A group of friends who work as dinner ladies for the NHS have landed the £25million EuroMillions jackpot.
The six women, known as the ‘Catering Girls’, have been part of a lottery syndicate for the past six years at Port Talbot Hospital, Wales.
As soon as their winning numbers came in, five of the six ladies did what most of us could only dream of doing and quit their jobs on the spot.
The sixth member of the syndicate had already recently retired, so will be putting her feet up with just under £4.25million in the bank – the amout each syndicate member won.
The winning numbers were 5, 12, 17, 33, 41 and the two lucky stars were 4 and 9.
It was the latest member to the group, Louise Ward, whose numbers scooped the huge prize, but it could have been so different.
The 37-year-old was actually considering leaving the group so she could save for her upcoming wedding, reports the Mirror.
Louise said:
I was actually thinking about stopping playing earlier in the year as I have been saving up for my wedding in March and needed the extra cash – imagine if I’d stopped, we’d never have won.
The syndicate leader, Julie Saunders, was paying her father a visit in a care home when she was given the news about the win.
56-year-old Julie, who’s worked at the hospital for 12 years, said:
Dreams really do come true. This win is life-changing for us all and the win is still sinking in. We are all so emotional but very, very happy.
We will celebrate properly together after the excitement has died down.
I’m not sure we will carry on playing as a syndicate – it is time to give someone else a chance of winning.
The other winners are 56-year-old Doreen Thompson, 73-year-old Jean Cairns, 54-year-old Sian Jones and 50-year-old Julie Amphlett.
Julie and her friends handed in their notice immediately and although they’re sad to be saying goodbye to the hospital, they can’t wait to hit the strip because they’ve ‘always loved Elvis.’
Congratulations to them all!
