A man is celebrating after winning £10,000 at a charity raffle.

Raymond Woodland, 69, from Chigwell, visited the Saint Francis Hospice summer raffle in memory of his late father who was supported by the trust when he was diagnosed with bowel cancer.

After paying £1 for a single raffle ticket, the retired office worker had his number selected as the winner of the top prize, which was a choice between £10,000 or a brand new Fiat 500 car.

He said: “I wanted to support Saint Francis Hospice as I know how important it is to have a hospice in our community.

"My dad had bowel cancer and died in a hospice in Worthing.

“He was well looked after and was lucky to end his days in a hospice."

Sharon Hammerton, 46, took home the second prize of £500 after buying the tickets to support the hospice which cared for her father Robert Morse before he died of lung cancer.

She said: “He was only there for seven days but it was where he wanted to go.

“He felt at peace there and he loved the hospice.

"He thought it was a wonderful place and everyone took such great care of him.

“It is such a lovely surprise to win as I never expected to hear anything back.”

A further ten people won £25 John Lewis vouchers.

David Holmes, acting Head of Individual Giving at the hospice, said, “We are delighted for our lucky winners and we would like to give our heartfelt thanks to everyone who bought tickets and to Glyn Hopkin Romford for all their support.

“This year our summer raffle is just one of our fundraising initiatives which enable us to provide the best care and service to everyone we support at the hospice and in the community.”