A dad from Reading who won £1,000,000 during the Covid pandemic has finally fulfilled his dream to celebrate his win in the Winners Lounge at The National Lottery’s Headquarters in Watford.

A Watford FC season ticket-holder, whenever Malcolm Haines, 52, drove to a home game, passing The National Lottery’s head office on Tolpits Lane, he’d tell his son he’d be visiting the offices soon to pick up his prize.

Mr Haines said: “Without fail, when we passed the office I’d tell my son, ‘one day I’m going in there to collect my big cheque’ and my son would just groan at me!

"Then in the height of the January 2021 lockdown, my Lotto numbers came up and we won £1M.

“While I was naturally over the moon to have won, I was a touch miffed to have missed out on the long-dreamt-of trip to the Lotto Winners Lounge in Watford."

Accompanied by his wife, Rebecca, 55, the pair re-lived that winning moment with another Champagne spray, this time with professional photography, and enjoyed meeting the Winner Services team who gave them a tour of the Head Office.

Mrs Haines said: “Since The National Lottery launched in 1994, Malcolm always believed he was going to win Lotto. In fact, we used to tease him about it, especially when he started checking his tickets on the app and closing his eyes waiting for the bell to ring announcing his win!

"But, for the last three years we have been eating our words, Malcolm’s conviction has paid off and we are all enjoying the amazing life-changing moments that the win has given us.”

Amongst the life-changing moments has been a reduction in hours for both Malcolm and Rebecca who work in accountancy.

Those reduced hours have meant that Rebecca has been able to fulfil a lifelong dream to own a horse.

Malcolm too has been enjoying having more free time for his running.

He said: “Coming here today has reminded us of the amazing moment back in January 2021 when the National Lottery app did actually ‘ping’ and I opened my eyes to see that incredible £1,000,000 Lotto win on my screen. 

“So much has changed for us, but we definitely don’t take our win for granted.

"Thanks to that lucky moment we now have a far better work-life balance and can focus on things we want to do rather than have to do. 

As a family, the Haines have enjoyed some great holidays, including a very swanky five-star trip to Croatia.