National Lottery Set For Life jackpot: Hartlepool care worker Joanne Jobson wins £10k a month for 30 years

Hartlepool care worker, Joanne Jobson, is now looking forward to buying her own home, treating her family and booking a world cruise after scooping the National Lottery’s Set For Life jackpot. The 51-year-old, who cares for children who have disabilities, said: "I’ve been living with my mum trying to save for my own place but was still some way off from making that move happen.

"It’s amazing I can now make that dream a reality. I still can’t believe that I’ve won. It’s absolutely life-changing for me.”

Joanne was in utter disbelief when she woke following a night shift to a National Lottery phone message confirming her win. She said: “I had to re-read the message several times as I thought it was telling me what ‘I could win’, not what I had ‘actually won’.

"I jumped out of bed and went to tell my mum. I remember just saying to mum ‘I think I might have won a lot of money and showing her my phone.

"Mum was convinced it was a scam. So I googled the winning Set For Life numbers for the same date to see if they matched, which of course they did.

"After checking and checking again, I called The National Lottery claim line. The lady on the phone confirmed that I was in fact a winner.”

Joanne struggled to sleep after completing her work shifts over the weekend of her win, adding: “I finally said to my mum that perhaps it was time to hand in my notice.”

She continued: “At 51 this win literally changes everything for me, I now have peace of mind knowing I’m financially secure until I’m 81. I’m going from working nights and saving hard, to being able to buy things when I want and plan holidays I could only have dreamt of before.

“I do like going on holiday to Spain but now I’m looking forward to some more exotic destinations like Barbados and the Maldives, two places that have always been on my wish list. I may even go on a world cruise as there are so many incredible places I want to visit.

“I’m also excited to be able to treat my family later this year when my sisters and I are going to London to watch an Abba tribute show. This is a big trip for us that we’ve all been looking forward to for ages.

"But now I have the means to take our city break to another level and am going to book for us to take a helicopter ride to see the London skyline.”

Joanne only started playing Set For Life five months ago and added: "I didn’t think things like this happened to real people like me. But I’m proof they really do.”

She won in the National Lottery’s Set For Life draw on February 22 after matching the five main numbers and the life ball. Her winning numbers that night were 16, 17, 19, 23, 38 and life ball 5. Set For Life also offers £10,000 a month for a whole year by matching the five main numbers.