A STUNNED couple have won a share of £1 million just hours after arriving back from a Spanish holiday – and the family who used to own their house in Warrington have also won big on the Postcode Lottery.
Leah Corless, 32, and her husband Matthew were left in disbelief when People’s Postcode Lottery knocked on their door with a £31,250 surprise – after getting home at 2 a.m.
Shellshocked – Leah and Matthew
They were part of 26 people on Farmleigh Gardens in Great Sankey, who have scooped at least £31,250 each.
The pair’s big win comes after a string of bad luck which included a broken arm, a cancelled holiday, gallbladder removal and nose surgery. And amazingly, a couple who used to live at the same address also scored the same cash windfall in the lottery’s Millionaire Street draw, as a total of 26 neighbours bagged at least £31,250 each.
Mum-of-three Leah was in the middle of baking a cake and putting on washing after returning from their last-minute holiday, before the Postcode Lottery caught her off guard in her pyjamas.
Leah said: “I was completely shocked. I was baking a cake for my grandad’s 80th birthday, Matthew was about to go on a work call, and there was washing going galore.
“We got a knock on the door, and I felt like I was dreaming. It was the surprise of our lives.”
Leah, who works as a consultant for an insurance company, said: “We booked a holiday to Fuerteventura really last minute because we’ve had a mad couple of months – three of us have been in hospital for operations.
“My son fell off a bouncy castle and snapped both bones in his forearm and had to have two surgeries, he’s got metal rods in his arm, and he’s got another surgery to come”, said Leah.
She added: “I had surgery two weeks ago to take my gallbladder out and Matthew had a nose surgery before that.”
The couple admitted they booked the holiday to the Canary Island on a whim to cheer themselves up – and even had to wait until the doctor gave Leah the green light to go.
Matthew, 40, said: “Last-minute is not usually like us, I like to plan out everything, but I just said we should go because the whole family needed a break.
“After such an ordeal with all of our operations, we needed something to lift us up.”
Leah added: “We booked it last Tuesday – a day before we left – and the doctor had only just taken the staples out from my tummy. I asked if I could go on holiday, and he said it was totally fine.”
Now the Corless’ are planning another family holiday to Florida.
Leah said: “We were lucky enough to go to Florida last year and we thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime trip, but we loved it so much it can be twice-in-a-lifetime holiday now.
Ann Johnson, 68, also picked up over £31k despite not living on the winning street for over six years. Yet she has a special connection to Leah and Matthew’s house after living there for over 20 years before selling it to them.
She said: “We moved six years ago, and we kept playing with our old postcode and our new one.”
Ann and her husband Joe, 69, now plan to celebrate their 51st wedding anniversary in style and intend to treat their big family made up of four children, seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Leah said: “It’s mad that they’ve won too! I didn’t even know you could play with a different postcode from where you’re currently living.
“I’m made-up that they’ve won, and it was amazing to see them six years after we bought their house.”
The Tallon’s both banked winning cheques on the same day they found out they’ll be grandparents
The winning postcode on Farmleigh Gardens, WA5 3FA, saw 18 neighbours win £31,250 and another 7 people doubled their win to £62,500 playing with two tickets.
It was a day to remember for Susan and Colin Tallon, who pocketed £31,250 each after learning their daughter is expecting her first child.
Susan, 68, was taken by surprise as the lottery knocked on her door with the huge sum while hubby Colin was at a doctor’s appointment.
Upon seeing her cheque, she exclaimed: “Oh my god, help me. I’m having kittens.”
Managing to keep her own win a secret until Colin came home, the couple were able to celebrate in double the joy with Colin holding a ticket of his own, as he received the same £31,250 prize.
Colin said: “We’ve had some more good news today as well. Our daughter has just told us she’s having a baby”.
“I thought we’ll never be grandparents. I always wanted to be a grandparent but now it’s come true.”
Susan added: “I’m feeling over the moon. I could climb Mount Everest.”
Following a tough year, with Colin being diagnosed with prostate cancer, the news has arrived on a much happier day for the couple.
Colin believes Susan’s mother, who they light a candle for every year on her birthday, may have had a helping hand in the couple’s incredible day. He said: “It’s her mother’s birthday. It’s uncanny. She must have done this.”
The retired couple, whose love story stretches over 45 years, first met in Susan’s native South Africa.
Colin said: “I was working in South Africa for a couple of years. I was due to come home and the hotel I was stopping in, in Johannesburg, had an apartment.”
Colin saw Susan working at the hotel reception and was completely smitten. Soon after he told her he’d ‘buy her a ticket’ to come back to England. Twelve weeks after their first meeting, the couple were married.
The Tallon’s are now planning to extend their upcoming holiday to celebrate. Colin said: “We’re booking an extra week in Benidorm now.”
Following the neighbours’ Millionaire Street prize wins, nearby charities will also benefit.
A combined total of £1 million will be shared between local charities in the winning Millionaire Street areas as part of November’s Postcode Lottery draws.
Warrington Mencap, a Northwest based charity which enables adults with Learning Disabilities to live as independent life as possible was awarded their biggest single funding amount of £50,000.
The independent charity looks after 20 residents with learning disabilities aged between 40 and 70 years old.
Founded over 40 years ago, the charity provides supported housing including three bungalows and three large houses, outdoor garden spaces and frequently runs social events for residents such as bowling, gardening, football and trips abroad. Warrington Mencap also provides support with social group care and assists in important life skills such as gaining employment.
Nikki Cotter, Assistant Manager at Warrington Mencap said: “To receive an amount like this is huge for us – it’s the biggest funding we have ever received. The money will ensure our facilities can remain accessible and our service users are in a safe space regardless of their abilities means so much to us.
“Thank you to the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.”
Other local charities receiving funding thanks to Saturday’s Millionaire Street prize win include:
• Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (Cheshire and Merseyside) – £50,000
RASASC is a charity committed to supporting people who have been affected by rape or sexual abuse. It provides free community-based support that is tailored towards the needs of people affected by sexual violence.
• Papyrus Prevention of Young Suicide – £50,000
PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide is dedicated to the prevention of suicide and the promotion of positive mental health and emotional wellbeing in young people. It provides a suicide prevention helpline, HOPELINE247, and also delivers suicide prevention education and training to create suicide-safer communities across the UK.
• The Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation – £50,000
The charity works across the UK and internationally in preventing, resolving and responding to extreme conflict. The Foundation was established created to provide peaceful alternatives to the use of violence in conflict situations.
All funding was awarded by Postcode Neighbourhood Trust.
People’s Postcode Lottery costs £12 a month to play and there are guaranteed winners every day. People play with their chosen postcode and are automatically entered into all draws. A minimum of 33% from each ticket goes to charity.
Every Saturday, £1 million will be shared by one postcode as part of the lottery’s Millionaire Street prize.
Players of People’s Postcode Lottery have raised more than £1.2 billion for thousands of charities and local good causes.
