Two cousins were stunned to find out they'd won the entire £1m pot in the Postcode Lottery. Margaret Livens and Joyce Ablitt, both aged 72, are the only people living on their street and the only ones who have their postcode.
Margaret and Joyce live next door to each other, in two semi-properties that their husbands built. The land that their houses are built on was gifted to them by the grandad 47 years ago.
Because they are the only two houses on the street the local council told them they'd have to name the street and have their own postcode. Now, thanks to this unique quirk, the cousins - and Margaret's husband Harry, 73 - are celebrating after scooping the jackpot.
All three of them got £333,333 each in the Postcode Lottery’s weekly Millionaire Street prize. Speaking to Cheshire Live, husband Harry said: “I can’t repeat what I thought when I first saw the cheque! We’d been stewing all weekend.”
Margaret added: “We built the houses ourselves. It was a real family affair. They’re the only ones on the street, so we needed our own postcode. This is just incredible.”
When they found out they'd won, the cousins and Harry thought it was a hoax - despite Postcode Lottery ambassador Judie McCourt turning up at their doors. They were taken to the Postcode Lottery’s annual charity gala in Edinburgh where they were flabbergasted to find out just how much they had won.
Joyce was so shocked she almost fainted, she said: “My legs just gave way. It was lucky Matt was there.”
She added: "When I got on stage to collect the cheque, the main thing for me wasn’t the money or anything. It was because my husband wasn’t with me to share it. He was a very hard worker and a brilliant man.”
Harry said: “I started doing a bit of research on Postcode Lottery. I knew it must have had something to do with the Gala, but I didn’t have any idea that it was that £1 million.
“Postcode Lottery spent a lot of money to get us to Edinburgh, so I knew we must have won something big. I thought it was more than £30,000, so I was being flippant and said to Judie £50,000. I never imagined it would be this.”
Margaret added: “I was in my reclining chair when Judie came to the door, but I couldn’t get it up. I eventually did and Judie explained, but I still didn’t believe her."
The trio's win comes just a few short years after Harry underwent open heart surgery in April 2020 after having suffered from cardiac problems. His wife Margaret has just been given the all-clear for a fourth year after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019.
And mum-of-two Joyce suffered a serious stroke 20 years ago which left her temporarily unable to talk. Grandmother Joyce – who fancies taking off on a Norwegian fjords cruise - said: “We can spend the £333 part, but it’s the big bit that we have to be careful about.”
Postcode Lottery ambassador Matt Johnson said: “It was my absolute pleasure to surprise Joyce, Margaret and Harry with such a phenomenal amount of money. The first thing on their minds after winning was their family and it was lovely to hear how they plan to share the money."
