WILTSHIRE Air Ambulance’s Superdraw jackpot of £25,000 has been won by a retired Swindon police officer.

Pete Waugh’s win, on 26 July, came just four months after he started playing the charity’s regular lottery and the Superdraw.

Mr Waugh, who retired from Wiltshire Police last year after 30 years, said: “When I got the call to say I had won the Superdraw my initial reaction was of disbelief. I am very, very pleased. The only thing I had ever won before this was a bottle of whisky in a raffle which was nice, but it doesn’t quite compare with winning £25,000!”

Mr Waugh, 50, who is married with two children, will use some of his winnings towards a family holiday to Italy and on his family.

Mr Waugh, who now runs an adventure mystery game in Salisbury called Salisbury Escape Rooms, knows from first-hand experience the importance of Wiltshire Air Ambulance (WAA).

He said: “When I was in the police force I worked all over Wiltshire in roles including community beat and response and I was involved in so many incidents where the air ambulance was deployed, such as road traffic collisions. I was also based at police headquarters at Devizes in the training department, so would see the helicopter taking off and returning.”

Mr Waugh signed up to WAA’s Lottery and Superdraw in March this year through a WAA canvasser working at Wickes DIY store in Swindon.

He said: “I joined up to play the lotteries because I know the air ambulance is a charity and relies on donations. It is re-assuring to know we have an air ambulance in Wiltshire. It can reach anywhere in Wiltshire from its base in Devizes within 11 minutes and transport patients to hospital quickly. It’s a remarkable and very necessary service.”

Wiltshire Air Ambulance’s lotteries provide the charity with its biggest source of income, generating over £900,000 a year, and has almost 35,000 paying members across both lotteries.

Each chance in WAA’s regular lottery costs £1 a week and it has a top prize of £1,000 a week. Each chance in the Superdraw costs an additional £1 a week. If the Superdraw is not won each week the prize fund accumulates up to a maximum of £25,000.

Rebecca de la Bedoyere, WAA’s senior fundraising manager, said: “We’re absolutely delighted for Pete that he was won the jackpot in our Superdraw and hope he enjoys his winnings. We launched Superdraw just over two years ago and the numbers of people playing it and our regular lottery increase week by week, thanks largely to our canvassers who work on our behalf through Tower Lottery Partnership. Everyone who plays our lotteries not only has the chance of winning a cash prize, but they also play a big part in keeping our helicopter and crew flying and saving lives all over Wiltshire.”

Players of WAA’s lotteries must be 16 years of age or over. For more information about the lotteries go to www.wiltshireairambulance.co.uk