Last Saturday's £3.7 million UK National Lottery Lotto jackpot has been claimed by a syndicate of players from a Tesco Supermarket in Devon. Each of the 15 syndicate members takes a £245,996 share of the prize.
All the lucky winners work the night shift at Tesco Roborough, clocking on at 22:00 and working till 07:00; and night work must suit them because none of the group plans to clock out on a permanent basis.
Syndicate leader Jackie Beresford, 56, said: "I think the managers were worried that everybody would just leave, but there is a sense of loyalty there or we wouldn’t keep working."
Apart from Jackie, only eight other syndicate members have decided to go public: Kay Richards, 56; Clare O’Carroll, 53; Sheila Bird, 50; Mandy Bunker, 48; Vanessa Rice, 47; Sarah Wheatley, 46; Tina Carpenter, 46, and Alison Lonsdale, 45.
Speaking about their winning experience, Alison Lonsdale said: "It was unbelievable, we were just looking at each other—we have not slept properly since—it’s like 'Oh my God!'
For the Jackie, who lost her husband David to cancer earlier this year, the win brought back memories of a visit she'd made to a psychic just two weeks before the draw.
"She told me my husband had one regret—that he had not left me in a better financial situation—but that he had a plan," Jackie said. "I just know he’s shining down on me and looking after me, and this was his way of doing it."
