Millionaires row for Holborne Avenue

Living on easy street- rich pickings for Thurso residents as town celebrates £2.1 million win

April showers failed to dampen residents’ spirits as the Highlands town of Thurso celebrated winning People’s Postcode Lottery’s £2.1 million Spring Postcode Rollover. Hundreds of euphoric winners joined spectators, neighbours and friends to discover just how much they’d won- with the full winning postcode of KW 14 7JR, Holborn Avenue sharing a total of over £1 million.

Retired 64 year old Paul Connelly was one of three main winners, pocketing a cool £208,706, which he described as “a nice wee lift- we’ll be going on an exotic family holiday now!”

But it was husband-and-wife duo Mark and Maureen Jamieson who really stole the show, walking away from the event with their combined winnings making them a massive £834,824 the richer.

The delighted pair- both 47- couldn’t hide their shock as presenters Angus Purden and Judie McCourt announced their life changing win. “I’m not sure it’s quite sunk in” Judie explained “Just an hour ago Mark and Maureen had no clue how much they’d won… now they’re near-millionaires!”

Mark and Maureen moved to the area 5 years ago, and have been playing People’s Postcode Lottery “since the beginning”. Maureen described the win as “unreal”, while husband Mark, a joiner, could only stutter “I’m completely overwhelmed!”

It’s more than welcome news to the Jamiesons, who have two sons, Gary, 25 and Ryan, 19. Ryan was part of the celebrations already, playing in the Thurso Pipe Band who piped the winners off the stage, and couldn’t have been more thrilled at his parents luck.

The largest winnings ever to go to a single household in the lottery’s history, the couple explained the money will go towards helping care for eldest son Gary, who suffers from a rare genetic disorder, Prader-Willi syndrome.

Over 200 locals took home Postcode Sector prizes, ranging from just over £1,000 to £417,412. Thurso’s wins represent the largest wins from People’s Postcode Lottery to date. The event- which took place in local park ‘The Dammies’- saw the community of Thurso rocked by the windfall. Emotions ran high and the excitement was tangible as revellers enjoyed entertainment from TV and pop star Darius, complimentary food and drink and a traditional Highlands send-off from Thurso’s very own pipe band.

Darius, who drove through the night to make the show after his London flight was cancelled and had to borrow a guitar from a local hotelier’s brother, "I'm so excited to have been part of such a landmark event. Congratulations to all the winners- don't spend it all at once!"

Fellow presenter Angus expressed his thanks to locals, saying “A huge thank you to everyone who has helped us make today special- and congratulations to all our winners! Remember, playing People’s Postcode Lottery costs just £2 a week and 40p from every ticket goes directly to fantastic charities in Scotland. With over 500 postcodes winning every week, it’s not uncommon for us for the same postcode to win several times! I hope we’ll be back in Thurso with our weekly £30,000 Street Prize very soon- see you then!”

Local benefitting charities Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres, CHILDREN 1ST, Missing People (in Scotland), Scottish Wildlife Trust and People’s Postcode Trust were also present on the day, and expressed their gratitude at players support- amounting to over £5 million to date