A JIGSAW super fan from York is looking forward to a bright 2015 after she scooped £10,000 in a puzzle competition.
Helen Millward, from Huntington, found out she was the lucky winner of a prize draw operated by puzzle company Wasgij which makes the intriguing brainteaser puzzles Helen loves.
The jigsaws challenge puzzlers to use their imagination and a few clues provided to decode a "what happened next" scenario and work out what image appears on the jigsaw as well as piecing it together.
Helen has been hooked since she first picked one up in a charity shop three years ago.
At Christmas the mum-of-three filed in a prize draw competition entry form in one of her puzzle boxes, and was thrilled to hear that she had taken first prize.
Helen, 45, said: "It's surreal.
"They rang last week to tell me that I'd won, but I didn't really take it in. She said someone else would be in touch the following day - and when they did I had to check again that I'd actually won first prize. "
Helen, who works at the University of York library, said she found the challenge of figuring out the puzzles a great way of relaxing.
"I like them because you haven't got the picture to go from - you don't know what you're doing.
"It's quite a stress buster - it's therapeutic."
The family have already decided how to spend Helen's windfall. Along with husband Andy and their daughters Paige, 20, and twins Chloe and Ellie, 16, Helen is planning a family holiday to Paris and Disneyland Paris.
"We haven't been abroad for a few years, so we are really looking forward to a holiday," Helen said.
As well as the cash prize, Helen has won more Wasgij jigsaws to add to her collection of 57.
She added: "I've actually already got some of the puzzles that are coming in the prize - I'd got them earmarked as Mother's Day presents.
"Because I started doing the puzzles late there are back editions I don't have which you can't buy new anymore - you have to look for them in charity shops."
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