Life changing

No more counting pennies for winning plasterer

A plasterer and his fiancé from Ossett are now £1Million richer and it’s all thanks to the generosity of a stranger in his local store. Just two minutes before the Lotto draw closed, another shopper stepped aside to let him go first to claim his free Lucky Dip ticket, that he’d won in the previous draw – and ended up winning the Millionaire Raffle!

Stroke of luck

Arron Walshaw, 32, and Ceri Hall, 23, had no idea that this small kind gesture would change their lives.

“We had a free Lucky Dip ticket from the previous draw to use and I knew it was only minutes until the draw closed. I popped in to a nearby shop where me and another lady approached the same cashier,” Arron explained.

“She must have seen that I was in a rush because she insisted I went before her. What a stroke of luck that turned out to be! I don’t think I would have been in time to buy my ticket if she hadn’t let me go first. We would love to meet her again and say thank you for changing our lives!”

Counting pennies

After claiming his free Lucky Dip for Wednesday’s Lotto draw, the pair went home and counted pennies, unaware that they had actually become millionaires.

Ceri explained, “We had lots of pennies lying around the house and we just decided that evening to count up how many we had. We were chuffed when we worked out we had over £50 in pennies. That was going to be used to go camping. But that was all blown out of the water when we later checked our ticket.”

Dancing on the ceiling

The pair went about their daily errands the next day, still clueless to the fact that they had scooped a seven-figure sum of money.

Arron said, “I had been carrying our ticket all day, unaware I was holding on to one million pounds. It was only when I got home from work that I decided to check it using The National Lottery app.

“I just couldn’t understand what I was seeing when it said I had won a million pounds. I showed Ceri and we just couldn’t believe it. We danced around the room thinking about what this money will do for us.”

Dream wedding

Arron, who is self-employed, said that he has no plans to hang up his plastering trowel just yet but wants to reduce his hours.

“I love my job and while I don’t want to quit just yet, this win will allow me to work the hours I want to and be more flexible with my workload.

“That said, I think any spare time will be taken up with other things. We’ve got a wedding to plan and I want to make it the wedding of Ceri’s dreams.”

The pair, who met in 2016, now plan to get married next year and are looking for venues near to Castle Hill, the location of their first date. As well as money towards the wedding, the pair are also looking to buy their first home and a brand new car.

Ceri said, “This is just life changing for both of us. We’ll be able to do so much that we could never afford to do. I can’t wait to see what the next year will bring us!”

17th July 2018

The National Lottery has been changing the lives of winners and supporting good causes across the UK since 1994. In that time, there have been more than 7,000 new millionaires created and by playing The National Lottery you raise over £4 million for Good Causes every dayΔ.

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