Joyous win for mum-of-four

Debbie Goolding, 46, has been knitting and delivering little angels as surprise gifts for frontline workers with local community group, Rushmoor Angels. Debbie said, “The angels are designed to bring a smile at a difficult time. I’ve knitted 3-inch-high nurses, paramedics, care workers, pharmacists and bespoke versions too. One has even travelled to New Zealand!

“Many of our knitters are isolating so I’m also the wheels of the operation. Dubbed the 'Angel Run', I collect the angels and deliver them to local hospitals, care homes, wherever anyone needs a little cheer.”

But Debbie didn’t expect to be the one on the receiving end of £1MMillion worth of cheer.

Her adventure began on Saturday when Debbie and her husband Joseph, 38, a heating engineer, popped to the shops to pick up a birthday card for a friend. Debbie, who is recovering from broken ribs, wanted to head to the nearest shop but Joseph was keen to take his new car for a spin so they set off for the supermarket on the other side of town.

Debbie said, “I’m so pleased that Joseph convinced me to go to the supermarket, it must be fate. If he hadn’t then we wouldn’t be celebrating now!

“I bought a different scratchcard to put inside the birthday card, but when I spotted the £50MMillion Mega Cash Showdown, I decided to treat myself. I went back to the car, wrote out the birthday card, popped the other scratchcard in it and we dropped it off before heading home.

“By the time we got home my ribs were aching so I had a long hot bath, got into my comfy PJs and was about to settle down with Joseph for a film when I remembered my scratchcard. Grabbing it from my bag I started playing, let me tell you, when I revealed the 1MIL symbol all thoughts of sore ribs and lolling on the sofa were abandoned!”

Turning to Joseph she said, “I think I’ve won £1MMillion” whereupon the pair ran into the kitchen and put all the lights on for a much closer inspection of the winning scratchcard. Debbie asked Joseph what he thought, and he just laughed and said, “I think we’ve won, we’d better ring Camelot!”

Debbie said, “As soon as the lady from Camelot confirmed we had won, Joseph and our youngest son just let out whoops of joy, the whole street must have heard us. It was a whirlwind of excitement as we were calling our two older children and the family to share the good news. The only tricky bit was getting people to believe us, they all thought we were winding them up and my laughing face emoji was completely worn out by the end of the evening!”

Thinking ahead to the future Debbie isn’t rushing anything. She said, “It sounds corny but I genuinely already felt rich. We have the most amazing family, a beautiful home and we thoroughly enjoy our life.”

The couple are already thinking about what comes next though. Debbie said, “Joseph is very handy – he’s done all the building work at home – and has always wanted to look at some sort of property development project and this will definitely help us to explore that option.

“Meanwhile, I am a true Christmas obsessive. I’m already planning and this will make it the most memorable yet, complete with the house adorned in twinkly lights from top to bottom. Plus I’ve always dreamt of taking our two girls Christmas shopping in New York so when it’s safe to do so again, that’ll be on our list.

“And finally, the Angel Run will get an upgrade, I’m going to swap my Citroen CV for a Range Rover Evoque!”

Keen-eyed readers might notice this isn’t the first winner to share their amazing £50MMillion Mega Cash Showdown Scratchcard winning news. Just days ago Shawn Keeley from Northern Ireland told us his winning story.

10th July 2020