A hard-working mum forced to cut back working hours due to sickness has won a life-changing £250,000 in cash. Maudy Van Tonder, 44, paid just £25 for a ticket in the latest Omaze Million Pound House Draw before winning the 'Early Bird Prize'.
Maudy, originally from South Africa, has lived in the UK for 23 years and had never entered the Omaze Million Pound House Draw before. The self-employed cleaner had been struggling financially since 2020 after she was put on furlough during the pandemic.
She managed to establish her own successful cleaning business through hard work and determination. But after falling into ill health earlier this year, she had to cut 30 of her 40 working hours a week - once again slashing her family's finances. Maudy, from East Sussex, said the prize was 'mind-blowing' and would transform the lives of her whole family.
She said: “I’d never entered an Omaze draw before – I’d seen the adverts on TV and always thought the houses looked incredible and I liked the fact the draws are supporting such worthy causes. I’m not sure why I decided to enter when I did, but I thought it's worth a shot, so I began a subscription only last month.
“I would never describe myself as a lucky person, but now I’ve won £250,000 from my first entry, I think I’ll have to reconsider that! To be honest I’d forgotten all about it, but luckily I found an email from Omaze in my junk – I did a quick Google to double check if it was a hoax, as I never expected to win anything. I still can’t believe I have, it’s just mind-blowing.
“When Omaze called to tell me I’d won, I recognised Jo from the telly (adverts) – but still didn’t think I’d actually won anything. When she told us how much we’d won I was speechless.
"My daughter walked in on the call having just woken up, she thought she was still dreaming! My husband heard the commotion and walked in still wearing his pyjamas and said ‘this must be a windup’.
“It was early so we just celebrated with a quick coffee, then all went straight out to work. I had obligations and I wasn’t going to let anybody down just because I’d won this unbelievable prize."
Maudy and her husband Cornelius, 50, say they plan to spend the prize money on spoiling their three children Elcke, 23, Ninke, 18 and Francois, 16. They also plan to finally replace their ageing 160,000-mile Seat Altea XL and their 110,000-mile Renault Modus - which is as old as Ninke. They hope to use the remaining cash to pay off bills, have a family holiday to South Africa to see their relatives and save as a rainy day fund after months of difficult finances.
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Maudy said: “The best thing we’d ever won before this was when Ninke won an iPod shuffle at a school raffle for 50p, when she was only 10. We all thought that was pretty amazing then, but this is on another level!
“We’d really been counting the pennies and trying to keep up with all the ever-rising household bills. It was almost a make-or-break period for the family. It’s a life-changing sum of money — this win has instantly transformed our lives, it’s going to relieve so much pressure and stress.
“It was our eldest daughter’s 23rd birthday recently. As things had become quite tight, due to me being unable to work as much, it was a pretty low-key affair, but now we can really make it up to her!
“It's also my other daughter’s birthday this month, as well as my son’s school prom to celebrate finishing his GCSEs, so June was looking like a very expensive month for us. But now we don’t have to worry about giving our children everything they deserve, it’s a magical feeling.
"My daughter, Ninke, will be heading into her second year at Birmingham University and we need to pay her accommodation deposit up front. Now we can afford to do that comfortably and Ninke won’t have to rely on any loans that she’d have to pay back later.
“Elcke is just finishing her level 3 beauty diploma, now we can pay the £7,000 for her to do another two-year complementary health care course, this will really set her up for the future. We can now get Francois properly kitted out for his prom this month —we’ll get him a limo, the works, he’s really applied himself this year and deserves to celebrate in style.”
The main prize for the latest Omaze Million Pound House Draw is still up for grabs - a dream four-bedroom countryside retreat complete with 10m heated swimming pool near the Cotswolds village of Chipping Campden. The stunning £3,500,000 home comes with a cash prize £100,000, with funds from the lottery also being used to raise money for charitable causes such as the NSPCC.
The last time the NSPCC sponsored the lottery it raised £1,000,000 - funding 33 days of Childline support and 23,000 counselling sessions. Omaze has guaranteed a minimum donation of £100,000 this time around, and has a target of at least £500,000 that will be allocated to the programme.
James Oakes, CIO at Omaze, said: “We’re thrilled that this win is going to help Maudy and her family enjoy an exciting new chapter in their lives. By offering amazing prizes such as £250,000 and stunning houses Omaze helps to change the lives of its winners - as well as raise money for charities whilst introducing them to brand new audiences. We’re incredibly proud that the Omaze community has already raised £13,250,000 for good causes across the UK.”
