WILTSHIRE Air Ambulance (WAA) has won a prestigious national award for its lottery.

The charity won the Lottery Operator of the Year title at The Lottery Council Awards 2016, held on April 27.

The charity’s regular lottery began in the autumn of 2009 and has a top prize of £1,000.

In June 2014 it launched its Superdraw Lottery, with a jackpot of up to £25,000.

Each chance in the regular lottery costs £1 a week while each chance in the Superdraw costs an additional £1 a week.

The lotteries provide the charity with its biggest source of income, generating over £900,000 a year, and has 33,500 paying members across both lotteries.

Rebecca de la Bedoyere, senior fundraising manager at WAA, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have won this prestigious award, which recognises the popularity, success and robust governance of our Lottery and Superdraw.

"For a Wiltshire charity to be nationally lauded is a testament not only to the hard work of the charity team, canvassers and our partners at Tower Lottery who support us in running our lottery, but above all to the people of Wiltshire who make it the success story it is.

“One of the factors that determined our win is the impressive growth in 2015 of the number of lottery members, and so I’d like to thank everyone who takes part.

"The funds from our lottery and superdraw play an absolutely vital role in keeping our aircraft and crew flying and saving lives.”

Wiltshire is not one of the biggest counties in the UK but has one of the biggest per capita Society Lotteries in the country. Players must be 16 years or age or over.

For more information go to www.wiltshireairambulance.co.uk/get-involved/lottery-superdraw