The UK’s Postcode Lottery has started to get hugely popular recently – giving players the chance to win life-changing amounts of money, simply for registering their postcode. Unlike the standard lotteries – like the National Lottery and the various other games you’ll find on UK sites to play lottery games, this one creates big groups of winners.
This is a lottery where neighbours get to share the excitement – and the money – and in the years it has been around, there have been some seriously big winners.
Here, we’ll take a look at some of those people who were lucky enough to have someone knocking at the door and ringing the bell!
Celebrations in Hull
One of the biggest ever Postcode Lottery wins happened in Hull in 2020, when lucky players in the HU7 postcode enjoyed a share of the massive £3 million jackpot. This win proved to be a huge boost for the community – with over 400 neighbours getting to celebrate their unexpected windfall together. Although the individual prizes varied depending on the number of tickets that each player had, some lucky punters won more than £100,000.
Middlesbrough Enjoyed a Record-Breaking Win
That next year, in January 2021, players living in the TS5 postcode in Middlesbrough enjoyed a share of the jaw-dropping £7.9 million prize – which set a whole new record for the Postcode Lottery. The win, however, was spread across hundreds of households – but the top winners walked away with a very nice £379,062. This managed to turn an ordinary day into one of the most extraordinary moments for the whole community.
One of the winners was a retired couple who were more than happy to share their excitement about the fact that it meant that they’d be better able to financially support their children and grandchildren. Another lucky winner, a single mother, was thrilled that it would give her much more financial freedom which meant she’d be able to give her young family a better future.
A Big Scottish Jackpot in Bishopbriggs
A couple of years previous to this, in 2019, Bishopbriggs near Glasgow became the centre of attention after G64 players all won a share of the £3.2 million jackpot. Hundreds of residents were lucky enough to celebrate their good fortune together – and the biggest winners walked away with more than £200,000 each.
For many, winning so big meant they could finally tick off items on their bucket lists – whether it be a dream trip to Australia or long-overdue home renovations. The atmosphere in the neighbourhood was undeniable!
Surprise Surprise in Devon
Devon has also seen its share of pretty solid wins. In 2022, the EX39 postcode enjoyed a very nice £4.1 million prize, with numerous winners getting six-figure sums deposited into their accounts. Amongst these lucky players was a young couple who had been saving for their first home and a retired teacher who decided to use her winnings to see the world.
Unsurprisingly, this big win managed to attract a lot of media attention – and the stories of how the huge wins changed so many lives got a lot of people talking and lots of people signing up… hoping that one day it might be them!
Changing People’s Lives… Forever
Although it’s the size of the prizes that tends to grab the headlines, this is different from everything else that we know, as the Postcode Lottery is done in a way that means players aren’t just competing with other people, but they actually get to celebrate and pop that champagne cork with their neighbours. It offers much more camaraderie and collective joy than any other lottery format out there.
That being said, the Postcode Lottery doesn’t just change the lives of the lucky players who win, it also makes a huge impact on the various charities it contributes to win. A percentage of every ticket that’s sold is donated to a variety of different charities and good causes, not just in the UK, but beyond. To date, the lottery has raised literally hundreds of millions of pounds for charity… so everyone’s a big winner!