When Tracy Ward won £ 300,000 in a lottery -Krascard, she thought that years of scraping were finally over.
The mother had been struggling to make ends meet for decades when she raised her five children in a council home in Wood Green, Noord -London, sometimes hardly enough money for the Food Shop, she said.
All of that changed when she visited a chicken shop on a Wednesday in 2013 as a 'special treat' for her children and discovered six digits on the happy ticket.
In disbelief about her new fortune, Mrs. Ward said that she took her family on vacation to California Cliffs Holiday Park in Yarmouth – after she had already sent a piece of money to each child and the DWP had informed that she no longer needed their help.
She claims that she was then 'hunted' by a seller in the park to 'invest' in caravans – ultimately the purchase of six in a matter of months in the conviction that she would make a profit.
Mrs. Ward claims that she was promised that she could rent her caravans for a lucrative amount – only to be affected by rising site costs, bills and maintenance costs.
After he had spent about £ 150,000 on the purchase of the caravans alone, the mother was said to be forced to sell when no money came in – losing the majority of her lottery profit and frantically accepting only £ 41,000 for the party.
Mrs. Ward, exclusively in MailOnline, revealed that she is struggling again ten years later, in antidepressants and finds it difficult to look her family in her eyes.
Tracy Ward claims that she was 'hunted' by a seller in California Cliffs Holiday Park in Yarmouth to invest in caravans after she won £ 300,000 in a lottery -scratch
“I couldn't even face myself, let alone someone else,” she said.
“It presses me depressed. I am really depressed. I have antidepressants and things like that. I still can't see certain people in the face, you know.
'It was money to put me and my family for life.
'If I see my family struggling now, I lost my father last year and see my mother alone; I could have bought her a small place to live in my area. I can't do that now. I'm so embarrassed. '
Mrs. Ward, now 55 and with six grandchildren, claimed that it all started when she told the seller that she had recently reached money through a lottery -kascard.
After spending years 'scraping', the mother was 'naive' and 'excited', she said, I am looking forward to a new start with plans to buy her own house.
'[Then] We went to California Cliffs and when we walked by, we saw in the window that you could buy caravans, so we said it might be a good thing if we bought a reasonable caravan, so that the family could always have a vacation when they wanted, “she said.
'We were in the office and [a salesman] said, “May I ask you how you can afford this?”
“I was stupid, I told him about the lottery win.
“I had never had this money before, I was excited.
“He chased us. He literally chased us every day.
'Then he sits down and tells us that we can earn money from this, that we can earn our money back.
'We think this might be a good business chance, because we know nothing about it. All in all, we bought six [caravans]. '
Mrs. Ward claimed that the seller continued to show her and her husband new caravans to invest.
'We were eating our breakfast one morning and he is banging on the caravan:' Have you already been to the couch? “And I had something like” no, we didn't have been up “.
“He's” what time “, I said” oh probably about 12, 1 p.m. “.
“Then he calls us when we are on the couch.”
Mrs. Ward claimed that after the land rates and bills continued to rise, her and her husband could no longer pay the maintenance and were forced to sell their caravans 'for scrap'.
Mrs. Ward, now 55 and with six grandchildren, claimed that it all started when she told the seller that she had recently come in money through a lottery -kascard (stock image)
“We continued to feel and robbed,” she said, adding that she finally accepted £ 41,000 to end the nightmare.
“We couldn't even look our family in our face because we had lost that money. We just won for years, “she said.
“We moved from London, we moved to Kent.
“It was terrible. Really embarrassing. '
Mrs. Ward still looks back lovingly on the day she won the lottery, but is struggling with the trauma of what has happened since then.
“I had just picked my children from school, and I went inside and got the ticket – a bingo ticket that it was,” she said.
'I scratched it, it had the four corners, which was £ 300,000, and I was actually waiting in the chicken shop because I was going to buy my children chicken and chips to treat them. We didn't really get many treats at the time.
“I gave it to the man behind the counter and I said,” Check that for me, “and he looked and he goes” yes! ” I said “no”, I said, “you lie”.
“He gave me the chicken and chips and I ran. I don't know how I ran because I have really bad knees, but I ran home somehow and I went in quickly.
“My husband was sick that day, so he was in bed, and I ran inside and I pushed it under his nose,” how much is this, how much is this? “
“I called my mother and I said,” Mom, how much is this? “
“I said,” What can I buy with that? ” And she goes to me “Tracy, you can buy everything”. I will never forget that feeling, because I thought oh my family, we are sorted.
'No more benefits, nothing more. We have always scraped together to shop or I had to put things back and things like that.
'Ten days later the check was erased on the bill, so we booked a holiday in Yarmouth, California Cliffs.
'Before I did something, I made sure that the family had money on their bills. I didn't want them to want for nothing. '
A spokesperson for California Hills Holiday Park, said: 'Parkdean Resorts has a strong community of more than 18,000 loyal holiday owners, many of whom have been with us for decades. We have a thorough sales process and we carefully train our people to provide potential owners all the information they need about holiday home and financing, so that they can make a well -considered decision. Details about what to expect from owning a holiday home, as well as the costs of the costs, can also be found on our website.
'Mrs. Ward owned the park in 2013-14. At the time of purchase, the costs she should pay, as well as the annual assessment of this and any increases, were explained to it. These costs were also clearly set out in the written agreements that Mrs. Ward signed every time she bought a caravan in the park. Mrs. Ward left the park more than ten years ago and we have no report of her to worry during or since then. '
