Couple Cooks Up £1M Lottery Win to Celebrate First Wedding Anniversary

A chef and a nursing assistant from Llanharry are marking their first year wedding anniversary in style after a life-changing £1M UK Millionaire Maker win from the EuroMillions draw on Friday, 24 January 2020.

David Taylor (40), who is a chef, and his wife Stacey (37) have returned to the venue where they were married – Manor Parc Hotel in Thornhill, Cardiff – for a doubly special celebration. 

The pair still can’t quite believe their luck since becoming Wales’s newest National Lottery millionaires. David described the moment when he found out the life-changing news, 

“I’ve always been a night owl and even after a late shift I sometimes sit into the early hours drinking coffee. I checked my ticket on The National Lottery App on my mobile in the early hours of the Saturday morning and couldn’t believe my eyes! 

“I’ve never had any luck – not at all and not in anything! The most I’ve won is £100 on a scratchcard. As soon as I realised I had a winning Millionaire Maker code, I put the ticket straight in the safe. I had to put it away as I realised what it was worth!”

David then went on to let Stacey know the good news. Stacey was at work, so he couldn’t initially get hold of her, but sent her a photo of the winning Millionaire Maker code with the message,

‘I’m going to send you another photo in a minute – give me a ring when you’ve seen it.’ 

David said,

“She didn’t believe me and was so excited when she called back! It was unbelievable really – it still is!”

David has been a chef since leaving school and is now looking forward to swapping his long split-shifts to reduce his hours so he can spend more time with the couple’s daughter (11) and son (9). 

And while Stacey will continue in her full time job as a nursing assistant in a care home, they are planning on upgrading an upcoming summer holiday to Mallorca.

The only treat the children have asked for since the win is some new PlayStation games but the couple have bigger plans for their newfound wealth, including a bigger home and an upgrade to the family cars from a Corsa and Insignia to two new SUVs

“While I would love an Audi R9, these seem like the most practical luxury option for our family at the moment,” said David. 

“I can’t wait to start going for test drives, but we won’t be getting the cars until we’ve bought our dream house with a driveway to put them on! We’ve bought a few bits and bobs – from the supermarket mostly, with our usual shop. But it’s been so nice to hand over my card, knowing we’ve got plenty in the bank!

David bought his winning EuroMillions ticket at the Co-Op in Pontyclun.  David’s winning EuroMillions UK Millionaire Maker code in the draw on Friday 24 January, 2020 was MLCT 62314.

The National Lottery changes the lives of winners like David and Stacey as well as communities across the UK – players raise around £30M for National Lottery-funded projects every week across the arts, sports, heritage, health, education, environment, charity and voluntary sectors. For more information on National Lottery funding please visit www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk.

Across the last 25 years, a staggering £40 billion has been raised for Good Causes with 565,000 grants made across arts, sport, heritage and community. That’s the equivalent of 200 life-changing projects in every UK postcode district. Players have banked a whopping £73 billion in prizes and a staggering 5,500 millionaires have been made.

Image Copyright:  HUW JOHN, CARDIFF