SHELDONS Dairy is celebrating a major charity milestone thanks to the success of its community lottery.

The lottery is hugely popular with the dairy’s customers, with up to 1,000 tickets being bought every week by people keen on supporting good causes.

One of those groups with good cause to celebrate is East Cheshire Hospice, which has received the amazing sum of £40,000 from the lottery over the past 15 years.

Kate Bowmar, corporate fundraiser at the hospice said: “We are extremely grateful to Sheldons Dairy and their customers for this incredible support over the past 15 years.

“Fundraising is crucial to the hospice as we receive less than 17 per cent of our funds from the NHS, and so rely on the community, including local businesses, to help raise the rest.

“The £40,000 raised has directly enabled our patients and their families to receive the best quality end of life care possible, either at the hospice or in the comfort of their own homes thanks to our Hospice @Home service which launched in 2017.”

Chris Sheldon, one of the directors of the business, said: “I am amazed by how much the lottery has raised for the hospice over the past 15 years – it’s a significant milestone, and is all down to the great support of our customers.

“People like buying tickets because they are giving to good causes, and if they win a prize they feel it’s a bonus.”

Chris’ brother John is the other director of the dairy, which was founded by their dad David, now 82, who decided to support East Cheshire Hospice.

Half of the charitable funds raised by the lottery go to the hospice, and over the past 15 years it has received between £2,500 and £3,000 each year to support the vital work of the hospice, which costs £7,500 a day to run.

Lottery players must be Sheldons’ customers, and the tickets cost 50p.

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Between 900 and 1,000 tickets are sold each week, and the lottery offers three weekly prizes of £50, as well as 10 prizes every eight or nine weeks totalling £1,000 in prize money, including a £250 jackpot.

Sheldons delivers to 5,500 customers from its premises on Parkgate Industrial Estate using a fleet of electric vehicles.