A retired couple who won £53m on the lottery at first thought it was an elaborate April Fool when they checked their EuroMillions ticket.
Richard and Angela Maxwell, both 67, were so stunned to see their numbers on the National Lottery website that they wondered whether someone could possibly have scanned in their ticket as a joke.
Having verified it was not a prank, the Lincolnshire couple are now planning to splash out on a luxury holiday to New Zealand for their family, as well as treating themselves to a Range Rover (for him) and designer handbags and shoes (for her). They also intend to support initiatives helping young people in their local community.
The life-changing win has catapulted them into 10th place in the National Lottery rich list, topped by Colin and Chris Weir from Largs, Ayrshire, who banked £161m in July 2011.
Richard Maxwell, a semi-retired consultant in the poultry industry, said he was helping builders move bricks for the garage work the couple are having done when he took a break on Wednesday to check their ticket on the website.
“I always keep our lottery ticket in the kitchen drawer so I took a break and went online to check the results,” he said. “I checked again and again, five times in total, as I couldn’t believe it. Then I saw only one ticket had won £53m and I was in shock. I thought someone had scanned my ticket somehow and put it on the website as a joke. It was April Fool’s Day after all.”
He immediately called Camelot to confirm. Meanwhile, his wife was out helping to cook for a local pensioners’ lunch club, and knowing she would be too busy to answer her mobile, he decided to wait the four hours until she got back to their Coningsby home. “I kept myself busy making cups of tea for the builders because I couldn’t sit still but didn’t say anything to anyone.”
She arrived back later that afternoon carrying a basket of tea towels and asked him about their dinner plans that evening. “I said: ‘We can’t go out for dinner, Angela, I’ve got something to tell you.’”
His wife added: “I didn’t know what to think. Richard just went red in the face and then said ‘we’ve won £53m’. I just said ‘don’t be stupid’ – he’s always playing jokes so I thought it was an April Fool. I just didn’t believe it, then he showed me the numbers on the website and I dropped the basket of tea towels on the floor. Then I just sat down in the chair for about half an hour, stunned.”
The couple called their two daughters, Sharon, 45, and Paula, 44, who immediately came round, but they too thought it was an April Fool.
“It’s a life-changing amount of money,” said Richard Maxwell, a member of Woodhall Spa Rotary Club, which helps to raise money for charity and support young people in the area, including young carers. Angela Maxwell is a member of Woodhall Spa Inner Wheel and volunteers at the local pensioners’ club every week.
“£1m would have been amazing but £53m enables you to do so much, not just for you but those around you,” he said. “Our local community is really important to us, in particular helping young people in the area. The win will enable us to spend more time getting involved as well as give financial support.”
Richard said surviving prostate cancer eight years ago had inspired some of his fundraising, with his motorcycling group raising £50,000 for Macmillan nurses. Asked if he ever thought when he was diagnosed that he would here today, he said: “Not at all. When you get that diagnosis you’re pleased to see tomorrow.”
The couple had already been planning a holiday in New Zealand in the new year. “But the win means we can now take the whole family with us for Christmas, too – and of course we’ll go first class,” said Angela.
Her husband now intends to retire completely and spend more time watching and playing sport. He has followed his local team, Boston United, since 1958 and plays golf and bowls in his spare time. “Now I can spend time following some of the big sporting events across the world – and Angela can shop while I do it,” he said.
Last Friday Dave and Kathleen Long, from Scunthorpe in north Lincolnshire, won their second £1m after first scooping the same amount in July 2013.
