LOCAL man Paul Charlwood is supporting the weekly lottery that raises more than £7,000 each week for Prospect Hospice, where his wife Barbara received care in the final months of her life.

Paul is featured in a new-look leaflet designed to attract more players to the weekly cash draw.

He is pictured in happier times with Barbara, who died in 2010 aged 46. She was helped by the hospice as a day patient and through its dedicated community nurse specialists, who supported her throughout her illness and at the end of her life.

Now Paul wants the people of Swindon, and the wider region supported by Prospect Hospice, to get behind the lottery.

Paul said: “I play the Prospect Hospice lottery every week, and it’s a really easy way to support a charity that means so much to me.

“Prospect cared for Barbs in the day hospice, where she met so many people who were going through similar experiences to hers. The team was wonderful, and the care she received meant so much to us both.

“Towards the end of her condition when she got secondary cancer, which was a brain tumour, they looked after her at the end of her life. It is not only looking after the person who is ill, it is looking after the whole family. There are lots of things that you don’t realise you will need help with until you are in the position yourself.”

Paul began playing the weekly lottery when Barbara was a patient. He recently won the top prize of £1,000 and it only costs £1 to enter each week.

He said: “The lottery was an easy way for us to say thank you and I never thought for one minute we would win.

“I’ve put the money into some shares – my wife and I both loved cruising, that was one of the things on her bucket list and we both fell in love with it completely. The next time I go I shall raise a glass to the lottery, and to my wife as always.”

Readers who are interested in playing the weekly Prospect Hospice lottery can do so by emailing lottery@prospect-hospice.net or calling 01793 816190.

Prospect Hospice also plans to make playing its weekly lottery available online in the coming months. For more information, log on to www.prospect-hospice.net