Hitchin Town Football Club
Founded 1865, Reformed 1928
£25,000 JACKPOT WINNER
Tuesday, May 6 2008
It was an emotional day for Kelly Grafton on Sunday after she and her brother Darren shared the £25,000 jackpot prize in The Gold Bond Weekly Draw. Kelly and Darren became the first winners of this magnitude in the history of the draw but behind the win was a tale of sadness as it was their late father that was a member of the draw and enabled them to have a chance of winning the prize.
Over the course of the last year every £1 spent in the draw gave you a chance of winning the jackpot prize. Sadly Mr Grafton senior passed away a little over 3 weeks ago but he was still classed as an active member of the draw as he always paid his agent in advance to save him calling at his house every week.
On Friday 25th April 3 lucky members were drawn at random by the Gold Bond computer and along with Richard Wood and Andrew Tomlison it was the name of Mr Grafton that would have the chance of winning £25,000.
When Gold Bond Weekly Draw staff heard about the sad news it was only fair to invite a relative of Mr Grafton's to the `live` draw. Prior to the draw his daughter Kelly, along with her father’s agent, enjoyed some corporate hospitality in the sponsor’s lounge. She met with former 'It's A Knockout' host Stuart Hall, who would later conduct the draw, and along with the 2 other GB members they nervously awaited the half-time interval.
As the players left for half-time the 3 members took to the field and after a brief bout of questions and answers former Arsenal, Leicester City, Blackburn Rovers and current Manchester City footballer Paul Dickov pulled Mr Grafton's ball from the bag.
After the initial excitement and the odd expletive in the middle of the pitch the emotion of it all eventually took over and Kelly burst into tears. She still managed to pose for several photographs as the tears ran down her face but as she left the field she was comforted by her brother and partner who were waiting outside.
Speaking about the draw Gold Bond Manager Richard Wild said "It was a nice ending to a very sad story. Kelly was emotional before she walked on to the pitch at half-time and also a bag of nerves at the same time but after the initial excitement of winning she just burst into tears. You cannot expect her to do anything else really."
The Gold Bond Weekly Draw would like to thank the legendary Stuart Hall for acting as our host on Sunday.
You can join the Gold Bond draw, see details here :
http://www.hitchintownfc.co.uk/goldbond/index.shtml