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WAKEFIELD WELDER SCOOPS £250,000 FROM ONLINE COMPETITION, AND PROMISES TO BUY HIS BRIDE-TO-BE THEIR FIRST HOME
A WELDER from Wakefield has pocketed quarter of a million pounds from an online competition, and promised to buy his fiancée their first home with his winnings.
Calum Murray won Elite Competitions’ biggest InstaWin cash prize less than two weeks ago (Saturday 13th) and couldn’t sleep from the shock of his windfall – so spent the night trawling the housing market online.
The 35-year-old will marry his partner Karla next year and thought they’d never be able to get on the property ladder. He’s now told her they’ll have their own marital home in time for the wedding.
Calum said: “It's something I’ve wanted to do for ages. We’d been talking about how we might buy a house recently, and I was thinking to myself that I’d left it too late. I really thought I’d messed about too much in my 20s putting money into cars. I was asking myself, ‘why did I do that?’
“When I started my own business in 2022 the money I had for a deposit went on that. So, I thought I’d have to get the books in better order first. I just couldn’t see when it would be possible for us. And, of course, the longer you leave it the more it's going to cost. It seemed like buying a home would never happen but winning this money with Elite Competitions has changed all that.”
Calum has spoken to six estate agents already, he’s asked them call him as properties come up and he has been to several property viewings in his local Crigglestone area. He hopes to have the keys to a new home for the couple before their wedding at Solberg Hall in North Allerton in March.
He added: “There’s no question that we’ll have our first home before we get married now. We’re looking at houses around the £200K mark. We've seen a few. Some have been no good for us but we’ve also submitted a couple of offers. We want something we can improve. Obviously, now I’m a cash buyer and I'll be mortgage free. That all helps us with the cost developing a property.”
Calum, who runs steel fabrication business Apex Engineering in Wetherby, has spent money on online competitions for almost ten years until winning big with Elite Competitions. He spent £17.88 on tickets for the Elite Competitions InstaWin game that landed him £250,000 this month.
Describing the moment he hit the jackpot, Calum said: “We were watching TV. Karla had fallen asleep. It was getting late so I decided to check my emails and I saw one from Elite Competitions. I couldn’t believe it. I thought I was reading it wrong. I woke Karla up to show her but she thought I was lying, just to wake her up. Honestly, it was mental. I couldn’t sleep on Saturday night so I lay awake the whole night scrolling through houses for sale on my phone.”
Calum said the only negative to winning the large sum has been the jealousy he’s had from others, with some online backlash even directed at his 32-year-old partner Karla who owns Lillywhite & Co Hair and Aesthetics on Dewsbury Road.
He said: “I don't get it. Honestly, I don't. I'm buzzing for anyone that does well by winning or working. Some people just aren't wired that way.
“The reason we don’t have a house now is because we’ve put all of our money into our businesses, which helped to build them both up into what they are now. And we do alright. Some people do better but we’ve done enough to plan a nice wedding and to go on a nice holiday. But it’s like people now are discrediting the work we’ve done before this. Suddenly, they’re putting all of these things down to the money we’ve won. They don’t look at it with any logic now. There’s been little digs.
“Whereas, we’ve worked really hard to build two businesses, to get to where we are. And we booked the wedding and our holiday before this happened. Just, now we’ve had some luck. Then, there’s others who want to believe I’ve spent as much on competitions as I’ve won. It’s like they can’t be happy for you. It’s just jealousy really.
“There were a lot of jealous comments on Elite Competition’s post about my win too. Someone said something unkind about Karla but a few mates jumped on it. The guy then deleted his comment and messaged me to say sorry and he was just jealous of me winning the money.
“Other people have been really supportive though. Some friends have said they’re glad it has gone to two people who work hard.”
Elite Competitions Managing Director Alex Beckett described Calum’s win as “fantastic”. He said: “Everyone at Elite Competitions is delighted for Calum and Karla. We have talked to Calum a lot over the last few days and we can see he’s a good guy who thoroughly deserves his luck. His perseverance with Elite Competitions has paid off, as it does for many.
“Big wins like Calum’s make Elite Competitions the leading online competitions company in the UK. Calum is now able to set up the next phase of his life with Karla, ahead of their wedding. That’s fantastic for all of us.”