‘I tell people they’ve won the lotto – it’s the best job in the world’ | UK News

‘I love my job – I spend so much of my day giving life-changing news to people and it is an honour to be part of such a special moment that they will remember forever.’

Those are the words of Anita Pires, who truly believes she has the best job in the world.

Every day she answers phone calls from people who think they might have won the lottery.

And while she can’t put an exact number on it, she reckons she’s told hundreds that they’ve just won a lifechanging sum of money.

Anita rarely meets anyone she delivers the good news to, as she passes on any winning calls to winners’ advisors.

However she did come face to face with Andrew and Paula Hancock, who won £1 million on a scratch card in 2019.

‘I met a couple of winners and it was amazing,’ Anita tells Metro.co.uk. ‘They came to the office and I was very lucky to have a handshake and a hug from the couple, who won £1 million.

‘We’re just the initial information, you don’t get a lot of time to make a rapport after confirming the amount.

‘We don’t often get to meet the winners, but I’m still very proud to say we’re the first person that confirms they’ve won the money, and the amount.’

Anita has worked at the National Lottery call centre in Watford since 2007, when she stumbled upon a part time job after coming off maternity leave.

The biggest jackpot she’s ever confirmed was a staggering £45 million, very soon after she started the job – but over the last 16 years she’s told dozens of peoplethat they are now officially millionaires.

‘I probably take a winner’s call every week,’ Anita explains. ‘But then we have events where we make a certain number of millionaires in a week so we know we’ve got an influx coming in.

‘When you’re confirming those amounts, while we have to stick to process, it’s all about how they feel and there’s certainly mixed emotions.

‘You can sense happiness, relief, and sometimes you get the opportunity to ask what they think they will be doing first.

‘For most people, it’s just disbelief. Even though you’re in it to win it, it’s still unbelievable. If you win anything over £50,000, it’s crazy money and they don’t fathom it sometimes.

‘I’ve asked people if they’ve made a bucket list and sometimes you get a response and other times they’re thinking about what they can spend it on right then and there.

‘They hope to change their life and to enjoy things we can only dream of.’

Since it launched in 1994 the National Lottery has made 7,000 people millionaires – and there’s not way to guess how they will react. Almost a fifth (19%) sit in stunned silence after hearing the news, while the same amount immediately kiss their partner. 17% go and put the kettle on.

‘One that sticks in my memory is the player who must have had family near them and there was just continuous screaming,’ Anita remembers.

‘I’ve heard sobs, people have gone quiet and you can hear them crying, or you need to ask if they need a moment because they’re in shock.

‘If they’ve shared the news at the time of making the call the reaction is more from the surrounding people than winners themselves.’

As time passes and the world changes, people play the lottery for many different reasons.

Maybe they’re struggling during the cost of living crisis or a financial recession, they might have been left in debt after a bereavement or lifechanging injury, or they could just want to take their family on a trip of a lifetime.

But for many, the possibility of winning a huge jackpot feels so unlikely that they may not have any idea how to spend the money once they realise they’ve won.

‘Apart from property or a fancy car, the good ones are if they’ve been struggling a little bit because the money is life changing, it’s for their family as much as it’s for them,’ admits Anita.

‘A lot of people say it’s great to see how many zeroes there are following the one, because at that point they’re a millionaire.

‘I’m very proud to be able to say we do raise above £30 million a week for good causes, that I work for a company that supports good causes as well.’

Working in an office alongside a team who also take calls from prospective winners, Anita describes it as a ‘real buzz’ and says there’s a really exciting atmosphere in the call centre when they know there’s a big jackpot coming.

‘Some days we’ll be making 10 millionaires so the next morning we’re all hoping to take a call from one of the 10 that comes forward,’ she adds.

‘When there was a £184 million jackpot, we don’t know how many people were sharing that but it was a UK winner last year.

‘We were all waiting until they called in a couple of days later and it was a colleague who took the call, it was her first or second one of the day and it’s amazing for that kind of amount, you can’t fathom the emotions.’

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