'A little gift from my brother’: Penkridge mum’s tears after £76,923 lottery win

Family holidays and retirement plans are in the offing for 12 lucky neighbours who scooped a combined £1 million win by playing the Postcode Lottery’s Millionaire Street.

The winners who all have addresses in Norman Road in Penkridge each won a slice £76,923 slice of the shared winnings after buying tickets.

Among them is mother-of-three Kelly Robinson who burst into tears when prize presenter Judie McCourt popped round to ring doorbells.

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Kelly, aged 44, says she’s convinced her beloved younger brother Nathan is watching over her since he tragically passed away last year, aged 40. She and partner Micky Withington are hoping to spend their win on a family break in Mexico. And transform the garage into a room for their 16-year-old son Mason.

“It’s a little gift from my brother to let me know he’s still there. I lost him last year and I swear it’s him. I feel like his presence is with me and that he’s helped me get this. He’s always been a massive part of my life.

“There was even a little robin outside the house when I took the phone call telling me I’d won,” she says.

“We weren’t going on holiday this year, but the dream would be to go back to Mexico. We went last year and the kids loved it.”

Kelly shared £1m with 12 other neighbours after ST19 5EX landed the lottery’s weekly Millionaire Street prize on Saturday August 29.

Micky, adriver, says: “I can’t believe it. I promised myself I wasn’t going to cry as well. This is life changing. It beats my tax rebate. We thought about cancelling it a few weeks ago, but we stuck it out and now we’ve won.” “I might run down the street naked holding the cheque.”

“We’ll convert the garage as an extra bedroom for our son, Mason.”

“We’ll also have a nice special meal and book a holiday. But we can’t drink too much because we’ve got hot yoga later tonight,” Micky added.

There were also tears directly next door when lottery ambassador Judie surprised car firm worker Eric McConnell, aged 76, as he fixed his car in the driveway of his semi.

The car firm worker is now finally planning a fun-filled retirement with wife Cath, aged 74.

Eric says: “There’s not that much money in the world, is there? I’ve been doing the lottery for a long time and see other people win. It’s honestly staggering. It’s got to be a joke. I think retirement is definitely on the cards It’s unbelievable. I’ve worked in the motor trade for more years than I care to remember.

“We’re well overdue for a holiday. We’ve not had one for two years and I’ve had plans in the back of my mind because Cath’s health has deteriorated a bit.

“We’re not massive, big spenders. We can enjoy the rest of our lives, spend more time together and do things we’ve wanted to do for a long time and never bothered. It’s become lists that you wouldn’t believe. A new kitchen, holiday, I might get a new car or a new motorbike instead. And we’ll look after our son and grandson.”

Great-grandparents Pauline and Roger Wallace, aged 81 and 87 respectively, returned to her former street for the first time in four years to collect her windfall after keeping a ticket at her old address and says: “I’ve got two tickets at my new address and one at the old one here. It’s a damn good job I kept it.

“I said to the lady at the Postcode Lottery that it would be just our luck if we moved and it won, but she said we could keep it and that's why we did. We’ll take the family out. My granddaughter wants a house, so some will go to help her with that.

“We’re just back from Menorca. Roger has always wanted to go to Hawaii, but we might just see what the family want to do.”

HR software consultant Matthew Logan, aged 39, was on a family break in Cornwall when he got a call to say he’d won. He says: “They called when we were on holiday in Cornwall. There was no signal and I was frantically trying to get one.

“We normally go camping in Cornwall for two weeks, but next year we’d like to do a cottage. Now we can get a nicer cottage than originally planned. There are little bits round the house that we’d like to do. I can pay someone to decorate.”

Meanwhile his wife Kirsty, aged 45, has her sights set on replacing their Ford which has 182,000 miles on the clock. Kirsty says: “That’s not something that happens every day. We’ve never had anything like that.

“Our car outside is pretty old and kind of starting to die. It’s due for an upgrade. It was on the list of things that we might need to do.”

Another winner Sandra Lawley, aged 58, a sales worker, was left speechless when she landed her £76,923. She wants to replace her 14-year-old Renault Megane and take daughter Hayley Lawley, aged 38, a police admin worker, on holiday.

Sandra says: “The car is broken, so I need a new one. But I won’t be spending it all on a new one. A cruise with my daughter would be great. We did a cruise for my 50th and her 30th to the Med, but we’ve always wanted to do the Norwegian fjords."

“If I want to, I can treat myself to a whole new wardrobe. I’ve recently lost two stone in weight,” Sandra adds

Kim and Stephen Hyde, aged 60 and 63 respectively, will plan more holidays as they edge towards retirement. Mother-of-three Kim, an administrator, explains: “We’ve got a cruise booked for next year. Maybe a few more cruises and we might go to the Caribbean.

“We’re hoping to retire in a few years. This will be going towards that. It’s going to make a massive difference. Just to enjoy life now. Go on holidays, relax and have a fab time.”

The neighbours also nominated several local charities for lottery grants raised by players.

The Midlands Air Ambulance Charity will receive £100,000; Stafford’s Katharine House Hospice £80,000; food project House of Bread £30,000; animal rescue Brighter Days Rescue - £20,000; Penkridge Peace Memorial Hall £10,000; and 15th Stafford (Penkridge) Scout Group £10,000.

The air ambulance charity’s chief operating officer Emma Gray says: “This generous funding will help us continue providing critical care to seriously ill and injured patients, while ensuring our crews have the specialist equipment, training and resources needed to respond at a moment's notice. We are incredibly grateful for this support and extend our sincere thanks to Postcode Lottery players.”