A loving mother’s prayers answered

Sep 4 2007 by Laura Davis, Liverpool Daily Post

On Day Two of our series looking at wealth Laura Davis talks to the woman whose Lottery win meant her son did not have to work abroad

A FULL 24 hours before she discovered she had won more than £5m on the National Lottery, Debbie Mather held a party.

She had been dreading the following day for several weeks – the date of her son’s departure abroad to earn the money they desperately needed to pay the rent on their meagre two-bedroom house in Wigan.

A fall had left her in need of regular medical care and surgery, and she had been forced to give up her job as a book-keeper.

In serious financial difficulty, there was no choice but for her 20-year-old son and only carer, Peter, to take a holiday rep job he had been offered in Spain.

So Debbie planned a party that they would both remember, and the last thing on her mind as she called into the local Spar to buy a Lucky Dip as she did every week was that this time she would actually win the jackpot.

“I remember that the night before I was praying something would happen. I was down on my hands and knees saying ‘please don’t make him have to go’,” says Debbie, who grew up in Liverpool before moving to Wigan at the age of 18 to get married.

Then the numbers 12, 18, 22, 33, 43, 48 were announced by the National Lottery presenter the following evening.

“If I could bottle the feeling you get when you know you have got six numbers I would give it away. It was just overwhelming. And Peter didn’t have to go away,” she adds, laughing.

It may be a cliché to say that winning the lottery in June, 2005, changed Debbie’s life beyond all recognition, but for her and her son it did just that.

Before her numbers came up, they were forced to survive on her sickness benefit. Now although Debbie, 49, is still careful with money – she keeps account of all spending on a spreadsheet – she will never again suffer sleepless nights over her finances.

From the tiny house in Wigan, she now lives in a luxury bungalow in rural Chorley, with two-thirds of an acre of gardens, a Jacuzzi and a sauna. She also bought her old home for sentimental reasons and rents it out.

It took her a year to get round to giving up her two-door Nissan Micra, but she now drives a BMW 3 Series – “it’s nice to be able to say that.”

“Even now when I walk out of my kitchen to go to the garage where the freezer is and I turn around and look back at my house I can’t believe that it’s mine. I have to pinch myself.

“You can get lost in it, and when my friends see it they ask why I bought such a large house when there’s just me. Peter has his own house just across the road but he still comes home for his tea and he still brings his washing home.”

There are little extravagances, too. Debbie’s first purchase after winning the Lottery was a pair of pearl earrings that cost £75 and she is thrilled that she can now afford tickets to shows, something that before the win she couldn’t justify spending money on.

In the past two years, she has been to see Lionel Richie, Il Divo and the Houghton Weavers. She has booked the Bolton-based folk band to play at her 50th birthday party next February.

With her health having dramatically improved, Debbie was able to return to work and now runs a firework company with her son. His father – they were divorced when Peter was a little boy – is in the industry and helped them to set it up. The pair arrange firework displays for weddings and other private celebrations.

However, the real joy of having £5.1m in the bank has been treating her friends and relatives.

Debbie has given away £1m of her winnings and has helped people in other ways – buying houses for them to rent that they couldn’t have afforded to live in without her generosity, and holding parties to raise money for charity.

At a recent birthday party, Peter asked his guests to give a donation to the Make a Wish Foundation, which arranges special events for ill children, instead of bringing him a gift.

“Everybody would tell you that it’s totally changed our lives but it hasn’t changed us. I wish that I could go back and experience the moment I found out I had won. It was so amazing.

“I’ve learnt you should savour every moment ,” explains Debbie, whose sister and brother still live in Liverpool. “I still remember that there are people out there who are in desperate need of money and I want to use my good luck to help others.

“I still buy a Lucky Dip every week. The odds are 14m:1 to win so I don’t think I’ll manage it again. But if I do, I’ll give it all away. I’ll just sit and write cheques to people.”

TOMORROW, Lord Derby tells Peter Elson about life as a thoroughly modern earl

lauradavis@dailypost.co.uk

The winning effect

* PERHAPS unsurprisingly, 96% of lottery millionaires report that they are as happy or happier since their win.

* Eight out of 10 winners report that the removal of money worries is one of the best things about winning.

* 58% were pleased with the chance to look after family and friends.

* 24% look forward to buying luxury items.

* Lottery millionaires also report changes beyond their bank balance – 22% said they felt younger since their win, with 55% of them claiming they felt younger by 10 years or more.

* Another 19% also report having lost weight – although, in contrast, all the fancy restaurants and rich food they can now enjoy may have led to 40% admitting they had put on a pound or two.

* 55% of winners have taken up or spend more time on hobbies – topping the list are traditional favourites such as fitness, golf and travel, but winners also mentioned needlecraft and bowling as favourite pastimes.

* Of those working before their win, a third choose to carry on working, with around half of those even remaining full-time.

* Of the two-thirds who do give up, half admit they miss work – proving that a life of wealth and luxury clearly is not everything.

Where does the money go?

* 99% of winners report giving money to family and 76% to friends.

* 87% of winners have paid off at least one mortgage with their winnings, while 17% have paid off five or more.

* 15% have created at least one other millionaire with their generous gifts, with 2% having created five or more.

* Winners are also keen philanthropists, with 91% reporting they have made a charitable donation.

* The most popular holiday destination is the US, followed by Spain.

* 21% have bought a caravan or camper van since winning, and 8% still name the UK as their favourite destination

* The lottery millionaires’ favourite purchase after their win is their home. 80% choose to upgrade.

* 88% stay within 20 miles of their old home – proving friends and family are hard to leave behind.

* 36% have a walk-in wardrobe, 32% have a games room, 29% a bar, 25% a home cinema, and 21% a hot tub.

* Research conducted by Ipsos MORI in 2006, interviewing 100 National Lottery publicity winners, who have won around £1 million or more.

Lucky numbers?

* THE secret behind picking those winning numbers is . . . there is no secret!

* 40% of lottery millionaires use Lucky Dip, and the rest choose their own numbers – whether a random selection off the top of their heads, or a collection of favourite numbers based on family birthdays or a variety of other significant dates.

* The most common winning numbers are, in order, 38, 43, 44, 31, 25 and 47; the least common are, in order, 20, 41, 13, 16, 37 and 36 (includes all draws up to August 22, 2007).