Launched this month at Parliament Buildings, Belfast, the Billy Caldwell Foundation, is heading Stateside next week with its Garrison house raffle tickets.

The raffle of the new, three bed town-house located on the Loughside Road nestles, minutes from Garrison village beside beautiful Lough Melvin, has already attracted interest from the US following recent publicity.

It boasts panoramic views of the Sligo Mountains surrounding the tranquil waters where Lough Melvin is known as a truly majestic place to fish.

HOUSE RAFFLE

The house raffle aims to raise funds to provide treatment for a number of children from Northern Ireland who are currently receiving treatment in the United States for a number of neurological conditions.

These include Billy Caldwell from Omagh and Katie McCann from Derry. This essential life-saving treatment which the children receive in Chicago is not available in Northern Ireland.

The charity is travelling to the US where they have teamed up with a US real estate agent with 29 offices across the Chicago area. Priced at £100 or $175, and with a maximum of 3,000 tickets to be sold, many people are buying tickets for loved ones as the ideal Christmas present.

Anne Monaghan, spokesperson for the Foundation told the 'Herald' her office had had calls and emails from LA, New York and across the US, as well as a lot of interest from exiles living in the UK and Australia.

CHRISTMAS GIFT

"Many people', she said, " clearly see this initiative as making an ideal Christmas gift for loved ones or, indeed people seem to be taking a punt on winning a house so they can return home or use it as a holiday home and, if they can help a good cause at the same time all the better".

To buy a ticket visit www.billycaldwellfoundation.com or contact Anne Monaghan on 07777676517.