Couple kept quiet about £12.4m EuroMillions win… then revealed it to 30 lucky family and friends
The SECRET millionaires: Couple kept quiet about £12.4m EuroMillions win… then revealed it to 30 lucky family and friends by sending them CHEQUES
Sharon, 50, and Nigel Mather, 55, from Trafford, Manchester, won sum in 2010 Picked up lucky dip ticket on holiday and realised they won when they got homeFirst purchase with money was bungalow for Sharon’s dad which was ‘no brainer’
A couple who won a £12.4million jackpot kept their winnings a secret before sending 30 cheques to lucky friends and family.
Sharon, 50, and Nigel Mather, 55, from Trafford, Greater Manchester, initially kept their EuroMillions, which they won in 2010, to themselves.
They picked up the lucky dip ticket while on holiday – and only discovered they had won when they returned home.
Sharon, 50, and Nigel Mather, 55, from Trafford, Greater Manchester, won a £12.4million jackpot kept their winnings a secret before sending 30 cheques to lucky friends and family
After celebrating their win, the pair kept a secret spreadsheet – before deciding to share the amazing news with their closest friends.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Sharon said when they started gifting money to their loved ones, it was like something from the TV show ‘The Secret Millionaire’.
In the reality show, millionaires would go incognito into communities and agree to give away tens of thousands of pounds to people they meet.
She said: ‘My husband used to be a hotel manager and he made a spreadsheet and went round to about 30 friends and family’s houses and it was almost like Secret Millionaire.
‘We made a little card and put a cheque in it and gave it to them.’
As well as giving some of their winnings away to pals, the family also made their biggest donation to Manchester’s Francis House Hospice – a cause close to the couple.
Sharon said they kept a secret spreadsheet and when they started gifting money to their loved ones, it was like something from the TV show ‘The Secret Millionaire’
The pair won the life-changing sum when Nigel was a hotel manager and Sharon worked for the local council.
Sharon and Nigel’s first purchase with the money was a bungalow for Sharon’s dad – which was a ‘no brainer.’
And the couple said that they’ve bought up their sons to never brag about their winnings and always respect what others have.
Reece, 15, and Lewis, 12, were just three and one-year’s-old at the time of their family’s massive news.
Sharon said it was ‘a while’ before they told their sons about the money, saying they were ‘blessed and lucky’ to have won.
She added they class their winnings ‘as a responsibility’ and ‘want to do good with it’ and not blow the money.
And 11 years on from the big win, the family still want to travel to Hawaii for Sharon’s 50th birthday – which has been delayed because of Covid.
