Video; Mansfield couple win nearly £200,000 on People's Postcode Lottery

A Mansfield couple are celebrating after winning almost £200,000 in the People's Postcode Lottery
Mansfield couple Chris and Shona Vasper hug each other after winning £194,229 in the postcode Lottery.Mansfield couple Chris and Shona Vasper hug each other after winning £194,229 in the postcode Lottery.
Mansfield couple Chris and Shona Vasper hug each other after winning £194,229 in the postcode Lottery.

Chris and Shona Vasper were among around 500 prizewinners sharing a total of £3 million in the NG183 postcode area.

They won the top prize of £194,229 after a nail-biting finale held this morning in a marquee in Fisher Lane Park packed with lucky local winners.

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Dad of two Chris 53, said: ”This is amazing - it is a life changing amount of money.

Mansfield couple Chris and Shona Vasper hug each other after winning £194,229 in the postcode Lottery.Mansfield couple Chris and Shona Vasper hug each other after winning £194,229 in the postcode Lottery.
Mansfield couple Chris and Shona Vasper hug each other after winning £194,229 in the postcode Lottery.

“This sort of thing just doesn’t happen to me.”

“I would never, in a million years, have ever guessed that something like this would happen to us. This money will make such a difference to our lives and our family’s.

“Last year my very lovely wife agreed to let me use the family’s holiday fund to travel to Des Sables in the Moroccan Sahara to take part in a charity run. So, now I can take her away on the holiday of a lifetime, or maybe a few.

“We have two sons, Dan and Alex. We’ll be able to help them buy their first houses now so we’re all just over the moon.

Mansfield couple Chris and Shona Vasper hug each other after winning £194,229 in the postcode Lottery.Mansfield couple Chris and Shona Vasper hug each other after winning £194,229 in the postcode Lottery.
Mansfield couple Chris and Shona Vasper hug each other after winning £194,229 in the postcode Lottery.
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“We bought a new bathroom about six years ago and it’s been in the garage ever since. It’s probably gone out of fashion by now but at least we’ll be able to install it.

“I’ve been playing with People’s Postcode Lottery for about a year. I’d tell anyone who’s even thinking about playing to do it now. You’ll be raising money for charity and you’ll be in with a chance of winning – just look at me, the man who’s never won anything.

Shona and Chris initially won £7,600 in the presentation event, along with dozens of prizewinners in the NG183 area but their own exact postcode was finally revealed at the end.

Shona said: “We were absolutely delighted to win that - but as the letters dropped into place we realised we were in with a chance for the big one.

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“I was completely and utterly taken aback. I was crying and shaking.”

Another winner who scooped the highest amount was unable to attend the Postcode Millions event but will have their money paid directly into their bank account.

Peter Gundel (49), a Signal Man for Network Rail, was at the cheque presentation with his wife Liz, an NHS worker. Peter won a whopping £22,896 thanks to playing with three tickets:

He said: “This is life changing for us. I’m still in shock, it’s absolutely amazing.”

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“Before today we didn’t dare think about how much we’d won, we would have been happy with £500 so to win this much is fantastic.”

Liz described her excitement of seeing her husband pull out the cheque. She said: “I couldn’t believe it when Peter revealed his cheque, I can’t wait to tell our family.”

Peter and Liz said they really enjoyed winning with their whole community.

Liz said: “This has been so good for Mansfield, it’s so nice to win with our neighbours.”

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Other prizewinners walked away with cheques ranging from around £1,000 to more than £15,000.

People’s Postcode Lottery Ambassador, Judie McCourt, said: “It’s been a fantastic day here in Mansfield. The sun has shone on our lucky winners and I’m so excited for Chris and Shona who walked away with such a life changing amount of money. Congratulations to all our lucky winners.

With a minimum of 30 per cent going to good causes across Great Britain and internationally, players of People’s Postcode Lottery have so far raised over £129.9million for charities.

Good causes near Mansfield that have benefited from support by players of People’s Postcode Lottery include Disability Nottinghamshire. In 2014, they received over £9,000 for their Our Voices project.