A last-minute decision has landed a Cambridgeshire building surveyor a life-changing £125,000 prize after he signed up to the People’s Postcode Lottery on the very last day to qualify for the draw.
Ben Haynes, 28, finally bought his ticket on 31 January — the deadline for entry — after weeks of gentle persuasion from his girlfriend’s dad.
Just days later, Ben and partner Chloe Compton, 24, discovered they were among eight neighbours in Sutton sharing a £1 million Millionaire Street prize when postcode CB6 2GL was announced as a winner on Saturday 21 February.
Each ticket was worth £125,000.
“I was bored and thought, ‘I’ll sign up’,” Ben said. “Then I realised it was the last possible day to do it. Next thing you know, we’re here.
“I thought maybe I’d win enough to go on holiday. I never expected this. This is life-changing for us. It’s the best day we’ve ever had.”
Deadline day decision pays off
Ben’s win is made even more remarkable by the timing. Had he waited 24 hours, he would have missed out entirely.
“It was the last day to sign up for this draw,” he said. “Next thing, I was getting a phone call to say that I’d won. I thought maybe they were calling because my payment hadn’t gone through and wanted me to sign up again. I didn’t believe it.”
The decision to join the lottery came after encouragement from Chloe’s father, who had recently signed up himself.
Estate agent Chloe said: “My dad signed up about a month ago, and when we went round for dinner, he said we should give it a go.”
Ben laughed: “After Chloe’s dad mentioned that he’d signed up, I forgot about it for about three weeks. Luckily, I remembered to do it — just in time. He’ll probably want 50 per cent. But I’ll definitely thank him for the heads up.”
He also had a playful message for his own father. “Me and my dad often joke about our bad luck. I’ve been proved wrong now. I’m going to have to tell him that the unlucky gene stopped with him.”
Travel dreams and pub celebrations
The couple had already booked a trip to Turkey before their win. Now, their travel plans are set to expand dramatically.
“We just want to go everywhere in the world,” Ben said. “This will definitely help us go to as many places as we can.”
Celebrations are likely to begin close to home, with a visit to their local pub in nearby Ely.
Chloe added: “We’ll definitely be expected to buy a couple of rounds.”
Adding to the excitement, the windfall is being shared among neighbours — and even colleagues. Ben discovered that former and current co-workers living on the same street had also scooped £125,000.
“There’s only about 10 of us that work there,” he said. “So yeah, it’s pretty mad.”
House move twist for neighbours
Among the other winners were Megan Jeacock, 29, and her husband Ben, also 29, who lives two doors down. The couple had put their house on the market just four weeks earlier and could have missed out on the prize altogether.
In a remarkable twist, they were told just hours before receiving their cheque that a house they had fallen in love with had received another offer.
“Literally today we’ve been told the house we love has got an offer on it,” Megan said. “So, this will hopefully allow us to put a big enough offer on it. We might not even need to sell our house straight away.”
The couple are hoping to relocate closer to family after five years in Sutton and say the timing could not have been better.
“It’s really funny… to win the lottery on the same day,” her husband said. “What are the chances?”
Other winners on the street included Amy Wheeler, Katie Martin, Florentina Violeta Nica, Simon Pearce and Jackie Morris.
£50k boost for RSPB Ouse Fen
As well as transforming the lives of players, the win has delivered a major boost for local good causes.
Wildlife charity RSPB Ouse Fen has been awarded £50,000 thanks to lottery players. The organisation is working in partnership with Brice Aggregates to transform a working sand and gravel quarry into a vast wetland nature reserve where the River Great Ouse spills into the Cambridgeshire Fens.
Once complete, the site will stretch 700 hectares and include the UK’s largest freshwater reedbed, spanning up to 460 hectares. The reserve already provides essential habitat for threatened species including Bittern, Marsh Harrier, Bearded Tit and Otter.
Iain Wheller, Nature Reserve Manager at RSPB Ouse Fen, said: “It’s absolutely fantastic news that RSPB Ouse Fen has been awarded such generous funding. Thanks to Postcode Lottery players for making this possible.
“Fifty thousand pounds will provide a huge boost to the reserve, enabling us to deliver more vital conservation work in a shorter timeframe and enhance the visitor experience.”
Other local charities benefiting include Age UK Cambridgeshire and Peterborough (£50,000), Home-Start Cambridgeshire (£50,000) and Ely Museum (£30,000).
How People’s Postcode Lottery works
People’s Postcode Lottery costs £12.25 a month to play, with participants entering using their postcode. Players are automatically included in all draws, with Millionaire Street locations announced every Saturday.
The lottery operates on behalf of 20 independent Postcode Trusts and is licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission. Players have raised more than £1.5 billion for thousands of charities and local good causes across Britain.
For Ben and his neighbours in Sutton, a split-second decision on deadline day has turned an ordinary winter into one they will never forget.
