Blackpool couple who won £1m join other lottery winners in hospital transformation project

A team of National Lottery winners, including a couple from Blackpool, have been playing their part in a major transformation project at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool. 

The winners, who are all from across the North West and worth more than £32m, have been donning their gardening gloves and picking up their spades in order to spruce up the building.

Natalie and Andrew Cunliffe from Blackpool, who won £1M on a National Lottery Scratch Card in 2016, spent the day planting trees, climbers, grasses, bulbs and evergreens.  

After getting married and ticking off bucket lists, the couple now want to give back to the community.

Alder Hey, which has benefited from National Lottery funding over the years, is one of Europe’s biggest and busiest children’s hospitals 

It cares for more than 1,200 children and young people every day.

It is currently undergoing a multi-million-pound redevelopment to create a world-class healthcare campus on the site of the hospital, where all aspects of children’s health can be addressed in one dedicated space.

John and Patricia Gill, from Warrington, who scooped £1M on EuroMillions in 2015, were among the winners helping on the day.

Patricia said: “It is wonderful to think we can play a part in such a major building project and at such a prestigious location – not only in the UK – but across Europe.

“Everyone knows about Alder Hey and the tremendous life-saving work that the hospital does and to be able to help to create an even better environment for children and their families, really is a true honour!”

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The piece of land the winners have been helping to transform is situated around the Alder Centre - a bereavement unit. 

This area can be seen by the thousands of families who visit Alder Hey every year.

The Alder Centre not only offers one to one therapy and counselling sessions, it also hosts bakery, art and a whole range of different courses to help and support both parents and siblings through bereavement.

The transformation of the Alder Centre, the hospital’s bereavement unit, will bring smiles to the thousands of families who visit Alder Hey every year.