Hundreds of residents in a small Welsh town have scooped thousands of pounds in a multi-million postcode lottery. 435 residents in Rhymney have each won a share of £3.7 million with People’s Postcode Lottery.
The lucky winners claimed the jackpot after their postcode, NP22 5, was revealed as the winning postcode sector in the lottery’s Postcode Millions draw on Saturday, May 28. Nine neighbours from Pen-Y-Dre shared the largest portion of the prize after their postcode, NP22 5DL, was named as the full winning postcode.
Edward ‘Ted’ Owen, 76, who played with two tickets, scooped a massive £370,000 – the other eight winners each played with one ticket and walked away with an incredible £185,000 each. Ted, a retired steel worker, was joined by his son Gareth to accept his lifechanging cheque on Saturday and said he was absolutely shocked with his win. “You never expect to win this amount of money. I am absolutely elated," he said, adding that he plans to go on a world cruise and may follow his dream of owning a Jaguar.
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Ted’s other son Jonathan and daughter Catherine were jetting off to Cyprus today for a wedding, so he was excited to phone them and share the news. He said: “I don’t think they’ll believe me when I tell them how much I’ve won. I’ll definitely keep playing People’s Postcode Lottery. You never know - I might win again!”
Lisa Scanlon, 43, had a house full of excited family members waiting to see her presented with her cheque for £185,000. She said: “I really don’t know what I’m going to do with my winnings. I’m always teased in my family about how sensible I am with my money, so I’ll need to think of something exciting to spend it on. Maybe a trip to the Maldives!”
Lisa added that her mum Cherry, who lives right across the street but doesn’t play People’s Postcode Lottery, might reconsider in future. She said: “My mum doesn’t play but I bet she will now.”
Lewis Lance, 68, and his partner Rose were delighted to find out they had won £185,000. Lewis, who has lived in his house for more than 34 years and hopes to buy a bungalow with his winnings, said: "I’m on cloud nine! We’ve been thinking for the last couple of years about buying a bungalow and now I definitely think we’ll take the plunge and go for it.”
Rose couldn’t enjoy the celebrations for too long as she works for the NHS and was heading off for a shift straight after the cheque presentation. She said: “The last couple of years have been really tough and I’ve been working seven days a week, so this money has really come at a great time. We’re going to have a big party to celebrate, and we’ll spoil our children and grandchildren. This will help our whole family.”
Gladys Kent, 72, said she would be making a very important purchase after picking up £185,000: “I can get some new slippers now,” she said. “It’s my husband Gary’s 75th birthday tomorrow so we’ll have a big party with our three children and eight grandchildren. Now we have even more reason to celebrate!”
Other winners included Gladys Kent, 72, David Price, 65, Mary Brooks, 62, and Raymond Jenkins, 73. Along with the biggest winners, a further 426 players in the postcode sector received cheques ranging from £3,894 to £11,682, depending on how many tickets they play with. There were two other winners with the full postcode who chose to remain anonymous.
People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador Matt Johnson, who presented the winners with their cheques, said: “I absolutely love getting to come home to Wales to present my fellow countrymen and women with some lovely big cheques. It’s great to see so many neighbours winning together in NP22 5. It’s been such a special day meeting our winners and I’m sure there will be a big party in Rhymney this weekend!”
People’s Postcode Lottery costs £10 a month to play and there are guaranteed winners every day. People play with their chosen postcode and are automatically entered into all draws. Players of People’s Postcode Lottery have helped raise over £900 million to date for thousands of causes across Britain and internationally.
