Singing, acting and fundraising – it all comes naturally to one of our junior fundraisers.

Unlike most eleven-year-olds, Angus Black from Gunnislake has spent his weekends busy fundraising for St Luke’s at our Open Gardens.

If you have attended one of our Open Gardens this year you may have spotted Angus lending a helping hand by helping his granny sell St Luke’s merchandise and plants and even entertaining garden visitors with his singing.

Angus was inspired to help out after following in the footsteps of his granny and one of our community fundraising ambassadors, Sue Crocker. Sue’s husband Richard spent his final days being cared for in our specialist unit 10 years ago.

Angus’ mum Annaliese Plowright said, “He has always been a compassionate young man, but he just gets so much enjoyment out of helping. He never knew Richard, so this is a way that he can feel connected to him and feel that he is doing something in his memory as well as for all the people who are currently using St Luke’s services. He has had a tour of the specialist unit and seen the work that St Luke’s does, so he knows exactly how the money he raises can help people.”

So far Angus’ impressive fundraising has raised £710 for patient care. Angus was thanked personally by St Luke’s CEO Steve Statham when he visited our specialist unit at Turnchapel last month.

His amazing dedication and support to St Luke’s over the Open Gardens season will come to an end in September as our season closes but Angus has said his fundraising will not stop then. However he will have to fit it in around his busy schedule, as he is also currently acting in the new series of ITV’s Doc Martin. But he says he would be delighted to continue to help raise as much as he can to help us to deliver our care to those in need.

St Luke’s community fundraiser Wayne Marshall said, “Angus has been such a star at our Open Gardens, sitting beside his granny and helping her to sell all our St Luke’s merchandise, as well as providing visitors with plenty of entertainment! It is fantastic that someone of his age has taken such a proactive role in helping St Luke’s. We hope that many more children will be inspired by Angus and want to fundraise for St Luke’s as well, whether they are a similar age or if someone in their family may have used our service before, like in Angus’ case it could become a way of connecting with loved ones lost. They could ultimately become a representative for St Luke’s in their school or local community and we would provide them with plenty of fundraising support along the way.”

St Luke’s Open Gardens are sponsored by McClure Solicitors.

We are giving away a guaranteed £10,000 this week (Friday 4 August 2017) in our weekly lottery draw.

You have until 5pm on Thursday 3 August to be entered for this weeks jackpot. Instant play is available online now from £1 a week. The big cash prize is the result of our weekly rollover having not been won for a record breaking 50 weeks. Gambling regulations cap the rollover at £10,000 meaning the money must be won by this Friday, 4 August 2017.

Play online here from £1

Our lottery is also celebrating a milestone, having raised £10 million for patient care since the lottery first began 23 years ago.

In raising £10,006,140 since 1994 , our lottery alone has generated enough profit to enable our St Luke’s nurses, social workers and therapists deliver care for the equivalent of 10,000 patients who are living with life-limiting illnesses at home.

St Luke’s lottery manager Lesley Coulton, said, “The lottery relies completely on the good will and commitment of all those ‘silent heroes’ who over the years have supported St Luke’s by giving just £1 per week. It is thanks to all of you that our lottery is where it is today, providing vital funds for patient care. Our aim is to reach 14,000 players by August, the more people playing our lottery, the more patients we can care for, at home, in hospital and at our specialist unit at Turnchapel. Each year our lottery raises £430,000 for patient care, this makes it possible for us to provide care for terminally ill patients and their families that need our care and support.”

Every year the St Luke’s lottery gives out 1,664 cash prizes to the lucky winners, with players in with a chance of winning prizes of £1,000, £200 or £10 every week. What’s even better is that if you play the St Luke’s lottery for a year, you have a one in eight chance of winning a prize as opposed to the National Lottery where the odds are one in 54!

Instant play available here, from £1. Over 18’s only.