My prize portfolio
Warning! This post might make you jealous. It’s a list of the biggest and best prizes I’ve won – my CV (Competition Victories) in fact.
Since my very first win back in 1980 I’ve had a lot of fun with the hobby, but I only realised its true potential in 1997. Since then I’ve won over £350,000 of prizes, ranging from holidays to hats – and here’s the list of the very best! You can also read about my favourite prizes in more detail in My Top Ten Prizes.
Car
- VW Beetle (Zanussi tiebreaker competition)
Holidays & short breaks
- 3 weeks in New Zealand plus £1000 (Ottakars bookshop online quiz)
- Trip to Grand Prix in Brazil (Fernox purchase/slogan competition)
- Week at Sandals Antigua (Sainsbury’s Magazine entry form prize draw)
- Ten days in Japan (Good Food magazine postcard prize draw)
- Family holiday in Florida (Heart London photo competition)
- Week in Tokyo (Now magazine postcard prize draw)
- Week in Sorrento (Garofalo kids recipe/video competition)
- Short break in Switzerland (Toblerone video competition)
- Week long Eurocamp Holiday (Nestle Cereals text promotion)
- Week in Cyprus (Jet2 Instagram competition)
- A week in Barcelona (Spanish wine slogan competition)
- Flights to Barcelona & £100 (Smooth Radio on-air competition)
- Weekend in Jerez (Asda entry form prize draw)
- Weekend in Seville & £1000 cash (After Eight Orange slogan competition)
- Wine tasting trip to Rioja & San Sebastian (Sainsbury’s Magazine prize draw)
- Port tasting trip to Porto & Douro Valley (Sainsbury’s Magazine prize draw)
- Weekend in Prague (GAME entry form prize draw)
- Flights to New York (Gatwick & Norwegian photo competition)
- Flights to New York (Miller Draft slogan competition)
- Flights to Stockholm (Pringles Selfie competition)
- Weekend in New York (Maybelline slogan competition)
- Weekend in New York (Time Out slogan competition)
- Football weekend in Milan (Indesit photo/tiebreaker competition)
- Overnight stay in Copenhagen with dinner at Noma (recipe competition)
- Flights to Los Angeles (Heat magazine crossword)
- Weekend in Rome (Pink Lady purchase prize draw)
- Weekend in Reykjavik (FHM/Minx photo competition)
- Weekend in Reykjavik (Heart FM phone in)
- Weekend in Amsterdam (Art’otel photo competition)
- Weekend in Amsterdam (Eurostar Twitter tiebreaker)
- Weekend in Paris (Lending Stream voting competition)
- Weekend in Berlin (postcard draw)
- Weekend in Dublin (local paper postcard draw)
- Weekend in Dublin (Caffreys purchase necessary prize draw)
- Weekend in Majorca (Jet2 Party Plane comp – won with my Facebook group!)
- Weekend at Legoland Denmark (Shell photo competition)
- VIP trip to England v Wales at Euro2016 in France (Greene King prize draw)
- Weekend break at Alton Towers hotel (Spudz/Morrisons slogan competition)
- Weekend at Hoar Cross Hall spa (online quiz)
- Weekend at Champneys (Virgin Radio phone-in)
- Weekend at Champneys (Independent quiz)
- Weekend break in Yorkshire (Facebook prize draw)
- Weekend break in Brecon Beacons (postcard prize draw)
- Weekend break in London (Unlimited Magazine prize draw)
- Weekend break at Northcote Manor in Devon (Facebook prize draw)
- Weekend break in London with dinner, wine and cinema tickets (Magic Radio phone in)
- Two night break in Snowdonia (Magic Radio on-air quiz)
- Overnight stay at Jurys Inn London (tiebreaker comp)
- Overnight stay in Tenterden & car hire (TravelSupermarket video comp)
- Overnight stay at Handpicked Hotel (photo competition)
- Overnight stay in Birmingham with dinner (Style Birmingham prize draw)
- Overnight stay & dinner at Jurys Inn Brighton (Jurys Facebook prize draw)
A prize from Fernox meant we saw the Brazilian Grand Prix on our honeymoon!
Events & experiences
- VIP break at London 2012 (Cadbury & McColls text in)
- Tickets to Olympics Handball final for 4 & overnight stay (Visa instant win)
- VIP tickets to see Charli XCX & overnight accommodation (Kiss FM tiebreaker)
- Weekend in London plus flying lesson & Thames RIB Experience & £300 (Footlocker Instagram comp)
- London Fashion Week front row tickets & overnight stay in London (KFC video comp)
- Trip to the BAFTAs & overnight stay in London (Total Film mag prize draw)
- Trip to the 2020 BAFTAs & overnight stay in London (Metro.co.uk prize draw)
- Trip to a BAFTA screening event & overnight stay in London (Daily Star photo competition)
- Personal shopper with £500 to spend & overnight stay in London (Asda/Maybelline slogan comp)
- Tickets to Text Santa event & overnight stay in London (Morrisons photo comp)
- Carling Cup Final tickets (Talk Sport quiz)
- Champions League Final tickets, hotel accommodation & travel (Dixons quiz)
- Day trip to Paris and £500 to spend with a fashion blogger (Ford Ka photo comp)
- Day at Waitrose Cookery school & hotel stay (Casillero del Diablo recipe competition)
- ‘Live like a princess’ weekend including a night at the Ritz, spa day and Mac makeover (Heart FM quiz)
- Racing Track Day (Kiddilicious photo competiton)
- Present Man of the Match at a League game plus 4 tickets (Talk Sport)
- Chef to cook dinner for 8 people, with wine & waitress (Metro/Sure slogan comp)
- Eden Hall Spa Day for two (Heart FM phone in)
- DeVere Hotels spa day for two (photo competition)
- Six tickets to Arsenal v Newcastle in Executive box (Barclays)
- Cookery demonstration with Raymond Blanc & dinner (Metro photo comp)
- Zookeeper for a day at London Zoo (Flash/Wilko purchase necessary comp)
- Day at Polo in the park (Celebrity Cruises photo comp)
- Champions League tickets (Heineken purchase necessary comp)
- Champions League tickets (Heineken Twitter photo comp)
- VIP day at Arsenal v Chelsea for four (video comp)
- Day at Sushi School (Visit Japan photo comp)
- Sushi class for two (Yo!Sushi prize draw)
- Mascot package for FA Cup Final (Emirates kids video comp)
- 20 days at The Outdoors Project Holiday Club for my son (survey prize draw)
- Tour of Arsenal Training Ground plus 4 tickets to a match
- Tickets to the BRIT Awards 2020 (Absolute radio text in draw)
- VIP EFL Trophy Final tickets 2020 (Leasing.com video comp)
- VIP Carabao Cup Final tickets 2021 (Carabao & ASDA purchase prize draw)
- EURO2020 tickets to Sweden v Ukraine (Matchpint & Heineken prize draw)
- EURO2020 England v Denmark semi final tickets (Matchpint & Heineken prize draw)
Rob and I enjoyed VIP treatment at the 2020 BAFTA Awards
Festival tickets
- Glastonbury 2014 tickets (Tuborg tiebreaker comp)
- Glastonbury 2007 VIP tickets (Q Magazine prize draw)
- Glastonbury 2002 tickets (Big Issue prize draw)
- Glastonbury VIP tickets (YOP slogan competition)
- Glastonbury 2000 VIP tickets (Hut.co.uk prize draw)
- 6 x Glastonbury 1998 tickets plus £500 camping gear (Q Magazine music quiz)
- Trip to Glastonbury 2003 by limo and a butler for the weekend (Q magazine prize draw)
- Big Feastival family ticket (Facebook prize draw)
- Summer Sundae family ticket (Facebook prize draw)
- Camp Bestival 2013 family ticket (Something Special Twitter RT draw)
- Reading Festival 2001 VIP tickets (Rock Sound prize draw)
- Reading Festival 2001 tickets (local paper prize draw)
- Wireless Festival 2006 tickets (Galaxy radio phone in)
- Forgotten Fields Festival 2015 tickets (online prize draw)
- Camp Bestival 2016 family ticket (Twitter retweet prize draw)
- Camp Bestival 2017 family ticket (Capital radio phone in)
- Great Escape Festival tickets (Fender prize draw)
- Great Escape tickets (4 Music prize draw)
It was on my wishlist to celebrate my 40th birthday at Glastonbury, and Tuborg ensured it happened!
Cash
- £15,000 cash plus £10,000 shares in Brewdog (Lost Lager 2021 prize draw with a gold-plated can as the original prize – read all about it here)
- £7500 (Are you smarter than a 10 year old TV game show)
- £6000 (BT postcard prize draw)
- £2980 (Divided TV game show)
- £2000 (Acco tiebreaker comp)
- £2000 (4 x £500 wins in the Nutrigrain text competition)
- £1000 (Lu biscuits & Co-op text prize draw, 2022)
- £1000 (Kerrang! Radio phone in)
- £1000 (WOW Toys video competition)
- £1000 (Trent FM treasure hunt)
- £1000 (Heart FM music quiz)
- £1000 (Heart FM photo competition)
- £1000 (Trent FM ‘song in a second’ phone in)
- £1000 (eBay slogan comp)
- £1000 (PayPal slogan comp)
- £500 (Nivea create advert competition)
- £500 (Heart FM song request)
- £500 (Tesco email prize draw)
- £500 (SyFy treasure hunt)
- £500 (Absolute Radio phone in)
- £500 (Magic Radio Quiz)
- £392 (Supermarket Sweep prize – shared with my friend Kathy!)
- £300 (Tesco Walkers instant win)
- £250 (Capital XTRA text prize draw, 2022)
- £250 (Jackpot Party video competition)
- £250 (Bitrex tiebreaker)
- £250 (Heart FM phone in)
- £250 (Trent FM phone in)
- £250 (Trent FM phone in)
- £200 PayPal credit (eBay video competition)
- £200 (Talk Sport singing comp)
- £141.50 (My Lucky Patch)
- £104.50 (My Lucky Patch)
- £100 (Wagamama survey prize draw)
- £100 eBay credit (Twitter tiebreaker competition)
- £100 (FairFX photo prize draw)
Vouchers
- £1500 Thomas Cook vouchers (Morrisons mag prize draw)
- £1000 Intu vouchers (Spot-the.com competition)
- £1000 Selfridges vouchers & a digital camera (Olympus Instagram competition)
- £1000 Comet vouchers (Q magazine crossword)
- £1000 Tesco vouchers (Tesco Diets recipe competition)
- £1000 Landmark Trust vouchers (Cif slogan competition)
- £1000 Sainsburys vouchers (postcard prize draw)
- £500 Easyjet Holiday voucher (Walkers purchase necessary instant win, 2022)
- £500 Morrisons vouchers (slogan competition)
- £500 Sainsbury’s Vouchers (Classic Gold Gem radio text in)
- £500 Bliss vouchers (photo comp)
- £500 shopping vouchers (Barclaycard gameshow)
- £500 Selfridges vouchers (Metro slogan comp)
- £500 Sainsburys vouchers (Annabel Karmel video competition)
- £500 Maplin vouchers (local newspaper text prize draw)
- £500 Thomas Cook vouchers (Barratts photo competition)
- £500 John Lewis vouchers (Origin photo competition)
- £500 ASOS vouchers (Blippar prize draw)
- £500 Debenhams vouchers (win your wishlist bloggers comp)
- £500 Designer Outlet vouchers (Pinterest prize draw)
- £500 Red Letter Day voucher (review of Philips iron)
- £500 Intu vouchers (Jet2 competition)
- £500 music store vouchers (local prize draw)
- £400 AITO holiday voucher (Telegraph Advent Competiton)
- £350 Hobbs vouchers (Westfield Advent competition)
- £300 ASOS vouchers (ASAP54 Competition)
- £300 Selfridges vouchers (Scholl purchase necessary prize draw)
- £300 High Street voucher (Prezzo & Fruit Shoot photo prize draw)
- £300 Book Tokens (Ry’s win in kids poetry competition)
- £300 One4All vouchers (Post Office Savings Prize draw)
- £250 Sweaty Betty vouchers (video competition)
- £250 Rust-Oleum paint vouchers (prize draw)
- £250 BHS vouchers (BHS prize draw)
- £250 ASOS vouchers (Nivea design competition)
- £250 i-escape voucher (Pinterest competition)
- £250 Amazon vouchers (Aptaclub/Littlestuff blogger compeititon)
- £250 Sainsburys vouchers (crock pot recipe competition)
- £250 Little domain vouchers (Facebook prize draw)
- £250 Hamleys vouchers (Shopomo prize draw)
- £250 Tesco vouchers (Heart FM on air competition)
- £250 Decathlon voucher (SuperSavvyMe photo prize draw)
- £240 Vanilla Mastercards (Wilko purchase prize draw)
- £200 hotel vouchers (Kidstart blog giveaway)
- £200 Laura Ashley vouchers (Laura Ashley Twitter comp)
- £200 High Street vouchers (Maybelline video competition)
- £200 Waterstones vouchers (book quiz)
- £200 Sports Direct vouchers (local newspaper prize draw)
- £200 Go Ape vouchers (Pomegreat prize draw)
- £200 ASDA voucher (Asda/Heinz purchase prize draw)
- £200 Virgin Experience voucher (KitKat purchase prize draw)
- £175 North Face voucher (photo competition)
- £150 Red Letter Day voucher (My Social Radio prize draw)
- £150 Red Letter Day voucher (Citroen Retail Group prize draw)
- £150 G Star vouchers (Churchill Square photo comp)
- £100 JD Sports voucher (Pitchero survey prize draw, 2022)
- £100 M&S vouchers (Vanish video comp)
- £100 Disney store voucher (photo comp)
- £100 Asda voucher (Instagram comp)
- £100 Schuh voucher (design a card)
- £100 Ticketmaster voucher (Scottish Friendly video competition)
- £100 Victoria Centre Vouchers (Smooth East Midlands phone in quiz)
- £100 American apparel voucher (Global Cool photo comp)
- £100 Amazon vouchers (Baby Budgeting blog competition)
- £100 Fashion Union vouchers (prize draw)
- £100 Petit Bateau vouchers (video comp)
- £100 John Lewis vouchers (Kleenex video comp)
- £100 Amazon card (Transatlantic Blonde blog giveaway)
- £100 M&S vouchers (Vanish video competition)
- £100 Selfridges vouchers (Simply Tap app)
- £100 Georg Jensen voucher (Elle Deco prize draw)
- £100 Mothercare vouchers (local shopping centre prize draw)
- £100 Westfield vouchers (Kiss FM Facebook draw)
- £120 Victoria Centre vouchers (in store vortex booth)
- £100 Kitlocker voucher (McDonalds Twitter prize draw)
- £100 Levis voucher (Levis Instagram prize draw)
- £100 Morrisons vouchers (Twitter party)
- €100 Mainio Clothing voucher (Little Flea Instagram prize draw)
- £100 Wayfair voucher (Facebook photo comp)
- £100 Tesco voucher (Plenty Kitchen roll on-pack promotion)
- £100 Amazon voucher (One Stop photo prize draw)
- £100 Virgin Experience voucher (Acuvue photo prize draw)
- £100 White Company Gift Card (HQ Stories pre order prize draw)
- £100 Co-op gift card (Strawberries instant win)
- £100 Asda voucher (Go Cat purchase prize draw)
- Merlin annual family pass (Specsavers Magazine postcard prize draw)
- Legoland annual family pass (Legoland entry form draw)
- Birmingham City FC season ticket (local prize draw)
Winning £1000 Tesco vouchers just before Christmas was excellent timing!
Appliances & gadgets
- Zanussi washing machine (Zanussi roadshow prize draw)
- £2000 of Indesit appliances (Facebook creative competition)
- Fridge freezer (Samsung photo competition)
- Pink Smeg fridge (Century FM on air quiz)
- 3 x Dirt devil vacuums (Dirt Devil photo comp)
- Miele vaccuum (Grand Designs Show prize draw)
- Dishwasher (AO photo competition on live stream)
- Dishwasher (Fairy & Tesco text draw)
- Powapass football machine (Precision GK Twitter prize draw)
- Wine cooler & built in coffee machine (KBB entry form prize draw)
- Nutribullet (Belvita prize draw)
- iPhone X, Galaxy Tab, Fitbit Ionic watch, GoPro, Google Home and Sony headphones (Heart FM video comp)
- LG 65 inch TV, soundbar, portable speaker, Bluetooth speaker (LG purchase necessary prize draw, 2022)
- 40 inch TV & BluRay player (Lidl photo comp)
- 43 inch Ultra HD TV (Nestle Winning Weekends instant win)
- HDTV (HeyUGuys ET theme photo comp)
- TV (M&S post in-store prize draw)
- TV (Wilkinson purchase necessary draw)
- 28 inch TV (Sainsburys Bananas slogan comp)
- 28 inch TV (Sainsburys Flash slogan comp)
- 3DTV (Pirates! Facebook video comp)
- Panasonic TV (MOJO crossword)
- TV (MyFutureRole photo comp)
- TV (Poundland purchase necessary comp)
- Sony R42 TV (Antalis photo comp)
- Technics Decks & mixer (Arcade mag postcard prize draw)
- G5 Apple Mac (Computer Arts postcard prize draw)
- Gaming PC (PC Advisor Facebook prize draw)
- Sharp laptop & Video Camera (Arena magazine postcard draw)
- iPod & CD (Chat magazine photo competition)
- Nokia Lumia (Nokia Twitter comp)
- Galaxy tab (Three Twitter tiebreaker)
- Sony Xperia Arc (Netmums Twitter party)
- iPhone 3G (Navigator prize draw)
- Two iPhone 4s (PriceMinister blogger competition)
- iPhone 5 (Busuu prize draw)
- iPhone 6 Plus (Silver Bay Point wine photo prize draw)
- X10 handset (Aptitude Lab Twitter prize draw)
- iPod (NOTW postcard prize draw)
- iPod (Focus mag prize draw)
- iPod (House of Fraser mag prize draw)
- iPod (BT text comp)
- iPad (Roehampton referral prize draw)
- iPad 2 (KBB Show prize draw)
- iPad 2 (Metro photo comp)
- iPad (Boot Buddy creative competition)
- iPad (Sage Official prize draw)
- iPad Mini (Capital FM text in comp)
- iPad Mini (QuiddiCompare prize draw)
- Nokia E7 (Absolute radio text-in quiz)
- XBox (Dixons quiz)
- Wii (Local paper lowest bid auction)
- Sony projector (postcard prize draw)
- GoPro (Smint design a poster comp)
- Camcorder (Competition Hunter blogger competition)
- LG Optimus (LG video competition)
- Flip HD Camcorder (Flip video competition)
- Kitchenaid Blender (Green Giant recipe competition)
- Kenwood blender (Kanzi Facebook prize draw)
- Nutribullet (Brecon Water photo competition)
- Inkjet Printer (Juice FM phone in)
- Marshall Amp (NME prize draw)
- Outback BBQ (online prize draw)
- His & Hers bikes (Smooth radio phone in quiz)
- Olympus Digital Camera (newspaper email prize draw)
- Canon MiniDV camcorder (Dixons entry form draw)
- Nikon Coolpix (Independent quiz)
- Bang & Olufsen Beosound 2 (Le Petit Rapporteur prize draw)
- SatNav (RAC prize draw)
- Go Pro Hero 4 (LottoGoodCauses photo competition)
- Beats Pill speaker (Chicago Town video competition)
- Kobo Auro H2o (Primary Times photo competition)
- Fitbit Charge 2 (Lucozade Made to Move app)
- Fitbit Charge 2 (another one from Lucozade Made to Move app)
- Fitbit Inspire (Perfect Fit prize draw)
- Google Nest Speaker (East End foods prize draw, 2022)
- Bose Speaker, tripod, selfie light, Amazon Fire Stick (Capital XTRA text prize draw, 2022)
- MisFits guitar amp (PMT prize draw, 2022)
- Huawei smart watch (Huawei running challenge, 2022)
I collected my prize iPhone from the lovely staff at Busuu’s London office!
A year’s supply of….
- Kurt Geiger KG shoes (Elle magazine postcard prize draw – I won this prize in 2005 and again in 2007!)
- Cloggs kids shoes (Pinterest competition)
- Asda cleaning products (photo competition)
- Dermalogica products (Dermalogica video competition)
- Plum Organic Baby Food (photo competition)
- Kronenburg lager (local paper postcard prize draw)
- Carlsberg lager (Melody Maker postcard prize draw)
- Toni & Guy haircuts (Westfield Stratford photo competition)
- Ecozone Dishwasher tablets (Facebook prize draw)
- Lil-lets (photo competition)
- Yorkshire Gold Tea (video competition)
- Bahlsen biscuits (slogan competition)
- Magnum ice cream (postcard entry prize draw)
- Nappies (Co-op slogan competition)
- David Lloyd Membership (Slimming World prize draw)
- Fitness First membership (Chat prize draw)
- DVD box sets (HMV slogan comp)
- A cleaner for a year! (Surf/Wilkinson purchase & photo prize draw)
- Petrol (Best Car for My Budget prize draw)
- Brockmans Gin (treasure hunt)
- Hampstead Tea (Readers Digest prize draw)
- Bubblegum (Despicabubble photo comp)
- Spotify Premium (Maynard Bassetts instant win)
- Netflix (Easifillers purchase prize draw)
- CIneworld Annual Unlimited pass (Cineworld photo prize draw)
- Spotify Premium (TicTac video competition)
- Ice cream (Ben & Jerrys photo competition)
Clothes
- £2500 Warehouse vouchers (Company magazine prize draw)
- Ten handbags (Woman magazine slogan comp)
- £300 Viyella clothes, meal at House of Fraser and makeover (local prize draw)
- Radley handbag (Radley photo comp)
- Alexander McQueen scarf (Müller treasure hunt)
- 6 pairs of Start Rite shoes (Start Rite Pinterest competition)
- 3 pairs of Kurt Geiger shoes (Instagram video comp)
- £250 Lucas Jack jewellery (Elle Decoration prize draw)
- £100 Agent Provocateur underwear (Facebook prize draw)
- £500 Goodyear clothing (Brighton Argus email prize draw)
- £300 pair of specs from Boots Opticians (local paper prize draw)
- Pair of RayBans (Masdings Twitter prize draw)
- Two pairs of Heelys shoes (Heelys Instagram prize draw)
Home & Garden
- £3500 Betta Living fitted bedroom (Rafflecopter prize draw)
- £500 to spend at Carpetright (postcard prize draw)
- Shower cubicle (postcard prize draw)
- Designer Radiator (postcard prize draw)
- Triton shower (video competition)
- £1000 Harveys Furniture vouchers (Pinterest competition)
- £500 Hillarys vouchers (Pinterest prize draw)
- Gazebo (Kwiksave slogan comp)
- BBQ (Morrisons slogan comp)
- York Cross Trainer (Argos prize draw)
- Inflatable Lay-Z-Spa Hot Tub & Weber Master Touch BBQ (Heart FM on air competition)
- Paddleboard (Stanley purchase necessary prize draw)
Food & Drink
- £1000 of Laurent Perrier champagne (Harpers & Queen postcard prize draw)
- £1000 Selfridges hamper (Selfridges online prize draw)
- Christmas luxury hamper (local paper postcard draw)
- 6 months veg box deliveries (online prize draw)
- £200 Pataks hamper (video competition)
- £200 of Premium Sake (JSS Sakegraphy photo competition)
Baby & Kids
- Mamaroo baby swing (Babyrambles blog giveaway)
- Graco buggy (Graco photo competition)
- Balance Bike (First Direct blogger competition)
- Cybex travel system (Parenting magazine prize draw)
- Bugaboo pushchair (postcard prize draw)
- Cosatto buggy (Cosatto photo competition)
- Lego F1 car (Shell photo comp)
- £170 of Star Wars Lego (Epic magazine prize draw)
- Smart Trike (Facebook prize draw)
- Graco pushchair (Graco photo competiiton)
- £150 of Playmobil toys (Playmobil postcard prize draw)
- Kids outdoor toys set (Warburton photo comp)
- Trampoline (Asda text competition)
Unusual prizes
- £1500 Sponsorship package for kids football team (Las Iguanas video comp)
- Signed Damien Hirst print (Observer prize draw)
- Signed BHAFC shirt (Carling prize draw on Twitter)
- Signed Arsenal shirt (competition at a prizewinner event)
- Signed Arsenal Shirt & 2020 FA Cup Final programme (EE video competition)
- £1200 Powapass machine (Precision GK Twitter competition)
- £1000 of signed memorabilia & phone (HTC creative comp)
- Box of kit for football team plus £100 Decathlon vouchers (McColls prize draw)
- Full football kit for hubby’s team (Morrisons/Sure slogan comp)
- Signed Noel Gallagher Epiphone guitar (Melody Maker postcard prize draw)
- Street Party (Great Little Ideas recipe competition)
- My dad’s weight in chocolate (Cadbury slogan comp)
- Set of car tyres (Tyresafe photo competition)
- Hire of a pink Beetle for my wedding day (Wedding Ideas prize draw)
- New Deal Skateboard (Live TV phone in comp)
- Ryland’s height (125cm) in Hasbro Games
- Leasing.com Trophy at a venue of my choice
- …and probably my weirdest prize, a bogey removal device!
What’s the best prize you’ve won? Let me know in the comments!
And if you’re new to comping, check out my Getting Started guide, and see how you can get cracking on your own list of wonderful wins!
Hi Di!!!
I just won a break through Jet2, and I’ve sent off my dates I am available to take the trip – how long after submitting your dates did the Prize Winner team come back to you? Wondering how long it’ll be til I have a confirmed trip!
Thanks,
Sarah xxx
Congratulations! Lots of Lucky Learners won Jet2 holidays in January, some heard back next day but others have been waiting a month. Here’s the link if you want to join the conversation – https://www.facebook.com/groups/luckylearners/permalink/3666147473464073
Awesome! I am a oversea collegae of you and pretty Lucky in the game as well. Tho I am playing the winning game for 3 a 4 years, I have a pretty impressive prize portfolio. I won 90% with being creative and not with a Lucky draw.
I guess my biggest prices are a roadtrip worth 7000 dollar ( free to fill in anywhere i would like to go) , followed by a brand new kitchen, I also won a complete holiday to the Carribean twice ( one time to Curacao and the other time to Bonaire ) and a red carpet premiere and afterparty from the movie Bad Moms in Hollywood LA, 7 tv’s, holidaycheque’s worth 3K total, and a all inclusive trip to a rooftopparty from a wine brand in Sao Paulo Brasil.
Amazing wins! I’m guessing you’re based in the US? I’d love to win a road trip to a place of my choice!
Thanks, and no I am based in Holland a.k.a the other side of the Northsea haha 😉 I found my new spirit animal in you girl! I’m sure you will win the roadtrip one day!!
Hi again! I was just wondering, are there any competition websites or magazines in Holland, or any other European countries that you know of? It would be good to know the resources people have abroad for comping!
Wow this has BLOWN me away! I started comping 9 months ago…..had 3 big wins already and quite a few small wins……your list of wins is just UNREAL! i love it! I enter like 50/100 comps per day and my motivation is 100% but after seeing your list my motivation has quadroupled x 10
Wow amazing not feeling jealous feeling inspired. Due to commiments comps have taken a back seat. And as a previous big winner with over 20 holidays to my name and many biggies, its now time to resume comping big time. Thank you Di x
Wow – sounds like you’re all set to go for it in 2018 Ellie! A holiday is top of my wishlist for next year as I didn’t win one in 2017!
Amazing prizes you’ve won. Can I ask I can presume you keep many of the prizes or give them away as gifts. But do you sell any of the prizes? Just curious to know if selling a prize is a taboo subject?
I personally only enter competitions for prizes I want and to give away but I do debate whether to enter comps for a prize that I maybe could sell.
Andrew
I wrote a blog post about selling prizes Andrew – it’s interesting reading!
https://superlucky.me/selling-prizes/
Personally, I’ve not sold many in the last few years but I don’t see any problem with it at all. I don’t enter for prizes I don’t want though – the things I’ve sold have been runners up or duplicate prizes.
OMG you truly are my new hero! I am an avid comper and thought that I was doing incredibly well, but I absolutely pale in comparison to yourself. I have been comping for about 4 years now, since I was pregnant with my son. As a result of my pregnancy I was disabled and I am currently researching for my blog about comping to support a restricted lifestyle, foccussing on the restricted income of most disabled people. I strangely came across your name for the first time yesterday on another blog, and then today stumbled upon one of your own competitions so just had to have a read. Your list of wins is just so incredible! I have probably won about £15k in prizes in total over the 4 years since I started but I’m just flabbergasted by your success. You have certainly found yourself a new follower, I’m sure I will be hanging on your every word to learn from you for a long time to come. And here’s me thinking that I had tips to teach people lol…..
Thanks for the comment! It sounds like you’re doing pretty well – there are so many more people comping now than when I started 20 years ago! Do let me know the link for your blog 🙂
I will do when it’s up and running, hopefully early next year. Have since watched a couple of your videos and found that you are also a Brummie! 🙂
Yay! Comping Brummies!
wow what a wonderful list.My best prize £10.000 installed bathroom , i only win a hand ful of prizes each year so i am upping my game and putting more effort into it . one of the prizes I love my Jamie Oliver serving dishes comes out every Christmas love it .
My best prize was a £10,000 Magnet kitchen, quickly followed a couple of weeks later by a £3,000 TKMaxx shopping spree.
Wow!! That’s amazing bthis makes me want to look more now I always pick up the tesco/asda mag but forget about them..well dome di! You are truly the Queen of comping ☺ xx
FANTASTIC – you have just inspired me to make a prize portfolio spreadsheet!!
Incredible list Di! My best prize was a 40″ telly, haven’t been comping for a while but you inspired me to restart!
Wow! What an impressive win list. I don’ know where or even how to start entering comps. You make it sound easy in your book. I don’t have twitter account, Facebook I can cope with and don’t like it when you get to the final enter button and then you are diverted to a section that wants to know about you and lifestyle ect.
Please help.
You have my book Hilary – now just take it a step/tip at a time. I can see you’re already active on Facebook, and you know how to comment on blogs which is a great start! You mention the ‘survey’ type prize draws – you need to steer clear of those! Before long you’ll learn which sites they are hosted on. Choose one comping website (I recommend Money Saving Expert or Loquax if you want to avoid the surveys) and work through the new comps on there – or search for the type of prizes you want. Find local companies, radio stations, newspapers, shopping centres and mags on the web and Facebook and enter their competitions – there won’t be many entries.
That’s is some list Di, and most impressive. I started entering competitions about 12 years ago and did so for a few years before giving up completely and starting again this year 2015. About ten years ago I saw an internet competition to win a trek to Everest Base Camp all expenses paid and I just had to say why I wanted to win. I was away on a girl’s golfing break when the call came through and my friends thought I had gone a bit crazy when I told them what I had won as I only had three weeks to get super fit. It was a chance of a lifetime, something I would never have done had it not been for comping and it was just amazing. Just after I started again this year I won three days skiing in Chamonix, although I hadn’t skied for over 20 years I took my daughter, who is a good skier, we had a wonderful mum and daughter time, I fell over a lot, we laughed a lot and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. So now I am trying to get back into doing competitions and have found your videos and tips very helpful as things have changed a lot over the years but the buzz of winning never changes whether it is big or small. Thankyou.
Hi Di! I started entering instant wins and sweeps in mid-May of this year and have already won 11 little prizes! I spend about 15-20 minutes a night after work going through a list on some trusted websites (I’m in the US) and only stick with the ones with prizes I want or need. I haven’t ventured too far into the creative contests yet, although I did try my hand at a product slogan the other night. Most of the instant wins/sweeps I’ve entered still haven’t even done their grand prize drawings yet, but I’m just so jazzed about the wee prizes so far! I’ve won a hat, a beverage koozie, a soccer ball, 3 gift cards (total $20), several candy and snack vouchers, an insulated cooler tote, and a tube of mascara! Not to mention all the digital music downloads (5 or so) that I haven’t even fiddled around with yet. This is so much fun! And I’m so glad to have found this site (and I’ve been watching your videos). Thanks for all the amazing tips!
hello! just wondering what are some trusted us sites you recommend im in florida
My favorites so far are FreebieShark (check the Sweeps page), and SnazzyWin. Good luck!
This is an amazing life changing list of prizes and I must congratulate you on years of determination to accumulate that MASSIVE list.
Looking at this list always gives me motivation to enter more competitions
I only enter about 20 competitions per week and my biggest win is 12 bottles of champagne which will be used for my parents anniversary.
I’m glad it’s inspired you to enter more comps Billy! I won £1000 of Laurent Perrier champagne ten years ago – and we still have 2 of the 35 bottles left! It’s such a special prize to win – hope your folks have a great party!
That is an impressive list. Ive never seriously comped before, just did the dd one through blogs and twitter, but occasionally got lucky. But last month decided to put a bit of my free (tv watching) time into it each night and have won a string of fairy lights, 2 lip smackers, a face duo set from tesco and a book in just 4 weeks. So hope that is a good start! Your list is inspiring!
That’s not a bad haul Chantele – comping is the perfect hobby to accompany TV, because it doesn’t need too much concentration!
Absolutely brilliant Di! Finally had time to look through your list and it’s simply amazing! Wish I’d got all my earliest wins in a list! It would take up valuable comping time to go through my Comp Wins folders! It’s only in the last few years I’ve recorded our group wins in a Word doc and only the last 3 years on Google Drive (thanks to your instructions!). Up to just over £3000 worth so far this year, so looking good although never as good as yours! 😉
Ah – you win some amazing prizes Andrea! I started logging prizes back in the early 2000s, but back then there were only about 25 prizes on my annual list. I get about 3 a week now, but that does include lots of small ones!
Hi Andrea! It’s great to see the amount you have won this year alone. But, if you don’t mind me asking, as I am new to comping, ‘how do you do it?’ What sites or comps do you recommend?
Hi Hilary, I’m addicted to entering competitions I think although I do work full-time & also enjoy gardening, walking and taking photos. I find competitions in emails I get sent and also by searching google for prizes I would particularly like to win (following Di Coke’s advice in her brilliant book Superlucky Secrets!) I also subscribe to Compers News & Compers Update & try to enter all the comps for which I’d like to win the prizes. If I don’t want to win the prize, I don’t bother to enter the comp. I love meeting with like-minded comping friends to exchange entry-forms & get inspired by hearing about their latest wins! I also use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Pinterest to enter comps. You’re welcome to follow me if you’d like and good luck with your comping! 😉
Hi Andrea. Thanks for email. I am still waiting for compers news to arrive, but is the compers update worth it? I would like to follow you and get some pointers if you don’t mind. Let me know please.
Hilary.
It’s funny that you’re asking me that question as Compers Update are currently using a photo of me for promotion! I was lucky enough to win £5000 last December using info I got from Compers Update so I would thoroughly recommend it! It makes me sit down and get some really worthwhile comps done although, it has to be said, I probably could get the info elsewhere without paying for it but I always run out of time! See you on FB, Twitter etc 😉
Amazing , I’ve had some fabulous prizes too but the one that sticks in my mind was a few Christmases ago when I had a call to say the lorry would be there in ten minutes (????) and several men staggered up the drive with crates , then hall was full up, I shimmied around to get to the door and had to ring the school to tell the kids to be careful opening the front door. It was first prize from Next £1000 goods , including furniture, crockery , cutlery bedding, Christmas tree and ornaments – and I didn’t know I’d won!
WOW! I love those big Christmas competitions – a dream prize! My friend Lisa won Christmas on October once, and The National Lottery decorated her house and everything – even made snow fall outside!
No, it doesn’t make me feel jealous but rather happy for you because I know how hard you need to work to win a good prize so I’ll say, well done Di 🙂 !!! The best prize I ever won was £600 worth of wall murals (this year) but my favourite thing was winning everybody’s Christmas presents last year.
I love giving people surprises at Christmas – my mum got a Galaxy Tab last year, she’s such a silver surfer!
trip to Australia!
I loved that prize Anna – what an experience!
In my first six months of comping, a two-night stay at a 4 star hotel and spa in North Yorkshire with the Best Loved hotels competition – Best Loved have one of the shortest forms to fill in too!
You know – sometimes I feel guilty if I win a prize draw that was easy to enter – I don’t feel like I’ve worked for the prize ha ha! I won a great spa break in Yorkshire to ‘Titanic’ a few years back – amazing place!
This is so depressing!!!! My biggest win was 4 fitness activity trackers! Hardly compares!
Yes, but you’ll keep adding to it Karen – it’s a hobby that can last a lifetime!
My best prize was a 5 star holiday to Mallorca to a beautiful hotel in the mountains. I also won £1400 with Magnum, holidays to Shetland and Ireland, two trips to London & most types of gadgets. In the last 6 months I won a parrot drone and ipad 2 Air.
How was the Shetland holiday? I’d love to win a trip to Scotland actually – must put that on my wishlist!
It was fantastic. I visit Scottish islands a lot and Shetland was on my wishlist at the time. We went back ourselves last year for a holiday to the same hotel where we won the prize!
My best prize was £1000 Debenhams gift card, also high street vouchers, supermarket vouchers, Merlin annual passes and car insurance were other good prizes. Would like to win car or holidays but not happened yet.
Winning car insurance is a great one – and ‘mortgage paid for a year’ would be nice too!
i won 4,000 pounds to spend on sky lights –i live in a council flat so no use for me.But i flogged to my job center advisor for a cheeky £1000!
That’s a win-win for both of you Adrian – they get a bargain and you get a grand (just don’t tell the promoter!)
The best prize I’ve won is an £8ooo Foodie Trip to Vietnam which I’m going on in July, from Good Food Magazine. Have also had £1000 Boden credit and a fantastic Olivier Awards experience.
I’d love to hear about your trip to Vietnam Sue – I won a trip to Japan with Good Food and it was an absolute joy. I love Asian food!
Wow that is some list. I have been comping a few years and my best win was a Rover car in a slogan competition. My ambition is to win a holiday so fingers crossed 😀
Wow, if you’ve won a car then I’m sure a holiday must be coming soon Elspeth!
An amazing array of prizes! Truly inspirational.
Through the years have won various prizes, my best win being £1920 with ITV Real Deal.
Have won a mini iPad and iPad Air, and Warners Leisure holiday which we really enjoyed and have booked several times since.
Earlier this year I won £1000 One4All Gift card and have previously won cash in varying amounts.
One of my most surprising wins was a large envelope I received and was going to throw in the bin as I thought it was junk mail. On closer inspection discovered it was from Currys and I could choose a cooker up to the value of £1000.
The best thing about comping is the surprises it can bring. It can be quite an exciting hobby at times.
Ah – junk mail! In those early days of comping you have to be extra careful not to recycle a prize notification don’t you! I once had a dirty ripped LWE turn up and inside was a letter that said ‘You have won a ten day trip to Japan!’ – couldn’t believe my eyes!
thanks for your inspirational lists Di, cannot compete no matter how long I live now, can I???? So miss slogan comps although there is still the odd one or two out there! Have won lots of lovely things over the years, but the holidays to Cuba Switzerland New York (twice) and nearer home Spain, never did win that holiday to New Zealand, real shame. The New Kitchen I won which got me into comping really tops the lot when it comes to winning “stuff” and lots of days out and days away in the uk too, so I hope this encourages lots of people to join our comping craziness! Nothing beats it as a hobby, something for nothing, what could be finer, even if it is just a toothbrush, the feeling of excitement when something gets delivered is wonderful, so good luck out there to everyone!x
A kitchen has still evaded me – well done on that one! You’re right – it’s the best hobby ever!
Thanks for posting! Very inspiring! I enjoyed reading though and dreaming about a win to New York City like you! My latest win was a merlin pass which I am quite happy with!!
A Merlin pass is a great prize isn’t it! I’ll be posting a blog soon with creative New York comps – look out for that!
This is brilliant Di. Well done! Can’t seem to get myself motivated to get back into it this year – had 3 amazing years but do miss the ‘buzz’ of the wins. Don’t think Ive ever managed a cash win. Lots of holidays though so can’t complain x
I’m sure you’ll be back into it soon Rebecca – sometimes it just takes one perfect comp to kickstart you again, maybe a blogger comp!
I’m gradually getting back into the swing of things now – I have been doing a few blogger comps as those are my favourite as i feel i’ve ‘acheived’ something just by getting the blogpost up. Actually had two lovely wins from that in recent weeks and one was for a recipe competition which is incredible for me and shows how far i’ve come personally considering a few years ago i could barely cook! your unboxing videos have definitely motivated me x
Thanks for sharing this amazing list Di, so inspiring! Happy to report I’m off to Rome shortly, my first ever holiday abroad comp win thanks to the Guardian! 😀
Yay! The first of many I’m sure Rachael!
Pheewee well done Di, wish I could be as lucky as you ! Only been comping since Feb though xx
No luck involved Kaye – just a little effort and a lot of enthusiasm ha ha! Keep at it!
Wow! My finger hurts scrolling through that amazing list! Well done!
Thanks Vyki!
Very impressive list. Here are my best wins, a little bit smaller than your list but I have started doing more photo comps and giving Instagram comps, video comps and comps requiring an app this year.
Best wins
Vouchers
£500 whistles voucher – online advent
£300 virgos lounge voucher – look text comp
£150 Hobbycraft voucher – woman weekly mag daily
£100 B&Q voucher – rafflecopter
£65 Halford voucher – woman weekly mag daily
£50 home base voucher – rafflecopter
£25 Amazon voucher – winneroo
£25 Amazon voucher – Facebook
£10 love to shop – Winneroo
Cash
£200 cash – sainsburys bank
£100 cash – Inside soap
Gadgets
iPod nano – web comp
IPad – Capital FM
Headphones – Web
Bluetooth speakers – rafflecopter
DAB sports radio – Twitter
Kitchen
Kettle – Instant win
Coffee machine – web
Microwave – Facebook
Fridge Freezer – Ao
Holidays
3 night stay in Scotland – Visit Scotland
2 night stay in Isle of Wight – best loved hotels
Other
Rug – Gleam
Watch – shortlist
Years supply of wine – shortlist
Sweet Hamper – Facebook
Heated throw – sixty plus surfers ( Readers Letters)
19 boxes of cereal and 4 mugs
Hoover – chat weekly magazine
That’s a great list Kiran, I know you’re fairly new to the hobby too! Great to hear you’re trying a few more effort comps!
Thanks Di. I have been comping for just over 2 and a half years now. I started comping properly since September 2012. I did win a few colouring comps when I was much younger some that I did when I was 8 and I also won my tenth birthday party in a local brewsters from my joke.
When I had the time to enter a lot of competitions I did win a decent amount, but just don’t have the time now. My best prizes were a weekend theatre trip to the Savoy, a weekend break to Barcelona, and a second prize win of an electric bike – the latter I didn’t want because I was hoping for the main prize of a quad bike, so that got sold on. Most of the others have been much smaller prizes.
Time…. ah if only we all had more time to comp! This blogging lark eats up a lot of time, that’s for sure! 😀
Definitely. And it’s made me totally unfit! Late nights blogging instead of dancing like I used to, and then too tired to get up early and exercise. I so need to sort out my priorities!
See you next week at BML
OMG!!! I am clearly not entering enough competitions! Wow is all I can say!
It’s quality not quantity Louise – focus your efforts on the low entry creative/purchase/local ones! 🙂
My biggest prize has been £500 Regatta vouchers from a FB/Slogan com with Regatta and the National Trust. I’m in awe of your prize list though, and it’s really inspiring me to have more fun with photo comps. I had to chuckle when I started reading ipod, ipod, ipod, ipad, ipad, ipad……lol. x
I love your inspiration in the Lucky Learners group Claire, you’re grabbing comping by the horns this year and I’m looking forward to your report of a biggie!
wow excellent prizes how many do you do in a day lol
I think I do 20-30 a day but maybe 10 of those will be photo, Instagram, creative, purchase necessary, radio or local comps (so, lower entry). The other 20 will be easy Twitter/FB prize draws – I don’t win much from those! I should tally the number I do really, I don’t really think about it. At the weekends I only usually do one or two!
that is AMAZING, am not jealous at all, just in awe that you win soooo many comps. well done.
Thanks Lynn!
Totally inspiring Di, people will say you are lucky but so many of us know how much hard work it is entering comps! Keep on winning and giving us inspiration.
Oh yes – I’m not naturally lucky. It takes dedication! 🙂
Oh my goodness, very inspiring! I’d love to win a holiday or money, will keep trying xx
Cash is a hard one Karen – with a holiday you can really focus on where you want to go and search for the prize! Wishing you luck.
Totally amazing & inspiring Di! 🙂 you certainly live life to the full thanks to your amazing hobby! I loved this post xxx
Thanks Lucy!
Just LOVE the Toblerone video lol Keep up the good work, you are an inspiration to us all x
That’s one of my favourites! Can you believe there were only about 3 entries in that competiiton? We were the only video entry!
I Have only just started to enter photo comps as I was embarrassed, but the Vimto one has got me doing all sorts of odd things! Not that it has done me any good. Still can’t win on it. As for videos, I don’t own one apart from the one on my phone and have not sure how to use it haha.
Wow what an amazing list of prizes, slightly jealous but I do love seeing what people win and spurs me on just a little bit more. My favourite prize so far was a £100 in vouchers from Halifax bank just before my daughters birthday
Great timing! Cash prizes are great but I always find they disappear quickly – I like to have a folder full of vouchers so I can make them last all year!
Oh my goodness! That is so much more than I had ever imagined you to have won. Think my best prize was £1500 of thomas cook vouchers. Spurring me on now though Di! Note to self: Must work harder!
Work harder – but also play harder! Many of my biggest wins have come as a result of me having fun with the hobby! Good luck Elysia!
Yes I really enjoy the hobby, love looking at what I could win 🙂 if I ever stopped enjoying it I wouldn’t do it anymore 🙂
You are right, I am a bit jeal but feeling motivated after reading this. The best prize I won was a £6k holiday in a Trebor Mints purchase competition (Breathtaking Experiences campaign)
Oh yes! I remember that Trebor one, what a prize! It’s been a while since I won a long haul holiday, I’d love to get to South America in the next couple of years so think I’ll be focused on that. Good luck with your comping Michelle!