Just when a Ravenswood woman thought her Christmas in July celebrations couldn’t be any more festive, she revealed a $10,000 top prize on an Instant Scratch-Its ticket she received as a gift. 

The winning $5 The Perfect Gift ticket was purchased at Charles Street Central News, 96 Charles Street, Launceston. 

Sharing her excitement with us, the Tasmanian woman said the windfall came as a wonderful holiday surprise. 

“My family and I went on a trip away for two days to celebrate Christmas in July, and my daughter and I gave each other some Instant Scratch-Its tickets,” she explained. 

“We all sat down as a family around the table to scratch them. At first, my daughter won $500, and we all got really excited for her. 

“It was then my turn to scratch my Instant Scratch-It tickets. I scratched $10,000, and I was shocked! We were all shocked. 

“My daughter said to me, ‘you’ve won $10,000!’. 

“I was trying to compose myself. It was a very nice moment.” 

When asked how she planned to enjoy her $10,000 prize, the jubilant winner said it would help her get ahead with her finances. 

“I hope to get rid of some bills. 

“We celebrated the win with a bottle of champagne, and then we went to the pub later that evening to continue the celebrations.” 

Charles Street Central News owner John Collier said he couldn’t be happier one of his regular customers had won the top prize. 

“It’s absolutely superb! It’s always great when you sell a top prize, even better when it’s a regular customer,” he exclaimed. 

“We haven’t sold many Instant Scratch-It top prizes since we opened. 

“Our last one was a long time ago in 2008, which was an $8,000 prize on a Crosswords ticket. I hope this win is the start of many more! 

“The winner knew she had won the prize when she came in, and she just wanted to double-check that she was reading it correctly.

‘A big congratulations to the winner. I’m sure she will use the prize wisely!”