A huge group of neighbours in Coventry have had a cracking start to the Easter weekend after winning £3million on the People’s Postcode Lottery.

The CV3 5JZ postcode was revealed as March’s lucky winner and more than 650 Cheylesmore residents picked up a share of the money.

Of those, seven lived in the exact postcode in Cecily Road and each pocketed a cool £214,285.

Among those was Avtar Virk, a 59-year-old taxi driver and his seamstress wife Jarnail, also 59, who both play People’s Postcode Lottery.

This meant they won a whopping £428,570, as each of them received a cheque for the top prize amount.

People's Postcode Lottery winners Jarnail and Avtar Singh Virk in Cecily Road, Coventry, along with lottery ambassador Matt Johnson.

Avtar said: “We expected a few thousand pounds but it was a real shock to discover just how much we’ve won. You don’t expect that amount of money in a lifetime!

"The money means we can get someone to decorate our new extension."

"It’s an incredible amount"

Another winner was Carol Houghton, who turns 61 on Tuesday, meaning this is a very welcome early birthday present.

Carol has only been playing People’s Postcode Lottery for two months but is now celebrating the win along with her wife Amanda, and said: “It’s an incredible amount of money to win. It means we can buy a house and move to Spain later this year.

People's Postcode Lottery winners in Cecily Road, Coventry. (LtoR) Lottery ambassador Matt Johnson, Arti Sharma, Avtar Singh Virk, Ann Lines, Carol Houghton and another ambassador Judie McCourt.
People's Postcode Lottery winners in Cecily Road, Coventry. (LtoR) Lottery ambassador Matt Johnson, Jarnail and Avtar Virk, Ann Lines, Carol Houghton and another ambassador Judie McCourt.

"I find playing People’s Postcode Lottery incredibly worthwhile as you’re helping to support a whole host of different charities.”

Ann Lines also has a huge smile on her face thanks to her £214,000 win.

The 59-year-old retail assistant stated: “I’m going to be able to buy my family home and it’s always been my dream to take the whole family on a safari holiday to Kenya – it’ll be the trip of a lifetime, that’s now going to be possible.”

Meanwhile, other players of the People’s Postcode Lottery with the first four digits of the Cheylesmore postcode - CV3 5 - were today handed cheques ranging from £2,089 to £6,267.

Ann Lines was one of seven lucky winners in Cecily Road, Coventry, of the People's Postcode Lottery.
Ann Lines was one of seven lucky winners in Cecily Road, Coventry, of the People's Postcode Lottery.

The winning presentations were carried out by Judie McCourt and Matt Johnson, People’s Postcode Lottery ambassadors, who were pounding the pavements and knocking on doors today to surprise some of the winners with their cheques.

Not the first time...

This month’s win signals a lucky fourth triumph for Postcode Lottery players throughout Coventry.

The city’s winning streak started in 2016 when 77 residents celebrated a multi-million-pound prize win, followed a year later by two lucky neighbours scooping £30,000 in winnings each.

And just last week, five Binley Woods neighbours woke up to good news after their postcode was drawn as the winner of People’s Postcode Lottery Daily Prize.

Four of the Craven Avenue winners pocketed £1,000 each, with one lucky resident scooping £2,000 thanks to playing with two tickets.

A minimum of 32 per cent of every ticket goes to charity and so far players of People’s Postcode Lottery have raised more than £282million for more than 4,000 charities and good causes.

National music charity Youth Music thanked and congratulated the players of People’s Postcode Lottery from Coventry on their win.

Players of the lottery have already raised £1,175,000 for Youth Music, which helps young people explore their creativity, achieve their ambitions, and develop resilience in the face of challenges including disability, poverty and mental health issues.

It has 350 projects, including the Positive Youth Foundation in Coventry, which was visited recently by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Matt Griffiths, CEO, Youth Music said: “All across the country, players of People’s Postcode Lottery are helping us to provide music-making opportunities for children and young people in challenging circumstances enabling them to reach their full potential.

"As we can see from the great work being done by the Positive Youth Foundation and other projects in West Midlands, there is a positive benefit to the local community and we’re indebted to players of People’s Postcode Lottery for their contribution.”

For more information on People’s Postcode Lottery click here .

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