Keyworth Millionaire Street

Sophie Roberts-Long and wife Lilly were inspired to join after their mate landed more than £48,000 with Postcode Lottery in Rotherham, Yorkshire, last December.

Stunned Sophie said: "A friend's boyfriend won in Rotherham last Christmas. He won £48,000 and we thought we'd give it a go. Why not? We thought that 10 years later we'd still be waiting."

Lilly added: "I can't believe it. It's just crazy. We've only been playing for about six months. We got this from just over £80. I can't believe we've won so quickly. It's mental. We're so grateful."

Sophie and Lilly shared a £1 Million pot with three other neighbours in Keyworth after NG12 5GS landed today's Millionaire Street prize. Every ticket was worth £250,000.

And it was sparked because of their friend's win in Rotherham eight months ago, where 561 people shared Postcode Lottery's biggest-ever single prize to date of £17.5 Million.

Sophie said: "This feels mad. At the time I never thought we'd ever win, let alone this amount.

"Our friend's fella is proper Rotherham, so he'll just be like, 'that's good'. He bought a camper van with his money.

"I never thought we'd see that much money. When we see it in the bank, that will be crazy. This is just life changing."

Lilly added: "We're on Millionaire Street... literally. Getting the phone call was like Christmas Eve and you didn't know what you were going to get. Whatever we won was going to be a bonus, but this is just next level."

Now the girls, who work in Moores Nurseries and Garden Centre in nearby Stanton-on-the-Wolds alongside Sophie's parents, say their win means they can accelerate plans to buy their first home.

Shop assistant Lilly said: "We've been saving for a house. We could probably buy the one we're in now. We wanted to buy a house by the time we're 30."

And they were delighted for neighbour Steve Higham - who lives next door in the row of pretty 1800s cottages - and also banked £250,000.

Sophie said: "He's a great neighbour. We couldn't be any happier."

Shocked Steve now wants to use his cash to fulfil a dream of becoming an art teacher.

After successful exhibitions, he is aiming to gain the necessary credentials to take his art to the next level.

Divorced dad-of-two Steve - who signs off his works with the nickname 'Steveo' - said: "I'm at an early stage of doing a fellowship in art. This will give me a chance to look at that more seriously.

"If I can get that, I can go on cruise ships and things like that and teach art. That's the sort of thing I'd like to do.

"I started to paint with watercolours and acrylics during the pandemic and people said I was quite good, so I started to do little exhibitions. I've just done one with the local society in Nottingham. It was quite successful."

He added: "This is a life-changer. That's a fantastic amount of money. The biggest shock of my life."

Green-fingered Steve told how he helps neighbours with their gardens - including Sophie and Lilly - and still dabbles in decorating.

He said: "I try to help people out more than anything else."

And he added: "The biggest thing will be to change my car in the next week or two. The car I have was to do the decorating in. I can swap it.

"One of my daughters runs the community pub. I'll go down there and no doubt have a drink tonight. There'll be plenty of champagne."

The players will also raise a glass to local charities who have benefitted from their Millionaire Street win with a series of funding awards.

They include:

• Keyworth United Community Football Club - £50,000 The club is one of the oldest and most respected in Nottinghamshire and has a strong emphasis on development. They now have around 50 teams, including 12 girls and ladies teams and caters for walking football and disability football.

• Dogs Trust Loughborough - £50,000 The team can care for up to 100 dogs in 80 kennels with a dedicated block for new arrivals, as well as hydrotherapy facilities. In 2024, they helped 404 dogs find loving homes.

• MASIC Foundation - £30,000 MASIC is committed to transforming the lives of women affected by severe childbirth injuries by providing personalised physical, emotional and psychological support.

All funding was awarded by Postcode Community Trust.

Deserving Projects

Today's prize is part of a draw promoted on behalf of Postcode Education Trust. Supported by our players, this trust has a mission to provide education particularly in emergency situations.

Players aren't the only ones who benefit from People's Postcode Lottery. A minimum of 30% of each ticket price goes to charities and good causes. Thanks to our fantastic players, more than £1.5 Billion has been raised for thousands of deserving projects.

Not playing yet? Do you know about all the amazing Prizes our players can win? Learn about how People's Postcode Lottery works and sign up to play today.