Sunderland fan Tony Wright lands Ha'way and Play jackpot

Foundation of Light's Ha’way and Play matchday lottery not only gives fans an incentive to become £1000 richer, but to also give something back to the local community. 

Tony Wright, who attends the matches at the Stadium of Light with his daughter Millie, regularly purchases a lottery ticket. Sunderland's last home game against QPR would prove to be a memorable one for the Wright family as Tony landed the £1000 jackpot.

“It’s so easy to purchase and for just £2, it’s a no brainer really”, commented Tony.

Lottery tickets are available to buy at the stadium from sellers located around the concourse - you’ll not miss them in their bright green hoodies!

With winning numbers posted on the stadium scoreboards at half-time, Tony admits he didn’t initially realise he had claimed first prize. He said: “To be honest, I didn’t think we’d won because we couldn’t make out the numbers when they were called out.

“My daughter Millie was persistently nudging me to go down, but I was convinced it wasn’t me. After 10 minutes of nagging, I went down and seen a steward and then it flashed on the board. It was a feeling of disbelief.”

Tony also revealed why he started playing the matchday lottery, and what impact the prize money will make on his life moving forward. “Since I started, I’ve bought it from the same place and the same girl, Jernett, and it’s just nice to give something back to the official charity of Sunderland AFC as well as helping the local community.

“We’re building a new house in what hasn’t been easy, and we’ve ran out of money so it will go a little way towards helping with that.”

You can read below how your generosity impacts our work as well as the lives of the people we work with:

• £4 gives a person with a disability access to a specialist sports session.
• £10 gives one child who is normally in receipt of free school meals, with a meal and sports learning activities during the school holidays.
• £20 allows us to develop mental health resources to support people in our community.
• £40 pays for five older people to attend activities to stay socially active and improve physical and mental wellbeing.

One club. One community. Ha’way and play with us this weekend.