What if you’d won £10,000 a month for 30 years but didn’t know about your win? That’s what happened to Laura Hoyle and Kirk Stevens from Hucknall near Nottingham.
The couple managed to match the five main numbers and the Life Ball in the March 1 Set for Life draw. There were no immediate celebrations though as it took another 13 days before they discovered their good luck.
That’s despite the fact that Laura received an alert on her phone. It told her that there was good news about her Set for Life ticket. However, she thought her win was only a fiver so ignored it. “I had received the same message before so didn’t think too much about it, “ she said.
Laura didn’t just ignore that message, she carried on playing the next few draws. The couple have been playing the Set For Life draw since it was launched in 2019.
Then came an email from lottery organisers Camelot asking her to check the messages they’d been sending to her account.
Fearing it might be a scam, she checked the App and got the shock of her life. “It was then that the penny finally dropped that we should call Camelot fast!” That phone call just had to be made as Laura, 39, was finally hard to concentrate on her work for a logistics firm.
Their win was finally confirmed, and it wasn’t long before the celebrations began. Kirk had the bottle of Prosecco open even before Laura’s life-changing call to Camelot had ended. Four bottles were consumed by the end of a fabulous Friday evening.
While Kirk, 37. found it easy to sleep that night, it was a different story for his partner. “I couldn’t sleep a wink. My mind was still racing, and I stayed awake all night,” said the Set For Life winner. Her night was spent watching movies and binge-watching the entire series of ‘Divergent.’
Telling others of a lottery win is often not an easy task. Their families took a bit of convincing that it wasn’t a prank. Kirk’s mother even put the phone down on him three times, continually saying “You are having me on.”
The Set for Life winners already have plans on how to spend their winnings. Laura is keen on launching a property management business. She’s already handed in her notice. Kirk currently works as an aeronautical engineer at Rolls Royce. He has no plans to quit that job but wants to spend more time creating bespoke wood furniture and accessories.
Their first big purchase was a Porsche Cayenne. Well, with Laura quitting her job, that meant her company car had to be returned. The couple also want to volunteer for the St John Ambulance Brigade once covid restrictions are lifted.
Their lucky numbers were 09-14-19-35-37 and the Life Ball 06. Set For Life draws take place on Mondays and Thursdays.
