Student nurse aims to boost charity funds with raffle

Tonisha Drew, 21, who is in the final year of her studies at the University of Central Lancashire, is holding a fundraising raffle in aid of Aiming Higher, which supports families with disabled

children, and mental health charity The Richmond Fellowship.

Tonisha, who recently moved from Cleveleys to Bispham, has autism herself and says she knows how important the charities are to families.

She said: “I am a student nurse and know how underfunded mental health and special needs services are.

“With all the trouble Covid has brought, I believe there will be a wave of people needing mental health support now and in the not too distant future.

“As a young person with autism myself I am all too aware how much these services are needed. The charities support people and families of all ages.

“This raffle will support the local mental health and autism services that have been affected during Covid.”

Tonisha will run the raffle during World Autism Week on March 30.

She added: “I have prizes from various local businesses and want to raise as much money for these charities as I can. Covid has been hard on everyone financially so I will only be

charging 50p a ticket or £2 for five tickets so people can support the services without spending too much.

“I ran a mental health support group just before the first lockdown, then ran a campaign to create toiletries care packs for NHS staff during the first lockdown and it’s now the turn to support

the public.”

Prizes include glass art, a brewing gift hamper, and jewellery voucher. People can purchase a ticket via Tonisha’s Facebook page or by emailing her at tonishamariedrew@gmail.com.

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