Success For St. Helens

A whopping 846 St. Helens residents who play People's Postcode Lottery shared a massive £3 Million prize pot at the August Postcode Millions event. Prizes ranged from £1,619 to an amazing £428,570.

The full winning postcode of WA9 5PP was announced at the event, landing five players the biggest share of the prize. Eddie Greenough and Stephen Tinsley won £428,570 each as they both play with two tickets, while Debbie Quinn and Lisa Tither both walked away with £214,285.

Eddie Greenough is a retired glass-maker and was joined by his wife Maureen at the event. Eddie said, "It's absolutely wonderful. I'm going to stay calm and not be rash with the money – we've got everything we need really so it's an added bonus and something to help out the family too. I have one son and four grandkids so they'll all be getting something nice. I think my wife and I will take ourselves away somewhere too. Maureen will be the one to choose the destination but I'm sure it'll be somewhere sunny!"

"I'm from St. Helens born and bred, so it's fantastic for this to happen to the local area."

Stephen Tinsley, a local engineer, was blown away by the win. "I'm in absolute shock. I think it's going to take quite a while to sink in. We have a lot of work to do on the house so it's great to have the money to do that, and we'll treat ourselves to a holiday too – my wife Catherine has always dreamed of going to Cuba so we'll definitely be able to do that now. We've got a family barbeque planned this evening so we'll do some celebrating there."

Civil Servant Lisa Tither was joined by her partner Dave at the event. She said, "I really can't believe it – I can hardly string a sentence together. We have twin girls aged 8 who are desperate to go to Disneyland so it's amazing we'll be able to do that – for us it's really all about them. We really need an extension to the house as the girls don't have much room as they're growing up, but we thought it'd be something in the distant future – now we're going to be able to start thinking about it straight away."

Debbie Quinn attended the event with her husband Martin, but had her two sons, daughter in law and grandson waiting outside to hear the news. Debbie said, "I was over the moon when I thought I'd won £1,619 as it was more than I'd expected, so when the cheque for over £200,000 was revealed I was in shock!"

"I've always wanted to go to Barbados so we might take a trip there. I'd also love to treat the whole family to a holiday to Disney World. I can do both thanks to the amount I've won!"

There was one other player in the full winner postcode who wasn't able to attend the event, but will also receive their £214,285 prize.

The remaining winners in the postcode sector of WA9 5 took home between £1,619 and £4,857 each. The event was hosted by People's Postcode Lottery Ambassadors Matt Johnson and Judie McCourt, and included a special performance by singer Kevin Simm who won The Voice last year.

It's not just players who win with People's Postcode Lottery as a minimum of 31% of the ticket price goes to good causes. Over £221 Million has so far been raised by players, which has supported over 3,000 charities in Great Britain and internationally.

A number of charities that have received this funding attended the event to thank players for their support, including Missing People, Wildlife Trusts, Dogs Trust, and the Ramblers.

Bryony Long, Community Fundraising Manager at Missing People, attended the event today and was keen to thank players for their support. Bryony said, "Players of People's Postcode Lottery have raised more than £4 Million for Missing People and are allowing us to continue to help bring missing children, young people and adults to safety every day. Thank you so much for your continual support, your funding really makes such a difference."

People's Postcode Lottery Ambassadors Judie McCourt and Matt Johnson hosted the event. Judie said, "We've had an incredible day in St. Helens with so many happy winners! To add to the day of celebrations, it was a treat to hear Kevin Simm perform. I hope everyone enjoys spending their winnings."

For more photos of the event, take a look at our August Postcode Millions Facebook album.

The weekend's luck wasn't confined to St. Helens, as Camden players scooped £30,000 prizes, and SP3 5BW in Chilmark was drawn as Sunday's Street Prize winner.