‘We used our Euromillions win to give back’
Sharon Mather, 48, and husband Nigel won more than £12m in 2010 after picking up a spur-ofthe-moment ticket on holiday.
‘Sitting on the caravan decking of a sunny holiday park with my little boy, Lewis, in my arms, I watched as my husband, Nigel, played with our elder son, Rhys, then three. It was the end of my maternity leave and, with a pang of guilt, I thought about returning to work.
“I’m a mum, I want to be at home looking after our boys,” I said to Nigel. He understood, but we both knew it wasn’t financially possible. It was 2010 and at the time I was working for the council and Nigel was a hotel manager.
But, at the end of the holiday, before heading back to our three-bed semi in Sale, Greater Manchester, I picked up a lucky dip lottery ticket from a corner shop.
FEELINGS OF DISBELIEF
Arriving home, Nigel nipped off to do a food shop and I collapsed on the sofa, flicking on the telly.
We used to do the lottery every week with the same numbers based on family birthdays, so I checked the results on Teletext out of habit, and sighed as I didn’t recognise a single one, as usual. I was just about to switch over when I suddenly remembered that lucky dip ticket in my pocket. Pulling it out, I did a double-take as I checked each number one by one and saw the identical digits blinking ahead of me on the screen.
With shaking hands, I called Nigel. “You need to come home now,” I told him. “We’re all okay, but I think we’ve won the Euromillions.” Nigel laughed and told me to stop being silly, but I told him how I’d checked the numbers and I heard him gasp. “How much?” he asked, his voice shaking.
“Over £12 million,” I replied.
Two days later, a lady from
Camelot sat in our living room and told us the total amount… £12.4 million!
We couldn’t take it in and, as soon as she’d gone, we went to a cash machine to get a statement. There it was in black and white, we were multi-millionaires! The first thing I did was call up work to tell them I wasn’t coming back. Nigel worked a month’s notice before we took a group of family and friends to Jamaica.
But we both knew the only way to truly enjoy our winnings was to share our good luck. We surprised 30 loved ones with cheques. Some were enough for a holiday and others covered mortgages, but the joy on their faces was priceless.
GIVING BACK
We wanted to stay near friends, so moved into a dream five-bed house in nearby Bowdon, Greater Manchester. It was the perfect place to raise our boys, who are now 10 and 13. Nigel threw himself into charity work in the area with organisations like Francis House Children’s Hospice, where our niece spent time before sadly passing away. We’ve worked with a few charities,
including Stockdales, which is for people with learning disabilities. Nigel’s also just been made the new chairman of the children’s charity Variety. Sometimes we joke that we’re too sensible with our money, but there have been a few luxuries, too. We bought a soft-top Bentley, had our own box at Manchester City for two seasons and even co-owned race horses with footballer Michael Owen.
Although we no longer have financial concerns, we still have the same worries about our kids. What we can do now is plan for the future, making sure our children are set up for a debt-free education and help them get a foot on the property ladder.
People often ask me if money has brought us happiness, and I always say, “We were happy before, now we’re just happy in nicer places.”’