£1 million Lotto win celebrated by Peterborough family syndicate
The family say they have been “waiting for this moment” since 1994
A family from Peterborough are celebrating after they discovered the National Lottery numbers they picked at a Christmas get-together in 1994 have finally scooped them a £1,000,000 prize.
The lucky family syndicate, the Cobb’s, who will each bank £250,000, includes mum Audrey, 87, and her three children David Cobb, 67, Carol Nobbs, 55, and Sandra Digby, 60.
The family won after matching five main numbers plus the Bonus Ball on Saturday, June 22.
Syndicate leader David, who has always believed they would win, was the lucky sibling to discover the win and divvy it up.
He jokes: “We’ve had some small wins along the way but I was definitely the favourite big brother when I told my sisters I was giving them each £250,000. It was an incredible moment, especially for my sister Carol who, after a tough few years, thought she would never have her own home again.”
It was the morning after the Lotto draw that David’s wife Linda checked the National Lottery app, and saw a message alerting them to the win, David said,
“Linda always plays our own line and also kindly ensures our family syndicate line is played at the same time. She saw a message which said we’d won £1M and calmly said to me, ‘David, I think you’d better have a look at this’.
“To be honest I was a bit grumpy and couldn’t be bothered to find my glasses but when your wife of 45 years uses ‘that’ voice and says, ‘no, you really need to read this’, you know you’d better find your glasses!”
Having found his glasses and read the message, David and Linda were both overjoyed and a little bit lost for any word other than ‘wow’. Knowing The National Lottery phone lines would not be open at 7am on a Sunday morning, they instead set off on a 10 mile bike ride to fill the time before heading home to claim the Cobb’s Syndicate £1million win. With the win confirmed, David visited his mum.
He said: “I told mum I had some good news and wanted to tell her and my sisters at the same time, she immediately said ‘have we won the Lottery’ so my plan was slightly scuppered! We called Carol and Sandra on a group call - Sandra was at the allotment and was so shocked by the news a fellow gardener had to pop over to make sure she didn’t faint, while Carol just burst into tears knowing that her housing woes were a thing of the past.”
While Carol has already searched for, and found, her new home, Sandra plans to treat herself to a new car, an upgrade on the VW Polo she currently drives.
While his sisters have clear plans for their share, both David and his mum are still undecided if there will be a big ticket item or extra treats, but for them making sure the family benefits is the absolute priority.
“I’ve always been the one to say we will win,” David said. “I’ve never been in any doubt, so from that Christmas catch up when we jokingly set up the syndicate a few months after the first Lotto draw in November 1994, I’ve been waiting for this moment. To be able to share it with my family is the icing on the cake, and to see that it will help the wider family is the cherry on top.”
The Cobb’s Syndicate winning Lotto ticket for the draw on Saturday, June 22 was bought online, using the National Lottery app. The winning numbers were 5, 9, 18, 32, 44 and 58, and their ticket matched five numbers and number 34 Bonus Ball.
By playing any National Lottery game, players generate £30M each week for National Lottery-funded projects. This money helps fund projects across the nation, with over 690,000 grants – supporting projects both big and small – having been made across the UK to date.