National Lottery winners - Dave & Christina Sweeney

Christina Sweeney, 45 and mother of three was convinced that fate was doing her a favour when she and her husband Dave scored the winning numbers 3 years ago and won the £2 million jackpot on the National Lottery.

Christina said:

My sister was pregnant and she'd been taken into hospital. We'd all gone up there and rubbed her belly for luck. When we got home we were getting ready to go to a friend's 80th birthday. Dave was nagging me about going, but I said I wasn't leaving until I'd watched the Lottery. I don't normally bother, but for some reason that night I refused to get ready until I'd watched it. He was getting ready and he cut himself shaving every time I shouted we'd got another number.

News of their UK lottery win quickly spread through their street, as Christina added.

People said we should have kept it hush. As soon as people hear you've won the lottery, they're knocking on the door!

Dave is a builder by trade and also cleans windows. Christina, a housewife, said that she didn’t feel comfortable telling everyone how much they had won.

Christina said:

We didn't do anything for 12 months and the financial adviser sorted us out. The kids have kept us where we are because they didn't want to move, so we've gone from Clayton to Droylsden. We're not flamboyant and we don't go out and splash it around. People say to us `Haven't you won the lottery?', but we say, `Yeah, but you buy me a drink and I'll buy you one back'.

The Sweeneys' have now got a large property portfolio due to Dave’s contacts and ability in the building trade and the money they now had to invest in property.

Dave said:

We're not out every weekend and our kids have had to learn the value of money. I don't think it really changed us. I stopped window cleaning, but property investment was something I always had an interest in - I like doing things up and feeling a sense of achievement from it. I just like getting my hands dirty.