Wales is still Winning

Wales continues to be the place to be a lottery winner. A syndicate based in Neath won £136,672 by matching five numbers and the bonus ball in the draw of Sat 29 July. Over £100,000 is a great win, for anyone, but for this syndicate it’s very handy cash as the syndicate is made up of 60 retired Police officers. It falls to syndicate leader Aneurin Bealing to buy and check the ticket each week, but when he ticked off five numbers and the bonus number he had to keep checking and rechecking before he was sure enough to contact the others. The syndicate has been playing for 10 years and this is their first big win worth sharing, previous smaller wins have just been put back into the kitty. Aneurin plans a super holiday to Australia with his wife, to visit their daughter, and he’s sure that many of the other syndicate members are planning some well-earned treats for themselves. The winning ticket was bought at Tesco in Port Talbot.

And then just one week later it’s another big win in Wales, this time a £250,000 Thunderball prize won in Aberdare by a family of Cardiff City fans. Danusia Phillips who has her own driving school was looking through paperwork in front of the TV on Saturday 5 August when she heard her numbers being read out for the Thunderball draw. She just stared at the screen as each of her numbers came up and then she ran downstairs with tears in her eyes to tell her partner, Terry, and the three children. Everyone checked the numbers before daring to believe it was true and now the first plan is a family holiday, their first since 1998. Then they will probably buy a caravan in Tenby so family members have somewhere to stay and visit, and have a big party for friends and family. The couple are also looking forward to cutting down on their working hours so they can spend more time with their family. Danusia knew her numbers 3,4,7,11,19 and 3 as she plays them regularly, but this winning ticket was bought at Woolworth’s on Commercial St, Aberdare.

- 29/8/06