 a week for a chance to win one of 40 cash prizes, with a top prize of £1,000. Details are available from the Okehampton Hospiscare shop, or contact the Hospiscare Lottery on 01392 688025.
