It was back in 2011 that we published a list of tombola winners for the Market Lavington and Easterton Hospital Effort of 1923. The first prize was a fat lamb offered by Mr Watts.
The same event was offered again for the 1924 effort. This is being written at a time when the British National Health Service is being criticised for long waits in accident and emergency centres, bed blockers, giving the wrong kind of flu jabs etc. It’s worth reminding ourselves that until the formation of our NHS, most people relied on somebody else contributing to a charity if they needed health care of any kind. If you needed your GP it cost money. If you needed an ambulance it cost more. If you needed hospital care it was even more expensive. The truth is we are lucky to have a very good health service paid for by national taxation of one kind or another so that we get free treatment when needed.
Back in 1924 to get a bit of help with the cost of medical treatment people bought tickets for a tombola. They hoped to win a good prize and all profits were administered by a charity to assist ill people in need. And here is one of those tickets.
1924 Tombola ticket for Market Lavington and Easterton Hospital Effort
It’s called a tombola but it sounds much like we’d call a raffle. The first prize was that fat lamb – one imagines butchered, but still a problem in 1924 with no freezers for storage.
The prize draw must have been a lengthy process with about a hundred prizes. Presumably notices in the village told hopeful prize winners what time to turn up at the Parish Hall.
That’s an interesting little relic of times past.
Oh! One good thing about those old days was that people had a lot of fun raising money.
Tags: 1924, charity, health care
Market Lavington Museum 
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