Leigh-on-Sea Millionaire Street

SEVEN people in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, have shared a £1 million People's Postcode Lottery prize, and local charities are also celebrating.

The winning residents of Leigh Hill took home a whopping £142,857 each.

The winners playing with the postcode SS9 2DH have landed our weekly Millionaire Street prize today.

People's Postcode Lottery ambassador Danyl Johnson, who delivered the good news, passed on his congratulations to our winners.

Danyl said: "A massive congratulations to seven of our players in the beautiful seaside town of Leigh-on-Sea who have started 2025 in winning style.

"I'm absolutely thrilled for them, and I'm sure they'll enjoy spending all that cash. And I'm also delighted that charities near to the winners have also received a huge funding boost."

As a result of their postcode winning our Millionaire Street prize, local charities will also receive significant funding awards.

Trust Links is one of those charities and has been awarded £75,000 by Postcode Community Trust.

It runs therapeutic gardening and positive activities through its Growing Together project, which helps hundreds of people a year.

The project provides a safe space for Trust Links members, supports their mental health and well-being, and improves the local environment. In 2024, the charity helped over 4,000 people and planted over 1,400 trees.

Matt King, Chief Executive Officer of Trust Links, said: "Westcliff was the first site we developed in 2000 and 25 years later we now operate six sites across Essex.

"All of our sites offer therapeutic gardening and mental health support, as well as a range of positive activities such as cooking classes, woodwork workshops, employment support, peer support and anything else we can do to help our members.

"It costs a significant amount to run our projects each year - so the funding we have received will go a long way to support our operations."

Trust Links was founded by local churches and community activists in response to the social and emotional needs of people with mental health issues in the Southend community in 2000.

Many of its members say Trust Links helps them find a sense of purpose while allowing them to spend time outdoors and improve the natural environment.

Matt added: "Everyone is welcome here. We have a strong sense of community, and it is our mission to not only offer a service, but to help transform lives.

"That is why we refer to the people we help as 'members' - they're active members of our community here, and we aim to empower them in any way we can."

Other local organisations who have been awarded funding include:

• Safe Steps - £60,000 A specialist provider offering a range of services supporting survivors of domestic abuse, and those at risk, including safe accommodation and counselling.

• Little Heroes ASD Support Group - £30,000 A parent-led support group running a variety of sessions and activities for families of children on the autism spectrum.

• SEND the Right Message (STRM) - £20,000 Supporting local families where a child has been identified or is suspected of having specific educational needs and/or disabilities through a variety of services, including activities and training programmes.

All funding was awarded by Postcode Community Trust.

Thousands Of Deserving Projects

Today's prize is part of a draw promoted on behalf of Postcode Planet Trust. Supported by our players, this trust delivers grant funding to organisations that work to protect and promote our environment and wildlife. Benefitting charities include WWF-UK, Marine Conservation Society and The Wildlife Trusts.

33% of the ticket price goes to charities and good causes. To date, players have raised more than £1.4 billion for thousands of deserving projects worldwide. Our players are changing lives every day, helping people and the planet. Thank you for all your support - we really couldn't do it without you.

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