Justin Tomlinson has broken a five year losing streak with a successful trip to the bookies in aid of Swindon Down’s Syndrome Group.

Each year the North Swindon MP is given a free £50 bet by William Hill on Cricklade Road, with the winnings – if there are any – going to a charity of his choice.

In December, Justin put his faith in Bournemouth to beat Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers to beat Rotherham.

For the first time in years he was successful, with a 2-1 victory by Bournemouth allowing him to turn £50 into £262.50.

Justin said: “We get to do this once a year but despite being a huge football fan I have lost every year, mainly because I have been betting on Swindon Town to win.

“This time I went with Bournemouth because they weren’t doing too badly and they were playing Man Utd, who’d had a terrible Champions League performance in midweek.

“Blackburn beating Rotherham was just an obvious one, we had big odds which is how we were able to turn £50 into so much.”

On Friday afternoon, Justin presented a cheque to the Treasurer and some of the children from Swindon Down’s Syndrome Group at Sainsbury’s in Bridgemead.

After first meeting parents and children from the group at an event at Oakhurst Primary School in March last year, he has become a big supporter of their work.

The group is led by parents, it funds various projects including training for teachers working with Down’s Syndrome children as well as speech and language therapy for children to help them cope better in a mainstream education setting.

Their work is closely related to Justin’s role as the Minister for Disabled People, explaining his choice of charity, he said: “Swindon Down’s Syndrome Group are a fantastic local charity providing a wide range of activities.

“Importantly, they bring parents together to share opportunities and challenges.

“I’m thrilled to be able to win them a bit of money and I’m sure they will put it to fantastic use.”

Group Chair, Kim West, said: “Justin has always been a huge advocate of our speech and language therapy so we are going to be putting the money towards that.

“Our therapy involves a parent and a teaching assistant as well as the child so it can provide a benefit to them at home and at school.

“We are able to give the children an hour each week whereas without us they would only have access to thirty minutes every three months.

“Repetition is so important to making the therapy effective, you’ve got to keep doing it again and again and eventually it starts to work.

“It costs us £17,500 a year and although we've been quite lucky with grants from organisations like Children in Need over the last three years we do rely a lot on fundraising and donations.”

In 2010 the group received the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest recognition given to volunteer groups across the UK and the equivalent of an MBE for charities.

A spokesperson for William Hill said: "We’re always happy to support local charities within the community.

We’re delighted that Justin, after years of trying, has managed to pick a winner for such a fantastic cause."