Shropshire couple scoop £1 million lottery win and start treating family

Ruth Giblin, a 44-year-old leisure centre supervisor, became one of 22 millionaires made in a special EuroMillions draw when she matched one of the 22 UK Millionaire Maker codes to win £1,000,000.

Ruth said she and her husband Rob, 48, assumed they were the target of a scam when she received an email from the National Lottery telling her she had won the big prize.

The couple said they would remain in the semi-detached house in Madeley they share with son Jack, 16, and daughter Megan, 13, although they have paid off their mortgage.

"It's lovely because it was my dad's birthday, and we didn't have any money for a present," she said.

"I still haven't got him anything, we haven't had the time."

But Ruth will soon be able to put that right, as the couple will use part of their winnings to pay for an extension to the house of her parents Mac and Isobel, who live across the road from them.

"My parents look after my sister who has additional needs, so an extension will mean everyone can get a proper night's sleep."

She plans to continue with her job at Wellington Leisure Centre, although she hopes to reduce the number of weekends she works so she can spend more time with her family.

Ruth said the couple had no plans to move from the street where she lived as a child.

"We love where we are, it is the street I grew up from the age of seven," said Ruth. "We moved away when I grew up, and when we got the chance to move back we jumped at the chance.

"We live opposite my parents, not a day goes by when we don't see them.

"I told a couple of my neighbours, and they said 'you're not moving are you?' I assured them we would be staying.

Ruth revealed that she almost forgot to buy her ticket on the day of the draw on July 22, only for Rob to remind her.

“I promptly forgot all about the ticket and went straight to karate that evening," she said.

The couple woke early the next morning to go swimming, and Ruth noticed that she had received an email from the National Lottery.

"My first thought was that I had won on the Lucky Dip, which is what usually happens," she said.

"When I saw the message saying I had won £1 million, I couldn't get my head around it. I then checked my app, and the message was still there. I then Googled the telephone number, but I couldn't ring it because it was before 7am, and at that point I thought it was a scam, so we went swimming.

"We tried to forget about it, but every so often we would cross each other in the pool and say 'what if it is real?'.

“We talked all the way home about what we would do if it was true, but I was trying not to get my hopes up. When we finally called Camelot, they asked me what I could see and then they confirmed we were millionaires! We were just stunned and started crying.”

Rob, 48, said he would also continue his job as an engineer at Maldon in Trench.

"I told my manager first, I said this has happened and I'm going to need some time off sporadically. He said 'well done, I'm very pleased for you'.

Ruth said Jack, who hopes to study history, is waiting for his GCSE results.

The couple said they looked forward to giving Jack and Megan their first experience of flying on an aeroplane when they take close friends and family on a holiday next year.

"We're a bit busy at the moment, there are a lot of weddings in the family," said Rob.

He said the family's first major purchase was a nearly-new Ford Kuga, adding that they would probably replace Ruth's car soon.

Ruth added: "The children have drawn up a list of things they would like, but they have been quite sensible."

Megan has asked for a summer house to be built as an art room, while a custom-built gaming computer was already on order for Jack.

As well as paying off the mortgage, they can now happily have their shaker-style kitchen without having to worry about paying it off monthly.