GENEROUS shoppers across Inverclyde are on the road to raising thousands of pounds for Ardgowan Hospice — thanks to a raffle where the prize is a £7,000 family car.

Staff at Tesco Extra in Port Glasgow have teamed up with their sister store in Greenock to offer people the chance to win a Suzuki Celerio kindly donated by Pearson Cars in Wemyss Bay.

Russell Houston, centre above, the store manager at Tesco in Port Glasgow, hopes the draw will clock up £20,000 for the hospice.

He said: “Both ourselves at Port Glasgow Tesco and staff at Tesco in Greenock are working together in partnership with Pearson’s to raise as much funds as we can on behalf of Ardgowan Hospice.

“It’s fantastic that Pearson’s have donated this fabulous four-door family car.

“We are looking to raise £20,000 for the hospice as it is such an important part of the community and we want to do something to help other people and also raise awareness of the hospice.

“I don’t know anyone who has not been touched by cancer and the hospice provides not only palliative care but they also provide so much support to people.” Anne Mills, the chief executive of Ardgowan Hospice, was overwhelmed by the raffle and was keen to thank both Russell as well as Kenny Hyde from Pearson’s.

She said: “How brilliant it is to have two international companies such as Tesco and Suzuki partnering with one of our local garages, Pearson’s of Wemyss Bay, to create a unique four way alliance to promote Ardgowan Hospice through the Suzuki car raffle. “Russell, Kenny and I are looking forward to handing the car over to a lucky winner in October.

“All the staff and managers at both Tesco stores are just magic and they are putting such a huge effort into making this raffle a brilliant success for their local hospice.” Anne says the money raised from the prize draw will prove invaluable.

She added: “Every penny raised will be used to support local folk living with life-limiting illnesses. “We just cannot thank Russell, Kenny and their teams enough for making this dream a reality — both for the hospice and also for the lucky winner. “Please buy your tickets at Tesco’s as soon as possible, help support your local hospice and you could be the proud owner of a brand new Suzuki!” Since the raffle was launched last weekend, it has already raised over £2,000.

Tickets cost £2 and they are available to buy in both the Port Glasgow and Greenock Tesco stores between 10am and 7pm daily.

The winner will then be announced on Monday 5 October.

A fun day in aid of the hospice is also taking place at Tesco in Port Glasgow on Saturday, starting at 10am.

There will be a DJ, fire engine visit, ice cream and burger vans, beat-the-goalie competitioon, bouncy castle and face painting.