Mother in big bingo win
A mother-of-five from Stafford has won £101,000 at a bingo club in the town and plans to buy her former council house. The 43-year-old's big win came just three days after another member of the Gala Club at the Queensville Retail Park scooped £68,000.
A gipsy fortune teller on a hen party at Blackpool had told her just a fortnight earlier that she would win something big on the numbers.
The winner, from the Highfields Estate, who does not wish to be named, said she had been playing bingo for years and had joined the club when it first opened.
She plays there twice a week and her win came on Wednesday, September 27.
The woman got a full house in 37 calls to win prizes of £100,0000 on the National Bingo Game, £1,004 from the regional game and £80 from the house.
She was back at the Gala the next day and picked up another £100.
"It was so unbelievable, you never think it will happen to you," said the woman, who is still in shock.
"I never slept for three nights. I telephoned my husband to come and fetch me because I couldn't drive myself home.
"He thought I was joking and had stayed calm until he saw the state I was in."
She plans to have a special Christmas with her family with some of her winnings.
The £68,000 winner was Freda Spruce, a 53-year-old grandmother from Penkridge.
Assistant manager Scott Binnington said the same caller was on both times.
Freda,was playing with her husband John on Sunday, September 24.
She completed a full house in 44 calls and won the house prize of £130, a regional prize of £1,318 and £66,666 on the National Bingo Game - which she shared with two other winners in Fife and Doncaster.
The couple could not believe it when they realised how much they had won.
"I just sat there completely stunned and my husband broke down in tears," said Freda, who has been playing bingo for more than a quarter of a century.
It was her biggest ever win, but her husband had won £700 just five months ago at the Gala Club where they have been members since 1989.
The couple, who have two daughters and four grandchildren, plan to use their winnings to ensure their family are "well looked after" and for a celebratory holiday to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands in the new year.
"The win is fantastic. We will definitely have a very good Christmas now,"added Freda.
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