‘I WON £4M... BUT STILL DRIVE MY OLD CAR’
HOW LIFE HAS (OR HASN’T) CHANGED FOR LOTTERY WINNERS:
A NEATH woman who won more than £4 million on the National Lottery’s Euromillions draw last year is still driving around in a 15-year-old Honda Civic.
Julie Amphlett is also still living in the same house in Neath as she hasn’t been able to find a property she likes yet.
Despite now being a multi-millionaire, Mrs Amphlett said her family’s lives hadn’t changed dramatically.
“We try to keep it normal and it hasn’t changed our relationship with people,” she said.
“We are the same people. We still shop in the same places – Tesco, Aldi, B&M . . . the only difference is you now have the option to go to other places.
“The biggest change is not working. I woke up one morning and thought, ‘Oh God, I am not in work this morning,’ and that took a bit of time to get used to.
“Of course I could if I wanted to but it is nice to stay in bed on those cold mornings.”
The 51-year-old said she had a Mercedes, but that the 15-year-old Honda Civic was the one she drove the most.
“I have not bought anything for myself yet – I bought my son a house and helped out my family.
“I haven’t even moved house, why would I? What’s the point of moving? We don’t know anyone anywhere else.”
She added: “I thought about treating myself to a luxury car so I took a test drive in an Aston Martin but it frightened me, to be honest, so I still get about in my 15-year-old Honda. I might treat myself to a Mini, but that’s about it, I am actually more careful with my money now, not less. ”
Mrs Amphlett was one of six catering staff at Neath Port Talbot Hospital to win the National Lottery’s Euromillions draw at the beginning of November last year.
The jackpot totalled £25,476,778 – meaning the six members of the syndicate collected more than £4 million each.
They celebrated their colossal win by handing in their notices – with the exception of one member who’d retired the year before.
Doreen Thompson – who worked as a catering assistant for 12 years – said she had bought a house and had sorted out her children and step-daughters with houses as well as travelling.
The 57-year-old, from Ystalyfera, said: “The past year has been mad. I have been able to go everywhere I wanted to go without having to worry about anything.”
Louise Ward, from Port Talbot, has got married in the past year and said the wedding was “brilliant”, adding that it was exactly the same as she and her husband had originally planned.
“Getting married was a big change, we got married in Blanco’s,” said the 38-year-old.
“It was booked a year before we won the money and we just kept it exactly the same, no bells or whistles – the only difference was we could have more guests on the night and we had a great time.
“We enjoyed it – we were having the day we wanted anyway. It was nice to just pay it all off and go on a honeymoon to Cancun after, which we could have not afforded beforehand.”
Mrs Ward, who has also bought her house outright and is doing it up, said the best thing about winning the lottery was not to have money worries anymore.
“Money doesn’t make you happy but it makes your life easier,” she added.
Sian Jones, from Baglan, whose partner is still working at the steelworks, where he has worked for 40 years – said: “The past year has been very different.
“At first, the biggest part was to accept what had happened.
“We had to sit down and plan – my plans have changed dramatically.
“I have bought my house, set my daughter up and the rest of the family. There is no point going anywhere else as we are so happy here.”
The 55-year-old said the most humbling part had been seeing the faces of friends and family they had been able to help.
The friends have also been fundraising for charities, with Mrs Jones having organised coffee mornings for Macmillan and Mrs Thompson raising money for the Royal British Legion.
Mrs Thompson, whose husband has started an executive bus company, added: “We bought the old British Legion building in Ystalyfera, but because it came with the cenotaph there were fears it would have to be moved.
“But we were not having any of that so we made sure that we donated the land it is on back to the local council.
“It is really nice to know we have saved it for future generations and nice to know they will be observing Remembrance Day there next week.”