A Wroxall woman is celebrating after winning the top prize in the Isle of Wight Lottery weekly draw.
Karen Quickenden, a sales coordinator for Crossprint, Newport, said she was ‘stunned’ when she got the telephone call to confirm her £2,000 win.
“I had just gone back to work after a holiday, and the phone rang almost as soon as I sat down at my desk,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it at first. I nearly fell off my chair.”
Now Karen, who has worked at Crossprint for eight years, faces the difficult choice of what to do with her winnings. She said her options included putting it into savings, using it for home improvements, or treating the family to a holiday later this year.
Karen signed up for a weekly Isle of Wight Lottery ticket through Crossprint’s payroll subscription, as soon as the Lottery was launched in 2001. Another Crossprint employee, Shelley Harris, also won the top prize about 18 months ago.
Karen said: “I would recommend anyone to sign up for the Lottery, especially if they can do it through payroll. You don’t even notice the £1 a week cost of the ticket, and the odds are so much better than other lotteries.”
The Isle of Wight Lottery – a division of the island’s Chamber of Commerce, Tourism and Industry – operates on a non-profit basis, and all proceeds are directed into a loan fund which is used to provide interest free loans to start-up and expanding island businesses.
Since its launch in 2001, the Lottery has paid out more than £900,000 in prizes to over 900 people.
NOTE: The picture shows Zoe Stroud, Group Marketing Manager for the Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce, Tourism and Industry, presenting a cheque for £2,000 to Karen Quickenden at Crossprint’s offices in Newport.
