It has been revealed that per head, residents of the Newport (NP) postcode are the likeliest in Wales to win a prize over £50,000 on The National Lottery.

The National Lottery has confirmed that NP is the best postcode in Wales for high tier winners, with 1 in every 1,107 residents winning a major prize of over £50,000 since The National Lottery began in 1994. This ranks the NP postcode as 7th nationally for high tier winners per head of population (16+).

In total 352 top tier prizes have been banked by players in the NP postcode – approximately one every month for the last 22 years.

It isn’t just individuals in Newport that have benefitted from The National Lottery and at the end of last year RSPB Cymru, in partnership with 11 other organisations and local authorities in Wales, was awarded an incredible £2.8 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund to transform parts of the beautiful Gwent Levels in south Wales.

The Living Levels project aims to restore and protect the natural heritage of the Gwent Levels, reconnecting the community to the landscape to create a sustainable future for this fascinating part of the country.

A team from the Living Levels project was on hand this week to celebrate this incredible Lotto luck.

Local winners who have shared news of their win recently include Jeff Barnsley (Tredegar, £891,294 September 2015), Shaun Allen (Cwmfelinfach, £100,000) and Stephen & Keri Chick (Pontypool, £1m and a first class round the world holiday, February 2015).

A National Lottery spokesperson said, “It’s currently a great time to be a Newport resident, with last year’s opening of the £117 million development of Friars Walk breathing new life into the city.

“Newport has been the home of several big lottery wins since the competition began in 1994, but to see it emerge now as the most successful postcode in Wales for high tier wins puts it in the enviable position of one of the luckiest postcodes in the nation too. With odds like these, your lucky ticket could be closer than you think.

“There are now a massive 4,250 National Lottery millionaires across the country and with more than six new millionaires made every week there is likely to be another local winner made soon.”

It isn’t just individuals winning big, the entire community benefits from the money raised by The National Lottery.

In 2015 103 grants worth £4,955,914 were distributed to National Lottery funded projects in Newport, including making donations to St David’s Foundation Hospice Care and the Welsh Cycling Union, as well as providing local clubs, such as Rogerstone Welfare Cricket Club, and local primary schools, including Malpas Court and Millbrook, with the funds they need for equipment and training.

Each National Lottery player helps to raise over £34M every week for Good Causes. This helps fund our athletes competing at Rio, the nation’s arts and heritage, and many thousands of projects in local communities across the UK.