It's every parents dream to set their kids up for life say couple after £1m lottery win

Terry Gillings, 61, and his wife Caroline, 54, decided to make it a family affair after the life-changing win.

Builder Terry said: “We’ve always worked hard and helped our kids where we can but this is a whole other level – surely it’s every parent’s dream.

“We decided pretty much straightaway that we wanted the girls to benefit from our luck. I’ll never forget phoning our daughters to tell them that their mortgages were being paid off, it generated quite a bit of screaming and joy.”

It was a real rollercoaster of emotions for Terry who was nursing his 85-year-old dad through prostate cancer and Parkinson’s disease at the time. Sadly Terry’s dad passed away two days after the win, but he did get to tell him the good news before he died.

Terry said: “I told dad we’d won a million and, true to character, his first words were to swear and say ‘don’t lie to me’.”

“I like to think knowing Caroline and I, and the girls, were all well set-up for the future meant he slipped away more peacefully.

“My dad always said celebrate the win and that’s exactly what we intend to do and I’ve enjoyed telling everyone I’ve bumped into since that we’ve won.”

Despite the celebrating, come Monday morning Terry was back on-site building an extension.

He said: “I’ve been a builder since I left school and I can’t really imagine stopping now.

“I built our dream home seven years ago so I may take a break from building for clients for a bit and instead get to work with a mate building a couple of houses on a plot we invested in years ago but didn’t have the cash at the time to get on with the build.”

Terry and Caroline have a number of things on their bucket list including a trip to Indonesia and also Machu Picchu in Peru - somewhere Terry saw in photos but never dreamt he would visit in person.

The couple will also be making a donation to Breast Cancer Awareness, a cause sadly close to their hearts.

Terry said: “We lost my mum to breast cancer, my sister has had treatment, and our daughter has recently undergone a double mastectomy and I have been advised that I carry the gene.

“We’ve had our share of bad luck and hopefully by donating some of our win we can help other families to be luckier when it comes to this horrible disease.”