A RETIRED NHS worker has scooped a huge year-long jackpot on the People’s Postcode Lottery.
Meg Carr, 69, won the £12,000-a-month for a year and said it is “dream making.”
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Scarily, the mum-of-five from North Yorkshire admitted to having “palpitations” before finding out she had bagged the staggering amount.
She said: “I had palpitations all morning and now they’ve gone. My heart was coming out of my chest.
“It’s just amazing and the weirdest sensation. I’m elated and feel like a kid in a sweet shop.
“This sort of money every month is dream-making.”
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Meg was presented with her prize after LS25 6HW was this month’s winner of Postcode Lottery’s “An Unforgettable Year”.
Every ticket was worth £12,000 a month for a year.
Meg said they would celebrate their windfall with a night out – and hinted at a big party for her 70th later this year.
She said: “Tonight, we’ll be going for a steak and a bottle of champers. I’ve got a big birthday coming up in August.
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“We’re going to get a marquee and a band and have everyone here.”
An excited Meg, who now works as a dog courier, also revealed her incredible plans to spend the winning amount.
I was so excited by my £400,000 winning lottery scratchcard I left it in the shop
She said she wants to treat herself and hubby Andy, 53, to a “bucket list” tour of Japan.
“We were already planning to take a trip to Japan this year,” she said.
“It’s been on the bucket list for quite some time. It’s a place we’ve both wanted to see.”
“We’ll fly business class and go straight to Japan. We want to do the bullet train, Mount Fuji, see the monkeys and the cherry blossom trees.”
“That’s the first £12,000 gone!”
But Meg and a plus one will also be able to choose from a series of unforgettable experiences – in Britain or abroad.
They include a seven-day safari to Kenya with Fauna & Flora International, a Brazilian rainforest visit with WWF and excursions to a national park in Mozambique or South Africa with Peace Parks Foundation.
Closer to home, she could opt for a five-star trip to Edinburgh with a VIP experience at the zoo courtesy of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.
Meg also said she will donate money to some of her favourite charities including Cherished Gowns UK, who make burial gowns for babies.
“Some of this money will go to charities that I support. I used to knit clothes for African charities.
“Now I’ve found a charity which converts bridal dresses into burial gowns for stillborn babies.”
Meg’s husband Andy, who is an HGV driver, said he wants a new digger to help transform the land they have around their converted farmhouse, including the rutted track leading to their home.
He said: “I want an excavator to do some work around here now.
“The track at the moment is dreadful. I’d like a Volvo or a CAT with a loading shovel.
This sort of money every month is dream-making
Meg
“When we bought this place I had a 20-tonne excavator.”
Meg added: “Working the land is very time-consuming if you have to do it by hand.”
The lucky winner told how she retired as a radiographer with the NHS after 43 years – only to find a new career shuttling dogs across the globe.
She has now travelled the equivalent of five times around the world through the First Class Canine Travel business she started in 2018 – and is part of a network of French Bulldog breeders.
Her deliveries have taken her across Europe, 38 states in America, Trinidad, Vietnam, Korea and Puerto Rico.
The family had lived in the secluded home until 1992 when they were forced out after British Coal successfully got a compulsory purchase order.
The property was bricked up and left derelict for 22 years until the couple finally managed to buy it back – and have been transforming it ever since.
Meg, who will use some of her winnings on a new shower, said: “It was heartbreaking to leave.
“We had a dream for this place, and they didn’t allow it.
“But we never stopped asking to buy it back. And when they said we could have it, it was amazing.
“The windows were all bricked up and some kids had set fire to part of it. But, apart from that, it was exactly as we’d left.
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“The wallpaper is still on the walls and the kids’ stickers are still on the bedroom doors.
“It was very strange.”
How does the People’s Postcode Lottery work?
ACCORDING to the official website, players sign up with their postcode and pay £12 per month.
They are automatically entered into every draw and prizes are announced every day of the month.
Tickets play for prizes every day of the week – from Monday to Sunday, a ticket could win £1,000 each day in the Daily Prize.
Tickets could also win a jackpot of £30,000 in Saturday and Sunday’s Street Prize draws.
People’s Postcode Lottery also offer a £3 Million Postcode Millions draw each month – and your ticket plays for a share of a £3 Million cash prize fund.
Winners are notified by email, SMS message, mail or phone call depending on the prize they win.
Jackpot winners are visited by the lottery team in person.
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