'I can get a car now': Carer Bee is buzzing after £300,000 lottery win

Bianca Murton, who is known as Bee, said she would continue with her work visiting the elderly in their homes, although she planned to get a car so she no longer had to walk to appointments.

Bee, 31, from Bilston, won the top prize after buying two Lucky Numbers scratchcards for £3 each from the One Stop convenience store in Bridge Street last week.

She said she bought them on a whim after going to the shop to buy a fizzy drink.

“I saw The National Lottery scratchcards at the till and thought I’d have a go," said Bee, who has a seven-year-old son.

"I picked a couple – don’t ask why I chose them – and on the walk home I started to scratch them.

“I won a fiver on the first scratchcard so I was pretty pleased. I was just about to walk through the front door, having scratched the second one, when it all went a bit crazy.”

Bee said her first reaction was one of disbelief.

“I looked, looked again and couldn’t believe what I was staring at, so much so that I started to shake," she said.

"I asked my partner to look at it and he wasn’t 100 per cent sure, so he then called his dad to check it for me. After many checks and double-checks, it really did look like I had won and then I just started to cry.

“I didn’t sleep a lot that night – you could say I was buzzing – my mind was racing, thinking about what I could do with the money.

"But it is quite simple really. The most important things are paying off the mortgage, clearing our debts, treating the family and, for me personally, studying.”

She said she was excited that the win would enable her to advance her career in the care industry by studying for an NVQ.

Bee said she loved her job, which was her true vocation.

“It is such a rewarding job." she said. "To see the smiles on peoples’ faces when you visit them in their homes makes you feel so good. You are part of their lives, so it feels great to be doing a job that helps people.

"Knowing you could be the only person they see that day is really rewarding. I absolutely love my job."

Bee said that working through the pandemic had been tough and stressful, though.

“The amount of work has increased and, since I don’t drive, I’ve been mostly walking between appointments – I’ve covered a lot of miles – so, with my win in the bank, I’m also going to take my driving test as soon as possible.”

Bee joked that in her spare time she was the "Great British Sewing Bee", enjoying arts and crafts and making clothes for herself and teddy bears for her son.

“It’s something I really enjoy doing and, especially in the last year during these crazy times, it’s given me another focus away from work. It gives me a great sense of satisfaction seeing what I’m able to create,” she said.

Bee, originally from Somerset, bought her life-changing scratchcard on Tuesday last week.

“It gives me so much security just to think that when I pay off my mortgage it will be the safe and secure home for my family forever," she said.

"I’ll certainly also feel a lot calmer having no more debt to worry about.”

But Bee said any celebrations were likely to be low-key due to the pandemic.

“We’ll go to the pub in our bubble but due to my job, working with the vulnerable and elderly, we’ll just have a small party sometime in the future.” she said.