‘I've won £1.1m but I’m not quitting my job'

Jan 29 2008 by Jackie Bow, South Wales Echo

BRITAIN’S biggest bingo win has been scooped by a Valleys mum of two.

The Champagne corks were popping as a calm Christine Bradfield described her £1.1m prize as ‘unbelievable’.

The jackpot may also be the biggest ever won worldwide.

“It feels just fabulous, it hasn’t sunk in yet,” said the petrol station cashier, who plans to return to work tomorrow.

“I love bingo, I wouldn’t give it up for anything.”

But Christine is not going to hold on to all her winnings – she has promised to give half to her sister-in-law and bingo partner Lorraine Williams.

The women, who both live in Aberbargoed, have been sharing their winnings since Lorraine started playing bingo three years ago.

They both agree the money is going to make life a lot easier for them, while the first thing they intend to do is book a cruise with their husbands.

“That’s as far as we’ve thought,” said Christine.

“We’ve been on a cruise before and we enjoyed it.

“We’ve always said we’d go again and now we’re definitely going!

Christine, who has been playing bingo for more than 35 years, scooped the fortune on Sunday night at the Castle Bingo club in Merthyr Tydfil, which she joined 11 years ago.

She’s called the national house 13 times before, but the most she’s won is £210 and the least was £44.

But this week she made a clean sweep of the prizes calling in 42 numbers, scooping £1,101,686.

That bumper prize was made up of the platinum jackpot of £1,018,233, the Sunday night national prize of £80,000, the zone prize of £3,121 and the club prize of £335.

“It’s a marvellous start to 2008,” said 53-year-old Mrs Bradfield.

“I was marking and marking and came down to three numbers. When I looked up 37 numbers had gone. Then I came down to two – 71 and 27.

“I thought ‘here we go again, how many times have I been here before’.

Mrs Bradfield called on 27.

“Normally when I shout I don’t shake but this time I did shake a little bit,” she said.

Christine and husband Ray, 54, have two children, Gavin, 31, and Nicola, 29, and three grandchildren Louise, 12, Daniel, eight and Tammy-Ann, four.

“I rang my daughter and told her I was putting my notice in. We work in the same place,” said Mrs Bradfield.

She said: ‘Mam, what are you talking about?”

“I said ‘I’ve just won £1.1m – I can’t tell you what she said.

“She just thought I was joking – and I had the same reaction off my son.”

It also took a lot to convince Ray, a crane driver, when she rang him at home.

“She said ‘I’m going to be late home. So I asked why,” he said.

“She said ‘I’ve just won one £1.1m.

“I didn’t believe it at first – not until she came home with a pink ticket.

“I didn’t sleep but Christine slept for five hours. Instead of sheep I was counting pound coins!”

He said he is overwhelmed by their good fortune, adding: “We are going to have a cruise and sit back, look at life and see what happens from there.

Mrs Bradfield said: “I’ll be able to help the children out.

“We’re not going to move house and I’m not having a new car. The club manager said he thought I should have a taxi home but I wouldn’t leave my little Fiesta there.”

The Bradfields and the Williams, who live at either end of Aberbargoed, enjoy holidays together in their caravans in North Devon.

Just hours before lady luck smiled on them Lorraine, 57, and her electrician husband Robert, 58, who have a son Tony, 39, and grandchildren Chloe 17, Jack 13, and Joe, 11, had bought a new caravan.

Mrs Williams said: “The money is going to make life a little easier, but it’s not going to change our personalities.”

The couples now plan a big party for family and friends.

Castle Bingo Club manager Mike Wiltshire said members gave Mrs Bradfield a rousing round of applause when the win was confirmed.

“It’s brilliant,” he said.

“With 42 numbers called I was expecting to pick up one of the regional prizes – not the big one.

“When the results came through Christine had made a clean sweep of all the prizes and she was so calm.”

jackie.bow@mediawales.co.uk