Ian Cheeseman Talks: Living the Lotto life

Tameside Radio presenter Ian Cheeseman looks ahead to his fascinating chat with Nigel Mather, who won over £10 million on the lottery a decade ago...

Have your dreams become more lucid during lockdown? I’ve spoken to a few people who say they’ve had unusually vivid dreams during this period of anxiety. I can certainly relate to that. I’ve had a few myself.

I used to have dreams that were like films; action films. If I was disturbed at the point where something exciting was about to happen, I could even go back to sleep to finish the dream, as long as I was only half awake when I’d been disturbed. 

More recently my dreams have been different. They’ve been anxiety dreams, which I think is understandable. 

I’m a huge football fan so I’ve had dreams about not being able to get to a game in person, and sadly they’ve been true. 

I’ve also had dreams about my dad being well and back like he used to be. 

He’s currently residing in a care home and suffering from dementia so, again, those worries are simply being reflected in my subconscious.

I don’t think I’ve ever dreamed of winning the lottery, but I guess that’s because I’ve never bought one of those tickets. 

I have tried to imagine what it would be like if all six numbers came up. What would I do with millions of pounds? 

I’d look after my family and friends but then what about the rest? Most people would assume that winning so much money wouldn’t have any downsides, but I feel certain it would. 

There would be the begging letters, of course, but how would your friends treat you once they knew that you were so wealthy? 

The dynamic of your normal relationships would surely change. When I told Scott, one of Tameside Radio’s Breakfast presenters, that I was going to interview someone who’d won more than £10 million the first thing he said to me was, ‘ask them why they chose to go public and didn’t keep their newfound wealth a secret.’

I did ask that question, but I asked lots more questions of my interviewee, Nigel Mather. 

He and his wife, Sharon, won the Euro-millions a decade ago. They moved house from Sale to Bowden. 

Nigel is a Manchester City fan so they had their cheque presentation and popped the champagne at the Etihad Stadium. 

They drew up a list of their friends and family and went around handing out cheques and spent some of their money on the things most of us can only dream about. 

They bought racehorses, a private box at City and enjoyed the good life; and who can blame them. 

Their moral code was high though and very quickly their focus changed to how they could use their good fortune to help others. 

They supported children and adults with learning disabilities in Manchester through Stockdales a charitable trust and now spend as much of their time as they can helping others benefit from their good fortune.

How has Nigel’s life changed during the last ten years, has he changed as a person, have there been ups as well as downs? 

I’ve done quite a few fascinating interviews with very different kinds of people during the last few months and this one is no exception.

Join me this Saturday from 1pm on Tameside Radio 103.6FM when “Ian Cheeseman talks... to Euro Lottery winner Nigel Mather.”