EAST Lancashire Hospice is preparing to launch its very own lottery which will help fund the upkeep of the scheme.

Health Reporter Roger Airey went along to see the invaluable work it does and why the money is needed...

IT'S a popular misconception that hospices are unhappy places where people's lives peter out amid an atmosphere of grief and despair.

Anyone who has ever visited will know the truth -- they provide a warm, welcoming, homely atmosphere and at the same time afford patients the dignity and privacy they need.

Fund-raising manager Stuart Andrew knows this, having worked there for two-and-a-half years.

He said: "The best way I can sum it up is that people think this is a place to die but it's about living your life not 'dying' it.

"Many people do not realise the atmosphere is so nice and relaxed. Just walking around you can hear the laughter."

For instance, the Christmas party season is in full swing with a whole host of activities planned, including a carol service and Christmas dinners. Not least is a show from nurses and volunteers dressed as nuns performing a song from the film Sister Act -- sure to raise a laugh or two!

Even the drinks trolley offering a drop or two of sherry makes its way around every now and then.

The hospice on Park Lee Road is the main specialist palliative care unit in Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley, serving 520,000 people.

Its aim is to offer palliative care to patients with advanced and progressive life-threatening diseases and support for their relatives and carers, in an atmosphere of calm with tenderness, care and quiet efficiency.

The hospice has been open since the early 1980s but in 1999 the trustees of the hospice launched an appeal to raise £1.3 million to build a new Day Therapy Centre which would be linked and attached to the existing hospice, and committed themselves to refurbish the original building.

This became necessary after years of expansion and an increasing service meant that the original facilities had become over stretched and under resourced.

After two-and-a half years fundraising and a grant from the National Lottery the target was reached and in January 2002 the new building finally opened its doors.

The new building and the refurbished hospice, which has cost £2.2 million in total, is now one of the most modern of its kind and will mean a superior service.

This also means though that the hospice has to raise more money to fund running costs each year and that's where the lottery, set to be launched next month, comes in.

The hospice can now provide ten individual in-patient rooms which each come with their own TV and patio leading out into the hospice's picturesque water garden.

Sister Liz Crilly said: "Day therapy is a service designed to help patients achieve and regain the best quality of life possible.

"For example we have an activity room where people can nurture their creative side and continue their hobbies. It's all very positive."

As well as around 50 dedicated staff, the hospice could not function without its army of 120 volunteers who donate as much of their time as they can.

Volunteer co-ordinator Olive Burton said: "We could not do without them. They help with anything from making tea, cleaning, tending to the hospice's water garden, driving patients around, working on reception or putting up Christmas decorations."

Stuart added: "However, along with these services there is of course a cost and the charity are now responsible for raising in excess of £300,000 each and every year to meet this.

"And this is not an easy task for a small local charity like the Hospice.

"That is why every penny donated to us is gratefully received and helps us to continue our help for others and their carers and families."

And this makes the success of the hospice's lottery even more important.

Lottery manager Harry Grayson, from Rishton, said "If membership targets were reached, the lottery would raise about £120,000 a year, which will go towards the £350,000 a year needed by the East Lancashire Hospice Fund."

How the lottery will run...

The draw will be weekly and give a guaranteed weekly £1,000 jackpot to a lucky winner from Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley.

It will be launched in January with the first computerised draw on April 4, 2003.

Anyone over 16 can play by paying £1 per week to have a unique game number entered into a weekly draw that will be announced every Friday.

If membership targets were reached, the lottery would raise about £120,000 a year, which will go towards the £350,000 a year needed by the East Lancashire Hospice Fund.

Anyone interested in joining the lottery or becoming a canvasser/collector should call Harry Grayson on 01254 660900.