Matt Pitcher

That's over 36 million of us.

Nothing else really unites us in those kind of numbers.

Possibly sport, maybe politics still.

I don't know.

So we must be doing it because we want to win, right?

Because we think that that money is going to change our lives for the better.

Well, let me take you back several years.

It's a boiling hot summer's day, and I'm sat in an office with broken air conditioning.

I have very unwisely chosen to wear a dark suit, and I can feel sweat starting to run down my tight shirt collar.

Sat opposite me is the most miserable man I have ever met.

This man has just won the lottery.

Two weeks ago, he was a happy and contented man.

He and his wife were due to retire quite soon, and their pensions were ready to cover their outgoings.

They had a good relationship with their adult children who lived nearby, and a great network of friends.

They lived in a local community that they felt a part of and felt valued by.

They'd worked hard for an entire lifetime to build a simple but happy life.

Into that context, the injection of a lottery win was causing more harm than it was good.

The win, as it sometimes happens, had become known locally.

Friendships had started a sour through jealousy.

Family members were popping out of the woodwork and claiming an entitlement to a share in the win, and in some cases demanding of them some of the money.