Christmas Comes Early for £1 Million EuroMillions Winner
Last Updated: Thursday 24th September 2020, 10:56
As December dawns, many people may be starting to plan their perfect Christmas, but for one lucky EuroMillions player, the 2016 festive season could be the best one yet. Jacqui Shannon from Witham, Essex, found herself £1 million richer after winning one of two UK Millionaire Maker prizes in the draw on Tuesday 1st November and now plans to treat the family ahead of the most wonderful time of the year.
The 46-year-old winner regularly participates in EuroMillions draws, often from the comfort of her own home: “I play online and tend to buy a few weeks-worth at a time, which is what I had done on this occasion, using £25 from a previous win,” she told National Lottery officials. However, this latest win caught Jacqui by surprise after she overlooked a notification in her inbox informing her that she had won a prize: “When I saw the email telling me I’d had a win I assumed it was something small so just didn’t get around to checking it,” she explained.
In fact, it was a full three weeks before the mother-of-one discovered that she was the latest lottery winner to join the prestigious millionaires’ club. “I was at work one morning, getting ready for the day ahead, when I remembered to log into my account to see what the win was,” she said. “I was chatting to my colleague and not really paying attention to my lottery account. When I saw the first message in my account was alerting me that I’d won a Lucky Dip I assumed that was the win, until I read the second message which was about a £1 million win.”
Understandably overjoyed by what she had seen, the full-time business support manager for a charity made her way out of the office and into the corridor where she made a call to the claims line. Once the win had been verified, Jacqui contacted her husband to deliver the fantastic news. “I have to admit I went a little crazy in the corridor – leaping about and squealing – and then went back to my desk as calmly as possible, deciding I didn’t want to tell anyone until the money really was in my bank account. It was certainly one occasion when my schoolgirl drama training came in handy,” she smiled.
With the money firmly in her possession, Jacqui is now planning on how to spend her sizeable windfall. High on the wishlist are a brand new BMW 320 for her husband and a Mini for herself, as well as first class tickets to Dubai to visit her sister. Jacqui, who has no immediate plans to give up work, also took time to remind fellow players that the National Lottery provides much-needed funding for worthy causes, a message that is especially poignant at this time of the year: “I’ve always played the lottery hoping to win, but also because I know first-hand how many charities in the UK benefit from lottery funding.”
If you would like to be in with a chance of winning a colossal EuroMillions prize of your own, tickets are available to buy online or from any authorised retailer in participating countries. And don’t forget to check those Millionaire Maker codes for an additional chance to win big. Good luck!