Residents in a south London street are celebrating after winning £1m in a new People’s Postcode Lottery jackpot.
Two people who had tickets in the winning postcode – CR4 4AG – scooped £396,694 each, while another 331 people in the postcode sector CR4 4 shared the remaining £202,612 between them.
Former nurse Terry Young, 61, was one of the two big winners in the Millionaire Street prize draw, launched last month, in which £1m is shared by one postcode every Saturday.
Terry, who lives in a top floor flat in Mitcham, said: ‘I signed up to People’s Postcode Lottery because it was going to help charities.
‘I feel disbelief that I’ve won, and I’m not sure what I’ll do with the money yet.’
One of the first things she had to do was tell her younger sister, Janet Neale, who lives in the flat below her but had not bought a ticket, that she’d won.
Mum of two Janet, 60, was delighted for her sister, saying: ‘This is brilliant for Terry. I can’t believe it is so much money – I thought it would only be around £10,000.
‘When the Postcode Lottery came to the door, I thought it was people turning up with the new rug I’d ordered.
‘I never knew Terry had joined Postcode Lottery – I wish I had joined, and I will now.’
Terry said she planned to spend some of her winnings on her sister, niece and nephew. She and her sister live in the end of terrace house bought nearly 100 years ago by their grandfather, and later converted into two flats by their father.
Now she plans to spend some of the money finishing off a revamp of her flat, and possibly a trip to Canada.
She said: ‘I’ll get the flat decorated. I’m just about to get a brand new kitchen and I’ve been packing everything up – I can’t move for boxes.
‘I might also go to Canada and see some relatives I’ve never met yet.’
Terry worked for the NHS as a nurse before working on an IT project for them before giving up in April.
She said the win would give her financial security in retirement.
‘It means I won’t have to go back to work. I’ve just retired and it will help with my retirement.’
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She was one of two residents to win the maximum individual prize, and the remaining winners in the wider postcode area, some of whom had two or three tickets, won £546 per ticket.
Postcode Lottery ambassador Jeff Brazier, who surprised Terry on her doorstep with the cheque for nearly £400,000, said: ‘The sun was shining on the gold envelope when I presented it to Terry.
‘This was my first time on Millionaire Street, and it is a really dazzling prize.
‘Bringing people joy and telling them how they are also continuing to help charities is still the best way to start the day.’
