AMMANFORD student Adam Deacon is gearing up to follow his dream career after winning £70,000 on a National Lottery Scratchcard.

The 21-year-old picked up the Sapphire 7 scratchcard while he was on a family trip to Porthcawl and couldn't believe it when he revealed the winning amount.

The editing and film student at University of Wales Trinity St David is hoping to use some of his winnings to buy a new camera so that he can start work as a freelancer as soon as he graduates next month.

Adam said: “I have loved my degree and I can’t wait to start working, this money will give me a real head start in my career and I feel very lucky. With new camera equipment I will be able to hit the ground running when I graduate in May.

“My winnings also mean that I will be able to start looking for my own house in Ammanford, which is something that I never thought I would be able to do at 21!”

Adam has shared his news with his friends and family but has yet to celebrate his win. Adam said: “I think I’ll save the celebrations and have a big house-warming party when I move into my first property. That will really be something to celebrate.”

An occasional scratchcard buyer, Adam has previously only won small prizes up to the value of £20.

Adam’s winning Sapphire 7 scratchcard was bought at Bargain Booze, Mary Street, Porthcawl. There is a 1 in 4.2 overall chance of winning a prize on the Sapphire 7 scratchcard. The card costs £2 and prizes range from £2 up to the top prize of £70,000.

The National Lottery changes the lives of winners like Adam as well as communities across the UK – players raise, on average, over £33m for National Lottery-funded projects every week. In Adam’s native Carmarthenshire alone there have been 2,670 individual National Lottery grants made to date, funding projects across the arts, sports, heritage, health, education, environment, charity and voluntary sectors.

In Carmarthenshire National Lottery funding has helped:

• Amswer/Time - The Black Mountain Centre received National Lottery funding to appoint a Participation Officer to co-ordinate a group of volunteers running a ‘time-bank’ project in the village of Brynaman. Volunteers use their existing skills to help others, earning ‘time credit’ to be exchanged for other services.

• Home Start - Home-Start helps families with young children deal with whatever life throws at them. They support parents as they learn to cope, improve their confidence and build better lives for their children.

For more information on National Lottery funding please visit www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk