Think before splashing out: £13m lottery winner advises £146m couple to take their time

My advice to them is to not rush into things. They have got all the time in the world to decide what to do with their mone

Feeling bubbly: Adrian and Gillian Bayford
Feeling bubbly: Adrian and Gillian Bayford

Printer Dean Allen, 38, won £13.8 million on the Lotto in 2000 just days before the firm he worked for went out of business.

He then paid off the mortgage on his house in Tilbury, Essex, traded in his Ford Fiesta for two Porsches, treated family and friends, married girlfriend Louise Collier, had two daughters and has never been happier.

Here he tells how his lucky win changed his life.

Seb Coe spoke during the Olympics about creating a lasting legacy and now Adrian and Gillian have the chance to do the same.

They can make their whole circle of friends and family millionaires and give money to charity.

But my advice to them is to not rush into things. They have got all the time in the world to decide what to do with their money.

I strongly advise them to get involved with whatever charities are dear to them. They could even set up their own charitable foundation.

I gave the Princess Alexandra hospital in Harlow, Essex, the money to buy a machine which gauges the flow of intravenous drugs.

After Louise and I got married we had two girls Louisa, who is now eight and Grace, who is six.

We had to take Louisa to the hospital when she had breathing difficulties and they used the very machine we had bought to treat her.

In many ways our story is very similar to Adrian and Gillian.

Like Adrian I had done my usual numbers but Louise said it was a double rollover and she told me to get two lucky dips.

It was one of the lucky dips that contained the winning numbers.

Normally I would go back to the shop to have them checked but I put on Teletext and it said there is one winning ticket and it’s £13.8 million.

I started sweating and Louise came out in a rash. We had got the whole jackpot and it takes time for it to sink in.

It is chaos for the first few days. It doesn’t matter whether it’s £1 million, £5 million, in our case £13.8 million or £148 million like Adrian and Gillian, the feeling will just be the same.

Louise and I had been together for a while and always planned to get married. We married the following year at Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire.

It was just family and friends and wasn’t particulary lavish but a lot grander than it would have been without the win.

I have never done any paid work since the win, you could say I retired at 26 but I have been involved in various charities.

But above all they should sit down and take their time. They’ve got all the time in the world.

You read about the negative effects of people having big lottery wins and that it creates jealousy.

I have had no negatives at all, nothing bad has happened.

I still have the same friends as I had before the win and they don’t expect you to pay for everything because that is what they are - friends.

Anyone thinking about negatives should realise that you play the lottery to make dreams come true and that is what I did.


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