WATCH: Thurso neighbours share £1.95m Postcode Lottery jackpot!
Neighbours in a Thurso street were left stunned after a total of £1.95 million was handed out in a People’s Postcode Lottery bumper prize.
Cheques for £150,000 each were given to the jackpot winners – with one lucky householder pocketing a total of £450,000.
The KW14 7DU postcode won the Postcode Lottery’s final Summer’s On Us prize. It comes almost exactly 14 years after players in the town celebrated after sharing a £2.1 million prize.
The neighbours all have their own plans for how to spend the cash – from moving abroad, fixing up their houses and going on the holiday of a lifetime to splashing out on Star Wars models and even buying a new vintage tractor.
Among the winners was electrician Garry Mann (31) who started playing after his nan landed a £6500 share of a Postcode Lottery pot in Thurso in 2010 – and even picked up the winnings for her.
Sadly, his beloved gran Jean Cormack died aged 77 earlier this month before seeing his win. And the heartache came two years after Garry’s dad Walter was found dead on a North Sea drilling rig, aged 48.
Garry said: “I definitely think my nan and my dad have had something to do with this. I believe something has been done up there.
“Nan was doing the Postcode Lottery and she won £6500. It’s one of the reasons I started playing. My grandad died and then my nan won a month after that. Now my nan has just died and I’m winning a month after that.”
He added: “It’s about time the sun was shining on us.”
Dad-of-two Garry along with his wife Christina (35), a school kitchen assistant, and their two young children now plan to start a new life in Spain.
Moira Dearness was among the other 10 winners in Ormlie Crescent. She revealed that she had won £3000 in 2010, then bought two more tickets – and has now pocketed £450,000.
Retired lecturer Moira (87) said: “When the Postcode Lottery first started, I bought a ticket and won about £3000 a few years ago. I decided then it was for a good cause and wanted to do something for charity, so bought two more tickets.”
Then she added with a grin: “I might buy another three now.”
Now the widowed mum-of-two, formerly of Durban, on the east coast of South Africa, wants to carry out home improvements in her semi-detached home.
Moira added: “It is a lovely community. I love living in Thurso, it’s the best place I’ve ever lived in and I’m delighted so many people are being helped.”
Moira’s friend Catriona Manson (53) says she and her family will get a new car and take a holiday, while retired David Mackenzie will use his £150,000 in his hunt for another vintage tractor – and treat his model-making wife to a Star Wars Lego set.
David (68), who helps out on a local farm, won best in show a few weeks ago with his 48-year-old John Brown tractor. Now he wants to add to his collection by tracking down a Ford model, between 40 and 60 years old.
The grandad said: “I feel great about winning – fantastic, unbelievable. I’ve got a vintage tractor already, but I might look for another one.”
Mum-of-four Elsie Johnstone wants little more than a new vacuum cleaner and stunned couple James and Fiona Campbell – who won £150,000 each – said it was worth the wait.
Restaurant boss Mohammad Khan (47) was urged to play by a friend – and bagged £150,000 just seven months later.
The dad-of-one said: “This is unbelievable. Thank you very, very much. I’m very pleased that lots of people have lots of money. We have very good neighbours. It’s a very good community.”
Mohammad said he and wife Khaleda Ferdous (29) may now donate money to orphans in his native Bangladesh, and he plans to fly home to visit his elderly mum Saleha Begum (90), who is ill in hospital after suffering a stroke.
And great gran Thelma Smith (79) landed £150,000 just a few years after winning £78,000 in another competition. She said: “I couldn’t believe it when I got the phone call about this. I said, ‘oh no, I’m winning again!’ I needed to sit down because I thought I’d won a decent amount.”
People’s Postcode Lottery costs £12 a month to play and has raised more than £1.3 billion for thousands of charities and good causes. Prizes include £1 million shared in one postcode every Saturday and £30,000 for every ticket in one postcode every Sunday.
A multimillion-pound prize is also shared in one postcode area each month.
This prize was promoted on behalf of Postcode Care Trust which supports organisations including Alzheimer’s Society, Maggie’s and Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance.
