MORE than £3,000 was raised in a monumental raffle.

The National Trust paired with St Margaret's Hospice Care to put on the raffle, which resulted in 40 delighted winners.

The winning tickets were chosen on Monday, January 20.

The fundraising idea came from Wellington resident John McCarten.

Mr McCarten wanted to raise funds for both charities and hence the Monumental Sunflower Raffle began.

Both charities say they are so grateful to him, the companies that donated and to all those who bought tickets.

Sadie Ellison, corporate fundraiser at St Margaret’s, said: “A huge thank you to everyone involved in helping to make the Monumental Sunflower Raffle such a success.

“This is an incredible achievement and we are most grateful to John, who came up with the idea and very kindly sourced the outstanding selection of prizes. Many people have commented on how refreshing it is to see two much loved charities working together to support our local communities.”

The National Trust's fundraising to repair Wellington Monument has reached £2.9million of the £3.8million total.

Scaffolding was set up at the site in October ready for work to begin.

Emma Jones, Community fundraiser for National Trust’s Wellington Monument ,said: “Once again John has created a wonderful, fun fundraiser.

"It was magic phoning people to let them know what they had won. What a privilege it is to work in this way with St Margaret’s Hospice."