Archive for June 22nd, 2010
 
Dudley has been struck with Lottery fever.  A syndicate of fifteen from Brierley Hill pub ‘The Old Star’ are toasting their success after winning £1million pounds on the EuroMillions ‘Millionaire Raffle’ on Friday 11th June, 2010.   And another ticket worth £1.1m has still to been claimed in the Dudley area.
Syndicate leader and pub licensee Garry Adams (51) couldn’t believe his luck when he got a phone call from a fellow syndicate member asking him to check the numbers.  He said: “it was Saturday morning, I was trying to think about the England match that evening, and here I was looking on Teletext and on my computer for £1million pounds.  I then saw a line of letters and numbers which is the EuroMillions Raffle code and the figure £1,000,000.  I was laughing and crying at the same time and knocked over my cup of freshly brewed tea in all the excitement.”
 Garry and his wife Annette (43) plan to give some money to their family but have no further plans at the moment.  The rest of the syndicate want to pay off their mortgages and debts with some buying cars, booking holidays or some home improvements.
 There are fifteen members of the syndicate each receiving £66,666 each.  The winning ticket was bought at Asda on Pearson Street, Brierley Hill.  The syndicate has been playing for over four years and play EuroMillions every week and Lotto on a Saturday.  This is their first large win and the winning EuroMillions Raffle code was VRK095315.
EuroMillions offers a greater range of prizes than any other National Lottery draw, with 12 prize levels in total. In the UK it also includes the Millionaire Raffle which guarantees to create a millionaire on these shores every week.  It costs £2 to play and tickets are available from over 28,000 National Lottery retailers across the UK, online at www.national-lottery.co.uk and via mobile phones using the Play by Text service.
 £1.1m Unclaimed Prize
Not only is there a million pound winning syndicate in Brierley Hill but an amazing Lotto jackpot prize of £1,197,899 has yet to be claimed in the Borough of Dudley, so National Lottery players are being urged to check and double-check their tickets for the chance to claim this life-changing prize in time.
 The search is now on to find the owner of the winning ticket, bought in the Borough of Dudley, who matched all six numbers in the Lotto draw on Saturday 29 May 2010. The winning Lotto numbers on that date were 2, 17, 36, 39, 42, 48 and the bonus ball was 41. The lucky ticket-holder has until 5.30pm on Thursday 25 November 2010 to make their claim. 
 If no-one comes forward with the winning ticket before the prize claim deadline, then the prize money, plus all the interest it has generated, will go to the Good Causes – adding to the £24 billion already raised through sales of lottery tickets since The National Lottery launched in November 1994. 
 A National Lottery spokesperson said: “We’re desperate to find this mystery ticket-holder and unite them with their winnings – this amazing prize could
really make a huge difference to somebody’s life. We’re urging everyone to check their old tickets again or look anywhere a missing ticket could be hiding. 
 “Try checking in the pockets of clothing, in wallets, bags and down the back of the sofa – someone out there could literally be sitting on a fortune! We have the champagne on ice and our fingers crossed that the lucky winner comes forward to claim their win.”
 To jog Lotto players’ memories, Nothing’ on You by Bob Ft Bruno Mars topped the UK singles chart at the time, while the Rolling Stones were at the top of the album chart with Exile on Main St.
 Anyone who believes they have the winning ticket for any of the National Lottery draws within the 180-day deadline should call the National Lottery Line on0845 910 0000.
 Anyone concerned about lost or unchecked tickets may like to consider either setting up a National Lottery Subscription, playing online at www.national-lottery.co.uk or on their mobile phone.  Numbers can be entered in advance and lucky winners are notified online if their numbers come up.  For further information call  0845 912 5000 or visit www.national-lottery.co.uk.
Rugby players, netballers and tennis players joined Double Olympian Nick Gillingham MBE at Sutton Coldfield Sports Trust’s ground on the Walmley Road, Walmley today (Tuesday 22nd June) to launch the new National Lottery quiz Games Brain Of Britain, a new free online quiz to find out the who has the most knowledge of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the UK.
The quiz has been launched to celebrate raising £500m from specially commissioned National Lottery 2012 games with still two years left until the games.  The target is £750m with the overall cash Olympic jackpot of £2.2bn.
Register at www.national-lottery.co.uk/gamesbrain and try five rounds of three multiple choice questions to be answered within 15 seconds.  Good luck.
TENNIS For Free (TFF), the national tennis charity which promotes and provides free tennis provision in the UK, welcomed Judy Murray as their special guest coach at one of the charity‚ free coaching sites in Morden.
Tennis For Free’s aim is to make free tennis accessible to all communities in public parks throughout the UK, to bring a new breed of player into the game removing the current barriers of cost and elitism. The TFF campaign has been praised by those in the media, business and the game itself as possibly THE most important and cost effective way of expanding the game on a national basis.
The charity welcomed Judy Murray, mother of two time Grand Slam finalist Andy Murray and former Wimbledon mixed doubles champion Jamie Murray, to its free coaching site at the Joseph Hood Recreation Ground, Morden, the first TFF site back in 2004.
Judy is a leading coach and has been instrumental in the development of her sons‚ successful tennis careers. Before looking to launch her own tennis academy Judy was also the Scottish National Tennis Coach. She said “I love what Tennis For Free is doing for the game. It’s so important for tennis to be accessible and affordable to everyone and local park courts that offer fun activity at no cost present the perfect opportunity for people to come and try.”
TFF’s CEO, Paul Jessop, was delighted that Judy visited the Joseph Hood. He said: its fantastic for us to be able to see Judy in action at one of our coaching sites, especially with Wimbledon starting in just two days time. You could see her passion for the sport and her eye for tennis talent.
She was able to spot the talent in Andy and Jamie as well as playing a major part in nurturing their development to the sport’s highest levels. You never know, we might spot a similar talent in one of our young players at Joseph Hood.
