A WARRINGTON lottery syndicate celebrated in style after hitting the jackpot with a £2.1 million windfall after using the same numbers for 10 years.
The syndicate of 10 based at Great Sankey Leisure Centre have each scooped just over £210,000 and to celebrate their win they travelled to the National Lottery’s North West office at Prescot in a stretch limosine.
Four members of the syndicate still work at the leisure centre,although the others have either moved on or retired.
But they kept their syndicate going and now after 10 years it has eventually paid off – with their best previous best being just four balls.
Saturday’s jackpot of £4.2 million was shared by two winning tickets.
One of the Warrington winners, Greg Snape, who still works at the leisure centre, said: “It is not enough to retire on but for those who have already retired it is a nice bonus – and it will certainly help make Christmas extra special for our family and friends.
“It is a great feeling to be part of a winning team.”
Syndicate leader, Jane Pidgeon, added: “When I received a call from one of the other syndicate members to say we had won the jackpot I thought she was joking. I think we are all still in a state of shock. We have so many thoughts going on in our heads about how we will spend the money.
“There has been lots of champagne flowing but I think we all need to just calm down and think carefully about how we will spend our winnings – holidays to Barbados and new cars have all been talked about but I think it will be a few days before the reality of what has happened to us really sinks in. This amount of money just seems unreal.”
Jane, from Great Sankey, added: “Each syndicate member chose a line of numbers when we first started to play and we have never changed these.
“We have had a couple of £10 wins but nothing major. Although we do not all still work together we have kept the syndicate going.”
After travelling to the lottery by Limosine to confirm their win the syndicate went to collect their winnings with a champagne reception at the Lord Daresbury Hotel.
Picture shows Greg Snape (front) with other members of the winning syndicate.
L-R: Greg Snape, Jane Pidgeon, Joyce Ost, Barbara McGonagle, Kaye Quigley, Richard Davenport
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