3rd January : Received an e-mail from the Parkinson show to say I had won a copy of Paul McCartney’s latest album plus a copy of his children’s book.12th January: Received an e-mail from Red Stripe Lager to say I’d won an England Cricket shirt. This is the same type of Kookaburra shirt that I won in the same competition last year.
18th January: A small National Geographic desk calendar arrived today – very useful.
21st January: Received an e-mail to say I’d won an Evian beauty kit.
28th January: Parcel arrived today it contained a book about ‘Adobe Photoshop Elements’ from ‘What Digital Camera Magazine’.
30th January: Received another e-mail from Evian to say I’d won another beauty kit.
31st January: Received an e-mail to say I’d won an autograph of Everest explorer Neil Laughton. The guy had also climbed the highest peak on all 7 continents, led a sledge expedition to the North Pole, circumnavigated the UK on a jet ski and retraced Shackleton’s escape from Antarctica.
February 2006
1st February: Received an e-mail which said I’d won “a set of three signed limited edition art prints, which have been very kindly, donated by the authors of The Highfield Mole, Roderick Gordon & Brian Williams. These are very high quality Giclee A3 art prints on 300gms Photo Rag Paper, each image limited to a numbered edition of 40 and pencil signed by both authors".I’m led to believe these are very expensive to buy. The pictures are quite creepy and atmospheric. Sure Michelle will enjoy these for her room.
3rd February: The prints arrived and they are excellent I’ll get some frames and they can be an extra present for Michelle’s birthday. On checking the competition details on the website it appeared that I should also have had a signed book, a signed postcard and a signed bookmark. As these three items alone were on sale for £99.00 (now sold out) I decided I would ask. I received an e-mail to say that it was an oversight on their part and they would get it out right away.
6th February: The book etc arrived today, nice extra prize.
10th February: Card left by postman to say there was a parcel ready for collection. Assume will be one of the Evian packs that are due.
11th February: Picked up the parcel from the mail depot today and it was a packet containing one bottle of ‘Head & Shoulders’ shampoo and a bottle of conditioner from Marie Claire magazine.
Also today a pink t-shirt with the words ‘Bewitched’ across the front arrived from Sony.
17th February: Received an e-mail from the ‘Biography Channel’ to say that I’d won a book called ‘On Hitler’s Mountain’.18th February: Postman arrived with two parcels one was the book from yesterday’s win. The second was two of the cloth dolls from the Comfort advert, Darren & Lisa. Surprisingly Michelle has claimed these.
23rd February: The two prizes arrived from Evian. They contained some wipes and some facial moisturiser.
27th February: Received an e-mail to say I had ‘won’ a world cup wallchart.
March 2006
9th March: Received an e-mail to say that I’d won a case of Red Stripe lager. I had to contact someone called Caroline at the brewery to arrange delivery. This is definitely one prize that won’t be wasted.
14th March: Red Stripe arrived today. Sampled a glass in the evening - very nice too.
15th March: Sample bar of Green and Black’s chocolate arrived – very tasty.
17th March: Pair of tickets to the Ideal Home Exhibition in London. Will not be going, but hopefully will be able to pass them on to someone who can use them.
27th March: Dale received a phone call today asking for her shoe size in relation to a Ted Baker competition. I have no recollection of what the competition was or what the prize is. It will be a nice surprise when it arrives.
April 2006
4th April: Received a folder containing maps from the original D-Day landings from BBC History. This will make a nice father’s day present.
7th April: Dale received another phone call in relation to the Ted Baker competition. It appears that the competition was for men’s shoes and it was my shoe size that was required. The win was in relation to a competition in Esquire magazine. I checked on the internet and the prize was a pair of boots from the Ted Baker ‘Global’ collection. I then checked again on the internet and there is only one pair of boots I can find in this range, the price of these £395 – GULP.
10th April: I received an e-mail today to say I’d won a set of badges from Dunlop.
13th April: Returned home from work to a goodie bag from National Geographic. It contained lots of interesting things – Swiss army knife, micro torch, disposable camera, pen, t-shirt, shoe bag, notebook, boomerang, thinking putty etc.
15th April: Post arrived Saturday and I received a “Who do you think you are” family history software pack. This contains software for creating a family tree. Very interesting.
28th April: Received two e-mails today both saying I’d won tickets for plays. The first was tickets to a production of Moby Dick at the Library Theatre, Manchester. The second was for tickets to the play ’Blue/Orange’ at the Bolton Octagon.May 2006
17th May: I was informed of two wins today by e-mail. The first was a £5 Amazon voucher from GfK surveys. The second was for a Paul Anka DVD.
26th May: Won two tickets for a play called ‘Speed the Plow’ at Manchester’s Library Theatre. Booked for the 1st June so should be another good night.27th May: Dale’s mum and Dad returned from holiday today to find a retro Scotland shirt that I’d won. Dale’s dad seemed pleased with it.
30th May : Received an e-mail at work today to say I’d won a trip to New York to see Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris in concert at the Radio City Music Hall , New York. The trip includes two nights in New York and I get to meet both artists before the concert. To say I’m thrilled is an understatement.
June 2006
1st June: Virgin Radio rang to say that I’d won a pair of Golden Circle tickets to the Bon Jovi concert in Manchester. It’s been a good week.
Attended the play ‘Speed the Plow’ tonight, it was a very enjoyable fast paced American play.
2nd June: Bon Jovi tickets arrived.
Also today I received an e-mail to say I’d won a signed Jules Holland CD from his website.
On visiting the Yzen website I also find I’ve won their monthly caption competition, the prize was a bottle of champagne. I won the same prize in one of their monthly competitions last year.
3rd June: This morning’s post brought a badly addressed envelope, inside were two tickets to the Isle of Wight Festival from Link mobile phones. It looks like Michelle will be selling these to a friend.
4th June: Went to the Bon Jovi concert today. Brilliant concert, ideal position. As the pictures below show we had a great view.
6th June: I received a call at work from Dale she had just opened an envelope at home which told her we had won a two night mid-week break at Champneys Health Resort, with meals and treatments included. As we have a lot of things happening over the next few months we are thinking of taking the break early in the New Year. Seems like I’m on a roll at the moment.
When driving home I received a call on my mobile phone it was from Kevin at Mercury Records. “How would we feel about spending four nights in New York instead of two”? Oh I think we can manage that.
8th June: Jules Holland signed CD arrived. Also took a telephone call at work to say I’d won a fleece. I did not quite catch what the man said so I’m not quite sure what it is or where it’s from.
12th June: Won two blackcurrant canes on instant wins don’t think I’ll bother sending for these.
20th June: Received e-mail from Mercury Records confirming flights and hotel of our New York Trip. We fly out from Manchester on Wednesday 21st June to Newark Airport. We are picked up at the airport and taken to our hotel which is the Comfort Inn Central Park West. The following day we have to be at Radio City Music Hall box office at 6.30pm where we are to pick up our tickets and ‘meet and greet’ passes. We will then be met at the stage door by Tim Hook, Mark Knopfler’s tour manager, who will escort us on our ‘meet and greet’. The rest of the weekend before and after the concert is ours to enjoy as we wish.
Also received a DVD of the film ‘Just Like Heaven’, I have no idea where from.
21st June to 25June: We took our New York trip see separate full write-up below.
27th June: Received £5.00 Amazon voucher from Gfk surveys.
July 2006
1st July: I was awoken early by the post lady’s knock on the door. She handed me a large parcel from a handling house called ‘Splendid’. The parcel contained a full England football kit – shirt, shorts and socks. Also a giant England flag 3ft x 4ft, two mini Pepperoni and a fanimal (a plastic sausage that comes out with funny remarks when you hit it). The kit must have been a real jinx as England went out of the World Cup today.
Dale mentioned that her mum had seen my name against a photograph in what she thought was ‘Country Life Magazine’. I can’t remember entering this but it might be interesting, they are to try and look into it for me.
2nd July: It turns out that the picture was in ‘Northern Life Magazine’ and my prize is a years subscription to the magazine. As the publication is a free magazine the prize is worth £8.
This is the winning photo
On checking the internet I find from the Nestle site I have won a retro Ireland shirt. This follows the Scotland shirt I won in the same competition about a month ago. In the past few weeks I’ve won a Scotland, England and an Ireland kit – I don’t think I’ve entered for a Welsh one.
7th July: My recent champagne win arrived today as did my Paul Anka DVD.
11th July: The Ted Baker boots I won on 27th March finally arrived today. Looking them up on the internet they are worth about £150. I was not initially that impressed but after trying them on they looked well with a pair of jeans and were very comfy. Just the thing for my holiday later in the year.
12th July: Received a telephone call today from Toyota to say I had won an iPod Nano.
13th July: Northern Ireland shirt arrived today. I was a bit unsure whether I’d wear it but it’s an old George Best style shirt so maybe it will get worn.
14th July: Received an e-mail from GfK surveys to say I’d won another £5.00 Amazon voucher.
26th July: An interesting parcel arrived through the mail. It contained a smallish black box with the words ‘Sensory Box’ on the side. When opened it contained five smaller boxes one for each of the senses. Sight contained an ink blot of the type used by psychologists. Touch contained a piece of tyre on a key ring. Hearing contained silence. Smell contained a piece of rubber to sniff. Taste contained a small bag of toffees. A very strange prize, the promoter was Dunlop so I guess that explains the rubber. It could not have been cheap to produce but is totally useless. Never mind a prize is a prize.
31st July: Received a package containing a Manchester United shaving kit. It contained a 4 blade razor, shaving gel, shower gel and deodorant.
August 2006
1St August: Card left at home to pick up a parcel. It turned out to be the fleece I was informed of back on the 8th June. It is from the FIA World Touring Car Championship. It is a light cream jacket with wording on front and back.
4th August: Received an e-mail from Pan McMillan to say I’d won three books by Lisa Scottoline. They are 'Devil’s Corner', ‘Killer Smile’ and ‘Dead Ringer’. Apparently they are legal thrillers.
8th August: Lisa Scottoline books arrived today.
10th August: We received a strange half message on the answer phone asking us to ring a number. When we rang it was an answer phone message to say it was regarding the radio promotion and the radios were limited to one per person. It gave a code and said we needed to send name address and two first class stamps. No idea where this has come from but what have I got to lose.
Looks like this may have been a con to ring a premium rate line but as we were not on very long it doesn’t seemed to have cost us much. Not expecting to get anything out of this.
12th August: Dale’s dad rang to say he had received a football book through the post. This was a competition he had asked me to enter on his behalf. It is a book by Kevin Gallagher the ex-Blackburn Rovers and Scotland footballer.
22nd August: A DVD arrived today from the Guardian, it was of Manchester City’s 2005/06 season. It is not of much use to me but Cath from work husband is a fan so I’m sure he will enjoy it.
30th August: After some delay the iPod Nano arrived. Michelle seems pleased with it.
Michelle gets brand new iPod, dad gets her old MP3 player.
I also received an e-mail from GfK surveys to say I’d won another £5.00 Amazon voucher from them.
31st August: Received an e-mail saying I had won two tickets to Alan Ayckbourn’s play ‘Private Fears In Public Places’ at the Library Theatre, Manchester. Initially the e-mail said the tickets had to be taken 11th to 13th September. After explaining that we were on holiday then they agreed to let us go on Thursday 21st. Sounds an interesting play so should be a good night.
September 2006
17th September: Returned from holiday to find the only thing I had won as was a pair of tweezers for removing tics. Hope this is one prize I never have to use.
18th September: On entering another competition on the internet I noticed Dale’s name as the winner of a meal for two at ‘Le Frog’ restaurant in Preston from a Lancashire Sugarvine competition.
20th September: I won a travel clock from a Holiday Inn competition on the internet.
21st September: Attended the Ayckbourn play in Manchester. Good night out.
26th September: Received letter confirming the meal at ‘Le Frog’. It is a bistro meal for two with a bottle of wine.
28th September: After almost throwing the letter away thinking it was an advert for a credit card, I found I had won a choice of either a Premiership football shirt or a £40 JJB voucher. I chose to take the shirt. I had to ring a line to organise the delivery and it was a Burnley fan at the other end who gave me some stick.
October 2006
9th October: Received an e-mail from ‘Computer Buyer’ magazine to say I’d won an Ideazon’s Fang Gaming Pad. It’s a control pad thing that you plug in to play games with. Not sure I’ll get a great deal of use out of it, but who knows?
11th October: E-mail to say I have won another £5 Amazon voucher from GfK surveys – 3rd this year.
Also received an e-mail to say I’d won a bottle of champagne in a caption competition from ‘The First Post’ website.
12th October: Went for our meal at ‘Le Frog’ tonight. We found the place quite well and after struggling to park eventually entered the restaurant. The décor was fairly minimal, with a French theme. We presented our letter at the front desk and were shown to our table.
We were allowed two meals off the ‘bistro’ menu and a bottle of house wine. We chose a bottle of house white and were quite surprised to get a litre bottle.
Both Dale and I chose the grilled feta tart to start. I had the garlic chicken, new potatoes and sugar-snap peas to follow. Dale had the steak in Guinness stew with mashed potatoes and runner beans.
We did not know whether sweets and coffee was included in the prize but decided to have them anyway. I chose a Bailey’s Cream cheesecake and Dale had the knickerbocker glory special. We both had espressos to round off the meal.
On paying the manager/waiter said “basically there are only the coffees to pay for and you can have those on me”. This obviously ensured he got a bigger tip. Dale and I both agreed we’d had a lovely evening.
16th October: Bottle of champagne arrived today. A nice touch was that the label read congratulations from ‘First Post’.
20th October: A bottle of hydrating bath lotion arrived in the mail. It is very strange stuff that turns the bath water completely black. Will give it a try.
November 2006
9th November: A large bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk arrived today.
On checking Google my name came up in relation to a competition at Lancashire and Blackpool Tourism. At first it looked like I had won a goodie bag as one of the 12 winners in there 2007 Calendar Photography competition. However on reading the article it turns out I am the overall winner of the competition. The photograph I took is up there on the site.
My prize is a champagne weekend for two at Guy’s Thatched Hamlet, copies of the calendar and a goodie bag which contains a book of vouchers for days out in Lancashire.
This is the winning photograph
10th November: I received a large cardboard tube today; strangely it contained the same prize as yesterday, a large bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk.
I also won a pair of cinema tickets.
25th November: I received a message on the Chatterbox competitions website to say I’d won an ornament of any of the Indian Gods from a list. As Ganesh, the elephant headed God, is the Lord of good fortune I’ve chosen him.
December 2006
19th December: I picked up a parcel from the mail depot today. It contained five of the calendars in relation to the Lancashire tourism win last month. My winning photograph features on the front of the calendar and as the March picture. The whole calendar looks very professional. The letter accompanying it says that I will receive my goodie bag and they will sort out my weekend in the New Year.
On returning home I found a large parcel waiting for me. It had been left in the shed and Dale had brought it in.
It contained a large wicker basket full of luxury Italian food and drink. There were lots of new and different things to try. The whole prize worth £120 was from Sun online and Yell.com.
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