Lottery winner says: it didn’t make me happy

A woman who won the lottery as a teenager is now facing bankruptcy and says the money she received didn’t make her happy.

Callie Rogers won close to £1.9 million in 2003 but is currently holding down three jobs to support her two young children.

Miss Rogers, who is now 22, has reportedly said: “My life is a shambles and hopefully now it has all gone I can find some happiness.”

She said the money had “brought me nothing but unhappiness. It’s ruined my life. I’ve just wanted to make people happy by spending money on them.

“But it hasn’t made me happy. It just made me anxious that people are only after me for my money.”

Miss Rogers spent the money on cars, multiple houses, and holidays.

She is now reportedly attempting to sell a house to cover legal fees and avoid bankruptcy.

In 2005, after a suicide attempt, she said: “Until you win such a large amount of money at such a young age, you don’t realise the pressures that come with it.”

Miss Rogers, who was working in a supermarket when she won the money, is now living with her mother in a small house in Cumbria.

In July a report by the think-tank Theos argued that the National Lottery was penalising the poor. The group said not enough Lottery funding is being invested back into the country’s most deprived communities.

Theos Director Paul Woolley said: “The Lottery might have created a new source of funding for projects that would otherwise have remained un-funded, but this has come with a high price tag for Britain’s poor.”

The report found that skilled manual workers are most likely to play in Lottery draws, with over 67 per cent taking part once a month compared with 47 per cent of professionals and managers.

According to the report, the average Lottery player spends £142.88 each year but among those with salaries of £15,000- £20,000 the figure increases to £174.53.

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