A £13.5 million Lotto winner turned unlikely chauffeur has revealed how he is using his fortune to change people’s lives.
Kind Peter Congdon, 76, found his calling after coming to the rescue of a stranded bride during the pandemic and stepped in to help the damsel in distress when she could not get a wedding car in time.
The big-hearted grandad-of-ten, from Truro in Cornwall, now has his own fleet of cars for the needy, including anyone from teens going to prom or people facing the end of their lives in a hospice.
Peter has even bought a clutch of homes that he rents out at low prices to young people in order to help them get onto the property ladder.
Speaking about the brush with fate with the bride which led him to his new life Peter said: “It was such a memorable moment, when the bride walked out, she was expecting to climb into her dad’s car and instead, she looked up and saw my Bentley parked across the street, and realised she did have a beautiful wedding car.
“She wept so much that she had to go back in to get her make up fixed.”
Waiving what would be a £500 fee for the luxury wedding car, Peter said: “Since then, when I hear of a bride who can’t afford a car, I’ll step in to volunteer. I think I’ve taken more than 25 Cornish brides to say ‘I do’.
“I always turn up in my best suit to help make it the happiest day of her life, and the only payment I need is to see the joy on their faces.”
Like most big winners, the former bus driver and retired funeral director, did what many others have done since the first Lotto draw 30 years ago, and he treated himself to a selection of luxury items, including a BMW i8 and a Bentley Continental.
However, when news of Peter’s big hearted gesture to the stranded bride spread he soon had a fleet of cars ready for the use of those in need.
Laughing he said: “I was driving a Ford Kuga at the time of my win, funnily enough nobody asked me to chauffeur them anywhere but soon after I bought the BMW, a local lad came up to me and asked if I’d take him to his school prom.
“I agreed and from then on, it snowballed with other pupils asking me to take them so they could arrive in style.
“One teenage girl sat in the car and actually cried, because it was her dream car.’
But Peter hasn’t stopped at weddings and proms and has also taken grieving relatives to funerals and takes patients from a local hospice on days out.
One memorable moment was granting a wish to a terminally ill girl who wanted to be ‘a princess for a day.’
He recalls: “The local hospice rang me, and explained a young lady was terminally ill with cancer, could I help make her princess dream come true?
“I immediately said I would drive her, and when I turned up she was in a stunning white princess dress, with her hair and make-up done.
“The sight of her dressed up as a beautiful princess brought tears to my own eyes.”
Peter addeds: “A few months ago, I heard of a woman who couldn’t afford to get to her brother’s funeral in Redruth. I picked her up in my Bentley and drove her there for free. I couldn’t ease her grief but I could at least make sure she didn’t have to catch a bus.”
While his chauffeuring has brought so much joy to so many people, whether for pennies saved or a once in a lifetime trip in a dream car, Peter’s generosity is not limited to four wheels.
The grandad-of-ten explained:,“Since winning, I’ve bought a few homes which I rent out at a reduced rent to deserving local young people.
“Getting on the property ladder is so tough for young people in Cornwall, so I give those who help themselves, a little help too.
“The first couple I helped in this way were able to save for their own home and get married, they now have two children and are well set up.
“I like to think that they, like me, were a National Lottery winner too.”
After Peter first won the Lotto jackpot, he immediately gave £1.2 million to fund an anti gravity hydro pool at the nearby Merlin Centre, in memory of his late wife Rosemary who battled Multiple Sclerosis for more than 30 years.
The grandfather also bought a new Range Rover – and handed it straight over to the centre to auction in a raffle. In total, his contributions topped £1.4 million.
November will mark 30 years of The National Lottery since its launch in 1994. Since then it has created more than 7,200 millionaires or multi-millionaires across its games and, on average, seven millionaires are made every week – that’s a new millionaire for every day of the year.
Players generate a whopping £30meach week for National Lottery-funded projects with over 690,000 grants having been made across the UK.
This money supports everything from arts to the sport sectors – from the local charity making a difference where you live through to helping our nation’s athletes win Olympic and Paralympic medals.
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