A WOMAN who lost everything when her boat home was destroyed by fire earlier this year has won £1,000 in a charity draw.

Hilary Hemsley and her husband Alan lost their home and their livelihood when their boat The African Queen, from which they ran fishing trips, went up in flames on the Dart estuary in March.

More than 60 firefighters, lifeboat crews and river workers battled to put out the blaze, which saw an appeal launched for the Hemsleys who had lived on the charter vessel for 14 years.

Hilary became a member of Dartmouth Caring several years ago after being introduced to the charity and the work they do through its chairman Dee Nutt.

Now she is the winner of the charity's second membership draw of the year, which took place at the weekly lunch club at the Old Market Community Cafe.

'I was delighted to hear that I won the membership draw,' she said.

'We've had quite an eventful year so this really was a wonderful surprise.

'I don't have any plans of what to do with the winnings just yet, I think I'll just wait and see what happens but it truly is a real help.'

Hilary said she was impressed with the work carried out by the charity.

'I was helping in the office for a while and was blown away by the work the charity does,' she said.

'The staff are absolutely incredible and what they manage to do with the resources they have is really inspiring.'