A Watford season-ticket holder has celebrated his million-pound lottery win at the Tolpits Lane HQ and explained its “life-changing impact”.
Since winning The National Lottery in January 2021, Malcolm Haines has reduced his work hours, taken five-star holidays, and bought the LEGO Millennium Falcon he always wanted, while his wife has even bought a horse.
Because he won during the pandemic, it was only last week (February 1) that the 52-year-old finally fulfilled the last piece of his dream by celebrating in the winners' lounge of the Watford HQ.
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Before the win, whenever he drove to a Watford FC home game, the Reading resident would pass the Tolpits Lane National Lottery HQ.
“Without fail, when we passed the office I’d tell my son, ‘one day I’m going in there to collect my big cheque’ and my son would just groan at me,” Malcolm said.
“While I was naturally over the moon to have won, I was a touch miffed to have missed out on the long-dreamt-of trip to the Lotto winners' lounge in Watford.”
His wife, Rebecca, said she used to tease him about his certainty he would one day win.
“But, for the last three years we have been eating our words,” she admitted. “Malcolm’s conviction has paid off and we are all enjoying the amazing life-changing moments that the win has given us.”
The couple, who both work in accountancy, have reduced their working hours to allow them to take things easier and fulfil more life-long dreams. This includes Rebecca owning her own horse.
“When I was a little girl, I used to enter the WH Smith ‘Win a Pony’ competition praying that I would be lucky,” Rebecca, 55, explained. “Sadly, I had to wait until my fifties but now I do have that ‘pony’ and better still, I get to ride her in Windsor Great Park.
“For me, this has definitely been the life-changing moment.”
Her husband added: “So much has changed for us, but we definitely don’t take our win for granted.
“Thanks to that lucky moment we now have a far better work-life balance and can focus on things we want to do rather than have to do.
“As a family we have enjoyed some great holidays, including a very swanky five-star trip to Croatia, and on a personal note, I was able to purchase the LEGO Millennium Falcon which previously always felt a little too frivolous.”
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