A grandmother’s dream of retiring early is set to come true after she won a £17,000 rollover jackpot on the St Giles Hospice lottery.

Jane Woolley, aged 64, whose mum was supported by St Giles in 2003, hit the jackpot in August when it was won after rolling over for 17 weeks.

Now Jane, who works in dispensing at a doctor’s surgery, has notified bosses that she plans to retire in March next year – a year before her state retirement age.

She said: “Winning the rollover is such wonderful news and it means I will be able to retire a year early, which is a dream come true. I’m one of the ladies who expected to retire at 60 but was then told I’d have to wait until I was 66.

Jane and Ivan Woolley celebrate their win with St Giles Hospice Lottery Development Manager Lesley Holmes.

“I’m 65 next February and winning the rollover means that I can retire a year earlier without worrying about money. My husband Ivan took early retirement two years ago so this means I can finish earlier than expected and we can enjoy our time at home together, which is lovely.”

Jane’s mum Vina Swingewood was supported by St Giles in 2003 when she had breast cancer, and Jane has supported the hospice ever since.

“Our family looked after my mum at home and we had the support of the St Giles Hospice at Home service which was absolutely invaluable – we couldn’t have done it without them,” she added.

“They didn’t only look after my mum, they supported my dad and the whole family so that we could nurse her at home and they were always at the end of the phone if we needed any advice and support. She was cared for and was able to die at home where she wanted to be, which meant such a lot to us all.

“I found St Giles so inspirational – I’d always worked in banking but after my mum passed away I went into care work.

“I would urge everybody to support St Giles if they can and the hospice lottery is such an easy way to do that. Nobody knows what will happen to us or our loved ones in the future.

“A friend of mine also passed away at St Giles four years ago. It is comforting to know that the wonderful team at St Giles Hospice will be there for us if and when we need their care.”

St Giles Lottery Manager, Alison Jerram, said: “We are delighted for Jane and Ivan and are so grateful to everyone who plays our lottery every week. Each ticket sold helps us to care for people in the community living with a terminal illness and the lottery raises over £100,000 every month to support hospice services.

“In 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the cancellation of many fundraising events and forced our shops to close for several months, so the support of our lottery players has been absolutely vital in helping us to raise the money we need to keep our services going. Unfortunately, our lottery player numbers have been affected by COVID-19 too, so we need new players to sign up to ensure we can continue to be there for local people when they need us most.”

For just £1 players have the chance to win 200 weekly prizes, including a weekly jackpot of £1,000 and up to £20,000 in a rollover draw.

To find out more or to join the lottery visit: www.stgileshospice.com/lottery or call the lottery team on 01543 434020.