Judy and Scott Eastwood were among three Deal residents to win £392,417 (Picture: Andrew Parsons/Parsons Media)
With a leaky roof, a boiler on the blink and winter fast approaching, Judy Eastwood is the first to admit that October’s been challenging.
But now, she’s not just planning some household repairs but a holiday – or three – thanks to a big win on People’s Postcode Lottery.
Because Judy, 57, was one of just three people in her road in Deal, Kent, who scooped the top prize – £392,417 – in this month’s People’s Postcode Lottery draw.
Even better, her next-door neighbours and good friends Richard Clements and Sue Lally also won the same amount.
‘Wow,’ said Judy, who was close to tears when she saw the amount. ‘I knew we’d won something but didn’t expect to get the big cheque.’
Despite playing the lottery for years, Judy and partner Scott Wood only moved to Deal 20 months ago and still have a lot to do to their new house.
The couple were overjoyed at the news (Picture: Andrew Parsons/Parsons Media)
‘We’ve had a heating engineer out three times this week and he told us the boiler was on its last legs!’ laughed Judy, an executive assistant for a finance company. ‘Now we don’t have to save up for a new one!’
But after a bigger than expected Christmas, they’ll be taking off on their beloved holidays thanks to their huge cheque.
‘Scott’s just had a knee op which has stopped us going away this year,’ she explained.
‘I’m an Elvis fan so I’d like to do a Memphis, Nashville and New Orleans trip and Scott’s always wanted to do Alaska. And we’d been talking about taking his 19-year-old son Kody and his girlfriend Sophie to Florida next year too.’
They plan to spend their winnings on home renovations and travel (Picture: Andrew Parsons/Parsons Media)
When the couple moved into their semi in London Road, Deal – the winning street – the first people they met were next-door neighbours Richard and Sue.
‘The moving truck had just left the drive when they knocked on the door with a takeaway menu for us and said they going to the pub and we were welcome to join them,’ said Judy. ‘We did and they were so lovely – they introduced us to everybody.”’
Richard and Sue were away visiting family in Hertfordshire when Judy discovered how much they’d both won, so she video called them to reveal the amount instead.
‘I’m gutted they’re not here, it would’ve been lovely to share it with them,’ she added.
1,400 people in Deal were winners in the draw (Picture: Andrew Parsons/Parsons Media)
Instead, Judy and Scott hit the town on Saturday night for a glass of bubbly or two with fellow winners.
They know many of the 1,400 ‘Golden Ticket’ holders in the seaside town, who each pocketed over £6,000 thanks to their winning postcode area – CT14 9 – landing the £11.2m prize.
‘Deal will be rocking today because everyone will be out celebrating,’ said Judy. ‘And because the money is spread out, everyone will benefit as we’ll all be buying drinks and meals and getting jobs done indoors.’
With so many winners in one small place, word of who’d won soon got round.
When seafood lover John Baker and his wife Anne stopped off to buy a tub of his beloved cockles at the Deal Shellfish Stall to celebrate their £6,113 prize, they discovered owner Tina Allen had also been lucky.
John and Anne Baker stopped off for a treat after their win, only to find out whelk seller Tina Allen had also nabbed a prize (Picture: Andrew Parsons/Parsons Media)
The 67-year-old held two tickets so scooped £12,226 – money she’s planning to use to fly to Illinois in the US next year to see her son Stuart and toddler grandson Louis for the first time in over a year.
Multiple players in a family also took home large cash prizes. ‘Nanny’ Annie Ambrose, 78, her son Mark Ambrose, 53, and her son-in-law Jason Chappell, 52, each pocketed £6,113.
Perhaps the oldest winner was 93-year-old Fraser Greenwell, a retired mining engineer, who won a whopping £12,226 with his two lottery tickets.
Tina plans to use part of her winnings to fly to Illinois in the US next year (Picture: Andrew Parsons/Parsons Media)
Fraser still performs regularly with his sea shanty band Kellet Gut to raise funds for local charities and was joined by a few of his fellow performers to collect his cheque.
He said: ‘I’ve got five grandchildren so I’m going to make sure I treat them all. I’ll also make sure me and my friends have a couple of cocktails this afternoon at the pub to celebrate.’
Another fundraiser who’d had a much-deserved stroke of luck was care home manager Jo Allen, who also collected £6,113.
She recently completed a 75km trek across the Jordanian desert to raise £18,000 for the Breast Cancer Now charity.
Jo said: ‘We’ve got a big family holiday coming up so it’s amazing timing to win this money.’
After a challenging month financially, Judy Eastwood took home a £392,417 prize.
