20-year-old wins £7.5 million lottery but continues to work the next day
A young man who became a multi-millionaire overnight has vowed to keep working and earning his qualifications.
James Clarkson woke up on January 5 to check whether it was set to snow in his area – but instead he saw a notification from the National Lottery telling him he had just won £7,533,329.
The 20-year-old trainee gas engineer from Carlisle had just won £120 in the Lotto Christmas Day draw, and decided to spend some of his winnings on two lucky dips and three sets of randomly selected numbers for the first draw of 2025.
It was one of those random selections which earned him the huge win, matching all six main numbers.
But he didn’t receive excited responses immediately: after waking up his girlfriend at 7.30am to tell her he was a winner, she sleepily told him ‘no, you haven’t won’ and went back to sleep.
James explained: ‘I was at my girlfriend’s house and got up early to check on the snowfall when I saw a message saying I’d won on the National Lottery app.
James will continue to work and train for his gas engineer qualifications (Picture: Anthony Devlin)
He quickly told his entire family about the good news (Picture: Anthony Devlin)
‘I just didn’t believe it, I thought I was dreaming.
‘It was only 7.30am so everyone was asleep. I wasn’t so sure, so called my dad as I knew he would be awake.
‘He calmly told me to come home and we’d have a look.’
Gathering around the phone with his mum Becky, dad Stephen and brother Thomas, James nervously rang the National Lottery line as soon as it opened at 9am to register the potential win.
‘They eventually confirmed mine was the winning ticket. I think I just started laughing. I thought, “this is mad”,’ he said.
‘I spent the rest of the day visiting my family and girlfriend who all live close by, all of us talking about the win.
‘I have a big family and we are all close.
‘News spread fast and we all ended up celebrating later at my Grandma’s and Grandad’s with a roast beef dinner and champagne!’
Despite the massive win, James was back to work carrying out property maintenance by Monday morning.
He explained: ‘I was out in the cold fixing blocked drains the day after I found out I had won. It was a bit grim but that’s reality. I’m not going to stop working, I’m too young.
He’s hoping to buy Manchester City season tickets (Picture: Anthony Devlin)
‘I want to qualify as a heating engineer and then go from there. I need to have a purpose in life, plus Dad wouldn’t let me not work anyway.
‘He says there are plenty of millionaires out there that still work and you need a reason to get up each day.
‘I know people might think I’m mad to still work but I want to and, of course, there’ll be some nice holidays in-between.’
Speaking of nice holidays, James has already booked an all-inclusive break to Cape Verde and has treated himself to a few luxury items, including two new jackets and a Gucci bag for his girlfriend.
He’s hoping his next purchase will be a new car, preferably an Audi, and he also hopes to buy Manchester City season tickets for him and his family – but top of the list of his priorities is paying off his parents’ mortgage.
James said: ‘I’ve been thinking about it a lot, it’s what I want to do. I told them last night and they seemed really overwhelmed.
‘We are close and they have always been there for me. This win isn’t just for me, I want to make sure we all benefit.’
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