EX-SOAP star Sherrie Hewson has donated a staggering £37,500 to an Oswaldtwistle animal sanctuary after appearing on the celebrity version of TV's Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
The former Coronation Street and Emmerdale actress, who is now on the panel of ITV's award-winning chat show Loose Women, joined co-star Carol McGiffin to secure the future of scores of animals.
Sherrie and Carol won £75,000 for a charity of their choice and Sherrie chose the Only Foals and Horses animal sanctuary on Red Shell Lane.
Joey Lomas, part-time fund-raiser and son of the sanctuary's founder Olive Lomas, said: "The money will be spent on the general upkeep of the farm, going towards the cost of maintenance, vets' bills and feed.
"Its an amazing amount of money that will help to secure the future of the farm for a long time."
Joey explained how a relationship between his mother and Sherrie blossomed 15 years ago, after Olive was asked to supply a horse to Granada Studios, where Sherrie was working on the set of Coronation Street.
Since the pair met, Sherrie has been a loyal supporter of the santuary, visiting many times over the years and helping raise its profile.
Olive was invited to the filming of Millionaire but she was too ill to attend so a member of her staff, Lisa Wearing, and her mother, Gillian Egan, went instead.
The sanctuary is currently home to over 100 horses, which the centre has rescued and continues to care for.
