A NORTH-EAST family hoping to make their dream move to Australia are raffling off their four-bedroom Victorian townhouse for just £2 a ticket.

Jade Richardson, 27, along with her husband and their children, two-year-old Kilo and nine-week old Khaia, are hoping to raise enough funds for their move and a charity.

Their three-storey home in Low Fell, near Gateshead, which has been valued at around £200,000, has been listed on the online raffle site, Raffall. 

Already, more than 26,000 tickets have been sold for the draw, which the family hope will have achieved 200,000 by August 25, this year.

Mrs Richardson, a teacher originally from Washington, explained why they had chosen to raffle off their home as they revealed a portion would be going to charity.

The Northern Echo: Picture: JADE RICHARDSONPicture: JADE RICHARDSON

She told The Northern Echo: "We had been hoping to emigrate to Australia and had been on a Facebook group and we seen people had successfully raffled there's off.

"We had been toying with the idea of should we rent, or should we sell, and we thought it would be nice to help somebody else get onto the property ladder while making our dream come true, and raising money for charity."

Mrs Richardson, who had given birth to Kilo 13-weeks prematurely, said she wanted to use some of the funds to support the Tiny Lives charity.

The Northern Echo: Baby Kilo in the RVI Picture: JADE RICHARDSON Baby Kilo in the RVI Picture: JADE RICHARDSON

She had to have an emergency C-section after she was taken into hospital with sepsis (blood poisoning) which is understood to have been caused by damage to her waters following a car accident a few weeks before. 

She said £10,000 would be set aside to support the charity, which is based at the Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary, and helped them get through their time in hospital.

Speaking about their dream, Mrs Richardson said she was hoping the move to Australia would benefit their two children and husband, originally from Newcastle.

She said: "Friends and family have been upset that were going, but they have been supportive of the raffle once they have found out more about it.

The Northern Echo: Picture: JADE RICHARDSONPicture: JADE RICHARDSON

"My husband is a plumber and work over there is calling out for that industry - it just seems like a better life over there.

"With our two young ones, we want to take advantage of the outdoors as much as we can."

Saying the raffle tickets are the cost of a cup of coffee, Mrs Richardson said the home will come mortgage free with solicitors fees paid - and even a bottle of champagne.

She added: "It’s a win win for everybody involved, you can win a house for £2 completely mortgage free, or you can sell it and get £200,000. 

"It will help us getting to our dream and it will help to raise money for a charity that is very close to our hearts. It's not just us you are helping."

Under raffle rules, if the host fails to provide a prize, the winners will receive a share of the compensation amounting to 75 per cent of all ticket sales.

All compensation payments are guaranteed and paid directly by the company, Raffall Limited.

To view the raffle - click here