Ironville grandmother 'Covid hero' among winners to share £3.1m post code lottery win

An Ironville grandmother named a ‘Covid-19 hero’ by her community is among the winners with a Nottinghamshire postcode to win a lottery share of £3.1 million.
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Seventy-two-year-old Kath Scott, who was named as a ‘local community hero’ for sewing scrubs for NHS staff and doing shopping for the vulnerable, won £140,909.

She was just one of 970 People’s Postcode Lottery players in the NG16 5 postcode, located in the Ironville postal sector – which overlaps Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire addresses and includes areas such as Jacksdale and Underwood.

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When her cheque was revealed, Kath celebrated by giving her partner of over 20 years, Alan, a big hug and a kiss. She went on to add: “I cannot believe this, I cannot believe this money!

Kath Scott and her partner AlanKath Scott and her partner Alan
Kath Scott and her partner Alan

“I’ve been at this postcode for 53 years – good things come to those who wait!”

NG16 5 was announced as August’s Postcode Millions winner on Saturday, August 28.

Kath and six of her neighbours won £140,909 each, the biggest share of the £3.1 million prize, thanks to playing with the full winning postcode – NG16 5NL.

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Two of her neighbours increased their prizes to £281,818 and £563,636 thanks to playing with two and four tickets.

Kath, a retired factory machinist, started sewing scrubs and masks for NHS and care home staff after seeing a request on Facebook.

She said: “I knew the NHS needed help so I just did what I could. I made hundreds, they went to local hospitals, doctors’ surgeries and care homes.

“It was hard work but it didn’t matter – I knew it was all going to a good cause.”

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Community-minded Kath also plans to spend a portion of her prize by buying a defibrillator for her local Post Office.

She said: “We had a defibrillator that was vandalised and we’ve been raising money to have it replaced but we need more than one, so I’m going to get one for the Post Office.”

With four grandchildren, Kath’s biggest plans for her prize involve treating them.

She said: “I’ve just called them on FaceTime and given £100,000 away already! We don’t necessarily want much for ourselves and Alan has Parkinson’s so we won’t be going on a big holiday, instead we’ll do what we can to help others.”

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Kath went on to joke: “If Alan’s lucky he might get the £9 that’s left over!”

Also winning big was Kath’s next-door neighbour of 26 years, 53-year-old Wayne Smith.

He was joined by his wife of 32 years, Tracey, when he discovered his prize amount and said: “That’s brill. It’s a once in a lifetime thing!”

Tracey, who has lived on the winning street all her life, said: “Oh my God, wow. It doesn’t seem real. It seems like a dream. I’m going to have to pinch myself to wake myself up. It’s a dream, it’s everything.”

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With three children and four grandchildren, Tracey says the whole family has won: “We’re all going to benefit from this. We’ll look after them all.”

The pair also have a few plans to treat themselves too. Tracey, who was made redundant last year but now works as a production operative at a pudding factory, commented: “We can get the house done up properly now, which we’ve never been able to do.

“It’s my 55th birthday next year too, I’ll be flying out to Gran Canaria!”

Asked how they’d be celebrating, Wayne replied: “Babysitting! But we’ll get a takeaway and have a bottle too.”

The couple are next-door neighbours to Kath and Alan.

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Tracey said: “Kath would be sewing for hours and hours, you could hear her machine going and then there were scrubs hanging all along the washing line drying. She sewed a little tag with a ‘love you’ inside every set of scrubs too.

“When Kath won the award, she said she didn’t think she deserved it because she just did her little bit. You couldn’t ask for better neighbours.”

Another big winner on the street was 42-year-old Chris Neale who also took home £140,909.

He said: “Wow! Thank you very much. I'm sure the kids will help me spend that.”

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Chris, who works as a wood machinist for a furniture company has always had a dream car in mind. He said: “I’ll probably buy an old car, Mk 2 Ford Escort if I can get a hold of one. I’ve always wanted one, I’ve even got a little picture of it in my shed.

“You've made my dreams come true.”

The grandad-of-six joined after his partner’s sister won with the lottery. He said: “She came down and told us about her win and I joined that day.”

Chris laughed and added: “I signed up to the lottery so I could retire early.”

He plans to share some of the winnings with his three children and six grandchildren but needs to have a think about how to spend the rest of the winnings. He said: “My kids have probably already devised plans to spend it all for me already!”

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The four remaining big winners of the day chose to remain anonymous.

Prize amounts for the other players in the winning sector ranged from £1,465 to £5,860 depending on the number of tickets played with.

People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador Danyl Johnson said: “It was an absolute pleasure to deliver some good news to Kath, Wayne, Chris and their families today.

“I’ve loved hearing their plans for their winnings and I’m sure there will be lots of celebrations going on in NG16 5 this bank holiday weekend!”