An 84-year-old grandmother spent her £5,000 raffle winnings on a luxury trip to Australia.

Joan Sagar, from Burnley, won the Derian House Christmas raffle last year and used her winnings to visit her son and grandchildren, a journey she never believed she would be able to make again.

She sent the charity a picture of herself enjoying a business-class flight, 'enjoying a sip of bubbly'.

Joan Sagar, who won the Derian House Christmas raffle last yearJoan Sagar, who won the Derian House Christmas raffle last year (Image: Supplied)

Ms Sagar also donated £1,000 back to Derian House to help fund a holiday for a family with a seriously ill child.

Ms Sagar said: "When the lovely people from Derian House came to present me with my prize they asked me what I thought I would do with the money.

"I said that I would put it towards a trip over to Australia to visit my son and two grandchildren, and I may even go business class - which I did.

"I want to thank the charity. I have wholehearted admiration for the wonderful work that they do."

The charity is now running its Christmas raffle again this year, with just two weeks left to enter.

For £1 a ticket, entries will have a chance to win £5,000 in time for Christmas, with a £1,000 second prize, and a £500 third prize.

Twenty runners-up will also take home prizes of £25.

The raffle closes on Friday, December 6, and the winner will be drawn on Friday, December 13.

Last year’s Christmas raffle raised £33,000 for Derian House – enough to send 33 families on a free week’s holiday to one of the charity’s adapted lodges.

The fundraising team hopes that this year’s draw will raise even more funds for the 400 families the charity cares for.

Sarah Proctor, lottery and individual giving manager at Derian House, said: “The amount of money raised in our Christmas raffle will make a real difference to seriously ill children and young people from across the North West."