Herefordshire Lotto winners appear in iconic image

Two National Lottery winners from Hereford have been captured as part of an iconic shot by celebrity photographer, Rankin, to celebrate The National Lottery's 30th birthday.

The two Hereford winners, worth a combined £2M, feature in a landmark photoshoot of 30 National Lottery millionaires from the last three decades to celebrate the birthday, while the two winners share their life-changing stories. 

It's exactly 30 years since National Lottery tickets first went on sale in the UK, on 14^th November 1994. Rankin, who has photographed a host of iconic figures including HRH Queen Elizabeth II and The Rolling Stones, gathered the 30 extraordinary individuals, worth more than £190M, at his London studio. The results are intimate individual portraits of the winners, smaller group shots and a historic shot of all 30 National Lottery winners together – representing just a fraction of the 7,400 millionaires created since the first draw.  

Flying the flag for Hereford as part of the momentous shoot were Matt Myles, 38, who won £1M on EuroMillions in 2014 and Neil Leighton, 26, who also won £1M but on a National Lottery Instant Win Game in 2023.

Matt became a millionaire in the EuroMillions UK Millionaire Maker draw on 8 April 2014. He lives with wife Stacey, 35, and the couple have two young sons. Matt's first purchase was a lads' holiday with 13 of his best friends!

He said, "For the first 12 months after my win, I went a bit wild. It was like a last dance – and I don't regret any of it. When I won, my mates were away on a dream holiday that I couldn't afford to go on. I borrowed the money from my dad so I could join them, and he later said, 'You're a millionaire and you're still borrowing money from your old man!

"I flew to Bali for five weeks, on to Thailand, Brazil for the World Cup, which was unbelievable, then went to Ibiza on the mega holiday with 13 of my pals. When the bill came at the end, I didn't resent it. I'll remember the holiday forever and we're all still pals."

A born entrepreneur, Matt now manages various business. He said, "My brother Pete and I bought a house without even viewing it, renovated it and sold it. I have three properties now, and ten years on, our property business is doing well."

Ten years since the win and those amazing holidays, taking care of his family is what matters most to Matt now, He said, "My life revolves around my family these days. One of my sons is autistic, so we bought land around our converted chapel and built him a playground. The National Lottery win has helped me to be a much better husband and dad – and my giant cheque is in the shed beside my ride-on mower, to remind me just how lucky I am."

Fast forward to just before Christmas 2023 and Neil Leighton won £1,000,000 on a National Lottery Instant Win Game, having only downloaded the National Lottery app on his phone a couple of days earlier. He was chatting online with friends in the UK and the US when he found out he was a millionaire. 

He said, "When I told my mum I had won the lottery, she didn't believe me. So, I took a screen shot of the winnings in my bank account and sent it to her as proof!"

Neil's first purchase was a ham, cheese and salami sandwich from Subway, but he certainly went bigger and bolder from there in his first year as a millionaire. He said, "A month after my win, it was my birthday and I took 13 of my friends to Greece and hired a beautiful villa with a view of the sea and our own swimming pool. It cost £30,000 but it would have been wrong not to do something really fun before sensible Neil took over. Since then I have bought a four-bedroom house near my parents, and my Mum still cooks me tea."

Life is certainly 'on track' for Neil who explained, "My main spending will be on train memorabilia. I would love to have a steam train at some point, even if it was just a small ride-on railway."

Rankin, said, "I am extremely lucky that I get to meet and work with extraordinary people, from famous actors and models right through to NHS nurses. I remember when The National Lottery first started, and it was intriguing to meet the real winners and hear their stories and experiences. They are normal people who have had an extraordinary thing happen to them, transforming their lives. That is what we set out to capture."