An ecstatic engineer has a €500,000 prize after a memorable mistake and quadrupled his huge winnings.
Mark made an unfortunate blunder with his ticket, which resulted in him receiving four fines for his postcode.
The avid vinyl collector plans to expand his collection of over 4,000 records and is even prepared to extend his house and convert an attic to make room for all his records.
Mark exclaimed: “This has changed our lives forever: I am a half-millionaire!”
“I made a mistake when entering the direct debit and pressed three instead of one. I didn’t change it either, because the money goes to charity, so that’s fine.
“I then added another one [ticket] via PayPal because I didn’t think the direct debit was working. I still don’t think it’s real, I’m just waking up.”
Mark made the windfall with four neighbors in Boreham wood after WD6 2SL won our weekly £1 Million Millionaire Street price today. Every ticket was worth it €125,000.
Eight years ago, Mark took out a subscription for the first time and played with one ticket, after which he cancelled it for a short time.
In December 2022, he returned with the intention of buying just one ticket. Despite realizing his mistake, he continued to pay for four tickets each month.
And now that decision has paid off four times over, as he and his wife Billie celebrated their fourth €125,000 checks.
Vinyl enthusiast Mark is going to completely renovate his house to make more space for his enormous record collection.
Mark said: “You have no idea how much space 4,000 records take up. We can now have an extension and an attic conversion.”
Mark began expanding the LP collection over 50 years ago and has no plans to stop now. He added, “From rock, pop, classical, reggae, you name it, I’ve got it all, but I’ve got even more in me.
“I don’t know what the world would be like without music. I love to sit with a cup of tea and relax to some music.”
Mark’s vast collection includes every Beatles box set and one of his most prized possessions is an original 1971 pressing of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.
The family’s plans to extend the home also include a new bathroom. Mark admitted that his wife has been asking him for a downstairs bathroom since they moved into the property three years ago.
Mark said jokingly: “You can have your toilet downstairs now, honey. That’s all she’s interested in.”
Supermarket worker Billie said she will now have to work fewer hours, but she has no plans to quit.
Mark said: “She still wants to work at Tesco.”
She grinned and replied: “Yes, but then I don’t have to work so much overtime.”
Despite his amazing victory, Mark reported for duty shortly after receiving the overwhelming news.
Mark, who works at dairy company Arla Foods, said: “I have a normal day ahead of me and I’ll be done by 6pm, but I have to say that I’m probably not thinking about work then.”
The couple are now looking at a number of holiday options, but have had to cancel their last few trips.
Billie, who has autism, often finds social interaction difficult, which forced the couple to cancel their holiday to Egypt and miss Taylor Swift’s sold-out show at Wembley.
Mark added: “It was really sad because she always wanted to see Taylor Swift and we still have the tickets unused. But who knows, with this money maybe it will happen one day.”
The couple, who married two and a half years ago, have already booked a domestic holiday in the Peak District, but they may also want to visit Australia or America in the coming years.
The worshipping Mark said: “I’ve never had any luck, except when I found Billie. She changed my life and whatever we do with the money, we’ll use it well.”
The couple are looking forward to celebrating with their family, enjoying a bottle of non-alcoholic prosecco and a record playing in the background.
The other four winners on Hackney Close took €125,000 each. All were unavailable or chose to remain anonymous.
Local charities benefit
Former caregiver Billie was pleased to hear that local charities are also benefiting from their victory.
She said, “We have always donated to charities, and the Postcode Lottery also supports many animal welfare organizations. Moreover, we love animals.”
Cecil’s Horse Shelter has been awarded €20,000 by Postcode Community Trust.
The charity, founded in 2016 by Julie Blake, provides suffering horses and ponies with a new home when they have nowhere else to go.
The charity is run entirely by volunteers and cares for 80 animals including horses, Welsh ponies, Shetland ponies, a mule and a donkey. Many of the animals come from poor living conditions so the main aim of the charity is to ensure that the animals are happy and live freely.
“A lot of our animals come to us with health issues and often people just don’t need them anymore and think the easiest option is to put them to sleep. People don’t realize that these animals can live for another ten years with the right care. We give the animals the good life they deserve and honestly they take care of us too,” said Julie.
The charity also works with the people in the community and holds regular meetings for local children and people with learning disabilities to meet the animals, which can serve as therapy and help the children’s development.
“The sanctuary is named after my father Cecil, who loved ponies and sadly passed away 14 years ago. After he passed away, my miniature pony gave birth to a boy – so we named him Cecil, after Dad. When he was just four weeks old, the pony was stolen from us – and he has been missing ever since. We do what we do for all the Cecils out there. It keeps us going.” added Julie.
Thanks to participants in the People’s Postcode Lottery, Cecil’s Horse Sanctuary is able to install much-needed new fencing on one of its fields to keep the animals safe.
“It is a huge relief that we have received such a generous amount of funding. We could not be more grateful,” said Julie.
All funding was provided by Postcode Community Trust.
Supporting charities
Today’s prize is part of a draw promoted on behalf of the Postcode Education Trust. The trust is supported by our players and provides grants to organisations that provide education, particularly in emergency situations. Charities that benefit include Save the Children, Theirworld and UNICEF UK.
With the People’s Postcode Lottery, 33% of the ticket price goes to charity. Our great players have more than £1.3 billion for thousands of charities.
Are you a subscriber to People’s Postcode Lottery? If you haven’t joined yet, check out How It Works and the amazing prizes you can win. Why not sign up today and join in the fun?