Westerleigh Millionaire Street

DELIGHTED Luke Packer told us how he'd split his £90,909 People's Postcode Lottery prize with his mum next door - then thanked his late great-gran for the win.

Luke and his mum Maria will share the whopping windfall just a fortnight before Christmas after going halves on the ticket.

Maria only started chipping in after her gran - Luke's great-gran - Betty Smith passed away in 2018. Luke revealed that a photo of the 93-year-old - who died almost six years ago to the day - popped up on his phone 10 minutes before he got a call to say he'd won.

Nurse Luke, of Westerleigh, near Bristol, said: "It was very odd. A photo of Gran popped up on my phone memories, and 10 minutes later, Postcode Lottery called to say I'd won. It's very spooky.

"I'm sure she's watching over us. It's a very emotional day and very good at the same time.

"As soon as I found out I'd won, she came to my mind straight away. I think she would have been over the moon - thrilled. She would have said, 'Oh, we haven't, have we?' She was partial to an Advocaat, so she would have been getting it out tonight and having a few drinks."

He added: "We lost my great-gran in 2018 - this is for her. I used to go halves on a ticket with her. When she died, I just thought I can't let the ticket go.

"She saw an advert for Postcode Lottery and said, 'Tell you what, use the postcode you're living at, and I'll go halves every month'.

"After she passed, my mum said she'd pay half if I still wanted to carry on playing, and we've been playing ever since."

Luke celebrated with eight other neighbours in the quaint village of Westerleigh, Gloucestershire, after BS37 8QS scooped our weekly £1m Millionaire Street prize today. Every ticket was worth £90,909, but two neighbours doubled their windfalls with two tickets.

Now Luke is planning to finish transforming the end-terrace house he bought with his girlfriend, Milly Ford, right through the wall from his parents.

Luke - who has been given the all-clear after undergoing treatment for an aggressive form of skin cancer - said: "This has made my life, let alone Christmas. This is the sort of money you don't come across that often and are unlikely to ever again. I feel fantastic, on top of the world.

"I just bought the house with my girlfriend two years ago and have kept at it slowly but surely. It needed rewiring, there were holes in the roof, and we need a new kitchen and bathroom.

"This is the icing on the cake. We'll be able to get that now. My other half wants a bath, so she'll get her bath."

He added: "A nice holiday maybe and a new car, and we'll see where life takes us."

But his parents, who have two other sons, will take more time to consider what to do with their half of the pot.

Retired Maria said: "This is indescribable. It's nice for myself and my husband to win, but for these two to win as they set out on their journey is just fantastic."

Part-time bakery worker Rob added: "It's very exciting news. We'll sit on it for a while until we decide what we're going to do."

At the other end of the street, shocked IT manager Fraser Clark told pals he had a better chance of winning the lottery after his home was wrecked in a lightning strike 20 years ago - now he's had both.

Fraser told us how the thunderstorm blew tiles off his roof into his conservatory and even sent a workman flying.

As he was presented with a cheque for £90,909, he said: "All the roof tiles blew up and landed on the conservatory. There was a massive hole.

"I thought I would have more chance of winning the lottery than my house being struck by lightning. Now, both have happened. This is amazing."

He added: "My mum persuaded me to sign up for the lottery. She was already playing. This is amazing. It is incredible, fantastic. It's an incredible amount of money, not what I was expecting at all. I've never had anything like this in my life."

Fraser told us that the family - his wife Michelle, daughter Gracie, and son Alfie - have already booked the trip of a lifetime on Boxing Day. But his win could boost their plans. They'll travel to Canada's Lake Louise and Banff for a skiing holiday before flying to Las Vegas then home from LA.

He said: "We're going on holiday to Canada on Boxing Day. It was my wife's 50th and my daughter's 18th this year.

"We'll fly to Vegas, then drive to LA in a convertible - it'll definitely be a convertible now - and we'll fly home from there."

Fraser had kept news of the impending win a secret from his wife - but she found out.

Lawyer Michelle said: "He decided to keep his win a secret from me, but he did tell our daughter Postcode Lottery were coming. But I sussed it out.

"We were travelling back from seeing Sam Fender in Manchester and I had Fraser's phone while he was driving and when I went to search the last search was, 'what number called me' and it said People's Postcode Lottery.

"And then Julie, who lives on our street, came up to me and started singing the Postcode Lottery song and let slip that she'd received a call from someone at the lottery."

Back up the street on the opposite side, mum-of-three Heather Harding knows exactly what she'll spend her £90k on - a new hairdo and two bottles of Baileys for Christmas.

The Card Factory worker, who has been playing for just over a year, screamed and started sobbing when Danyl revealed her cheque.

Grandmother Heather said: "Things like this don't happen to me. I'm going to get my hair cut and get rid of my grey. A nice, layered bob, a nice brown colour."

But the win might never have been if Heather had followed through with plans to ditch playing Postcode Lottery.

Heather, supported by former lorry driver husband Chris, said: "I was thinking of packing it in. I'd won £10 three times and was even excited by that. Now you never know, I might double my tickets."

"I can help family like I always do. There'll be extra presents. You've got to. And two bottles of Baileys this Christmas!"

Dad-of-two Matt Hewer's already dreaming of sunnier climes after banking £90,909.

The car auctioneer said: "This is a pretty good Christmas present. I'll probably think of a few things. A family holiday for one. It's a long time since we've been abroad. Somewhere in Europe and somewhere warm and not so windy."

He added: "It'll be a good Christmas for the kids. And there may be a new car for my wife. She's had her Seat Ibiza for eight years and is due an upgrade."

Julie Weaver's family started shouting "champagne!" after she said they'd have a good Christmas as she accepted her £90,909 cheque.

Julie said: "I can't believe it is actually real. I've been playing since it started.

"We're going to my daughter's for Christmas and will have a good Christmas. There'll be champagne and a lot of celebrating. I'll most likely take my family on holiday, too."

The school supervisor said she wouldn't rush into big spending plans, but she has lined up a couple of treats for herself.

She said: "I'm not going to make any rash decisions, apart from a holiday. I'd like to go on a Caribbean cruise - St Lucia and around that area. I'd also like a new iPad and an Apple watch.

"But I'll bide my time and make the right decision for the rest."

Widow Julie, who has four children, two stepchildren, and 13 grandchildren, added: "I've been up since 3am. I just didn't think this would happen to me, it's amazing."

Near neighbour Sandie Bradley told us how she'd spent the morning watching episodes of the TV mystery thriller Lost to distract herself from what she might win.

Sandie said: "I've been very, very excited and nervous. My stomach's been churning for a few hours.

"We've been watching Lost. It's quite interesting. My daughter's watched it before, and it has lots of different storylines. It did help a bit."

Now mum-of-two Sandie and bus driver hubby Paul are dreaming of exotic holidays, futureproofing their home, and helping their son, daughter, and three grandchildren.

The retired systems trainer said: "I'm elated. We can think about our future. This will make an amazing difference.

"I would love to go to Australia, New Zealand or Canada - any one of those places. Now we can.

"A cruise to Singapore and the islands would be good, too."

Ex-Army Lance Corporal Paul laughed: "I'll go in the hold! We can do some things to the house, like a walk-in shower."

Sandie added: "We're helping our daughter get a house, and our son needs help with a car."

The couple mentioned how they started playing Postcode Lottery to help charities.

Sandie said: "I started playing because of the charity aspect, as well as the chance to win something. The idea is to support good charities by paying a little bit of money to win a lot."

Sandie was delighted to learn that local charities have also benefited from her postcode's Millionaire Street win.

And one local organisation, Paul's Place, has been awarded £75,000 by Postcode Community Trust.

The charity aims to enrich the lives of physically, cognitively and sensory disabled adults across Bristol.

The idea for Paul's Place was first formed in 1995 when a group of friends created a social club where physically disabled adults could meet.

Over its 25 operational years, Paul's Place has had to move premises twice to match increased demand.

Lynda Williams, Chief Executive Officer, said: "Around 100 adults use our services, but our current premises has a capacity of up to 30 people a day depending on need.

"We are at a point where our demand drastically outweighs our supply, but next year, we will be moving to our biggest space yet.

"It's an incredibly exciting time for us as the development has everything for our service users - sensory rooms, state-of-the-art gym and a media centre, to name a few.

"However, whilst we build plans for that, we need to make sure we can keep our current offering going."

Currently, there are 16 million disabled people in the UK. Eighty per cent of those acquired a disability in later life through events such as trauma, injury or stroke and have nowhere to turn when that happens.

It is vital that charities like Paul's Place are accessible to communities so that they can support individuals when they need it most.

Lynda added: "Like most charities, we are feeling the squeeze of the cost-of-living crisis, especially at this time of year.

"The funding will play a key role in moving Paul's Place forward and allow us to continue to keep our arms open to the community in the meantime."

Other local organisations who have been awarded funding include:

• Age UK South Gloucestershire - £75,000 A local charity supporting older people through a variety of activities and services, including specialist benefits advice and support for people affected by dementia.

• North Bristol & South Glos Foodbank - £75,000 Part of a nationwide network of Trussell-supported foodbanks, they provide three days' worth of nutritionally balanced emergency food and support to those referred to them in crisis.

All funding was awarded by Postcode Community Trust.

Good Causes Everywhere

Today's prize is part of a draw promoted on behalf of Postcode Planet Trust. Supported by our players, this trust delivers grant funding to organisations that work to protect and promote our environment and wildlife. Benefitting charities include WWF-UK, Marine Conservation Society and The Wildlife Trusts.

With 33% of the ticket price going to charities and good causes, players of People's Postcode Lottery have raised more than £1.4 billion for thousands of deserving causes and projects across Great Britain and around the world. Our players are making a difference every day for a wide range of amazing organisations.

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