Win a home competition to benefit 4 charities
Howard Lake | 11 February 2010 | Newswire
Competition record-breaker gives kids a sporting chance. Young people with special needs are in line for a charity windfall thanks to a ground-breaking win-a-house competition.
A bumper donation of £25,000 has been pledged to the Lord’s Taverners by competition promoters and homeowners, Malcolm and Maxine Cox.
The Cox family are offering their huge, timber-framed Warwickshire home as the first prize in the competition (www.wina3millionpoundhome.com).
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It is the biggest property ever to be offered by this unusual method, still a relatively rare feature of the UK marketplace.
The house was advertised on the open market at the height of the boom in 2007, agents confident it could realize more than £3 million. The timing was unfortunate as the market stalled, banks got the jitters and high-spending home hunters put their plans on ice.
Malcolm and Maxine vowed not to give up, determined to raise the asking price for Poacher’s Retreat at Alcester Heath in Shakespeare Country. They had poured vast sums into the self-build project, roughing it for seven years in a mobile home on their building site as the luxury property took shape.
Now 155,000 tickets are being sold for £25 each, giving competitors the chance to dream too – and win a home of 6,000 sq ft in more than six acres of green, rural Warwickshire. One lucky competitor will win the house when all the required tickets are sold. The exciting, win a home competition is due to run until next summer.
There will be more than one winner, including competitors scooping some big runners-up prizes and the major charity beneficiaries.
“We wanted others to benefit from this massive undertaking,” said Malcolm Cox.
The Lord’s Taverners, one of the UK’s leading youth sports and disability charities, was lined up for its share which will help young people through sport and recreation. Its president, Chris Tarrant, well known also for “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”, has endorsed the Cox family’s effort.
“I look forward enormously to working with them and to receiving a very large cheque. I hope the competition is a very big success. I’m sure it will be,” said Chris.
Planning the wina3millionhome competition has taken months. In addition to charity partnership, there are some prominent commercial backers including manufacturers and suppliers involved in the original construction of Poacher’s Retreat.
Runners-up prizes include a swish bathroom, other top of the range household items and a valuable holiday. Spot prizes are also part of the fun.
The win a home competition rules have been carefully drafted to comply with current regulations laid down by the Gaming Commission. Should the eventual winner not actually want the house, they can opt for a cash alternative, £1 million.
The Lord’s Taverners aims to help young people, particularly those with special needs. Its belief is that sport and recreation are essential for young people to help build self-esteem, health, education and future social and economic potential.
Further information on the charity’s work is available from www.lordstaverners.org.
Details on how to win Poacher’s Retreat from www.wina3millionpoundhome.com.
Image: President of the Lord’s Taverners, Chris Tarrant with the Cox family, Malcolm, Maxine, Eve and Harry outside Poacher’s Retreat in Warwickshire. The sale of competition entry tickets to win the house will also benefit the charity.
- Omaze house draw raises £1 million for British Heart Foundation (9 April 2021)
- Houses being raffled to raise funds for charities (1 June 2021)
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.