Whitley Bay Millionaire Street

A loving dad signed up for People's Postcode Lottery after a friend won - and has now won a prize too.

Paul decided to join immediately when a social worker for his youngest daughter, who has disabilities, scooped a £400,000 windfall.

Now Paul and wife Elaine are celebrating after winning a share of today's Millionaire Street prize.

And when he was presented with his cheques, the grandad whooped, "Oh my God! Wow! Fantastic! I nearly swore there. Wonderful. I didn't expect that. Dreams do come true."

He added, "Our daughter's social worker won the Postcode Lottery a few years ago. He was the best social worker in the northeast and won £400,000 with two tickets. When he told me, I said, "Right, I'm going to get a ticket today," and I've done it ever since. Then I decided to get two tickets."

Paul shared £1 Million with 10 neighbours in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, after NE25 8RX landed our weekly Millionaire Street prize. Every ticket was worth £83,333, so Paul doubled his windfall to £166,666.

Helping The Family Out

Now the delighted former foster parents are planning to help their three children and three grandchildren - as well as treating themselves to a Mediterranean break.

Paul said, "This is absolutely brilliant. We'll be able to help the family out. But there has to be a holiday, too."

Ex-midwife Elaine added, "My mum, who has now passed away, used to live in Majorca and we would go out on a regular basis. We haven't been since three or four years before COVID.

"We also haven't had a holiday on our own for 22 years. It would be great to go to Majorca or somewhere similar. We want to have that good time."

Paul and Elaine adopted their eldest daughter Courtney after returning home with son Craig from a stint working in Mississippi, USA, more than 20 years ago.

The caring couple also started fostering and went on to adopt their first foster baby Letitia, who has additional support needs. They later gave up their jobs to care full-time for Letitia.

Elaine said, "We gave up our jobs after we adopted Letitia. This has been our life since then. We are obviously very close-knit with the fostering community and other disabled groups since then."

Now the pair are planning treats for the family, including a new phone for Letitia and help for their kids - dad-of-three Craig, and Courtney - with their upcoming weddings.

Paul said, "Our daughter Letitia heard you when you rang up to tell us we'd won. I said to her it might not be true, but she said, "They'll be coming, don't worry Dad, they'll be coming."

"She told me to text her to tell her how much we'd won. She wants an iPhone 15 Pro. She's got a 14 Pro, but she wants a 15."

Elaine said, "We'll tell her we've got enough money now to buy her the phone and that's that."

Elaine added, "Our other daughter is getting married in August and our son next year. Both of them have said that they are literally skimping, although the weddings are all booked and paid for."

Former building trade worker Paul - who fancies treating himself to a private car reg and an Omega watch - added, "They've said they've been thinking about not having a reception here and there. But I think they will now. In fact, they definitely will now."

Ab-Sue-Lutely Thrilled

Further along the street, Susan was hoping to win enough to help redecorate her staircase. But the mum-of-three is now planning a brand-new kitchen and a trip to see two of her kids abroad after clocking her £83,333 cheque.

The retired hospital worker and foster mum said, "I thought the prize was going to be about £1,000 and I would get my staircase painted. I thought I could get that sorted and it would still leave me with a few pounds to do some other things with.

"But when I saw the amount, I thought I can get a new kitchen and paint the staircase. I've been thinking about a kitchen for a long, long time. I've been here for 40 years."

Susan told how she suffers from COPD and needs oxygen - and that meant she was wary of travelling abroad to visit her son James in Dubai, and daughter Angela in Perth, Australia.

But the grandmother-of-three is now reconsidering and said, "It would be lovely if I could go and see them and it's now worth having a look into. This gives me options today.

"I'd like to help my children. I would love to be able to say to them, "There you go."

Susan revealed her bumper cheque to her son, James, who was watching 4,700 miles away in Dubai through her webcam doorbell.

She added, "I signed up because Postcode Lottery supports local charities. That's what made me want to do it in the first place. And it's not just one charity, there are all different ones - this helps so many of them.

"But I thought this was going to be a little prize. I'm gobsmacked. I can't believe it. I think I'm dreaming.

"It's a big shock, but a nice shock. Other than having kids, this is the next best day of my life."

Supporting A Range Of Charities

The winners all told how they originally signed up for People's Postcode Lottery because they wanted to support a range of charities.

And because their postcode won, a vital organisation in their area has been awarded £50,000 by Postcode Community Trust.

North Tyneside Disability Forum (NTDF) works with people who are disadvantaged by some aspect of disability, ill health or vulnerability - and is a vital support for the area with more than 52,000 people using the service every year.

Dr Bob Dennis, NTDF chairperson, said, "We're highly valued in the community and have so many people who rely on us for support throughout the year. The funding has arrived at such a critical time and will allow us to launch a recruitment drive for a new administrator."

NTDF, established in 1987, run a busy seven-days-a-week programme for most of the year which includes sports, arts, music and dance sessions, as well as heritage and culture celebrating events. Volunteers also provide workshops focusing on boosting employability skills, as well as giving advice on health and social care.

They also run a salon, as well as a Community Café and a Friends Share Social Supermarket offering good quality foods at subsided costs. On top of this, the charity has garden spaces to help boost wellbeing.

Dr Dennis added, "A number of our service-users stay with us for life, but this gives us a responsibility to be consistent with the level of support we give to our community.

"We've reached a point where we desperately need to lift the weight off the shoulders of our volunteers and a new administrator role will be key to this. Thank you to the players of People's Postcode Lottery."

Some other charities in the Whitley Bay area receiving funding as a result of Saturday's Millionaire Street prize win include:

• North Tyneside Art Studio - £25,000 The charity offers a safe, non-judgmental environment where people can explore their creativity at their own pace, to help improve and sustain good mental health as part of a friendly and welcoming community.

• The Bay Foodbank - £25,000 The food bank was founded in 2012 with the intention of filling a short-term need to help a small number of individuals in North Tyneside.

• NACCOM - £25,000 The No Accommodation Network - later to become known as NACCOM - is a national network of over 130 frontline organisations and charities across the UK, working together to end destitution amongst people seeking asylum, refugees and other migrants who aren't able to access public funds because of their immigration status.

• Acorns (North Tyneside) - £50,000 Acorns offer a range of services to support families affected by domestic abuse in North Tyneside and Northumberland.

• Independent Advocacy North East - £25,000 Independent Advocacy North East enable the voices of vulnerable people to be heard through the provision of a range of independent advocacy services, tailored to the needs of individuals.

• Whitley Bay Big Local - £50,000 Whitley Bag Big Local is a community organisation providing social and leisure activities for local residents.

All funding was awarded by Postcode Community Trust (opens in a new tab).

Millions For Good Causes

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

With People's Postcode Lottery, 33% of the ticket price goes to charities and good causes. To date, players have raised more than £1.2 Billion for thousands of deserving projects across Great Britain, as well as internationally.

What would you do with a big win? If you're not playing yet, learn more about how People's Postcode Lottery works and sign up to play today. There are Prizes announced every day and thousands of winners every week!