A SYNDICATE of workers scooped a £1 million lottery win on Friday 13th - proving it can be very lucky for some.
More than 50 railway workers for Network Rail, aged between 21 and 60, scooped the £1 million UK Millionaire Maker prize in the EuroMillions draw on October 13.
Nineteen of the railway signalling design engineers gathered at the National Railway Museum in York on Friday to talk about how they hoped to spend their share - which works out at just more than £18,500 each.
Steve Corrigan, who set up the syndicate about four years ago, said they had only previously won about £85 until earlier this month.
Steve, from Huntington, said: “I gave the ticket to the lady behind the counter at the supermarket and she said ‘I can’t understand this, it won’t tell me how much it is, but it is a winner’.
“I went home, got the app up on my phone, then got a little jingle that said it’s a million. I just casually gave it to my wife and said ‘oh, it’s a million’. I don’t think I took it in.”
He verified it the following day, and then gathered the workers in the canteen to share the good news.
Matt Dunn, from Haxby, said he was the first to hug Steve when he broke the news to the workers in George Stephenson House.
He said: “I remember the email coming out at about 3.30pm, everyone was busy working away and the email landed saying ‘can everyone join me in the canteen, I’ve got some news’. Obviously, it was titled Lottery Syndicate, so we knew we might have won £20 and Steve didn’t know what biscuits to buy this week. It was incredible. I got up and hugged Steve straight away, I was that overjoyed with it. It’s going to make a bit of a difference, and I’m really pleased and thankful to Steve for running the syndicate, as is everyone else.”
The group celebrated with champagne outside the NRM, then planned to spend the weekend working out what to do with their shares.
Steve said: “I’m spending it on my wife, she’s a saint. There are 54 of us, so it’s just nice to spread a bit of happiness.”
Matt said: “It’s going to change a lot of people's lives, it’s great.
“I’m going to pay my car off, then spend the rest taking my family out for a meal and treat my wife to a little present I think. I mean, I’ve already won the lottery with her, this is the second time round.”
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