Supper Club car raffle winners Dennis and Necia Marriner 'thrilled to bits' with their prize

Denis and Necia Marriner (centre) are rapt to have a new car thanks to Supper Club and Nicholson United Autos. Photo / Stephen Parker

On the night of Supper Club, Dennis Marriner thought there was something wrong with his phone.

He looked at it and the many emails, texts, messages and missed calls.

Turns out, it was just all his friends at the annual Rotorua charity function letting him know he and his wife, Necia, had just been announced winners of a brand new car.

Nicholson United Autos on Lake Rd donated a new Nissan Qashqai valued at $36,270 to the 2019 Ronald McDonald Family Retreat Supper Club as a raffle prize.

There were 500 tickets costing $100 each sold and the winner was drawn on the night of the event at the Novotel Rotorua on March 6.

It was the first time the car raffle was held and it helped contribute to the $135,541 total raised.

Dennis Marriner said they had attended the event twice before but couldn't go this year. He said he bought two raffle tickets as his contribution to the cause, but never thought they would win.

"It's the usual story with raffles, you put them in a drawer and forget about them."

He said he had just got home from a prior engagement and saw his phone going "crazy".

"I thought there was something wrong with it. But then I realised."

The Marriners picked up their new car on Tuesday night.

He said he drove a work car and his wife ironically drove an older model of the car they won.

"We were thrilled to bits because we've never won something like that before ... We've never owned a brand new car either so I said to my wife as we left [after picking it up] we'd better make the most of it, it might be the first and last time we ever own a brand new car."