An Olympic Snowboarder who is raffling off his £475k house in the affluent blue-flagged area of Wittering, Sussex, has added an additional two prizes to the package, leaving the winner with the choice between what prize they choose. Up for grabs is the £475k Sussex house, a £210k pad in Portugal - with £150k cash prize, a £45k car, plus up to £10k for a trip to Portugal for the transfer of deeds, or lump sum of cash.
It is a timely addition of the Portuguese holiday home, after the Algarve has just picked up an award for the ‘Best Beach Destination in the World’ from the 2020 World Travel Awards, beating off competition from 18 other worldwide destinations including the Maldives, Thailand, Jamaica, Mexico and the USA.

The house raffle started in August 2020 and has already raised over £13,422 and donated £10,000 to the two charities – Surfers Against Sewage and Brain Tumour Research. For the winner to walk away with the house and for the owners to reach their goal of raising £50k for charity, the raffle needs to sell 240,000 tickets. With only 60 days left to run on the competition, and house raffles rolling out almost on a daily basis, Jan Michaelis and his wife Alina decided to alter the prize with the hope of increasing ticket sales and reaching their £50k fundraising goal.

“The Algarve has a superb all year-round climate, with over 3,000 hours of sunshine a year and stunning blue skies for most of the year. We thought that if someone already owned a UK home, then it would be more beneficial for them to win an overseas holiday home instead of a UK one. Because the Portugal house is worth less than the UK one, we are able to top that prize up with £150k in cash and a £45k car. For those that don’t want the paperwork and would sooner the cash, the third prize is just that. The winner will receive the maximum prize available at that time. If we were to sell no more tickets and release the money today that would be £70k and we still have until February left to run, so it is a substantial amount of money for someone to win, simply from the purchase of a raffle ticket.”

The three-bedroom Sussex-based bungalow comes complete with a one-bedroom garden cabin that is ideal for a holiday rental, and is within walking distance of the blue flag beaches at East Head which are ranked among Britain's most beautiful, and in a National Trust Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The property is situated two hours from London.

The one-bedroom apartment in Portugal is located just a few metres from the beach, bars and restaurants. It is fully furnished with an open-plan kitchen that features a real stone-top bar and Portuguese tile work. It sleeps up to four adults and has a South-facing balcony complete with a hammock chair and good sun exposure.

The house raffle recently teamed up with Love Island’s Kady Mcdermott, who is helping to promote the draw to raise vital funds for Brain Tumour Research, after she lost her gran to the disease in 2009.

Kady said: “Nan was the rock of our family and as soon as we got the diagnosis, she went downhill and died within four weeks. Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has historically been allocated to this devastating disease. Within just eight weeks of the prize draw opening, ticket sales meant Jan and Alina were able to donate £10,000 to charity. Imagine how much they could raise by the time the competition closes on 6 February 2021. With it difficult to fundraise at the moment because of Covid-19 restrictions, initiatives such as this are a lifeline for charities like Brain Tumour Research and Surfers Against Sewage. I think Jan and Alina have been incredibly creative with the addition of the new prize options. I really hope that it entices more people to purchase tickets, and in turn raise even more money for charity.”

If the winner chooses the UK house, the couple will pay for the conveyancing costs, up to a maximum of £1500, and Stamp Duty to a maximum of £15,000. The first year of running expenses and Council tax that is due after the date of completion, will also be paid up to a maximum of £2,000.

If the winner chooses the property in Portugal , the owners will cover all conveyancing costs and Portuguese Stamp Duty up to £15,000, This prize also includes £150,000 cash to be paid out to the winner in Pound Sterling, up to £45,000 towards a car purchase, in which the winner can choose the make and model of the vehicle, as well as a trip worth up to £10,000 to complete the transfer of deeds to the apartment.

If the winner chooses the cash option then the value of the prize will be paid out in Pound Sterling.

The prize draw needs to sell 240,000 tickets. In the event that the minimum number of entries is not achieved, the prize will consist of 75% of the proceeds of the competition once the organisers’ costs and expenses and a donation to charity have been deducted.

The competition closes on Saturday February 6, 2021. Charitable donations are being paid to the charities throughout the competition rather than at the end, to help them at this moment in time. The earlier tickets are purchased, the quicker the charities will benefit from the fundraising amounts.

For your chance to win and donate to charity at the same time, you can purchase a ticket here: