Meet the compers: Fiona Haward

For today’s ‘Meet the Compers‘ interview, I’m delighted to introduce Fiona Haward. Fiona is definitely an adventurous comper – and she’s great at involving her whole family in the hobby, even Grandma! Fiona’s brilliant and unusual photo entries have won her lots of amazing prizes, including several holidays.

Fiona’s son won a trip to Iceland with Nutella

Hi Fiona, and thanks for joining me here on SuperLucky for a Q&A!

How long ago did you start comping?
It was about 15 years ago when the children were small and I was teaching part time. Over the years I reduced my teaching hours and spent more time in the day comping before the kids came home. I started earning more from comping than I was from teaching and it was more flexible, allowing me to play tennis or swim each day!

Which websites, forums, magazines or resources do you use for comping?
I use Compers News magazine and forum to inspire me with others’ wins, and find it very supportive to be able to chat to other members who ‘understand’ my comping mentality. I dislike Facebook comps where you never know if you miss a prize as you’re not always tagged. Recently I have discovered Twitter and love their short-term comps where photos are a bonus and you ALWAYS know if you’ve won!

This Spanish celebration won Fiona a holiday with Beronia wine!

What’s your favourite type of competition?
I am fun-loving, adventurous, creative and uninhibited – which means crazy photo or video competitions suit me down to the ground! My family have grown up with me asking them to don ‘this rabbit outfit’, or ‘hang from that tree’ as soon as they come in from school, so that I can snap away with my camera. I realise how lucky I am to have an obliging family!

Your family get involved with a lot of your photos – but do they ever get embarrassed by your comping antics?
They know that no pain is no gain! My children are now 18 and 15, my parents either side of 80 and everyone has a laugh when I’m ‘composing’ the next photo shoot. The situation is helped by the fact their school mates are extremely envious of their lifestyle and always ask what we are up to ‘this weekend’. Well last weekend was micro-lighting along the North Devon coast, followed by a dash up to London for the ATP tennis finals at the O2. Chauffeur and meals thrown in!

Grandma helped Fiona win a trip to the London Olympics with P&G

Fiona’s daughter on their prize trip to China from NG Kids

What are some of the best prizes you and the family have won?
We have been lucky enough to win many holidays and weekends away over the years. Meg’s artwork won us an amazing trip to China, up close and personal with the pandas.

Joe won us a customised trip to Iceland with helicopter dreams, My mum, dad and Gran’s football and relay videos won us lots of Olympic joy, hubby’s short stories have won us trips to Egypt and Tanzania. A real family affair!

This quirky family breakfast won a holiday to Cornwall!

Our money can’t buy win for me is being awarded the title of Britain’s Most Adventurous Family back in 2012, which has sent us on many lovely adventures including 2 weeks of action packed fun in Turkey.

Where would be your dream destination for a prize holiday?
My dream holiday destination would be a diving holiday to Hawaii, or a whitewater rafting trip down the Grand Canyon.

Britain’s most adventurous family on a prize zookeeper day!

Is there a prize you’ve tried to win but it has always eluded you?
You might notice my wins are mainly experiences rather than possessions. You’re right! When would we have time for TVs , XBoxes or the latest phones? Saying that I have always wanted to win a car, and each New Year I say (in true Del-Boy fashion) ‘This year I’m going to win a car!’

Fiona’s cheese masterpiece won her a £250 voucher with Deli-strips

What would be your top comping tip or piece of advice?
My top tip for comping would be to play to your strengths. Be organised, be creative if you can, and be thick skinned – especially if you are prepared to go the extra mile for the POP (purchase necessary) competitions, which requires shopping for one item/receipt at a time at a supermarket checkout! Purchase comps are great, as Joe Public often doesn’t know or care about them, and they yield high rewards. Again I find Compers News magazine an invaluable source of early notifications for these lucrative comps.

Thanks loads Fiona – wishing you lots of comping adventures in 2016!

If you enjoyed this, check out the rest of the Meet the Compers Q&As – and if you’d like to feature on SuperLucky, send me a message via the Contact page!