Three weeks to go in £930,000 Lancashire country house raffle as entries flood in from across the world

Guy and Julie Vass are offering their home - Melling Hall in the Lune Valley - in a prize draw which will also support Lancaster charity St John’s Hospice, the NHS and other charities.

In 2017, the property next door - Melling Manor - was also raffled off by then owner Dunstan Low.Mr Vass said that the winner of the previous raffle - Marie Segar, from Warrington, said she had also bought tickets for the Melling Hall raffle, "hoping that lightning would strike twice".

He said: "We have had lots of heart-warming and kind feedback, but a few people have said 'if I won the house, I wouldn’t be able to afford to keep it'.

"So we have taken this on board and we will be giving the winner £7,000 to cover a year’s expenses.

"This is on top of the legal fees and stamp duty we have already included in the prize.

"This will give the winner time to decide whether they want to move in, sell, or rent out the house.

"Perhaps even use it for a year and then sell it."

The winner/s will also legally be the Lord/Lady of Melling for at least one year.

"This is a title that was gifted to the charity NYAS and we have agreed with them to give it to the winner, in return for a much-needed contribution to their cause," said Mr Vass.

News of the raffle has spread all over the world and there have been entries from Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada, as well as dozens of entries from Russia, Hong Kong, Bahrain and even one each from Estonia and Vietnam.

The house was recently independently valued at £930,000.

St John’s Hospice and the additional charities will receive £100,000 if Julie and Guy achieve the minimum number of ticket sales, but the intention is to raise a maximum so that all the charities will receive £200,000 between them.

Mr Vass added: "Although the charity aspect is so important to us, we understand that isn’t the main reason that most people will enter.

"For most people it’s a chance to have a bit of relief from all the doom and gloom, and just dream of 'what if' for a few minutes."

Tickets are on sale now and can be bought HERE and this page also shows the terms and conditions.