Readies For Reading

697 people from Reading are in the money after their postcode sector, RG2 8, was announced as the winner of May's Postcode Millions prize during a special Facebook Live video.

The biggest prizes of the day were won by those playing with the full winning postcode of RG2 8NZ. Two lucky neighbours each scooped a cheque for £199,727, while a third doubled their prize to £399,454 as they play with two tickets. They found out about their wins on video calls with People's Postcode Lottery Presenter Jeff Brazier.

Takeaway And Champagne

Zoe was joined by her husband Russell to find out she had won an amazing £399,454 thanks to her two tickets. Zoe said, "I can't believe this! Things like this don't happen to people like us. We're grafters and have always worked hard for everything we have so to win this kind of money is just unbelievable."

Zoe, who works alongside Russell in his construction business, is also mum to three children and plans to spoil her whole family with this win. She said, "We'll obviously treat the kids just now but it's also really important for us to be able to put some money away for their future. This money means we'll be able to give them such a great start."

The couple had initially considered carrying out some renovations on their current house but now have some new plans following their win. Russell said, "We love this house but as the family has grown we need more space and this win will definitely help us buy a new house with a bigger garden for the children." Zoe added, "A new house would be great, but we would also really love to take the children to Disneyland in Florida so hopefully next year we'll be jetting off on a family holiday to America!"

Zoe signed up to play People's Postcode Lottery because of the money that goes to charities. She said, "We didn't sign up to win, we did it to be able to give to the huge number of good causes that People's Postcode Lottery support. It's not just people like us that can win, it's the charities that are winning too."

Despite their win Russell will be going back to work but the couple have decided to celebrate tonight with a takeaway and champagne. 

NHS Worker Wins

Next up to receive a prize was teacher Amy who accepted the cheque on behalf of her husband Daniel, a senior nurse at the Royal Berkshire Hospital. Amy was at home with her 8-month-old daughter when Jeff gave her a call to tell her that Daniel had won £199,727. Amy said, "This is just amazing! I can't believe we've won this amount of money - I wish I had someone to hug right now."

As Daniel was working, Amy didn't expect to be able to tell him about their win until later that day but was surprised when he managed to join the call and was able to share the news with him right away. Daniel said, "Oh my gosh, this is just fantastic. We never expected to win this amount of money. It's Amy's birthday today and we'd planned to have a small celebration tonight but now we've got even more of a reason to be celebrating.

"We'll definitely have a big party when we're able to see everyone again and my parents live in Spain so we're desperate to get over to Alicante to see them." 

Amy, who has just finished her maternity leave, has already started thinking about what else they will use the money for. She said, "This has really come at the perfect time. We'd love to do some work to the house and also treat Mia."

Dan explained what made him sign up to play People's Postcode Lottery. He said, "I wanted to find an easy way to give something back to Charities and the fact that we could also win was great."

Our remaining 694 winners shared the rest of the prize money. Those with one ticket in the winning sector received cheques for £2,771, while those with two tickets received £5,542. 13 neighbours played with three tickets and received £8,313, and one resident played with four tickets and won £11,084!

Jeff Brazier said, "Congratulations to Zoe and Daniel, and to all the other winners in Reading! I would have loved to have been able to present our winners with their cheques in person, but it was so great to meet them virtually and it sounds like they've all got exciting plans for their winnings. I hope all of our winners have the chance to celebrate this weekend and share the news with their family and friends.

"It's such a shame that we're not able to meet all our Postcode Millions winners at the moment but we'd still love to hear from them. When you receive your cheque, share a picture with us on social media and let us know how you're going to spend the money!" 

Thousands Of Deserving Projects

Our players are raising funds for charities and good causes across Britain and around the world. To date, People's Postcode Lottery players have raised more than £500 Million for more than 7,500 deserving projects and organisations. That support is changing lives and making a huge difference every single day.

This month's Postcode Millions draw was held on behalf of Postcode Innovation Trust, which supports charities who wish to deliver innovative, impactful and engaging projects across Britain.

Local charities in Reading have benefited from funding raised by players, too. Last year, The Living Paintings Trust received £10,000 for their Touch to See Books project, allowing them to create a free library of books designed for visually-impaired children. Reading Mencap also received £9,153 to run group exercise classes for adults with learning disabilities. The classes help participants keep fit while also improving their mental wellbeing.

Not playing yet? If you haven't signed up, you're missing out on all the fun. It couldn't be easier to join - it only takes two minutes. Find out How It Works and see the range of Prizes you could win. Why not sign up to play? You don't want to miss out on a prize if your postcode gets picked.