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More than 1,400 neighbours in a Kent postcode are today collecting their share of an £11.2 million jackpot after winning the People’s Postcode Lottery.
Residents living in the CT14 9 postcode in Deal eagerly arrived at Walmer Green today to receive their golden envelopes to find out how much they had won.
They were told they would receive a minimum of £1,000 each but many were ecstatic to find they had won much more.
Ninety-three-year-old Fraser Greenwell was handed a cheque for £12,226 which he says he will split between his five grandchildren.
Mr Greenwell collected his cheque today with his friends, some of whom sing with him in the Kellet Gut sea shanty band which raises money for Walmer RNLI.
They celebrated with a song in the winner's tent as a warm-up for their gig tonight.
Winner Harriet Fox today found out she had won £6,113, some of which she hopes to spend on her mother’s 100th birthday next week.
The 58-year-old said: “I thought I would get a thousand pounds which is brilliant anyway, so to get this is amazing.
“I have no idea what I’ll spend it on, but my mum’s 100 next weekend so I’ll probably host the lunch party.
“She knows she's having a party but she doesn't know we’re helping to fund it now.
“Some will probably go towards my next holiday, we want to go to Italy.
“It's great for Deal, people have been down in the dumps with the local economy, so this will give people a real boost, it's perfect as it's coming up to Christmas.”
Veronica Belsey can now treat herself to a new conservatory roof after her winning ticket also landed her more than £6,000.
“I haven't stopped shaking since Thursday,” she said.
“As soon as we found out, everyone in Mill Hill has been talking about it.
“This is going straight on the conservatory, anything left will be for Christmas.
“We're going to celebrate by taking the kids over to Betteshanger Bowling Club.”
The full winning postcode will be revealed at 5pm this afternoon with players in the area set to expect prizes of up to nearly £400,000.
The staggering £11.2 million sum is the second biggest prize ever to be given away by the Postcode Lottery’s Millions competition.
Debby Brown went to collect her prize with her daughter Georgia, 22, and celebrated by taking her children out for breakfast.
The 64-year-old said: “It’s like Christmas has come all at once.
“The run-up to this has been so exciting.
“We will go on holiday somewhere hot, probably Turkey and Benidorm.”
Karen Crossland said she couldn’t sleep after finding out she was a winner on Thursday.
She went to collect her cheque with her son Morgan Beevers, 24, who was also a winner.
“My daughter has a wedding coming up and I've got a new grandson so I'm sure it will all be spent,” said Ms Crossland.
“At first I didn't believe it because nothing ever comes down this way, but when we realised other people had invitations we knew it was real.”
Husband and wife Jeremy and Tracy Fitzsimmons will put some of their winnings towards a cruise.
Mrs Fitzsimmons said: “We are ecstatic, we thought maybe we would win a thousand pounds, we didn't expect anything like this.
“We have booked a cruise to Norway next year so it will come in handy to pay for that and we will share some between our three children.
“They are saving for houses and one wants to learn to drive.
“It’s great for Deal, people have had lots of hardship in the past and this brings everyone together and spreads a bit of cheer.”
Mr Fitzsimmons says he hopes to celebrate by going for a nice cup of tea.
The lottery is subscription based and raises money for worthy causes.
Today, dozens of residents in Medway are also celebrating after winning the Postcode Lottery’s weekly Millionaire Street prize.
It is not the first time Kent residents have scooped the lottery’s monthly ‘Postcode Millions’ prize.
Those in ME7 3TG in Shepherd's Gate, Hempstead, Gillingham, were this week’s lucky winners and took home thousands in prize money.
Ambassador Jeff Brazier visited the neighbours to celebrate their winnings.
In the last two years, more than 1,600 people in Rochester and Chatham scooped a combined £12.1 million in lottery winnings.
Rochester neighbours shared £8.4m when their postcode ME3 7 bagged the jackpot in December 2021.
Less than four months after Rochester’s win, Chatham won £3.7 million.
A total of 1,100 players in ME5 9 shared the whopping windfall with the biggest winners in Oakhurst Close taking home £185,000 for every ticket they held.