A woman is raffling off her house and car after being diagnosed with an incurable heart disease and is currently recovering from a bout of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Mum-of-two Jennifer Matthews and her husband David decided to raffle off their five-bed detached house – named Bramble Lodge, near Adlington in Lancashire – after the 48-year-old, who runs an electrical engineering company, was diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia in 2016 and, after collapsing twice in 2018 and 2019, has not been able to work as much.
Jennifer’s condition devastatingly cannot be treated, which means she has a fast and abnormal heart rate.
And although Jennifer said she feels “lucky to be alive” – having had heart surgery in mid-2019 in an unsuccessful attempt to try to boost her electrolytes to a normal level – the couple have been forced to make the difficult decision to sell their home and downscale.
The Matthews’ are selling their £600,000 home after building their house from the ground up eight years ago.
The stunning luxury home has five double bedrooms, a massive garden, a £7,000 Aga cooker, and on top of that, also comes with a 2004 Ferrari 360 Spider – which is “thrilling” to drive, according to the couple.
And you could be in with a chance of winning it for just £2.
Raffall.com / Jennifer Matthews
Jennifer said she was saddened to sell her “dream house”, but felt this was an opportunity for another family to get the deal of a lifetime for just £2.
She told LancsLive: “I’ve got a fatal heart condition which can’t be treated [and] it’s nearly taken my life a few times. We’re going through the process of selling the house because of it. I come from nothing and I thought I’d love someone to have a house like this and have a Ferrari.
“Ryan Giggs used to live across the street, it’s a lovely area [and] someone could get a dream house for just £2.”
She continued: “I think it’s a dream house because everyone has always told us that if they’d won the lottery, they’d buy my house, and it’s marvellous and thrilling driving a Ferrari – it’s not every day you get to ride in one.”
The Matthews’ had previously tried to sell the home the “conventional way”, but the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic initially made it a struggle, and then when the first national lockdown ended, they were bombarded with viewings and Jennifer said she struggled to deal with them as she was exhausted and worried about her health.
Jennifer continued: “We bought the land in 2012 and moved in August 2012, built it all in seven months,
“We worked so hard [and] poured our heart and soul into the house.
“When the restrictions ended we were inundated with viewings and a few offers, but it made matters worse because I couldn’t manage all the viewings, running my business, with my children, my dogs, five six viewings a day – I was shattered.
“I saw this other house come up for a raffle and wondered if it was real.”
After finding out that it very much was real – and having seen the modern method of raffling becoming increasingly popular to sell property during difficult times – the Matthews’ jumped at the opportunity to list their home on the site and see what happens.
“I come from nothing and I thought I’d love someone to have a house like this and have a Ferrari.” said Jennifer.
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Tickets to enter the raffle cost just £2, with the closing date being Sunday 14th February 2021 at 11:45pm (or when the last ticket is sold, whichever sooner).
Pep Guardiola hints at when Manchester City fans can expect to see their latest arrival
Danny Jones
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has given supporters a rough timeline as to when they can expect to see their new signing, or at least their latest arrival, make his first appearance.
The Blues wrapped up the January transfer window with four major signings: their new attacking number seven, Omar Marmoush (who has already bagged a hattrick on his home debut) promising defensive duo, Abdukodir Khusanov and Brazilian Vitor Reis, as well as their ‘mini-Rodri’, Nico Gonzalez.
However, the club has had another late arrival who was technically signed back at the start of last year but who has spent for the last 12 months or so loaned back to his previous parent club, River Plate in Argentina, waiting to make the move over to the Etihad Stadium – and now he’s here in Manchester.
Speaking on his touchdown in 0161, Pep said Claudio Echeverri won’t be thrown into first-team action straight away but did give a rough estimate as to when City fans could expect him to get involved. You can see him discussing the integration plan in his post-match press conference following the Spurs win.
The mention was only brief but there’s still plenty of reason for Man City fans to be excited by the late January signing.
“Yeah, he [Claudio Echeverri] is going to start to train and mainly will be for the end of the season, maybe the [Club] World Cup and as soon as possible [that] he arrives he can adapt quick for the future.”
As mentioned, the 19-year-old Argentinian attacking midfielder from Resistencia officially put pen to paper with CFG back in January 2024 and was quickly dubbed ‘the next Messi’.
Now, although the football world is often quick to jump the gun with these things and he isn’t the first and certainly won’t be last to be slapped with this premature title, he’s done more to back up these claims since then than he has rubbish them.
Starring at the 2025 Under-20 South American Championships, netting six goals in nine games to finish the tournament as the second highest scorer thanks to notable braces against Brazil and Uruguay as the young Argentine’s finished as runners up.
He also notched 48 senior appearances for River Plate thus far, netting four goals and grabbing eight assists in that time, not to mention having already captained his national team at the 2023 Under 17s World Cup, where he scored another five.
Safe to say there’s plenty of talent to be tapped in this lad.
Once again, Echeverri won’t go straight into the senior set-up for a little while yet, barring a major injury crisis, but he’ll be a more than exciting addition to the City Football Academy and for future first-team lineups for years to come.
Who knows, maybe he’ll be included in an FA Cup matchday squad? Nevertheless, you can expect him to not just come of the bench but hopefully show what he can do at the Club World Cup this summer.
City‘s first fixture as reigning champions of the competition will be against Moroccan side Wydad AC on 18 June 2025.
You can watch Echeverri’s first full interview as a Man City player down below:
The new Man City signing is excited to be finally be part of the club 13 months on from agreeing his contract.
Rochdale has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2025
Emily Sergeant
Rochdale has officially been named Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture for 2025.
Taking over the reins from Bolton – which held the title in 2024 – and following in the footsteps of Stockport before that, which held the title in 2023, and even hosted a massive ‘Town of Culture Weekender’ festival with 50+ free events to celebrate and bring its title year to a close, it’s now the turn of the north-eastern Greater Manchester borough of Rochdale.
Rochdale’s year will build on the town’s already-rich cultural history and international reputation as the home of the co-operative movement.
More than 35 arts organisations will be bringing together an ambitious programme of festivals, exhibitions, events, and performances throughout the year.
Unfamiliar with what the ‘Greater Manchester Town of Culture’ title is all about? It’s an accolade that’s handed out every year to different boroughs across the region.
Bury was the inaugural title-holder 2020 and held onto it in 2021 too due to the COVID pandemic, before being followed by Stalybridge in 2022, Stockport in 2023, and of course, Bolton in the year just gone.
The title celebrates Greater Manchester’s culture and heritage.
As well as getting a new title to shout about, it also sees the towns given a grant from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) culture fund to help develop a programme of cultural events and activities throughout the year.
Rochdale has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2025 / Credit: The Manc Group | Rochdale Council
In Rochdale’s case, you can expect the ‘very best local talent’, as this year is promising to put ‘people power’ centre stage, with residents helping to plan, develop, and deliver a lineup of creative activities, alongside a number of major events.
This includes the popular free days out for families, an exciting new urban arts festival, two different food and drink festivals, a lantern parade, the Ignite Fire Festival, a Pride parade, and so much more.
You can also expect live music performances, a new people’s gallery, and even some major international collaborations that are yet to be announced.
Rochdale is taking over the reins from Bolton, which held the title in 2024 / Credit: Rochdale Council
“Rochdale is a place with a rich cultural history, so it is great to name it Greater Manchester’s town of culture as it’s town hall and town centre enter a new era,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham as the borough was crowned this week.
“Rochdale submitted a fantastic bid for this which, was incredibly exciting and ambitious, while being firmly rooted in its local talent and deep history.
Emily Sergeant -
18th January 2021 
