Edinburgh lotto winner: I woke up to check my lottery numbers and realised I'd won £500,000 jackpot

Edinburgh retiree celebrated National Lottery win with new car and holiday in Blackpool

A retired gas worker from Edinburgh has recalled the moment he realised he'd scooped a whopping £500,000 in the National Lottery.

Raymond Young, 63, woke up in the middle of the night and went to check his ticket. Still half asleep at the time, he discovered he had won the Thunderball jackpot prize – but then went back to bed.

The next morning, when he woke up, he thought it had all been a dream – but then he realised his ‘dream’ had come true and he was half a million pounds richer.

Raymond Young from Edinburgh won the Thunderball jackpot prize of £500,000. Photo: Anthony Devlin/National Lottery

Raymond, who has used the same Thunderball numbers for 25 years now, celebrated his new-found wealth by buying a car and going on holiday to Blackpool, which he says was the only place to celebrate his win.

Looking back on his big lotto win in the March 23 draw, he said: “I had woken up in the middle of the night and randomly decided to check my numbers, which led me to see that I had won the top prize.

“I must have still been half-asleep though as in the morning I genuinely thought it was all a dream. So when I decided to have another check in the morning, this time fully awake, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that I was still a winner.

“I’ve treated myself to a new car, as I was already shopping around for one, so this just made it all the easier to buy what I wanted. I’ve also bought a static caravan, something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time but have never been able to.”

He added: “For me, Blackpool has and will always be a home from home. It holds such special memories and I just love visiting a few times a year.

“I’ve been going there my whole life, from playing on the beach as a kid to staying with friends over the last decade, so it just had to be the place I chose to celebrate my win.”

Raymond purchased his lucky ticket from the Keystore in Dalkeith. His winning Thunderball numbers were: 12, 14, 17, 25, 29 and the Thunderball was 14.

The biggest lottery winners from Edinburgh

Edinburgh’s Jane Park became one of the youngest Brits ever to win the lottery in 2013.

The tabloid favourite had been living in a small two-bed council house in Niddrie, and sharing a room with her sister, when she won a million on EuroMillions after buying her first ever lucky dip ticket. She worked in an office doing admin for a charity organisation, earning £8 an hour. Park has since lived a luxury lifestyle, investing in cars, handbags, and cosmetic surgery.

In 2014, Willie Sibbald, a 48-year-old painter and decorator from Moredun, matched all six numbers on his Lucky Dip ticket to bank £7,084,472.

Willie missed the moment his numbers came up as he had fallen asleep in front of the television. It was only later when he was watching Big Brother that he caught the winning line during an ad break and realised he was a multi-millionaire. His first reaction was one of disbelief: “I was staying the night at my aunt’s house and when I saw the numbers I shouted through to her ‘I’ve won the Lottery!’. She came through and we checked the ticket again and again.

“My brother was on a night out so I waited until the following morning and called his wife to pass on the good news. She didn’t believe me at first and thought I was joking – it’s not exactly a call you expect on a Sunday morning!”

An Elvis-mad couple have scooped more than £4 million in the National Lottery in January 2015.

David and Donna Hendry, from Livingston, bagged a massive £4,078,509 in the Lotto triple rollover draw on Thursday morning, and announced plans to splash out on a pilgrimage to Graceland to pay tribute to their rock ‘n’ roll hero.

In 2016, a syndicate of six Hibs supporters from Edinburgh scooped an incredible £1m in the special Lotto Medal Draw. The syndicate, made up of six retired friends – Douglas Gibson, William Mackie, Jim Robertson, David Hannan, David Hastie and Stewart McLaren – has been running since The National Lottery’s inception in 1994.It is thought each member got £166,666.66.

In August 2021, Paul and Louise Drake, from West Lothian, scooped the £5,162,779 Lotto jackpot after Mr Drake checked his numbers the next morning before his shift as production operator with Lidl.

Speaking at the time, he said: “I’m not an emotional guy but I just burst into tears. I ran back into the house screaming and woke Louise up to tell her. We just couldn’t believe it.”