Member Prize Draw: Meet our £100,000 winner

Our grand prize winner for September shares his reaction to winning £100,000.

Published on: 16 December 2021

Winning our grand prize

One lucky member took home our top prize of £100,000 in September's Member Prize Draw.

Nationwide members with a mortgage, personal savings or current account with us are automatically entered into our draw. Every month, they could be in with a chance of winning a share of the £1 million pot.

We got in touch with our £100,000 winner, to find out what it felt like when we let him know that he’d won.

‘I almost fell out my flat door!’

It's no surprise that being told they'd won £100,000 came as a massive shock for our winner.

'I got an email and a letter from Nationwide asking me to go to my local branch as they had some good news for me. Before I had a chance to get down there, two of the managers knocked on my door.

'I started freaking out, wondering why they were there... then they told me I'd won £100,000. I almost fell out my flat door!

'They explained everything and asked me to go to the branch the next day to let them know I'd like to accept the money and that they'd pay it into my account. These things never happen in real life!'

‘Being able to do stuff for people who care about you is priceless’

With some of his prize money, our £100,000 winner has chosen to treat some of his nearest and dearest.

'I told my sister straight away and she thought I was joking. She just couldn't believe it, but once it sunk in, she was really happy for me. I've given £10,000 to her as she's done a lot for me in my life.

'I just wanted her and my nephew to be able to do something nice. I live just down the road from them and see them all the time.

'My nephew is my pride and joy and is very cheeky – he keeps calling me moneybags! I'd like to treat him to something really nice this Christmas.

'I've also done a couple of little things for my friends who've helped me out too. Nobody has asked me for anything – they just want me to be happy. But I didn't do anything to deserve this money, so why not pay a little bit forward?

'Money's cool, but being able to do stuff for people who care about you is priceless.'

‘I can completely change my life now’

Life has changed overnight for our grand prize winner, but he's still trying to be sensible with what he spends.

'Some things can be a struggle but I get by, and now I've suddenly got this massive amount of money!

'I haven't touched much of it yet as I'm trying to be sensible. I have a few things I'd like to get done, like booking a trip to see my dad who I recently met for the very first time.

'I've also just bought a few things that I'd been umming and ahhing over for a while. Nothing fancy – just stuff like a new keyboard for my computer – but it's nice to be able to buy something like that without worrying.

'I rent my place at the moment so I'm going to buy some bits and pieces to make it nicer. A lot of my friends think I'm being conservative, but I want to be careful. I still want to keep my job. I'm happy there and I work with some lovely people.

'It's been a rough couple of years for me but I've definitely had a good last few months. The money has made a massive difference to me. It's more money than I've ever seen and I can completely change my life now. It's awesome.'