Borehamwood Millionaire Street

In the space of 36 hours, Tom Canning assisted firefighters when alarms sounded at Hemel Hempstead Hospital, in Hertfordshire, and then shared a £1 Million prize.

The on-call maintenance technician is now set to buy a caravan, a new three-piece suite and driving lessons for his youngest son.

Tom, of Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, said: "It’s just unbelievable. I'm over the moon. After running around at midnight on Sunday with firefighters, and now just a few days later I've got £330,000.

"I was called out after someone started a fire in the hospital. I had to sort out the alarms and let the fire brigade in everywhere they needed to go. It's been a crazy few days."

Tom and two neighbours shared our weekly Millionaire Street prize when their Borehamwood postcode, WD6 5FF, was announced as today's winner.

Each winning ticket was worth a whopping £333,333. And it comes just one year after five other Borehamwood residents shared the same £1 Million prize.

The dad-of-four darted into action to let firefighters into hospital buildings in the early hours of Monday morning before Postcode Lottery surprised him the next day.

Tom said: "I rushed over to the hospital when I got the call, and I was there for hours while the fire brigade did their thing. I helped them access different areas of the hospital and then I waited for the all-clear and reset all the alarms."

Fortunately, the fire didn't take any shine away from Tom's winning moment as the flames were extinguished quickly and no one was injured.

A day later, Tom was left gobsmacked when presenter Matt Johnson revealed his prize in front of his four-storey flat block.

He added: "I wasn't expecting to win anything like that amount, that’s why I accidentally swore when I saw the £330,000 cheque."

Electrician-by-trade Tom, who has already reached his retirement age, doesn't intend to quit his job even after landing a huge lottery windfall.

He said: "I've gone past retirement. I could walk in tomorrow and say, 'I don't need to come here anymore'. But I wouldn't do that to them."

The grandad-of-seven told how he'll purchase a static caravan in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, for his wife Vicky, but he's not planning to blow all the cash.

Tom said: "First thing we'll buy is a static caravan. My wife is desperate to get one. We used to have one but got rid of it about 10 years ago.

"I still won't buy a new caravan, it'll be second-hand. Vicky can have whatever she wants... well, within limitations."

Tom also wants to freshen up his living room and he'll look at holiday options.

He said: "We'll buy a new sofa, a new chair and I want to go back to Spain. I used to go there a lot. And Italy... it's all just European places I want to go to."

The neighbours' win also means local charities have benefitted from thousands of pounds of support thanks to Postcode Lottery players.

And one organisation, Borehamwood-based hunger and food waste charity Gratitude, has received £30,000.

Sheila Carlisle, Gratitude Trustee & Projects Manager, said: "Gratitude trustees and volunteers would like to thank the kind support from players of People's Postcode Lottery."

Gratitude was founded in 2013, when Sheila and her husband John started a free-of-charge groceries pick-up and cooked meals for the community.

Sheila added: “We operated a saved-from-waste groceries giveaway from a shed in our garden and cooked meals for the community with volunteers.

"Over the years, we quickly grew into a movement for change and betterment of our environment. We offer support to local families on all fronts from food, baby items, school uniforms, disability items, clothes and furniture.

"We also run community events and community litter-picking and planting - all to help save on waste and inspire the local community to help."

Other local charities who have benefitted from this week's Millionaire Street prize include:

HOME-START WATFORD, THREE RIVERS AND HERTSMERE - £50,000 Home-Start Watford, Three Rivers and Hertsmere was established in 1993, helping families in the three districts with at least one child under five-years-old deal with the challenges they face. They intervene early to support parents through a range of services including counselling, home visiting and outreach/family group work.

CITIZENS ADVICE HERTSMERE - £50,000 Citizens Advice Hertsmere say they are a charity 'working for everyone - whoever you are, whatever your problem'. They deal with a range of issues including money, benefits, housing or employment problems.

HERTS YOUNG HOMELESS - £40,000 Their mission is to break the cycle of youth homelessness in Hertfordshire. They offer education, advice and support for 16-24-year-olds and their families through a variety of county-wide specialist services.

All funding was awarded by Postcode Community Trust.

Deserving Projects

Today's prize is part of a draw promoted on behalf of Postcode International Trust. Supported by our players, this trust delivers grant funding to organisations that work to alleviate poverty, hunger and enable food security.

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.

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