30 May 2020
Share this story
697 people in Reading will be celebrating after sharing a £3 million prize pot. Their postcode sector, RG2 8, was announced as the winner of People’s Postcode Lottery’s monthly Postcode Millions prize.
Those playing in the full winning postcode, RG2 8NZ, netted the largest share of the £3 million.
Two neighbours each received a cheque for £199,727 and a third winner, playing with two tickets doubled their winnings - recieving £399,454.
The good news came via video calls with People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador Jeff Brazier.
Zoe Glancy, 31, was joined by husband Russell, 30, 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 mum to Keira, 6, Jacob, 4, and Henry, 1, and plans to spoil her whole family with this win.
"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," said Zoe.
Zoe and Russell had initially considered carrying out some renovations on their current house but now have some new plans following their win,
"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," said Russell.
Zoe added: "A new house would be great, but we would also really love to take the children to Disney Land 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 decided to celebrate with a take-away and champagne.
Next up to receive their cheque was teacher, Amy Ellis, 32, who was accepting the cheque on behalf of her husband Daniel, 38, a senior nurse at Royal Berkshire Hospital.
Amy was at home with eight-month-old daughter, Mia when Jeff called to tell her 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."
With Daniel at work, Amy wasn’t expecting to be able to tell him about the win until later that day but was surprised when he joined 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’s finished maternity leave, has already started thinking about what else they will use the money for.
Saying, "This has really come at the perfect time. We’d love to do some work to the house and treat Mia."
Daniel explained what made him sign up to play People’s Postcode Lottery.
"I wanted to find an easy way to give something back to charities and the fact that we could also win was great."
The third winner, who also won £199,727, chose to remain anonymous.
The other 694 winners from Reading received cheques ranging from £2,771 up to £11,084, depending on how many tickets they play with.
People’s Postcode Lottery costs £10 a month and there are guaranteed winners every day. People play with their chosen postcode and are automatically entered into all draws.
People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador 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!"
It’s not just players who win with People’s Postcode Lottery, good causes win too. With a minimum of 32% from each ticket going to charity, players have raised more than £500 million for thousands of charities and good causes.
This month’s Postcode Millions draw was held on behalf of Postcode Innovation Trust, which supports charities to deliver innovative, impactful, and engaging projects across Britain.
Local charities in Reading have benefitted from funding raised by players too. 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 received £9,153 last year to run group exercise classes for adults with learning disabilities. The classes help participants keep fit whilst also improving their mental well-being.