How to enter Make Me A Winner for free
Similar to Cash Register, Bauer Media’s Make Me A Winner is another massive cash giveaway that runs across multiple UK radio stations, including Absolute, KISS, Magic, Planet Rock, Free Radio, Gem, Greatest Hits Radio, Hits Radio, Hallam FM, Metro Radio, Pulse 1, Radio City, Rock FM, Signal 1, TFM, The Wave, Viking FM, Wave 105, Lincs FM and Pirate FM. The daily prizes can reach as high as £100,000 – but you’ll only win if you answer your phone with the phrase ‘Make Me A Winner!’
Millions of pounds has been given away on Make Me A Winner and people genuinely do win with FREE entries! Like Cash Register, the entry methods have recently changed and instead of free online entry you can make a standard rate phone call, which is free for most mobile phone users. And you can call up to 42 times every day.
Paid text entry to Make Me A Winner costs £2 plus standard network rate (so around £2.15 per entry). Or you can enter online – this also costs £2 for a single entry, but the cost per entry reduces if you pay for multiple entries. But PLEASE don’t waste your money doing this – read on to find out how you can enter for free by making a phone call!
Do people really win with free entries?
Yes they do! Winners are selected completely at random from all entries, regardless of whether someone paid to enter. There will always be thousands of people who pay to enter as the £2 text entry is the method that’s widely advertised on air, and much easier to do – so the prize fund still stays high. And of course, if you’re not a regular comper then you probably won’t be reading T&Cs to find the details of free entry methods, so not everyone knows about the freebie entry route. I know of several compers who have won Cash Register already in 2023 by only making free phone entries, and I’m sure there will be lots more soon!
How can I enter Make Me A Winner for free?
Rather than sending a text message, or paying to enter online, you should chose the phone option. You can call any of these numbers, each one is for a different participating radio station.
- 0330 880 4541 (Main number, advertised on Hits Radio & multiple local stations)
- 0330 880 4594 (Absolute Radio)
- 0330 880 4608 (Kiss)
- 0330 880 4615 (Magic)
- 0330 880 4629 (Planet Rock)
- 0330 880 4557 (Greatest Hits Radio)
- 0330 880 4572
- 0330 880 4563
- 0330 880 4583
The phone call is standard rate – if you have a mobile contract or Pay Monthly bundle that has inclusive minutes, this call should be completely FREE. If you use Pay-As-You-Go then the call may NOT be free, so please check your balance before and after the call to see how much money it costs you.
When you call, an automated response will repeat your mobile phone number back and you must confirm it is correct by pressing number 1 on your keypad (if you press number 2, the call will end and you will NOT be entered into the prize draw). Once you have done this, you can hang up – it takes around 40 seconds to call. Then redial!
When should I enter Make Me A Winner?
You can enter Make Me A Winner at any time between 3.10pm and 3.00pm the following day. For Monday’s draw, entry opens at 3.10pm on a Friday and ends at 3pm Monday. Winners aren’t chosen on Bank Holidays, so you can enter over the Bank Holiday weekend but the draw won’t take place until Tuesday after 3pm. When Make Me A Winner first starts again after a break, entries open at 6am on the first day.
How many times can I enter Make Me A Winner?
You can call the phone line 32 times a day (this changed from 42 to 32 in September 2023). Text entries are limited to 12 per day, and online entries are limited to 20 a day.
How do I find out the prize cash amount?
The Make Me A Winner amount changes daily, and it’s always more than the previous day – it will be regularly announced on all participating Bauer radio stations and also on the official MMAW Facebook page. Remember though, this isn’t Cash Register – you do NOT need to know the amount in order to win it!
How and when do they choose the winner?
The winning entry is chosen at random from all combined paid and free entries, after the lines close at 3pm. Bauer will have the mobile number and exact time of the winning entry, and will let the winner know which of their entries won.
What number do they call winners from?
It’s not known which number they call from, as it will show as ‘witheld number’ on the incoming call. So if you miss a call at 3.05pm from a visible number, don’t worry – it definitely wasn’t a Cash Register or Make Me A Winner call!
What time do they call winners?
The winning Make Me A Winner call is made just after 3pm, usually around 3.07pm. The winning call is recorded, edited and played on air around 30 minutes later. I have a 3pm weekday alarm labelled ‘Make Me A Winner’ set on my iPhone just as a reminder to be on full alert in case the phone rings!
Do I need to say ‘Make Me A Winner’ as soon as I answer the phone?
Yes you must answer the phone within five rings and say the correct phrase ‘Make Me A Winner’ immediately (although they do allow you five seconds to start saying this). The presenter will not speak to you until you say something. Unlike Cash Register, you will NOT be asked the prize cash amount!
What happens if I miss the call?
You have 5 rings to pick up the call – if you don’t answer correctly in that time, you’ve missed out and the money will not be won that day.
What is a Make Me A Winner rollover?
If the phone is not answered within 5 rings, or the chosen winner does not answer with ‘Make Me A Winner’, there will be no winner and all entries from that day will be entered again into the following day’s prize draw, along with all entries from previous days where no winner was declared. This can happen multiple times! The unclaimed money is NOT added to the next day’s total, but the next day’s total will always be larger than the previous day.
What happens when they have a guaranteed winner?
Sometimes there will be a day or a week where they guarantee a daily winner. So if the first caller doesn’t answer their phone, or answers with ‘Hello’, they will move on and call another winner – until they get someone answering with ‘Make Me A Winner!’
When does Make Me A Winner end?
Make Me A Winner usually runs for a month or two, but the T&Cs are updated on a week-by-week basis so a final ending date is not usually confirmed in advance. When it ends, a one-off big jackpot giveaway or another daily cash giveaway like Cash Register will take its place.
What happens if I win Make Me A Winner?
After the initial phone call, winners will receive a second phone call to confirm they have not won a prize valued at £500 or more from Bauer within the previous six months. They will then receive an email confirmation of the win, and may be asked for a photograph or to do on air interviews. To confirm identity, photo ID and proof of address will also be requested. Once everything is validated, the money will usually be transferred into the winner’s bank account within a week. Sometimes they will have a special promotion where the winner will receive the money in their account on the same day they won!
Where can I see full terms & conditions?
Full terms and conditions for Make Me A Winner are on the Planet Radio website.
Other helpful information
- Make Me A Winner is only open to UK residents aged 18 and older
- If you – or anyone living at the same address as you – have won £500 or more in any Bauer Media Competition over the past 6 months you are not eligible to win. So if you’ve won a big prize on one of the radio stations listed above recently, do not risk entering until your 6 month ‘ban’ is up!
- Northern Irish residents are also eligible to enter a similar competition, Downtown Cash Call, on Cool FM – and Scottish residents can enter Cash Register by calling 0330 880 4523. These only run for limited periods and offer the standard rate phone entry option.
Have you won Make Me A Winner with free entries? I love to hear winners’ stories so please tell me in the comments!
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Hello Di, regarding the £80K Bonus competition which finishes tonight (Sunday 1st) & on Wednesday 4th for postal entries, do you know if it’s ok to enter on multiple formats, eg SMS & a postal entry? Also, I wonder when they will call the winner? I guess they will need some time to enter all the postal entries into their database (assuming that’s what they do)?
HI Di,
The list of numbers on your website to enter the competition, can you enter your entries on all of the numbers more than once or is it best stick to one number?
It makes no difference, all entries will end up on the same database!
Hello , i enter make me a winner every week day, today at 2:30 i got a call on a No caller ID and i said hello and the phone just cut off. Is their a trick that they don’t actually call people after 3 pm and that they call the winner even at 2:30 pm is that possible?
Of course not – the lines are still taking entries until 3pm. Winners are generally called around 3,07pm.
Exactly Thank you Di
Hello Di, what do you suppose the odds are of getting your number called in the MMAW competition every day? There must be an awful lot of entries, seeing as so many radio stations participate in this competition!
Hi can I still enter if I’m abroad on holiday
I can’t see anything in the T&Cs to stop you doing this – the only stipulation is that you enter with a UK mobile number.
Hi Steve, you can enter, but your phonecalls may cost more from abroad.
hey Di ! Currently on 244 entries to make me a winner since reading your blog on free entries, would love t be on your fb group but i dont have social media so i am their in spirit 🙂
thanks for your blogs they are so valuable good luck everyone ❤️
What happens if you don’t have any photo ID. I don’t have a passport or driving licence so can only produce proof of address.
Do you have anything like a work pass or gym membership card with your photo on it?
Thank you for your reply. No I have nothing.
A Citizencard costs £15 and I think it would be a good investment if you have no intention of getting a passport or driving licence. https://www.citizencard.com/
If you enter competitions, promoters do regularly ask to see photo ID for bigger prizes and anything involving alcohol.
Hi Di, can you use this for voting as well?
I can’t reply below JIm’s comment but yes, a Citizencard is part of the PASS scheme and valid for voting https://www.gov.uk/how-to-vote/photo-id-youll-need
Hi Di, just wondering, what do you think they say to MMAW entrants who answer “hello” or similar? I wonder if they leave a message if it goes to voicemail? I guess they must have a very apologetic message for them… Do you think they get a consolation prize?
I doubt they have any further contact with those that answer HELLO! apart from a short commisseratory message before hanging up! And they definitely don’t leave a message if it goes to voicemail, because promoters have to avoid disappointing participants (CAP Code) – it would be cruel to leave a message to say ‘sorry, you missed out on £100,000’ and could really affect that person badly.
Here’s an interesting one for you, Di… Yesterday, the competition was won by someone living on a house boat! Bearing in mind that the winner has to provide proof of address, would this win be valid? I’m guessing they wouldn’t announce the win on air if it wasn’t.
I know that some houseboat residents are eligible to pay council tax, and they give the address of their mooring if they’re permanently there!
I’m with EE & have unlimited inclusive minutes. I have been charged an access charge for each call made to anyone of these numbers. Ee web site said 03 numbers are included in my plan yet theyve charged me 🙁 lesson learned.
I reckon that a lot of the people answering saying hello (or whatever) expect that the call is made at 3.35ish live on air and not recorded earlier at 3.07.
Yes, especially when the presenters say things like “We’re just about to make the call” at 3:30! It’s a bit misleading… In fairness, when they say this, they probably ARE just about to make the call- but it’s recorded at the time & played back later.
Apparently, MMAW is starting again tomorrow (Monday 4th September) with a £50,000 prize! Not sure what time the lines open, or how many free entries we are allowed…
Free entries are now down to 32 maximum a day rather than 42! Everything else in T&Cs looks to be the same.
Here’s a tip for anyone wanting to dial the entries more quickly. If you enter one or more commas into the number sequence, your phone pauses for 2 seconds for each one & then starts dialling again. So, if you enter the number as follows, your phone will do all the key presses automatically for you! This one works quite well: 0330 880 4541,11,,,,,,,,1 The first two 1s are there to skip through the unwanted bits of the message. The 8 commas pause dialling for 16 seconds, and the final 1 enters your number after the voice has read it back to you. Each dialled entry takes about 30 seconds, then you hang up & dial again…
Hello, regarding the big £250,000 prize draw which closes today 1st September at 5pm, do you know if they contact the winner by phone just after 5pm?
I am really sorry for causing trouble, is that cash register free to enter? I am sure it was, but I cam only find the paid entities now, i will be forever grateful if someone can please guide me, or has the free entries finished?
The method of entering for free has changed. It used to be an online form, but now you have to call a phone number & follow the instructions it gives you. There are 9 phone numbers, one of them being 0330 880 4541. This will be free if you have unlimited minutes in your package. For the Bonus competition, you can enter up to 176 times, which will take a little while! You can skip through the preamble by pressing ‘1’ a couple of times. Finally, when it reads your phone number back to you, press ‘1’ to enter it. Have a look at Di’s article above, she gives a list of all 9 phone numbers.
Cash Register is not on air at the moment Xana, but as Jim has explained, free online entries have been replaced by free phone calls (if you have a suitable contract!).
Do you think the radio station makes any money from these ‘free’ phone numbers, if the caller hasn’t got unlimited minutes?
I says you can enter 42 times by phone but if the amount is rolled over and the entries are rolled over is that 42 entries from the previous day the maximum or can you enter another 42 times if you wanted too
You can enter another 42 times if you want to, & your entries will be added to the previous day’s rolled-over entries.
Another question- do you know anything about the Bonus competitions held by Bauer Media about once a month? This month, it’s worth £70,000, and the usual method of entry is by text (costing £2 plus SNR), although in the past there have also been free phone entries for some of them. This usually ends at 5 or 6pm on a particular day, but they never seem to give any details as to when the winner will be notified, even in the T&Cs…
I think it’s the postal entry method that makes it difficult for these draws – with MMAW it’s easy as all phone, text and online entries end at 3pm so they can easily choose a winner then. WIth postal entries, they need to be input onto the system and added to the database of phone and online entries which could take days. However, I would still expect to see something along the lines of ‘The draw will be conducted within 7 days of the closing date’ in the terms. It does say that if a winner can’t be contacted for 14 days after the draw, another winner would be chosen – but that’s about all the info we get!
It’s pretty vague, isn’t it? So I assume that they will keep trying to phone the winner (or writing to them?) for 14 days after the competition closes…
Hello Di, a question has arisen on the Cash Register Amount – Fanclub, which is a FB group (confusingly, dedicated to the MMAW competition at the moment!). Someone said that if a member of a household wins a prize of £500 or above on a Bauer Media competition, the entire household (ie everyone at that address) is banned from taking part in further BM competitions for 6 months. I thought the ban only applied to the winner. Do you know which one is correct?
It only applies to the winner – it’s an individual ban (not a ban on household members). Full details are in 4.12 in their main T&Cs: https://www.bauerlegal.co.uk/competition-general-terms-and-conditions-20230711
Ah, thanks, I thought this was the case!
I’ve noticed a lot of the winners seem to be first time entrants. Seems too often to be coincidence! I wonder on average how long the winners have been entering for?
A couple of years, in my case.
4+ years in my case, with max number of entries, and never won a bean
I wonder what the odds are of being called, do you know? They must be pretty slim…
So, I entered on Friday and it rolled over. Today I have an exam at 2pm and no phones allowed obvs. Am I ok to set up call forwarding to my husbands phone? It would be so typical for me to win on the day I can’t answer. My phone is on a contract in my name – from another comment it would appear that the organisers don’t check who the phone is registered to. I pay both our mobile bills from our joint account anyway!!
When you call a number and it’s forwarded, there’s a message on the line to say it’s being forwarded. I would assume they immediately hang up if they hear this, as it means they won’t be speaking to the person who entered.
Ah, I didn’t realise it said the call was being forwarded. Oh well, if they just hung up at least I wouldn’t have known anything about it. It’s the thought of having a missed call on your call log and realising you’d chucked the prize away. Handing the phone over to my husband wasn’t really an option Jim as I had to travel a fair distance to the exam and needed a phone on me. Anyway, unsurprisingly I didn’t win so all rather irrelevant! These rollovers make matters a lot harder when life gets in the way of taking a call. Thanks for replying.
Could you maybe hand your phone over to your husband while you’re in your exam, and tell him what to do if he receives the call? I take it that since you were happy to forward the call to his phone, there wouldn’t be any problems with him taking the call on your behalf…
I have entered every single day, since it originally started. I just think I must be the most unluckiest person in the world 🙁 Hopefully one day I will win and then I can help my family. What are the chances of winning 1billion to 1.
Does anyone know what the odds are of winning something like this? I feel like entering 42 times gives a good go at it, but do millions of people enter I wonder?
Listen every day love Greatest hits, but I do Listen to all the other radio stations, would love to win , for my family what a lovely surprise that would be I would have a lovely holiday, with my hard working family good luck everyone got to be in it to win it
Steven wins £101,000 today, with £102,000 on offer tomorrow! Now that most of the competitions seem to be on a guaranteed win basis (where they keep calling a different number till someone wins), after all those rollovers, people are now answering correctly on the first attempt :-))
When they say it will be a guaranteed winner that day, do they just call until someone answers with the correct phrase?
Yes!
Yes!
Hi, I am a VOXI contract phone user. Can I enter the MMAW competition?
You’ll be able to enter it regardless of which network you’re on Carol, and if you’re on a contract the phone calls should be included as part of your free calls allowance – but it’w worth checking before you make multiple calls!
Well, Lydia won £100,000 today on the first attempt! The competition is carrying on next week, with £101,000 to be won on Monday…
If I live in Wales and listen to free radio West midlands can I still Win Make me a winner?
Yes, I think so, since it’s open to all UK residents.
Anyone who lives in the UK who’s over 18 can win. You don’t even need to listen to the radio!
Does it matter which 0330 number you call ? Whether it’s’ magic or main number or hits etc? As long as the culminative total is not more than 42 times a day across all the stations? Is that right?
That’s right, it doesn’t matter which one you call. I think each phone number is associated with one or more stations, so they can gather information on how many people are listening to each station & where they are listening from.
Finally, an end to the rollovers & a winner today as Ryan wins £98,000! Tomorrow’s prize is £99,000….
Hope I get lucky one day and congrats to Ryan its an epic win
Hi Di,
Many thanks for the great blog! To clarify, will the call *always* come from a withheld number – in other words, if a call comes in around the right time, but is from an unknown but visible number, are you safe to answer it normally? I’ve had a few embarrassing instances of saying ‘Make me a winner’ to random people! So it would be great to avoid this if possible – but if there’s any doubt, then I’ll risk embarrassing myself vs. missing out on the prize if I’m lucky enough to be picked!
Yes, it’s always witheld or private. This is for a couple of reasons – the number could be shared and people would know they had to answer with ‘Make me a winner’ or know the correct cash amount, ruining the element of surprise. Secondly, if it was shown as a missed call, it would be a nightmare for the radio station having to deal with people calling back, devastated that they had not answered – this could result in some serious mental health issues for a person who realises they had lost out on £100,000 or more. It’s much safer that they don’t know they missed out!
Understood, thanks!
Can people living in England enter the Scottish Cash register competition? i have tried ringing the free entry number (0330 880 4523) and I can get through to the automated service and enter alright, but the thing is, I read somewhere that people in England & Wales aren’t eligible to enter, so would my entry be valid?
You need to live in Scotland, so don’t bother! The details are at https://winhappy.com/campaign/SCOTCASHREGISTER
Ok then, I won’t bother! 🙂
Incredibly, we’ve just had the 10th rollover yesterday, where people have either said ‘hello’, have not answered the phone, or have let it go to voicemail! What’s going on? Will someone answer the phone tonight at just after 3pm?
I am always by my phone but never win anything ever I could help my friends and family and even learn to drive so that my family can actually have a holiday rather than staying at home makes me upset hearing them asking for a holiday
I know, it doesn’t seem fair that serious compers spend ages preparing to win, then someone comes along & says hello, or answers & doesn’t even say anything!
Do you think that the organiser(s) have the technical ability to not call anyone who has multiple entries on the ‘free’ number? If it was the case it would save folks like me a lot of time!
I guess they could do that, but a lot of people who entered for free have won, so they probably don’t. Besides, that would be against the rules.
Hey amigos! wishing everyone luck and hope we can win this! Do you know if anyone calling these numbers has won before?
Yes, I belong to a FB group called ‘Cash Register Amount – Fanclub’, and several members have won using only the free numbers to enter. Good luck!
Another thing which occurred to me- if you’re lucky enough to win, in addition to photo-ID & proof of address, do you need to prove the phone number is registered to you? I was thinking this might be difficult with a PAYG phone, as they never send out any correspondence by post. You could probably print out the page on the phone provider’s app which has your name & address if need be…
There’s nothing at all in T&Cs that mentions this Jim and I’ve never heard of anyone having to prove it’s their phone number – as you say, many people have SIMs without their name registered to it. The only proof they usually need is that the name you gave on air matches the name on your ID. In the past, winners have also had to do a voice match test to check that the voice on air matches the voice of the named entrant!
Ah, that’s good, as it could cause problems for example if someone normally uses their partner’s phone. So really, the only thing is that the person who answers should be able to prove who they are with photo-ID.
Today’s caller really took the cake! She entered just 8 minutes before the lines closed. Then when her phone rang just a few minutes later, she answered “hello!” How can you forget you entered a competition in just 15 minutes??
What’s going on with all these rollovers at the moment? We’re once again into a sextuple rollover, since no-one has won since last Monday! Are people just forgetting that they are still in the competition due to rollovers, thinking that because they havn’t entered today they aren’t in it?
I think that’s exactly it JIm – when you enter on the day, you’re likely to remember about the 3pm phone call. But once there’s been a rollover that probably throws a lot of people off – they maybe entered on Friday, forgot about the comp over the weekend and wouldn’t expect a call on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, days after they entered!!
Just wondering, when did these radio competitions first start? I’m pretty sure I remember a similar competition back in about 2005-2006, I think it was on Magic FM. Does this sound about right? Or do they go back even further than that?
I asked this question over in my Facebook group Jim and one lady said she remembers them in the 90s! https://www.facebook.com/groups/luckylearners/posts/6391621020916691/
Wow, that is a long time. So I guess they have been around as long as we have had phones which could send texts..
It’s useful to learn that if the prize is not won on a particular day, then entries for that day remain valid on the next day. I couldn’t establish this for sure from the terms and conditions, and assumed that, although the prize rolls over, the entries didn’t, and that’s how the company could make its money.
Why do so many people not answer the phone on time, or say “Hello”, or say nothing at all when they answer? Surely, if they have gone to the trouble of entering the competition, they should be ready for the phonecall at around 3-3:15 pm?
You would think so wouldn’t you? I can understand people panicking and getting the Cash register amount wrong – but if the phone rings at 3.07 then there’s no excuse not answering with Make Me A Winner (especially if you’ve actually paid for the entries!!!)
I suppose the person may be in a meeting, or driving, or temporarily distracted by something, they may not be able to answer. But not saying anything, that does seem strange. If they say “Hello”, it could be someone else answering the phone who doesn’t know about the competition, or that they think the call is at a different time..
Another thing someone pointed out- some people may be entered without realiseing it due to rolled-over entries. Because they havn’t actively entered on that particular day, they may not even realise they are in the competition!
Wow, we’ve just had the 6th no-win in a row, with the person not answering the phone! Why don’t they keep phoning until someone answers?
Actually, it does say in part 5 of the Ts & Cs that all entries roll over: “All entries from the completed Draw, and any previous Draws, where no winner was declared, will automatically be eligible for the next Draw. Entrants do not need to enter again in order to be eligible but are able to do so if they would like to increase their chances.”
I know this is probably a stupid question but if you have entered by phone a maximum of 42 times and it’s a rollover does that mean you can’t enter again the next day 42 times cause it’s not been won. That can go on for a few days so say if I entered Monday 42 times by phone and no one answered for 4 days do my 42 phone calls get carried through each day . Thanks
Yes, the system allows you to enter for free 42 times each day, regardless of whether the competition has been won or not. I assume the entries add up, so you would have 126 entries after this double rollover…
Thanks
YW. Are you in the Facebook group at all? It’s called “Cash Register Amount – Fanclub”. It’s pretty helpful.. So another rollover, and if we enter 42 times, we’ll have 168 entries!
Thanks I’ll join
WELL , THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS ARE EXCELLENT. THEY ARE QUITE SELF EXPLANATORY TOO. I WAS PAYING THE £2 ENTRY, BUT CANNOT CARRY ON WITH IT FINANCIALLY. THEN I CHECKED THE PHONE NUMBER YOU WERE SAYING, AND HAVE JUST FINISHED READING ALL YOUR CONDITIONS. I HAVE ENTERED ONCE NOW JUST TO SEE IF IT WORKS. LOVE YOUR STATION, GOT IT ON ALL DAY , AS IM DISABLED, I LOVE IT.
Be careful though, make sure your package includes unlimited minutes, otherwise you will be billed for all these calls!
Make me a winner