A CROSLAND Moor family are heading Down Under.
They are celebrating after they were lucky winners of The Examiner’s Grab A Grand competition.
Crowds had gathered from mid morning at the Piazza shopping centre, Huddersfield, to have a last-minute chance to enter the competition.
But it was Sarah Kain, 28, who won the cash after she was one of six contestants who had 30 seconds to scramble for tokens in the air-filled telephone-style booth.
Sarah, who was grabbing on behalf of her mum Mary, scooped the most cash after she collected 36 tickets.
Mary and her husband Peter will now spend the money on a flight to Australia to visit their son Paul.
Mary entered the competition in the Examiner by collecting the tokens before being chosen at random.
She said: “I just thought I would give it a go. I get the paper every day so I entered a few times.
“When I found out I could have a chance in the booth I handed it over to my daughter, who was happy to get in their and grab us some cash.”
Mary added: “Paul is an electrician in Perth and has residency there so it will be great to be able to visit him.
“He came over for Peter’s 60th birthday in April but to have the cash to visit will be great.”
Sarah, who is an engineer for Virgin Media, added: “I am so happy that we won. I grabbed a big clump at the start and that really set me off.
“I can’t believe how close the competition was, with just two tickets between me and second place.”
Sarah was cheered on by a cohort of friends and family who are now keen to help the Kain family repay their support with a beverage.
Bev Milton, 43, said: “We wanted to come down to show our support and its fantastic that they have won.
“We know how much Mary wants to visit Paul in Australia and it was fun to watch Sarah in the booth.
“There may even be enough left for a round of drinks for us!”
The runner-up was Susan Laird from Birkby, whose friend Martin Shaw went in the booth, narrowly missed out with just two tickets between her and the winner.
The other contestants who were chosen at random to grab the cash included Raegen Cartledge, 23, Jennie Hibbert, 40,of Intake, Golcar and Shirley Tidswell, 76, of Greenacres Close, Emley.
The final contestant to enter before the midday cut off was Margaret Fenton, of Netherton, who bought an Examiner to see her granddaughter Sophie’s 18th birthday announcement.
She said: “Sophie didn’t believe me when I phoned her and said I was on stage for the chance to win £1,000.
“It was a fun thing to do, so I thought why not.”
To relive the contestants’ 30 seconds in the booth see the video at www.examiner.
