Milton Keynes couple who scooped £10.7m on lottery reveal how their lives have changed

Martyn and Sandra White are among 32 people in Milton Keynes who have become millionaires since the National Lottery was launched 25 years ago.

Their win was in April 2009, at a time when they had just put all three of their children through uni in rapid succession and were watching every penny.

"We had a constant overdraft of £1000 and we never ever seemed to be able to get it paid off. We were both working but things were constantly tight," said Martyn.

They spent £4 a week on lottery tickets and stuck to the same winning formula of family birth dates and ages.

"Every so often the numbers would change as our children became a year older. Two weeks later and we wouldn't have won, because our daughter was due to have a birthday," said Martyn.

As soon as the win was confirmed, he resigned from his job as a sales manager and Sandra quit her teaching job as head of two year groups in a Luton school.

"We wanted to be sensible with the money. We bought ourselves a lovely house and we bought a house for each of our children to set them up for the future."

The couple's daughter and one of their two sons were both getting married that year.

"Before the win, we'd been worrying about how we would afford two weddings," said Sandra.

Martyn bought himself the car of his dreams, an Audi R8, while Sandra opted for a sporty Mercedes.

"The problem was that the grandchildren started coming along soon after and it was unsuitable to take them out in! I soon swapped it for something more practical," she said.

She and Martyn also invested money, and now have 14 properties they rent out.

"We like to think we are helping other families keep a roof over their heads," said Martin.

"We try to be good landlords and keep the properties in really good order."

The couple's biggest indulgence is holidays.

"You name a country, and we've probably been there" said Sandra.

"We go on three of four cruises a year. We love it. But we always consult with the children to see if they need us first. Our daughter actually planned the arrival of the last grandchild around one of our cruises!"

Today Martyn and Sue joined fellow winners at a special ceremony to celebrate the impact The National Lottery has had on the UK in the last 25 years.

They discovered that not only were there 32 other lottery millionaires in MK, but 275 top tier prizes of at least £50,000 had been banked by players in the MK postcode.

Martyn said: “It’s amazing to think that people have been enjoying the ‘if I won the lottery’ conversation for 25 years, and even better to know that 275 ticketholders from the Milton Keynes area can, like us, say ‘I’ve won the lottery'.”

Andy Carter, Senior Winners’ Advisor at The National Lottery, said: “The MK postcode has proved very lucky when it comes to the big wins but it’s not alone. Over the last 25 years, The National Lottery has been making amazing things happen all across the UK."

He added: “Thanks to our National Lottery players, 565,000 Good Cause grants have been given out to projects big and small, that’s the equivalent of 200 life-changing projects in every UK postcode district making a huge impact on communities all over the country. On top of this, we have celebrated so many lucky winners who have won life-changing sums of money – here’s to another 25 years of making dreams come true.”