Dr Colette Nugent
When Dr Colette Nugent joined Queenscourt’s weekly Lottery last December, winning was the last thing on her mind – she simply wanted to support the hospice.
She was therefore very surprised to receive a call telling her she had actually won the £1,500 jackpot! Dr Nugent immediately made up her mind that she would use some of the winnings to support Queenscourt.
Dr Nugent retired from Ainsdale Medical Centre 18 months ago but has kept in contact with her former colleagues. Over 20 members of the practice team are currently involved with a virtual fundraising tour of Europe in aid of Queenscourt.
In a bid to encourage each other to get some exercise during the Covid-19 crisis, the team came up with the fundraising idea. They all suggested a place that they’d like to visit if things were normal, plotted the locations on a map, and are now endeavouring to visit each place virtually.
The participants add up the total distance covered on their daily exercise and this moves them along their route. Cycling, running and walking count by the kilometre and every 30 minutes of other exercises (pilates, gym, weights etc) counts as 5km.
Dr Nugent saw their target was to raise £1,000 and even though this target had already been exceeded, she decided to donate £1,000 of her Lottery win to their fundraiser.
“I was embarrassed to win the money,” said Dr Nugent. “I didn’t join to win, I saw some Queenscourt Lottery Canvassers in a supermarket trying to sign new members and decided to join then and there.
“The hospice provides an invaluable service to patients and their families and its education centre offers so much support to medical students and all local medical and nursing staff. As a GP I have had first-hand experience of the hospice and really appreciate everything that they do.”
Dr Nugent buys one Lottery ticket a week and couldn’t believe her luck when she received the call telling her she had won. “I had forgotten all about the Lottery so it really was a shock,” she said. “As I didn’t enter to win, I was happy to support my friends at the Ainsdale Medical Centre by donating to their fundraiser which will, of course, mean the money will end up back at Queenscourt.”
The Queenscourt Lottery draw takes place every Friday and each week there are 22 guaranteed winners. The top prize is £1,500 but there is also a second prize of £100 and 20 additional prizes of £20. Tickets cost just £1 each.
For more information on how to join, please visit