Man, 71, reveals how £13.5m lotto win changed his life

From flipping burgers… to burning rubber! £13.5m Lotto winner reveals how his family’s lives have changed from working in McDonald’s to driving fleet of luxury cars in just three years

• Peter Congdon won almost £13.5 million on the National Lottery in May 2015
• He said he still receives begging letters from strangers after his good fortune
• One letter arrived at his home in Truro, Cornwall from someone in Australia 
• He donated £1 million to a local clinic which treated his late wife’s MS 

A lottery winner has revealed what life is really like after he won £13.5 MILLION – and how his family went from working at McDonald’s to driving Range Rovers. 

Peter Congdon, 71, celebrated the massive win by having a nice cup of tea, before going on a pre-booked holiday to Butlins.

At the time of the win, in May, 2015, Mr Congdon was living in a council estate in Truro, Cornwall.

National Lottery winner Peter Congdon, 71, pictured, has bought a fleet of luxury cars since he won the jackpot in May 2015 

Mr Congdon, pictured with his BMW i8 has spent some £500,000 on cars since his big win

The BMW i8 pictured, runs on tho  electric and has battery power 

Now, almost three years later, Mr Congdon has revealed what life is like after winning the lottery – and how he is still inundated with begging letters. 

Mr Congdon said: ‘I couldn’t believe it then and I still can’t really believe it now. 

‘I used to go into shops and think it would be nice to have this and that, but now I can have what I want.’

Mr Congdon, a former councillor, spent most of his years living on the Trelander estate and was a popular figure in the community there.

He lived there with his late wife, Rosemary, and raised three children – Helen, Sharon and Anthony.

Although his wife never got to enjoy the family’s wealth, all three of their children are now mortgage free – as will be their ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Mr Congdon didn’t immediately splash out on himself after the win – instead, he wanted to do something for the Merlin MS Centre where his wife was cared for.

Mr Congdon purchased the last Landrover Defenders from the company’s production line

He bought them a £1 million hydrotherapy pool for those suffering from MS, strokes, Parkinson’s and ME.

The pool, which opens in February, will prove a lifeline for many the building will be painted primrose with the flowers planted outside as they were Rosemary’s favourite. 

Mr Congdon added: ‘I still own the house on Trelander and would go back in a shot – I loved living there.

‘Camelot were great, offering us a financial adviser and which banks we should use. They also respond to the begging letters if we forward them.’

Mr Congdon said members of his family went from working in McDonalds to driving a Range Rover

He bought himself a BMW i8, an electric BMW i3, a Porsche Cayman, a Bentley, and the last three Land Rover Defenders made.

Mr Congdon loans out his fleet of flashy cars for school proms for children on Trelander and elsewhere, and only asks for a donation to the MS Centre in return.

He said and his family still get requests begging for money, running into hundreds of emails and letters.

Daughter Helen Venton, 48, said: ‘We had funny letters from the beginning – including one man who wanted a coffin for his own funeral.

‘We received the first letter on the actual night of the win – a woman wanted help paying off her husband’s gambling debts.’

They have also received several requests from strangers asking if Mr Congdon would pay for family members’ weddings.

One even arrived from Australia, simply addressed to ‘Peter Congdon, Lottery Winner, Truro, Cornwall’.

Mrs Venton added: ‘We’ve been on the other end, trying to find money for prom dresses, for example.’

Granddaughter Katie Venton, 29, who runs The Old Cheese Shop café in Truro’s Ferris Town, said: ‘How could we come from somewhere like Trelander and no one find out?

‘I went from working at McDonald’s to suddenly driving a Range Rover.’

The giant cheque, with the full amount of £13,538,113 take pride of place at Mr Congdon’s home, next to the winning balls in lottery champagne glasses.

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