Leicester man wins home

A LEICESTER resident has won a “slice of paradise” – a house in River Camel estuary – as his “patience” trying his luck in lotteries has finally paid off.

Uttam Parmar, who bought a £25 raffle ticket from American fundraising company Omaze, won a recent draw; the prize was a furnished four-bedroom mansion overlooking the estuary in Cornwall.

Parmar, an operations manager at Alps Alpine – an electronics firm – said he had entered every draw on Omaze’s platform since the company started its UK arm in 2020.

He previously won a television set and a coffee table. But the latest win is “a dream come true”, said Parmar, who lives with his wife Raki, 53.

The couple have been married for 32 years and have a son, Aaron, an insurance company manager, who lives in London.

Omaze ties up with charities in fundraising efforts and shares income with them. It spent £3.7 million in March to buy the 4,200sq ft property in St Minver near the village of Rock in north Cornwall.

“We love Cornwall and being able to spend more time living there is a dream come true, so we are looking forward to moving. Who knows what the future holds? It’s exciting and unknown times,” Parmar told the Times.

He recalled the moment he heard “lifechanging” news

“We called our son Aaron to see if the winning entry code matched ours… When he triple-checked the numbers matched, we must’ve burst his eardrums screaming down the phone!” The Sun quoted the couple as saying.

“Patience really is a virtue, as I’ve now won my own piece of paradise,” Parmar said.

The family, who also received £50,000 in cash, with stamp duty and all legal fees covered for the property, are yet to decide if they will move into the new luxurious house permanently. The house, if rented out, can fetch some £15,000 a month.