After three months on display in the foyer of Northern Hospital, the sleek and stylish Audi A1 Sportback has found a new home.

The Northern Health Foundation Annual Car Raffle winner is Anne Gravette, Program Manager of Transition Care at Northern Health Bundoora. Her role is to support patients in staying well at home once they leave the hospital.

Anne’s ticket was one of 470 tickets sold this year. She bought the ticket because she wanted to support the work of the Foundation in improving services available to Northern Health’s community.

“I’d like to encourage people to show their support for the Northern Health Foundation, and buying a ticket was a great way of doing that. The Foundation is doing great things to help the community,” she said.

Funnily enough, Anne loves Audi’s and even used to own one about two years ago, giving her one more reason to buy a ticket online just a couple of days before the draw closed.

Anne was at home drinking a cup of tea and getting ready for bed when she received a call from the Foundation team – “I was completely shocked…I remember yelling, are you for real?”

“I didn’t buy the ticket thinking I would win the car, as I never win anything, and I had almost forgotten that I even bought a ticket,” she said.

“I hadn’t actually told my family I bought a raffle ticket. Lucky I answered the call!”

The new car came at the right time for her family – her daughter is currently on her learners permit and was going to inherit the family car. Dinner dates with her husband will also now become much more stylish.

“Winning the Audi means I don’t need to look at buying another car next year. Also, my husband and I have a date night every month where we go out to dinner in the city, so it will be nice to drive this lovely new car when we next go out,” she said.

The Northern Health Foundation Annual Car Raffle ended in November, with the lucky raffle ticket drawn at the Freemasons Victoria Grand Master’s Gold & Black Charity Ball.

Freemasons Victoria have pledged to dollar match the funds raised during the car raffle, with Maxxia generously donating the car to the Foundation.

The car raffle has raised $47,000, which will be used to purchase much-needed medical equipment for the Paediatric High Dependency Unit at Northern Hospital Epping.

The new Paediatric Unit will allow Northern Health to provide comprehensive care to the most vulnerable young patients. This will save vital travel time for patients and enable treating the children of Melbourne’s north locally.