So what have I won?

I’ve been entering competitions on and off over the years since I was 11.

The first prize that I won was having my kids short story published and also a bed and a 2 night-stay at the Silentnight Alton Towers suite and Ultimate Fast Track tickets for myself and my family, from The Silentnight ‘Book at Bedtime’ competition. Less than 6 months later I was informed I’d won the under 14 category in The Times ‘Bupa Great North Run Short Story Competition’ for my story ‘The Marathon’. I’d won an Asus Netbook, £250, my story was going to be published in The Times and I’d also won a night’s stay at the Hilton Gateshead where I attended a sports Gala where my prize was presented to me by Sue Barker, and it was also screened live on Sky Sports. These two competitions are known as ‘creative competitions’ as they require you to do something such as write a story or take a photo.

Over the years I’ve won lots of small things such as vouchers, cinema tickets, concert tickets, books, DVDs etc and in August 2015 I decided to seriously start entering competitions again and I was fortunate enough to win almost £14,000 of prizes in just 5 months. The biggest prize I won was £10,000 towards my university fees and a student technology bundle (some of which is pictured above). You can find the link to the video and read exactly how I won here. 

In 2015 I was also fortunate to win 42 other prizes, the highlights of which consisted of:

• August
  1. 04/08 – A personalised Apron – £25 (I won this by coming up with the best caption for the Apron)
  2. 13/08 – £60 Cheque
  3. 18/08 V festival tickets – £400
  4. 18/08 £15 Restaurant Voucher – I won this by going to a local shopping centre and taking a selfie
  5. When I was in Edinburgh – A tea towel ( for Uni) and a branded big bag of jelly babies from Sky Sports
  6. 26/08 – £100 of vouchers of my choice (Love2Shop vouchers) – I won this by having the best #resultsday story

  August total: £500

  September

  1. 01/09 – Amazon Instant Video Hand of God premiere tickets
  2. 02/09 – £20 One4All Giftcard
  3. 03/09 – 4 day retreat for 4 people at Bluestone Wales in Pembrokeshire – £500
  4. 03/09 Kindle Paperwhite. – £90
  5. 10/09 – £10,000 towards my university fees and a technology bundle – £11,200

  September total: £11,810

   October

  1. 20/10 Three Course Dinner with Cocktails at Gusto Glasgow £60
  2. 26/10 – Boots from Little Mistress £60
  3. 30/10 – Night out at Corinthian Club for 12 £300

  October total: £420

  November

  1. 04/11 – A pair of Cineworld tickets £20
  2. 09/11 – A pair of tickets to the Edinburgh Foodies Festival – £20
  3. 09/11 – A pair of tickets to the Edinburgh Foodies Festival – £20
  4. 23/11 – Breakfast for two at any Little Chef – £20
  5. 18/11 – A pair of tickets to the Country Living Christmas fair – £20
  6. 23/11 – A pair of tickets to the BBC Good Food Show – £40
  7. 26/11 – Grange Strathmore Hotel Voucher – £120
  8. 24/11 – Two night stay at any Mercure hotel – £130
  9. 24/11 – Meal for two with cocktails/beers at Trading House Glasgow – £50
  10. 27/11 – Afternoon Tea for Two at Hilton Garden Inn, Glasgow – £30
  11. 27/11 Hozier gig tickets – £45

  November total: £515

  December

  1. 01/12 –Krispy Kreme green card– £10
  2. 05/12 – Intu Voucher – £5
  3. 05/12 iTunes Voucher – £10
  4. 07/12 – Intu Voucher – £5
  5. 04/12 – A night at Moggerhanger Park Bedfordshire hotel – £65
  6. 06/12 Biffy Clyro Concert in the Gardens tickets £100
  7. 09/12 – iTunes Voucher £10
  8. 10/12 – Love2shop Voucher £10
  9. 10/12 – Cornish food hamper – £50
  10. 11/12 – Voucher for driving lesson for 11-17 year old – £35
  11. 11/12 – A pair of tickets to the Edinburgh Hogmanay Street Party – £45
  12. 14/12 – Vouchers for Glasgow Christmas Market – £30
  13. 18/12 Mall Giftcard – £20
  14. 21/12 Fortnum and Mason Hamper – £110 – I won this by having the best #ChristmasJumper photo in an Instagram competition. My university flatmates and I had our flat Christmas dinner  and I made everyone wear Christmas jumpers and made us have a gold (paper because we’re broke students) crockery theme specifically for Christmas photo competitions. Glad to say it paid off! 🙂
  15. 23/12 – Beats Headphones – £170
  16. 25/12 – Spa day for two at Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh – £60 – I won this by writing a poem about why I should win.
  17. 31/12 – Marks and Spencer voucher – £25

  December total = £760 

   

   

   

   

  Total – £14,085

You can view pictures of my prize highlights in the gallery below.

I’ve won a lot of smaller prizes through Facebook and Twitter competitions and also through using entering the generic ‘fill in your details to win’ competitions.

But… how do you win big prizes? As you’ll see above I’ve had the most success in winning big prizes through creative competitions. If you have a talent such as writing, singing, dancing etc I’d say look out for competitions related to that. You should also look out for ‘effort competitions’ that might require to do something such as spot a branded taxi or be the first to comment on a competition post etc. Read my ‘How to get started‘ page to find out exactly how to begin and make sure to subscribe for more great tips on how to increase your chances of winning.

Good luck and make sure to comment and let me know how you get on!