LOTTERY winners divide life between Coventry and the Caribbean as they mark one year since they won £1million.
Life is sweet for city chefs Bill and Cath Mullarkey who are busy building their dream home on the exotic island of St Lucia.
The couple’s life-changing windfall has also bought them Freedom – the name of a 31-foot boat moored beside the paradise property the couple have almost completed.
Bill, aged 58, and Cath, aged 57, who worked together as chefs, had their lives transformed after winning £1m in the EuroMillions Millionaire Maker prize draw on Tuesday, July 4, last year.
The couple met more than 25 years ago when Bill was working as a chef at a top hotel in Cath’s native St Lucia.
But now they have given up work and are splitting their time between Coventry and the Caribbean.
Bill said: “We are literally living the dream. We bought the plot of land in St Lucia more than 15 years ago in the hope that, one day, we would be able to build the home of our dreams and amazingly we have.
“We’ve been able to clear our mortgage on our home in Coventry and will resettle in St Lucia for part of the year.
“It’s still so hard to take in but our dreams really have come true.”
Bill and Cath’s house in St Lucia will have a roof top terrace plus they are building four apartments as an investment.
The couple used to work for Compass Group catering for office staff at the Sainsbury’s Call Centre in Coventry.
They say the money has also been able to help family including Cath’s four children, 11 grandchildren and her 27-year-old nephew, Messiah, who was left paralysed after a horrific bike accident in St Lucia just a few months before the win.
For more information on National Lottery funding please visit www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk.
