UK Set for Life Winners
Set For Life offers a top prize of £10,000 a month for 30 years, and the jackpot has been won on a regular basis since the game was launched in March 2019. Here are the stories behind some of the biggest winners.
Dean Weymes (Peterborough)
Peterborough resident Weymes, 24 at the time, became one of the first Set For Life winners when he matched all the numbers in this draw. A screen-writing graduate, he quickly left his job with Amazon so that he could pursue his dream career of writing scripts.
He said he would also be able to start working through other items on his bucket list, including a family trip to Disneyland and laying down a deposit for a home of his own.
John Stembridge (Trowbridge)
Trowbridge plasterer Stembridge only remembered to check his lucky ticket a few weeks after the draw had taken place. Taking it to a local store, he was surprised when the machine ‘made a really strange noise’. The National Lottery advisor he spoke to on the phone asked if he was sitting down, before breaking the news that he had won £10,000 a month for 30 years.
He said he would give up his job immediately and instead enjoy his hobbies. Stembridge’s plans included buying a camper van, going on a fishing trip across Europe, photographing snow-capped mountains and building a home on the edge of a lake.
Laura Hoyle and Kirk Stevens
Hoyle and her partner Stevens won their incredible prize during a national Covid lockdown. As they were waiting for National Lottery officials to call them back, they still had to join work meetings online and try to stay composed, although Hoyle admitted she ‘could hardly speak, let alone make any sense’.
The money enabled the pair to pursue their passion for ghost-hunting, while they also bought a house and she quickly gave up work.
Doris Stanbridge
While Set For Life is primarily aimed at younger players, 70-year-old grandmother Stanbridge showed in this draw that it can be a special game for anyone. She purchased her ticket online after spotting some money spiders in her garden and taking it as a sign of good luck.
She said she was looking forward to treating her family to a holiday abroad, after quickly snapping up a new bed and an air fryer in the days after the win. Doris said: "It still seems a bit strange when I think about the win and that I will get that money every month for 30 years. It gives me a reason to be around until I am 100!”
Joanne Jobson (Hartlepool)
Hartlepool carer Jobson described her big win as ‘phenomenal’, having only started playing Set For Life regularly a few months earlier. When she found out that she had won, she still went in to work because she did not want to let her colleagues down.
She said: “It ended up being quite a lively shift after that as everyone was so happy and excited for me.” When she had time to process the news, she revealed that she wanted to enjoy lots of adventures in future, including holidays to Barbados and the Maldives. Joanne already had a London trip to see Abba planned.