Teddington Theatre Club was celebrating in style today (6 June) after winning the £25,000 jackpot on the Richmond's community lottery, Get Lucky Local .

The 96-year old club, based at Hampton Hill Theatre , makes history as being the first-ever jackpot winner in the local lottery.

Today members of the theatre toasted their success in a special champagne cheque handover at Teddington's riverside restaurant, The Wharf .

Their winning ticket was amongst a batch of 1700 bought by The Wharf as part of a unique initiative between Get Lucky Local and the restaurant, whereby diners donated £1 to their bill over the month of June and the restaurant generously matched the donation.

As well as the £25,000, the club received another £850 from its share of revenue of the tickets and another £25 cash prize from another winning ticket - making a grand total of £25.883.

The club's Chair Cath Messum said: "This is absolutely amazing. We have literally won the lottery after months of worrying during the pandemic.

"We have just taken the brave step to undertake some much-needed refurbishment in readiness for the Theatre opening and so this win comes as a great time for us.

"This really demonstrates how a local community initiative like Get Lucky Local can make a significant difference.

"We must thank customers of the Wharf restaurant and the management for their fantastic support in helping us achieve this."

The club's artistic director, Lottie Walker, said: "We cannot wait to get opened, providing a great venue and performances for the local community.

"Our first socially distance performance is on this week – Zoo and Seven Monologues – before we open in anger with our Autumn Season starting in September."

The President of the Theatre Club, Roger Smith, said: "We are absolutely delighted by the generosity of our friends at the Wharf and the major contribution they have made to the success and future prosperity of the Club."

The thrilled owner of the Wharf, Barbara Spain, said: "It's a great privilege to be part of this imaginative community scheme and to make a positive impact in this way.

"Our customers have shown great loyalty to our business during a very difficult time but they also recognise the challenges local community groups and charities have faced."

The Wharf also helped raise £800 for the local football club, Hearts of Teddlothians and for the month of July, the community cause partner is Teddington Cricket Club /

The Get Lucky Local lottery was launched last November and is raising over £30,000 a year for Good Causes and 58 community projects are now signed up.

If you want to support a cause close to your home and close to your heart go to www.getluckylocal.co.uk

To learn more about Teddington Theatre Club go to https://www.hamptonhilltheatre.org.uk/about-us/teddington-theatre-club

To book a table at The Wharf or learn more about upcoming events go to: http://wharfteddington.com/