A huge number of Wishaw residents are in the money after sharing a jackpot of almost £8 million.
More than 600 neighbours from the North Lanarkshire town kicked off the weekend in style, after netting a combined £7.9 million with People’s Postcode Lottery.
The windfall is the biggest single prize pot to be awarded in Scotland in the lottery’s history and comes after the postcode sector ML2 0 was revealed as a winner with the lottery earlier this week.
Six of the winners netted the biggest share of the prize pot, thanks to playing with the full winning postcode of ML2 0EN , landing an astonishing £368,461 each.
Among the those to land a six-figure sum was Jean Moffat, 74, whose family screamed with joy as her prize cheque was revealed.
Jean shouted: “Wow! I can’t believe it!”
The gran-of-six was so stunned by the win that she dropped her cheque in excitement. After quickly picking it back up, she exclaimed: “I’m going to frame it and put it on the wall. It’s amazing.
“I’m over the moon, absolutely over the moon. I’m going to help as many people as I can with it.”
Jean wasn’t the only person in her family to scoop a prize as hundreds of people across the town netted £8092 per ticket.
Jean added: “My son across the road won, my cousin won, and my friend across the road. There’s loads of people that I know that have won.”
She and her partner have four kids and six grandkids between them, and Jean joked that they’ll have some treats coming up. Jean beamed: “The kids have been more excited to me! It’s kids, they’re always wanting something!”
When asked if she wanted anything for herself, Jean said: “I don’t need big fancy things. I’ll get a new oven.
"I went for one yesterday but they weren’t in stock. I can get the dearer one now! I bake all the time so I’ll need a new one!
“I’ll still be happy with my fish suppers, I’ll not be switching to caviar!”
Katrina Drummond, 47, was another to receive a six-figure prize cheque. Her family cheered as her cheque was revealed.
Mum-of-one Katrina said she was over the “moon” when her “368,000 smackaroonies” were revealed.
She added: "I would have been happy with just one thousand. Anything after that is a bit of a miracle."
When asked about what the money would mean to Katrina she said: "It’s completely life changing.
"It'll be enough to help out friends and family and it'll hopefully keep me comfortable for a long time."
The windfall comes at a great time for Katrina as she said she was on the hunt for a new car.
She said: "My car broke down a couple of weeks ago and it sat outside for a week with a dead battery and I've got a few scrapes on it that I call racing stripes.
"It doesn't have air conditioning either because it's too expensive to fix!"
Katrina now plans to book a family getaway to Florida.
She said: "Florida is probably my favourite holiday destination, we've been a few times. I'm a big Mickey Mouse fan. I just like going there."
Andrea Boyle, 42, was stunned into silence on seeing her six-figure prize cheque. After the news began to sink in the mum-of-four said: “It’s a good feeling. I’m a bit shocked!
“It just makes life a lot easier.”
She learned of her windfall alongside her husband, William, who said some of the winnings would go to treats for their kids.
He explained: “One is taking driving lessons and one is trying to buy a flat.”
Andrea joked: “They’re full of demands.”
The win means the couple will be able to make some home improvements. Andrea explained: “We had some plans for the house anyway, but it means we’ll be able to get them done a bit quicker.
"We want to get the roof done and we might get a new garage.”
The couple were thrilled to hear that so many people in the community had also netted prizes.
Andrea said: “Loads of people have benefited, it’s a great thing for everyone in the area.”
Paul Burnett, 50, couldn’t believe it when he learned he had won £368k. He said: “I’m numb! Excited, it feels like I’m looking down on myself. I don’t know what to say.”
When asked who he was going to tell first, the joiner said he would surprise his mum.
He joked: “My mum is away to Lanzarote. She’s on the plane right now, she’ll be excited when they land!”
Paul, who has lived on the street for sixteen years said he was pleased to hear about the other winners as well.
He said: “It’ll be great for the community as it’s been hard times for the last couple of years. It’s just a fantastic thing, isn’t it? Hopefully it will help people along.”
When asked what he would do first, Paul added: “I’ll be celebrating tonight. I’m going to enjoy myself, that’s for sure!”
The other winners with the full postcode chose to remain anonymous. 621 other Wishaw winners learned they had also won a prize at a special event at the Glasgow Fort shopping centre.
People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador Judie McCourt presented some of the winners with their prize cheques.
Judie said: “What an amazing day it has been here in Wishaw. I am so pleased for all our winners, and I hope they’ve been surprised by the size of their prizes.
“It was great to meet Jean, Katrina, Andrea and Paul, along with all other winners today. I know they’ll be stunned but I’m sure they’ll have a brilliant time celebrating and planning how they will spend the cash!”
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