I thought I was being pranked when I heard I'd won £10,000

As the saying goes, if it is too good to be true, it probably isn’t. But amazing things do happen as Allan Flight found out.

Allan thought his friends were playing a prank on him when he got a call to say he’d won £10,000 on the Saint Francis Hospice lottery rollover.

After 20 weeks of anticipation as the charity’s rollover prize increased each week by £500, the grandfather of four tells us why he has been supporting the hospice.

My wife Sarah and our daughters have supported Saint Francis Hospice for many years by taking part in sponsored walks and even raising funds for the charity at a fete on The Green at Havering-atte-Bower.

We often visit the hospice shop in Hilldene and also donate items there too.

Hospice care is vital - and that's why we support

Sarah’s older sister needed hospice care in Southampton where she lived. The care she received was wonderful.

After that it became very important to support hospice care and Saint Francis Hospice is our local hospice.

With failing health and everything, we still wanted to contribute and when we got a chance to play the Saint Francis Hospice lottery, we signed up.

Lightning has struck us lucky twice!

You do not go into these things expecting to win. It is pure luck if you do. This is the second time in our lives that we’ve had a big win.

Years ago, I answered a question on the Radio 2 show hosted by Terry Wogan about music. The next day I got a call to say I’d won a trip to Tennessee. I really didn’t believe it at first.

I have a lot of friends who are practical jokers so when I got the call to say I’d won £10,000 I was very sceptical until Georgia from the fundraising team turned up with the cheque.

Lightning has struck twice - it’s great.

Treating our grandchildren

The first thing we did was treat our grandchildren. They had been saving up their pocket money to buy something they’d wanted for a long time. We sat them down and gave them an envelope with a gift.

I showed my daughter the letter and her face was a picture.

The lottery is a great way to support the hospice and it’s not a lot of money to put in.

You never ever know when you or someone you know might need it.