By Ellie Gosley
Copyright walesonline
A woman was left “speechless” after she answered her apartment’s intercom to find out she won almost £400,000. Amrutha Chingoroth moved to a new flat in Cardiff city centre three months ago and signed up to the Postcode Lottery with her address before finding out just weeks later she’d bagged a slice of the latest £1m prize. That’s certainly quite a welcome into your new home. The 27-year-old moved from London to Cardiff with her husband three months ago and said the city is definitely her “lucky place” now. She’s planning to use some of her winnings to enjoy a slice of luxury and take her first ever business class flight to India. Amrutha signed up to the People’s Postcode Lottery after receiving a leaflet through her letterbox tempting her to sign up in June. She said: “I thought: ‘It’s just £12.25 a month and it’s for charity too – let’s go for it.’ But I didn’t expect to ever win. “I’m literally speechless about what has just happened. When I saw the cheque I just went numb. “When our flat intercom rang I wasn’t expecting much. But I was just thinking: ‘Whatever happens we are happy.’ But never in our thoughts did we imagine this much money. “I’m flying home next month and I was booked in economy – now I’ll upgrade to business class for the first time ever. “It’s seven hours to Dubai and then another four on to Kerala so it’ll be amazing to experience it.” Never miss a Cardiff story by signing up to our daily newsletter here . Amrutha was stunned when lottery staff arrived in the courtyard outside her apartment building to present her prize in front of lots of watching neighbours. She added: “We moved here from London only three months ago. I really like this area – it’s peaceful, close to the city centre, and everything is accessible. I think this is a lucky place for us now.” Amrutha, an associate price reporter for S&P Global, is used to combing through numbers at work so when the Postcode Lottery called to say she’d won she instantly went into detective mode. Amrutha said: “To be honest I didn’t believe if it was real or not. I even replied to Postcode Lottery saying: ‘I don’t see anything on the website – is it really happening?’ “We searched on Instagram and even Reddit to check how others had experienced it. Then I thought: ‘Okay, it’s genuine’ – and today Postcode Lottery turned up.” Amrutha moved to the UK in 2023 with her husband who watched the win unfold in disbelief. With the winnings the couple also hope to return to the Greek island of Santorini where they celebrated their anniversary. “It was the most romantic holiday we’ve had. Maybe we’ll recreate those memories,” she said. Amrutha said one of the first things she will do is call her family back in India. Holding back tears she said: “My mum will be so happy. Her husband added: “I just texted my brother and he’s freaking out. He asked me: ‘How much tax do you pay on it?’ and I said: ‘Zero.’ He couldn’t believe it.” Amrutha and another neighbour won the lion’s share of the lottery’s weekly £1m Millionaire Street prize when CF10 4EF was announced as the winner on Saturday, September 20. Each winning ticket was worth £398,492. The remainder of the pot was shared by 166 locals in CF10 4 postcodes. Players won between £1,074 to £3,222 depending on how many tickets they play with. And it’s back-to-back £1m wins for Welsh postcodes after four people in a rural Carmarthenshire village each won £250,000 on Saturday, September 13. Amrutha and her neighbours’ win also means local charities have benefited from thousands of pounds of support thanks to Postcode Lottery players. Six charities have each received £50,000 and they are
