“I’ve never won anything in my life,” said Susan, “and I didn’t really believe it at first. The lady on the phone said ‘are you ready to hear how much you’ve won’ and I assumed it was maybe £1000 – that would have been more than enough for me! The reality of £15,700 is nearly unbelievable.”

Susan has supported Demelza for years in different ways; she and a group of generous friends used to donate hand-knitted toys to our hospices, and before that she worked in-store at one of our retail partners, so she was already familiar with our mission when she stumbled upon the Demelza Lottery team at a local garden centre last year. “I normally support animal charities,” she said, “but I had to make an exception for such a worthy charity. I signed up on the spot! Demelza make such a difference to the families they support.”

Susan plans to share her winnings with her son and daughter-in-law, who had their wedding earlier this year. “I’m going to give my son’s family £5000, to help them with bills this winter. They have a son and the expenses do pile up, so I feel really lucky to be able to help them.”

She also wants to forge ahead with some long-awaited bathroom renovations, swapping her old bathtub for a modern walk-in shower. “It’s having the peace of mind to go ahead with these plans that means the most. You always want to start on these projects, but it never seems like a good time – it’s exciting to finally be able to get started and do something nice for myself.”

Demelza’s Lotto and Superdraw give you the chance to win big, while supporting the families of children with serious or terminal conditions from just £1 a week.