Salford mum scoops a million on the lottery
67 tickets were selected to mark the tally of gold medals won by Team GB at the Olympics.
A mum of three from Salford, who always dreamed of becoming a millionaire, is celebrating after scooping one of 67 life changing prizes from the extra special Lotto Medal Draw, on Saturday 27 August.
On top of the usual Lotto draw, additional prizes were up for grabs to celebrate each of the incredible medals won by Team GB in Rio, and Jane Wyatt, 49, won an amazing £1,000,000 plus her very own commemorative Lottery Gold medal.
Jane, who works as a part time civil servant, said she bought a Lucky Dip lottery ticket online because she felt lucky - and with just minutes to go before the deadline to enter.
She said: “I actually work term time and I’ve been off work since the start of the summer. I was meant to be going back this week so I thought I’d try my luck and see if I could stay off work forever! I certainly felt lucky when I bought my ticket and I have always believed I would become a millionaire one day.
“I saw it was a special draw with more millionaires being created after Great Britain’s success at the Olympics and just fancied my chances. I loved the Olympics and I was glued to the television throughout so I thought this could be my lucky draw.”
Jane said it was the following day when she logged into her emails that she realised she had won – but had no idea of the amount.
She added: “When I checked my email the following morning, I saw that I had won something and it asked me to log into my account. I thought it was only going to be £2 or maybe even £10 – my jaw hit the floor when I saw all those zeros. It still hasn’t sunk in and I’m not sure it ever will.”
Jane said her mum, Eileen was one of the first people she broke the news to: “When I told my mum the news that I had actually won, she kept saying ‘I told you so! I knew you were a lucky lady and it would happen to you one day!’
“My mum always said I’d end up winning the lottery and deep down, I’ve always thought I would too. I’ve always been naturally lucky.”
And now Jane plans to use her newfound fortune to treat her mum with a special cruise holiday to celebrate Jane’s 50th birthday next year.
She said: “We talked about a holiday to celebrate my 50th birthday and have some quality mother-daughter time. Thanks to this win, it’s gone from a week away to a fortnight on a cruise which we’ve never been able to afford.”
Also on Jane’s shopping list is a new home for her and her three boys, Jonathan, 22, Ben, 21, and Alex, 16. And she says her sons have already put in their requests for some luxury items including designer clothes, watches and a car.
She added: “The boys have given me a long list of things they want and I will be sure to treat them. I’m just so happy that I’m able to give them a helping hand, something I would never have been able to do before I won.
“Of course I’ll still look after myself, whether that’s a luxury holiday abroad or sprucing up my wardrobe, or both – I am still thinking.”
Jane said she hasn’t yet decided if she will retire, and has even been into work this week, but the win now gives her the choice.
She added: “I haven’t decided if I will definitely retire but it is fantastic to be in the position where I have that choice.”
Jane said she has no intention of stopping playing the National Lottery now and already has her ticket for this week.
She said: “I’ve been playing since it started and I’ll continue to keep playing. If it’s happened once, why can’t it happen again?”
Jane’s press event took place at the National Cycling Centre. The centre has received £3m in National Lottery funding and has been key for training athletes such as Olympic Gold Medallists Jason Kenny and Laura Trott.
On top of the usual Lotto draw on Saturday night (27 August), there was an additional 67 life changing prizes up for grabs to celebrate each of the medals won by Team GB in Rio and to thank players for their ongoing support of our elite athletes. An extra 27 prizes of £1 million were available to match the number of Gold medals won in Rio, 23 extra prizes of £100,000 to equal the Silver medal haul and 17 additional prizes of £50,000 to match those Bronze medals won by Team GB.
The National Lottery plays a unique role in supporting the UK’s elite athletes, with no-one contributing more to elite sport in the UK than National Lottery players. British athletes have won 700 Olympic and Paralympic medals since National Lottery funding was first awarded to elite athletes in 1997. Alongside elite sport, The National Lottery has invested over £5 billion in grassroots sport to date, supporting more than 150 different sports and creating opportunities for everyone to get fit.
The National Lottery changes the lives of winners like Jane as well as communities across the UK – players raise, on average, over £36m for National Lottery-funded projects every week.
A total of 1,223 projects in Salford have benefited, including projects across the arts, sports, heritage, health, education, environment, charity and voluntary sectors.
For more information on National Lottery funding please visit www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk.