Happy with my Lott
£2.5million winner lives ‘normal life’ 17 years on
A LOTTERY winner who trousered £2.5million 17 years ago insists the money has not changed him.
Ben Woods won £2,485,736 with a lucky dip ticket when he was just 23.
But the former rail worker, who’s now 40, says he has stayed grounded and has enjoyed a “normal life”.
Ben added: “The money doesn’t change who you are, it can change how you are.
“I moved out of my mum and dad’s, three miles down the road, and bought my own house.
“A lot of people said I wouldn’t stay round here, but all my mates and family are here.”
He was a railway guard based out of Birkenhead
I spent a couple of years travelling – anywhere
but he gave that up when he won. Ben, from Merseyside, said: “I spent a good couple of years in my twenties travelling – anywhere.
“I went on holidays all the time and then I met my girlfriend, who is my wife now, the next year in 2005.
“We got married and have kids and have gone on to live a normal life.”
The National Lottery has put him in touch with other winners. He said: “It’s
a community as you’re in the same boat.” Last week he was part of a team of National Lottery millionaires who took part in a beach clean-up at New Brighton, close to his home.
“I think everyone should pick up their own rubbish,” the Liverpool fan said.
BEN WOODS ON HIS LOTTO SPENDING SPREE