Experts at the National Lottery have been crunching the numbers to work out the luckiest locations in Wales. Since the game launched in 1994, there have been 389 millionaires made in Wales, and 58 in the past three years.
The statistics, which include both publicity and non-publicity winners, reveal that in terms of millionaire making, Cardiff tops the charts with 126. This total also places the city 7th luckiest across the entire UK.
Swansea is in second spot with 87 life changing big winners. The top three is completed by the Llandudno area across north Wales with 73.
The news was revealed by a gang of Welsh lottery millionaires who regularly meet up after winning the life-changing sum.
Among those raising a glass, were rugby fan Mark Francis, 50, who with fiancé Helen Taylor, 52, scooped a £1,000,000 National Lottery win in January 2022. Mark, from Swansea, leant about the win while self-isolating from Covid. Read more about that here.
He said: "It’s been an amazing 18 months for us, winning the lottery is truly life changing. We’ve been able to buy a home, follow Wales to all Six Nations games and upgrade our cars. As cars, and driving, are my ‘thing’ this is more meaningful than it sounds! Driving my Audi Q3 RS brings me so much joy, every time I get in that car, it feels like I’m winning all over again!”
Helen added: “After the win I had a health scare which definitely put everything into perspective but I was lucky once again, and now firmly on the mend we can really start to enjoy the win. We’ve been busy planning our wedding, and I feel blessed that I can choose things I want rather than what the budget dictates, having said that I’m not going wild, I’m still keeping a keen eye on the pennies.
“Sharing the luck is important to us so we recently bought a caravan on The Gower which means that friends and family can enjoy short breaks and family holidays too. It’s already proving so popular with my mother and our grandchildren I’m not sure how much time we will actually get to spend there!
“Congratulations to everyone in Wales - I’ve always known we are some of the luckiest people around. And everyone should remember that it could be you, as long as you have a ticket in your pocket!”
Kathy Garrett, winners experience lead at The National Lottery said: “Congratulations to each and every winner. I am fortunate enough to be there at the moment we confirm the win and pay the prize; that is the moment you can really see the difference a win will make to the lives of a winner and the people they care about.
"We travel to each and every corner of the country paying out big winners so I know there is luck around every corner in Wales and across the UK and just having a ticket means it could be you next. Hopefully I’ll see you soon.”
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