A Newport bricklayer is celebrating after a snap decision to use the £1.50 he had left in his lottery account, bagged him a £10,000 a month prize.
Ashley Ferrell, 30, usually plays EuroMillions, but luckily had the small change left over from a previous win remaining in his online account, so decided to try his luck on the Set For Life draw on Monday 11 January.
“Because the amount left was the correct amount for a Set For Life ticket, I decided to switch from EuroMillions which I’ve always played before, mainly because of the generous prizes," he said.
Ashley, a keen snowboarder, promptly phoned his mum Tracey after finding out about the win, who was delighted with his good news.
He said, “Mum was really pleased for me. And when I rang my boss at work, he put his phone on loudspeaker for the whole canteen to hear my good news!
"There was a bit of cheering - everyone is really pleased for me. I’ve never won an amount like this before, I’ve only won the odd fiver, so couldn’t believe it when I saw the email telling me there was news about my ticket and it turned out to be a fair bit more than a fiver.
“I haven’t had a holiday in a very long time and planning a trip gives me something to look forward to after lockdown. Canada has brilliant snow and is a favourite with snowboarders, so it’s become a bit of a dream for me to go there. I can’t wait!”
And Ashley will likely need a holiday after completing some long awaited home improvements – he wants to revamp the kitchen, bathroom and garden at his first home, which he bought just after lockdown began in March last year.
“I haven’t had the cash or the time to work on the house, because I’ve worked throughout lockdown. I am really looking forward to finally being able to put my stamp on the place.”
Ashley’s winning numbers were 20 , 32 , 34 , 40 , 44 and the Life Ball 07 , which he picked at random by turning away and tapping on the National Lottery app on his phone screen.
Set For Life from The National Lottery costs £1.50 per line to play, draws take place every Monday and Thursday and the top prize is £10k every month for 30 years.
Ashley won the second prize of £10k every month for one year.
In the current situation, The National Lottery is encouraging everyone to check their tickets online at national-lottery.co.uk or by downloading the National Lottery app, and to only buy or check their tickets in retail in line with government guidance.
