Civil servant wins £1million in Omaze draw and vows to replace his rusty old camper van to go travelling

A civil servant won £1 million in the latest Omaze giveaway and is now planning to swap his ‘rusty old caravan’ to go traveling.

Mark Crawford, 49, who walks five miles to and from work every day, came home to find out he had won a life-changing sum in the Omaze Monthly Millionaire Raffle.

Footage was captured of the moment Mark was told he was lucky with the £15 entry and promised to instantly upgrade his caravan as it kept breaking down.

Mark lives at their family home in Dundee with his wife of nearly 12 years, Clair, 57, who works part-time in the social care sector.

The couple met in London, where Mark lived for many years, before returning to his native Scotland in 2011.

When Omaze knocked on their door that Friday evening, Mark had just finished his usual 2.5-mile walk home from work and was ready to settle in for a quiet night.

Mark said: ‘It was an ordinary Friday night. I had finished my work, taken my usual walk home, and was ready for dinner; The last thing I expected was to open the door and find out we were going to be millionaires!

‘My wife kept saying, ‘I can’t think clearly, I have nothing to say.’ He was completely shocked. We both were.’

The couple immediately FaceTimed their daughter, who thought it was a joke.

Mark laughed: ‘He said, ‘You’re destroying me!’ he said. – and I said to my son-in-law: “You can get more than socks for Christmas this year!”

After celebrating with takeaway, Mark said thoughts turned to what they could spend the money on.

He added: ‘We’ve got a rusty old caravan that keeps breaking down, so a shiny new caravan is first on the list.

‘We always wanted to travel more; Around the Highlands, in Cornwall of course, maybe even Norway.

‘We don’t even have passports at the moment, so we’d better get that sorted before we buy the new caravan.

‘Our biggest dream is to visit Japan. It was always on the list and now we can actually afford travel insurance as Clair said.’

Mark is the October winner of the Omaze Monthly Millionaire Giveaway. The life-changing prize is completely tax-free and awarded to one winner from the UK each month.

After a tough few years, Mark said the win couldn’t have come at a better time.

He added: ‘A huge burden has been lifted. We can pay off our overdraft and stop worrying about money every month – it’s the best feeling in the world.

This is the moment when Mark and his wife were told they were instant millionaires

‘We were even talking about downsizing to save costs, we don’t need that anymore.

‘We can now start thinking about a fresh start, maybe even moving somewhere that feels fresh.’

Mark said the win also opened up the chance to return to London to be closer to his daughters; This was something that had been out of reach for a long time.

He said: ‘When we left London years ago we thought we would never be able to return there again because it was too expensive, but now we can.

‘Our daughter is there and the idea of ​​being closer to her is so exciting.

‘Clair has spent her career helping others and said the best part of winning is that we can help other people close to us.’

Mark admitted he didn’t get much sleep after such a life-changing evening.

He added: ‘I’m not sure I slept that much; Even though I slept, I heard Clair say, “Mark, did this really happen?” I woke up with him asking.’

As well as changing Mark and Clair’s lives forever, Omaze is also helping to raise money for good causes across the UK through prize draws.

James Oakes, Chairman of Omaze, said: ‘Everyone at Omaze is thrilled to celebrate another Monthly Millionaire – huge congratulations to Mark and Clair on becoming our latest £1 million winners! We are very happy for them and their families.

‘Omaze gives people the chance to win incredible prizes while also introducing charities to vast new audiences they wouldn’t normally reach – a real win-win situation for both participants and our charity partners.’