Worcestershire couple to use £100k lottery win to fulfil dream of fostering children

A couple from Worcestershire who won £100,000 on the lottery say they will use the money to fulfil their dream of fostering children.

Karleen Reece, 41 and her husband Mark, 42, from Stourport-on-Severn are going to use the EuroMillions winnings to convert their garage into extra bedrooms.

Mrs Reece said: “I’ve always wanted to foster children. Mark and I discussed it many years ago and then we had our own.

"My three kids will be leaving home soon and I have too much love to give. I've always wanted to foster but never had the right circumstances. The win will allow me to do this.”

The family say the win is still sinking in.

Mrs Reece said: “On the Friday of the win, Mark didn’t give me the tickets as usual because he was out that night and kept them in his wallet.

"We were out on the Saturday night too, so it was only on Sunday morning that I checked the tickets. Mark popped out for some milk and asked me to check the ticket.

"I scanned the first one and nothing.  Then I scanned the second and it asked me to claim.

“I showed it to my daughter. I said it was a practical joke but she’s a maths teacher so was easily able to check the amount and check the numbers online.

"We called out the winning numbers to each other and the amount from the website. As the realisation of what this meant hit us we sat there in disbelief; we were winners.”

“I decided to call the number on the back of the ticket and was talking to a lady from The National Lottery when Mark came home with the milk. 

"I told him to shush as I was on the phone to The National Lottery. His jaw dropped. 

"He looked at me in disbelief so I put the phone on speaker and the lady confirmed she was from The National Lottery, and we’d won £100,770.14”

She added: “I then called my sister who was at my mum and dad’s. She came around straight away and we all just started to think about what had just happened. The day is a bit of a blur to be honest.”

The couple are currently having an extension built to their house. They wanted to renovate the garage into bedrooms so they could foster children but couldn’t afford it.

They are going to give their three children some money and then start the process to apply for planning permission for a garage conversion to then apply to become foster parents.

Mrs Reece said, “We've always wanted to become foster parents however having enough space has always been an issue.

"Thanks to the win it’ll no longer be a problem. I’m so happy we can finally fulfil our dream."