A Stornoway woman is celebrating this week after learning she has won a £30,000 cash prize with People’s Postcode Lottery.
The cash windfall comes after the Western Isles postcode, HS1 2EX, was announced as a winner with the lottery on Sunday.
Nataliya Nedkova, 41, was overjoyed after receiving a £30k cheque from lottery ambassador Danyl Johnson.
She said: “It’s just massive and quite surreal, the whole experience has been amazing since the lottery knocked on my door.
“I’ll remember this experience for years to come, even more than just the money.”
Nataliya, who works as customer services supervisor for a local housing association, is now planning on taking a long-
She said: “It’s my husband Valentin’s 40th next year, so if we can put some money aside and have a holiday-
“We had booked a holiday to the Maldives for 2020, which was meant to be the big holiday for my 40th birthday but that didn’t happen. So that is certainly on the cards now.”
Nataliya also hopes to use some of the winnings to visit family in her native Bulgaria and in Italy.
She said: “Funnily enough, a couple of weeks ago I was talking with my husband, and he asked if we should go anywhere this year and I said, ‘let’s just go home to Bulgaria.’
“My brother and sister still live in Bulgaria and my mum lives in Italy, so it would be great to visit them all as it has been a long time since I’ve last seen them.”
Nataliya joked that her family all had the same advice before the lottery turned up at her front door: “I told them about the lottery coming to visit and they all told me to put on some makeup on for the cameras.”
The couple have been renovating their house and hope to use some of winnings to purchase a new bathroom.
Nataliya said: “We bought our house seven years ago and it has been a big project which we’ve doing room by room. We do still need to change the bathroom which is over 40 years old; that’s on the list.”
To celebrate the win Nataliya is planning a weekend away in Inverness with her husband.
People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador Danyl Johnson presented the winner with her prize cheque and shared his congratulations.
He said: “I’m absolutely over the moon for our lucky winner in Stornoway! It was great to surprise Nataliya and it was lovely to hear what she might do with the money.
“I hope she spoils herself with the winnings and hopefully she’ll finally be able to visit her family and go on that big holiday to the Maldives!”
People’s Postcode Lottery costs £10 a month to play and there are guaranteed winners every day. People play with their chosen postcode and are automatically entered into all draws.
Players of People’s Postcode Lottery have helped raise over £850 million to date for thousands of good causes across Britain and internationally.
This draw was promoted on behalf of Postcode Education Trust. The Trust supports charities and good causes which provides education, particularly in emergency situations, through regular grant funding. Supported charities include Save the Children, War Child and Book Aid International.
Stornoway resident scoops £30,000 lottery win
9 February 2022
Nataliya Nedkova with the prize cheque