Welsh neighbours in tears after finding out they just won £1m on the Postcode Lottery

A pensioner is flying off for a special sunshine Christmas after winning £250,000 in the Postcode Lottery £250k. Carol Collings from Landysul in Ceredigion, says she’ll “turbo charge” the festive family break in Fuerteventura with her share of the £1m pot won by neighbours.

Carol, 64, was planning a break at her bolthole in Fuerteventura with husband Steve, 72, and her sister when she bagged the festive fortune. The retired health and safety officer said: “Oh my God! Wow! That’s fantastic. This is certainly money I’ve not had in my bank before.

“It will be a very nice Christmas, I can assure you of that. For all of us, it is going to be an extra special Christmas," she said. You can get more story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.

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“We’re going to Fuerteventura for Christmas, and my sister is coming with us. We don’t like the cold so we try and get away out of the winter. It will help with the holiday and a few nice meals out.

“Hopefully it will be warm and sunny and we’ll try and get a good Christmas lunch somewhere.”

Carol celebrated her windfall with three other neighbours in Llandysul after SA44 6JZ scooped Postcode Lottery’s weekly £1m Millionaire Street prize on Saturday 7 December. Every ticket was worth £250,000.

The stepmum started playing Postcode Lottery to help charities. She has already pledged her support to a Fuerteventura cat rescue organisation she volunteers with.

She said: “Part and parcel of doing Postcode Lottery is helping to give something back to other organisations. I wanted to do it because of the charity element because that is so important.

“I help a cat charity In Fuerteventura and they will benefit as well. It’s one guy who looks after a lot of cats by himself. It’s the only charity on the island that takes cats in.”

She revealed that her husband’s has his eye on buying an electric Cupra too. unned Steve – who has two children and six grandchildren - said: “It would be for our place in Fuerteventura. An electric car is more appropriate for the small island.” The couple are also now thinking of a trip to Goa next year with their winnings.

But first there are plans for a local celebration with the winning community.

Carol said: “When I got the phone call I spent all day thinking about what I might have won. I thought maybe £10,000…that would be very nice.

“I’m extremely excited. It means an awful lot to me. I’m speechless, it’s fantastic. It’s not something that you imagine will ever happen to you.

“I’m sure the neighbours that have also won will be as delighted as I am. We’ll be going to the local club tonight and it will be drinks all round. It’s exciting for the community.”

A mile away, Liam Evans, 32, choked back tears after his £250,000 cheque was revealed – then got a huge hug from emotional mum Tracey, 60, when he showed her his winnings.

Now he’s planning a family Christmas to remember – and making a dream come true for his son Theodore, five. The holiday park customer relations manager said: “Santa will definitely be coming this year. I think the whole family will be having a treat this Christmas. I don’t want to say too much because my mum can hear, but surprises will come this year.

“I’ve already got a couple of holidays booked for next year and I’ll add another couple to that. My son goes on about Disney all the time, so Disney will now be on the cards next year. Whether it will be France or Florida, I don’t know yet.

“I’ll take my parents, too. To be honest, my mum is massively into family. For her to be able to see my son do something like that would be great.”

Liam is also thinking of treating himself to a new car, maybe an Audi S3.

His mum Tracey, head of district nursing in the area, said “I can’t believe it. I’m just so made up for him. He’s a young man and works really hard. This will be amazing.”

Liam signed up for Postcode Lottery because of the charity element and is bowled over at winning with his neighbours. The dad-of-one - who was getting ready to go back to work - said: “I don’t know what to say. I’m completely flabbergasted. This means such a lot to me. It’s a life-changing amount of money.

“I’ve played for years and years. I used to play when I lived in Cardiff and swapped postcodes when I came here. I didn’t sleep very well last night. I was up most of the night and my parents were as well.

He added: “It feels great to win as part of the community. Spread the love, as they say. I’m very happy for everyone.

“I like the fact that you support local charities and there’s a chance to win at the same time.”

arol and Liam’s win has meant that local charities have also benefitted from their Millionaire Street prize.

One local organisation, Sea Watch Foundation, has been awarded £100,000 by Postcode Community Trust.

The charity, which has a field office in Newquay – close to the winners’ homes - carries out vital research to improve the conservation and protection of whales, dolphins and porpoises in UK waters.

The Cardigan Bay Monitoring Project is the flagship project of the charity which is operated out of the New Quay field office.

The initiative is one of the longest running monitoring schemes in Europe, with the charity having spent a quarter of a century studying Welsh bottlenose dolphins.

Sea Watch Foundation has also maintained a UK-wide citizen science project since the 1970s.

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