June Ralphson, 88, couldn’t believe it when she got the call from CancerCare to say she was the winner of this year’s Winter Superdraw.
June, who lives in Bolton-le-Sands, has been a regular Lottery player for many years, though this was the first time she’d won the top prize. CancerCare Lottery players are automatically entered into our Summer and Winter Superdraws, giving them two extra chances to win big each year.
June's Winter Superdraw winnings included £500, a luxury M&S hamper and two tickets to a Morecambe FC game. She popped into our Slynedales centre to meet our Regular Giving Fundraiser Rebecca and to receive her prizes.
“I thought that I’d only won £50, which would have still been amazing, but I couldn't believe it when I found out I’d got all of these prizes,” said June, who donates to many charities close to her heart on a regular basis and specifically gives to CancerCare due to the local connection.
June moved to the area 41 years ago and she’s been supporting CancerCare ever since, taking up the Lottery as a simple yet effective way of giving to her local cancer charity.
“CancerCare looks after so many people and as it’s only a small direct debit each month, it would be silly to not buy a Lottery ticket,” June said.
Some of June’s family members have previously received cancer diagnoses; her sister-in-law died 27 years ago from cancer and her great grandson was diagnosed with a brain tumour aged two.
“When I look back at our family life over the years, cancer has been there,” she added. “So why wouldn’t I support CancerCare? For us, to not give to our local cancer charity feels wrong as they need all the help they can get.”
Family is the most important part of June’s life, and she intends to share her prizes amongst her loved ones.
“My grandson is a keen football player, so he’ll love the match tickets, and I’ll give a lot of the hamper out to my family,” said June, who noted that this was the biggest raffle prize she’d ever won. “While I’ve supported CancerCare for so long, I’ve never actually been to the centre before; what a lovely and welcoming place it is – I could live here!”