A plasterer has jacked his job in after hitting the lottery jackpot and winning an £10,000 a month for the next 30 years.
John Stembridge is the latest lucky winner in the National Lottery’s ‘Set For Life‘ draw.
The 51-year-old has traded in his trowels and plastering gear for what sounds set to be a laid-back luxury lifestyle with ample time for fishing, travelling, and photography after scooping an impressive £10,000 a month, every month, for the next three decades.
After a long career of labouring, the Wiltshire resident’s “life-changing” lottery win means he’s was able to give up working for good last month.
John says he’d been out for the day on a wildlife photography shoot when decided to swing by a local supermarket on his way home to grab a few bits, and bought the lottery ticket for that night’s game just by chance.
ADVERTISEMENT
Like most people, John says he “didn’t believe” he would win – but that didn’t turn out to be the case for once, as the jackpot had his name on it.
Now, the keen fisher and photographer will be able to spend as much time as he likes on his hobbies, and has admitted that his first purchase with his lottery winnings will be a luxury campervan so he can travel all across Europe photographing rare wildlife and honing his craft.
“There’ll be no more days of coming home covered in plaster dust and worrying about money and my family – all of our lives are now changed forever.
Plasterer quits his job after winning £10k a month for 30 years on the lottery / Credit: National Lottery
“It makes me so happy that I can now help and support my family and those closest to me, and I literally have no more worries in that respect [as] to be in the position where I get £10,000 every month, tax free, is just phenomenal.
ADVERTISEMENT
“This win has changed everything for me and those closest to me, and I still just cannot believe it.”
John also reflected back on the moment he found out he’d won the top prize, admitting to “bursting into tears” after the lady on other end of the film confirmed he’d hit the jackpot.
“The lady on the end of the phone said to me, ‘are you sitting down?’ and she then confirmed that I had won the top prize. I literally burst into tears and I cried my eyes out. I could not believe it.
“My life was about to change forever – and this really was happening to me.”
Featured Image – National Lottery
Trending
The player celebrations from Stockport County’s League Two trophy presentation are glorious
Danny Jones
If you’re a Stockport County fan, you’ve had a very good year as the Hatters have just been crowned League Two champions and will be back in the English third tier next season – safe to say they’ve been making most of the trophy celebrations.
Players and staff very much included.
Edgeley was filled with flares and even people climbing on rooftops when they officially secured promotion back to League One for the first time in 12 years – the second time they’ve managed to go up in three seasons – and there was a great attendance in Stockport town centre for the bus parade.
But it was last week’s trophy presentation back at the stadium that produced some of the most memorable scenes, with County topping off a season of impressive and often high-scoring performances on the pitch with plenty more pageantry. Cue the music.
— Stockport (C)ounty (@StockportCounty) May 3, 2024
No one ever takes those pitch invasion ‘warnings’ seriously – not even the players.
We still haven’t stopped laughing at Kyle Knoyle.
From bringing Isaac Olaofe’s ‘Tanto’s on fire!’ chant to life to hammering home puns on names like Fraser Horsfall, no matter how obvious, these are the kind of deeply unserious celebrations we expect from a trophy presentation.
County fan or not, you’ve got to admit it looks like a good party.
It’s moments like these that players, fans and staff work hard all season for; to prat around like muppets in front of their adoring supporters. They even got assistant coach, Clint Hill, in the mix and, as it turns out, he proved to be one of the biggest ring-leaders.
We sincerely hope the Hatters keep trickling out more of these party scenes as we know there’s plenty more that fans would love to watch back.
We’re still yet to see captain Paddy Madden, who won Player of the Month for April, and the gaffer himself, Dave Challinor, who has comfortably secured his legacy as one of the club’s all-time greats.
Challinor and the club have made no secret of seriously eyeing up the Championship and who knows what else at County’s momentum continues to build, especially with a huge stadium redevelopment kicking off soon.
What do you reckon, Hatters – do you reckon a third promotion could be on the cards?
Liam Gallagher says he’ll ‘gig in Lidl’ if Co-op Live still isn’t ready – and they sound pretty game for it
Danny Jones
Following the ongoing palaver with Co-op Live, Liam Gallagher has joked that he’d happily play his scheduled gigs in a Lidl if the arena still isn’t ready – at least we think he’s joking…
With Liam Gallagher having been named as one of the first acts booked to play Co-op Live last year, many are now wondering whether the venue will even by June, with the former Oasis frontman set to play four Definitely Maybe 30th-anniversary sets. That being said, he’s come up with a solution if not.
Turns out Liam Gallagher isn’t an Aldi man, he’s team Lidl.
Vintage LG, we’ll give him that.
Obviously a bit of a tongue-in-cheek quip at the venue being sponsored by a supermarket and convenience store chain, it could have been any other competitor that the ever-witty youngest Gallagher brother picked but it somehow made it extra funny that he chose a budget brand like Lidl.
However, with the 51-year-old already having fun with stunts like voicing the tannoys on the Metrolink last year, for instance, we wouldn’t put it past him to take this joke a little further.
Better still, not that we’re getting carried away or anything but Lidl themselves seem pretty keen on the idea too; they even spent the time to build an entire setlist for the fictional show. Fair play.
Liam Gallagher @ Lidl Arena – Setlist:
– Lidl by Lidl – Champagne Superoffer – Super(market) Sonic – The Importance of Being Lidl – Tiger Roll With It – Don’t Look Back in Hanger – Some Might Save
Can you imagine? Liam Gallagher swapping the occasional tambourine shake for beeps from a barcode scanner as he moves back and forth on the conveyor belt. We know it’s absolute nonsense and we definitely shouldn’t be even remotely considering it… BUT it’s the stuff of dreams and strange things have happened.
A lot of stranger things have happened this week alone. As for the latest with Co-op Live, the Chairman and CEO of key-backers Oak View Group, Tim Leiweke, issued a full statement sharing his “sincere apologies”and insisting that they understand “there is work to be done to rebuild your trust in us.”
With the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Peter Kay, The Black Keys and more having their gigs pulled by the venue due to numerous issues, including an air conditioning unit falling from the ceiling, fans are understandably fearful that other upcoming events could face delays or general misfortune.
Much like the venue itself, we imagine we’ll be playing catch-up on this whole saga for the foreseeable, but here’s a recap of the story so far:
Emily Sergeant -
10th August 2023 
