Mayo shop donates €15k commission from selling €11m-winning Lotto ticket to charity

Staff at Kelly's Mace in Newport, Co Mayo, presenting a cheque for €15,000 to Martina Jennings of the Sunflower Children's Hospice. Picture: Conor McKeown

A service station in Co Mayo has donated €15,000 to a children's charity after receiving commission for selling an €11m-winning Lotto ticket earlier this year. 

Kelly's Mace at the Circle K service station on the Mulranny Rd in Newport donated the money to the Sunflower Children’s Hospice, the children’s hospice funded by Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation.

The donation is the commission received by the shop following the sale of the jackpot-winning Lotto ticket. The ticket, worth €11,101,286, was sold at the shop last February.

Kelly's Mace owner Michéal Kelly said: "We always said if we sold a winning Lotto ticket and received commission from it, we would donate the money to a local charity. 

"All of our staff agreed that the Sunflower Children’s Hospice is a very worthy cause and we’ve seen the great work that the Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation does for the community. We’re delighted to be able to support them." 

The donation will go towards the construction of the eight-bed Sunflower Children’s Hospice in Mayo, which is expected to begin later this year. 

The hospice will provide specialist palliative care for children with life-limiting illnesses, alongside purpose-built family accommodation and therapeutic facilities including hydrotherapy, play therapy, and sensory rooms. 

Once complete, the hospice will support children and families from across the western seaboard, providing compassionate, specialist care closer to home.

Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation CEO Martina Jennings said: “We are incredibly grateful to Michéal and all the staff at Kelly’s Mace in Newport for their very generous donation. We are delighted that they chose the Sunflower Children’s Hospice as the beneficiary of their Lotto commission. 

"Their support will make a real difference to the children and families on the western seaboard who rely on our services.”