Mary Hawker will use the cash to help with her granddaughter’s bone marrow transplant

A Beer woman has scooped £30,000 in the People’s Postcode Lottery.

Grandmother of three Mary Hawker, 68, received her winnings on Saturday.

“Never in a million years was I expecting this,” she said.

“To be honest with you my brain is a bit befuddled and I can’t quite take it in!”

Mary says she will use the cash to help with her five-year-old granddaughter’s bone marrow transplant.

“This couldn’t have come at a better time for me and my family, as Jaydy is scheduled to have a bone marrow transplant shortly.

“With it being such a specialist operation, it’s taking place in Newcastle and she’ll have to be there for quite a long time and her recovery time could be anything up to six months.

“Winning this amount of money means that living expenses will be taken care of for the family whilst we’re up there and will really take the pressure off.”

As well as helping Jaydy and her family, Mary plans to treat herself to a holiday.

She added: “I usually go with a friend and we try to go somewhere different every year, so this year we might pay a little visit to Greece.

“I’m going to be having my friends over for a party to celebrate, so perhaps once we’ve popped open a bottle of prosecco we can start the planning!”

Mary regularly fundraises for charities and that’s one of the reasons why she signed up to play the Postcodce Lottery.

“As a community we always try to do our bit for local charities and last year we raised over £15,000 for two hospices, so when I saw there were so many good causes supported I had to sign up and play.”

Mary was the only person playing with the winning postcode - EX12 3JG - but had anyone else been then they, too, would have won £30,000.

Presenting Mary with her prize People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador Jeff Brazier said: “It’s been an absolute pleasure to spread a little happiness to Mary in beautiful Beer today and I’m delighted to hear how much of a difference this win will make to her and her family.”

Pete’s Dragons is one example of many local charities that players have also helped to support, and in 2018 it was awarded £20,000 to provide support to individuals who have been bereaved through suicide.

For more information, please visit www.postcodelottery.co.uk