A Birmingham couple discovered they had won a life-changing £333,333 on the Postcode Lottery, with video capturing their amazement as they opened a giant envelope revealing the jackpot. Teresa Lay and Wayne Jackson, both 54, won the prize after playing using the postcode of their new village home in Lincolnshire, which they moved into earlier this year.
Life-Changing Win for Couple
Teresa exclaimed, “This kind of thing doesn't happen to people like us. This is absolutely amazing.” She added, “I've never really won anything in my life. Then I won £180 at the pub and thought that was unbelievable… now this!” Wayne said, “You dream about things like this. But you never think it'll actually happen.”
Teresa was one of three winners sharing a £1 million prize when LN8 2EX landed Postcode Lottery's weekly Millionaire Street prize on Saturday, July 18. Each ticket was worth £333,333. The couple moved into what she called ‘the luckiest bungalow ever’ after buying it from the previous owner, June Kettlewell, who won the same amount.
How They Entered the Lottery
Mum-of-three Teresa only signed up to Postcode Lottery when she and Wayne were organising monthly payments for their new home after moving earlier this year. She said, “When we moved in in February, we were setting up the direct debits for the bills when Wayne said, ‘What about the Postcode Lottery?’ I wasn’t sure at first but then said to him, ‘It’s worth having a go.’”
The couple, who between them have five children and nine grandchildren, met while driving coaches for National Express and have been together for almost ten years. Wayne has been a driver for the company for 30 years, while Teresa has over a decade of service.
Prior Luck at the Local Pub
Last Saturday at their local, The Crown Inn, Teresa won £180 during a game of Higher or Lower. She said, “We couldn't believe it. It came down to the last cards, and I went with lower on a six, which was against the odds... the card was turned and it was a five. I was jumping up and down celebrating. After that we thought we'd had our bit of luck.”
The timing could hardly have been better as every spare penny had been disappearing into renovating their bungalow. Teresa said, “The refurb is full gas now. We've been doing one room at a time. Now we can finish it properly. We can do the garden and get everything the way we dreamed and finally enjoy it.”
Future Plans and Family Time
The couple had already spoken about cutting back their working hours and now that dream may become reality. Teresa said, “The biggest thing is having a better work-life balance. We've worked hard all our lives. Now we'll be able to spend more time with family, enjoy ourselves and make memories.” Travelling together is high on the agenda. After falling in love with Montenegro, the couple are already planning holidays and perhaps even a cruise. Teresa said, “It's not about flashy things. It's about spending time together while we can. We’ll go back to Montenegro and get as many holidays as we can booked in.”
The last year has brought a series of family bereavements, making the couple's windfall even more emotional. Teresa said, “We've had so much sadness and I kept saying to Wayne, ‘how much bad news can come?’” Wayne added, “We lost my dad, my brother-in-law, and last Friday we lost a friend. It’s been really tough.” Gran-of-seven Teresa said, “This has given us something wonderful to smile about again. We're going to look after our family.” And one person especially close to Wayne’s heart is his mum, who is living with dementia. He said, “This money means we can spend much more time with Mum. You can't put a price on that.”
Previous Owner Also Won
The previous bungalow owner, June, 77, also banked £333,333, despite now living eight miles away in Market Rasen. She and husband Mike credited their win to a customer service agent at Postcode Lottery, who told them they could keep playing with their old postcode. Mike said, “We’ve been very fortunate because we kept the postcode of our old address. We called Postcode Lottery after we moved and one of their team said we could keep playing with our old postcode, if we wanted, so we did. I can’t thank the young lady at the other end of the phone enough because we were not aware you could keep using your postcode even if you moved away.” The retired abattoir worker also said they were delighted for new owners Teresa and Wayne. Mike said, “I’m really pleased for them. It’s obviously a very lucky house.” June and Mike have some practical purchases in mind particularly for June whose health has suffered in recent years. Mike said, “I think we’ll buy June a new super-duper power chair. We could also buy a heating/cooling system that keeps the temperature inside each room exactly how you like it. I’d love to get that for June because she struggles a lot with the heat. Especially with how hot it’s been recently.”
The third big winner was Rebecca Andrews, 46, who celebrated alongside her husband David Docherty, 70.
