A Lichfield hospice is urging people to take their fundraising bear on holiday with them to win a prize.
St Giles Hospice, based in Whittington, will once again be running their annual competition where holidaymakers are challenged to photograph the charity’s cuddly toy in far-flung corners of the globe.
Last year’s winner Janet Patterson landed the £50 voucher to spend at the St Giles Hospice shops after snapping Olivia the Bear on a fibreglass killer whale while waiting to board a ferry to Vancouver Island in Canada with her friend Ruth Smith.
Janet explained:
“Ruth and I had been saving all year for our trip and as soon as I found out about the competition, I knew I had to have a go. After all, you can’t get much further away from home than Vancouver!
“We had an absolutely brilliant time and when I received the letter telling me I’d won, I was thrilled. I’ve already spent some of my vouchers on a posh frock at the St Giles Hospice shop in Swadlincote!”
St Giles Hospice Bears are given free to all players of the charity’s fundraising lottery who sign up for a year’s membership in advance, or can be purchased separately for £10 by any lottery player.
The competition is being repeated this year for the newest member of the bear family, Sophie – and Janet has every intention of trying her luck again in 2011. She explained:
“We’re already planning to go to Prague for our annual Christmas shopping trip,. It’s not quite as far away as Canada, of course, but I’ll certainly be taking Sophie with me and looking out for some photo opportunities!”
St Giles Hospice Lottery membership costs £1 per week, with more than £3,000 in prizes given away each week – including a £2,000 jackpot. All proceeds go directly to funding the charity’s free specialist care for local people with cancer and other serious illnesses.
To enter the Where’s Sophie? competition, lottery players can email jpeg photo images of their bear to photo@stgilespromotions.co.uk, or send a 6in x 4in photograph to St Giles Hospice Lottery, The Stables, Catton, Walton-on-Trent, Derbyshire, DE12 8LN. All entries should include contact information and brief details about where and when the picture was taken, and who is in it. The closing date for this year’s competition is December 31, 2011.
Further information about the St Giles Hospice Lottery is available by calling 0845 370 6580 or visiting www.stgileshospice.com/lottery.