Shoreham winner of Postcode Lottery says her aunt predicted big cash win

It all started with a coffee cup. Jo Deighton, 47, said her Greek-Cypriot Aunt Amalia saw it coming in her coffee grounds long before the phone rang.

"My aunt reads coffee cups,” Jo said. “The morning I got the phone call from the lottery she read a cup at my mum’s and said, ‘there’s money in my cup’.

“She said that even before I got the call. She tapped the cup and said there was money in it.”

Hours later, it was real. Jo had won £200,000 after her Shoreham-by-Sea addressBN43 6JD landed the Postcode Lottery’s weekly Millionaire Street prize.

“This is beyond life changing. It is just insane; I can’t believe it,” she added.

She’s one of four winners in the area, with each ticket worth £200,000 but one lucky winner qualifying for two. It comes just six months after players only half a mile away, in the same town, also bagged the millionaire street prize.

Jo said her fortune-telling aunt, who is visiting the UK from Cyprus will be happy her prediction came true – although it wouldn’t be the first time.

“My aunt is good,” Jo, a freelance business consultant said. “I wouldn’t let her near my cup when I was a teenager because I didn’t want her finding out what I had been up to.

"She’ll be so thrilled for us. It’s my mum and dad I can’t wait to speak to. They’ve seen how hard we’ve worked.”

Delighted with their winnings, Jo and her husband Tony, 52 are working on exciting holiday plans with their teenage children, which include a ‘big’ holiday and their dream campervan.

Jo said: “We’ve always wanted a camper van. It is that going away on a whim, being able to have that spontaneity. I’d like a classic VW, but I know it’s not a practical choice.

Tony, a painter and decorator for 30 years, said: “I’d like to get a transit and convert it. I’d do it myself.”

Jo added: “We could even take the kids to India. We travelled there lots when we were younger. We’ll have a think, but we’ll definitely be doing a big trip. You’ve got to see something of the world to give you some perspective.

“We can do all the sensible stuff and do all the crazy stuff as well.”

Jo’s win means local charities will also be free to benefit. One local organisation, Making it Out, is set to benefit from £40,000 from the Postcode Community Trust. The charity supports individuals moving on from prison, addiction or homelessness through creative activities such as photography, painting, woodwork, jewellery-making and metalwork.

Mark Whaley, Founder and CEO of Making It Out, said the funding will go towards restoring Buncton Barn, a 17th century threshing barn.

"Our service-users will need to fully strip the barn down to its frame before creating new wooden beams to support the structure of the barn,” he said.

“After this restoration, it will be further improved by service-users for our charity programmes and benefit of the wider community.”