A SHIPLEY lottery winner teamed up with other jackpot millionaires from Yorkshire to mark 20 years since the start of the National Lottery.

Margaret Storey, who won £1.4 million in 1998, attended the celebration at West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds yesterday.

Members of the group talked about how their lives have changed since their wins.

Margaret and her then fiancée David were just six weeks away from getting married when their numbers came up in October 1998.

But their big win meant they were able to change their honeymoon destination from Blackpool to Barbados. They also travelled to a host of destinations including the Maldives and the Dominican Republic.

Mrs Storey said she was pleased with the choice of venue for yesterday's celebration.

She said: "West Yorkshire Playhouse is one of my favourite theatres and I've spent many evenings enjoying some of the fantastic productions they host there, so it's lovely that we've all benefitted from playing the National Lottery in one way or another."

Speaking to the Telegraph & Argus previously, she described how the win had "taken away any worry" and allowed them to move into a larger detached house while also providing an opportunity to travel more.

"Initially we went on a few big holidays but then we settled down and have done normal things," she said.

Since the first draw on November 19, 1994, the National Lottery has created 336 millionaires across Yorkshire.

A total of 3,289 prizes of more than £50,000 have been paid out to players.

The region has also been boosted by Lottery funding. A total of 2,666 grants have been awarded to individuals and organisations, in a host of areas including the arts and education, making a total of £157 million.

The National Media Museum was the largest benefactor of Lottery cash in Bradford when it was handed £6 million for essential upgrades in 1996.

The district's smallest grant, of just £280, was handed to Aire Valley Vintage Machinery Club in 2005.

Bradford Voluntary Action Group for the Disabled were given the first ever grant of £170,000 in 1995.

Nationally, a total of £32 billion has been raised and 430,000 projects have been handed funding across several sectors, including the arts, sports, heritage, health and education.

The National Lottery has given away more than £53 billion in prizes and created more than 3,600 millionaires or multi-millionaires since it was launched 1994.

In 2012, Mrs Storey also had advice for future winners: "Have a holiday more or less straightaway because you need time to get your head around things as it's a shock.

"You need to consider very carefully who you might give money to.

"I would leave it about 12 months before you do anything really, because you need time to come to terms with it and you learn who your real friends are."