We look back at North Staffordshire's Lotto jackpot winners
The National Lottery is 30 years old today. It was back on 14 November 1994 when the first National Lottery tickets went on sale.
Since the first draw on 19 November 1994, The National Lottery has created more than 7,400 millionaires and paid out more than £95 billion in prizes. It’s not just the lives of individuals that have changed, a massive £49 billion has been raised helping support thousands of projects and charities, transforming communities across the UK.
Kathy Garrett, winners’ advisor at Allwyn, operators of The National Lottery, has herself paid over a billion pounds in prizes to lucky players over the years.
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She said: “The National Lottery has been changing lives, helping communities and supporting charities for 30 years. On average seven millionaires are created every week across our games and these lovely winners are just a tiny fraction of the lucky players who have won incredible sums of money over the years.”
Now, to mark the 30th anniversary of the first draw, we have looked back at 11 winners of the National Lottery from Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire over years gone by. To quote the original slogan of the National Lottery, before it was renamed Lotto, it could be you...
1. David Hughes
In May 2004, David, from Clayton won £67,000. Aged 56 at the time, he struck lucky after some of his numbers came up on the EuroMillions game.
Speaking at the time, he said: ""I went through all sorts of emotions when I realised I'd won. This isn't a life-changing amount of money, but it is still very nice to have won.
"It's great for ordinary people to have a chance to get that sort of money. We're planning to use the money to buy an apartment abroad."
David celebrated his win with champagne at the post office in Cambridge Drive, Clayton, where he bought the winning ticket.
2. Steelite workmates
Nineteen workmates at the pottery manufacturer won the Euromillions in 2014. Teenager Cameryn Shingler pocketed more than 10 years' worth of wages after collecting his share of a £1 million jackpot.
The then-17-year-old, from Tunstall, was an apprentice in the maintenance department of Steelite. He received a cool £52,631.57 payout in the EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle.
Former Stoke-on-Trent College student Cameryn, who had worked full-time with Steelite for 18 months, said: "I was in bed on a day off. When I got the message on the day, I didn't believe it a lot of my mates were green with envy."
"I've been part of the syndicate since I started with the company and the most I've won prior to this is £24, which is quite a difference."
Organiser Chris Heames, from Wolstanton, said: "You never think that something like this would happen to you."
Wendy Dean, group HR director, said at the time: "This fantastic windfall has really created a buzz around the factory. Everyone is absolutely delighted."
The remaining workers wanted to remain anonymous.
3. Jake the collie (and his pub pals)
In November, 2004, Jake was one of 38 pub regulars who won a share of £99,867 on the Lotto. Part of his £2,500 windfall was being donated to the City Dogs' Home.
Gordon Meir and Lynn Roberts were able to bring their wedding forward, after a syndicate of pub regulars at The Vine Inn, in Naylor Street, Pittshill, won the cash. "It felt brilliant when I heard we had won," said Gordon, £2,500 the richer.
"I told my girlfriend straight away and it means we can get married next August now and hopefully have a nice honeymoon."
Gordon was one of 38 regulars who were toasted as they accepted the Lotto cheque. The win was secured after the syndicate matched five numbers and the bonus ball in the October 30 draw.
It had been run by brother and sister publicans Sid and Ida Alcock for 10 years at the time of publication. "I think it is absolutely marvellous to win this money," said Ida, who planned to spend her winnings on new floors for the pub.
4. Janet Cook
In July 2004, housewife Janet, from Blurton, was celebrating a £79,000 Lotto win - using the numbers ditched by her daughter who couldn't afford to play.
Her daughter Jane Derry received half of the cash - three years after she left Stoke-on-Trent for London and gave her mum the winning numbers. A holiday to the Caribbean, a home computer and a replacement for her 1978 MG Midget were on Janet's shopping list.
"It's so strange - I can't believe it." said the former hairdresser, whose house number was the usually unlucky number 13. "I want to renovate the house, although 13 certainly hasn't been unlucky for me."
"I got really tearful when I was given the cheque and the shock still hasn't sunk in. It's not the kind of money to change my life, I suppose, but it's still a lot of money."
5. Black Horse darts team
In October, 2003, a women's darts team won £1 million in the Lotto after picking numbers by throwing darts. The 13-strong syndicate played a match at the Black Horse pub, Chesterton, when its six numbers - 3, 9, 15, 16, 21 and 29 - came up in the Lotto draw.
But the women had to wait two weeks to confirm their win because the syndicate organiser, who was the only male winner and the partner of one of the players, had gone on holiday. The women, one of whom was in her eighties, received their bumper £1,113,653 cheque from darts legend Eric Bristow.
The team had been based at the Chesterton pub for the past year since moving from a pub in Wolstanton.
Black Horse landlord Wayne Hobson said: "I was in Blackpool for the evening when I found out. A member of staff sent me a text message to tell me about the win, but I didn't realise it was the whole team."
"I texted back saying, 'Who is it? How much? They're my best friend'. Then I got a message back saying the whole team had won, which was fantastic."
6. Reg Smith
In June 2003, great-grandfather Reg Smith saw three of his numbers come up in the Lottery. He thought he had won around £10 - but then realised the remaining three numbers of his Lucky Dip ticket had also been matched in the Lotto draw.
Reg, from Uttoxeter was one of four jackpot winners to each pick up a whopping £2,371,361 in the rollover draw.
"It hasn't sunk in at all," he said at the time. "I haven't spent any of it yet."
"I think the first lot I'll spend will be in September when I'll take the family to Canada to see my daughter Diane. I've had a good life. The only thing is that I would have liked this to have happened about 20 or 30 years ago."
"My age is a big age to win this amount of money."
7. Bob and Alan Frazer
In April 2003, a North Staffordshire mechanic was reunited with his lottery winner dad who gave him a £1 million share of his windfall. Alan Frazer, from Endon, and his father Bob hugged each other for five minutes and wept with joy as they met for the first time in 13 years.
Taxi driver Bob, from Heaton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, scooped £14.2 million in the Lotto Extra draw and immediately promised to make his long-lost son an instant millionaire. Bob called a press conference to appeal for help to track down Alan and they were finally reunited at an emotional meeting.
Alan was only six when his parents split up and, although he used to visit Bob at weekends, they gradually lost touch. He attended Bob's wedding to second wife Dorothy in 1983, but there were only a handful of meetings before they last saw each other in 1990.
After that last meeting, Alan settled in Blyth, Northumberland, for five years. He married, but divorced in 1997. The 35-year-old admitted he was shocked to hear his father wanted to get back in touch, and said he does not know how he will spend his windfall.
He said: "My heart was jumping before we met. When I heard he'd won, I thought, good on him. It was a shock when I heard he wanted to get back in touch."
8. Woolies workers
In March 1998, a 14-strong group from Woolworths in Leek collected their jackpot from Camelot, with each scooping £287,211.71. Syndicate organiser Ann Ainsworth, aged 44 at the time, was at home watching the draw on TV when she discovered the ticket bought at their own branch of Woolies had netted them a fortune.
Delighted Ann, who picked up the winning cheque for £4,020,964 at the Post House Hotel, Clayton, said: "I thought at first we had just got five numbers, then I checked again. I asked my husband Barry to check them for me and he confirmed we had all six numbers."
"I was absolutely stunned. I could not speak and Barry had to tell me to pull myself together.''"
Members of the syndicate were Carolyn Poultney, Eileen Holland, Gillian Dale, Annette Masterson, Margaret Houlihan, Jennifer Higton, Pauline Lomas, and Cheryl Fairhurst, all from Leek, as well as Carole Hudson, from Ashbourne.
9. Andrew Broader
In November 1996, Andrew, from Yarnfield, won more than £300,000 on the National Lottery. He matched five numbers plus the bonus ball to win the cash prize, and bought the winning Lucky Dip ticket from the Shell Service Station at Walton.
He planned to spend part of the money on his love of cars and motor racing. Andrew was at a friend's house when he realised he had won. He said: "I was in the shower when the numbers were drawn, so I checked them off when I arrived at my friend's."
"When I saw that I had five numbers and the bonus ball, the colour just drained from my face and I had to sit down before I fell down!''"
10. Jackie and John Livesley
In 2008, the Trentham couple scooped more than £2.6 million on the National Lottery. The Stoke City fans once stood in the crush of the terraces, but on winning, they enjoyed every home game from the luxury vantage point of the Tony Waddington Suite.
Before they scooped £2,630,225, the most the Livesleys managed to pocket was £80. John was counting down the hours to his night shift as a warehouse team leader when he found out he had won a life-changing sum of money.
He was tucked up in bed when his wife Jackie woke him up with the news that their numbers had come in. "We played the lottery since it started," said Jackie, who walked away with a half-share of the total £5.2 million prize.
11. Neil Jones and Julie Kirkham
In December 2010, Neil and Julie won £2.4 million. Self-employed tiler Neil, from Fenton, was down to his last £13 when he bought three lottery tickets and scooped the jackpot.
Speaking a few years later, Jackie said: "It's taken us two years to get used to it. For the first 12 months, everything was a whirl."
Neil added: "It completely changed our lives. But it's lovely to be able to do the things you want."
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