uk lottery draw

The extraordinary story of someone wrongly identified as the winner of a record lottery payout.

Originally posted to the AsianImage.co.uk website

12:40pm Friday 11th June 2010

Exclusive By Asian Image reporter

A couple who have been wrongly accused of winning £84million in the Euro lottery have spoken of their nightmare.

They claim they have had people knocking on their door wanting their mortgages repaid and others asking for new gold teeth.

The constant barrage of requests in the past few weeks has left them angry.

The rumours surfaced after it was believed an Asian person from the region had won £84million in the Euro Millions lottery in May. The winner has opted for the right to anonymity.

The man known as BK works in Blackburn and lives in Preston exclusively told Asian Image, “I was working in my office when I got the first phone call. I laughed it off at first and thought nothing of it.

“But thereafter, the avalanche of calls, text messages and emails began. Close friends and family, immediately accepted that I had not won the £84 million.

“A friend, who I worked with some years ago and now living in China, another in Washington DC, also got news of the ‘rumour’. We were amazed at the speed and distance a rumour like this could go.

“All of a sudden long-lost relatives, past associates, friends of friends and total strangers, were suddenly looking to contact me.

“Individuals suddenly recollected an event or passing interaction that we may have had. Thereby, claiming by ‘right’ a share of the winnings.”

The winning amount according to the Euro Millions website was £84,451,320.60 for the draw held on May 14. The prize made the winner the 789th richest person in the UK with a larger personal fortune than the likes of Sir Sean Connery (£80m).

Asian Image was even called to be told of BK’s winnings.

The nature of the requests were weird and bizarre. BK said: “We had requests for motorbikes, diamonds, second homes in Dubai, sports cars, loans and mortgages to be repaid and even gold teeth. The list was endless.

“Wealthy individuals were also trying to jump on the bandwagon. It got both funny and ridiculous when close friends had people knocking on their doors late at night by ‘strangers’ asking for them to be introduced to me and pay off their ‘mortgages’ or ‘debts’.

“The one single vital point was that, all those who requested something financial or material, did not ask for me to help or aid someone else in need or the poor.”

He was also taken aback by those wanting money that would in particular circles be termed as ‘haram’.

BK added: “One individual contradicted himself to the point where his opening sentence was ‘the winnings were haram (forbidden) and I should return them, but it would be okay for a contribution to a ‘Islamic Girls School in Dewsbury’.

“Another individual phoned for building a new mosque in Bolton, when he finally accepted that I had not won, he confirmed that he was just looking for his personal debts to be paid off.

“A neighbour called round one evening and would not believe me at all, it took him ages to leave, waiting for a confession.

“Distant relatives in the Midlands claimed they had documentary proof that I had won, stating my details were in the London press. Believe me I searched for ages on the internet and could find no reference to me.”

He said he had stopped answering his phone after the first week, but somehow people found ways to contact him.

BK added: “What I have learned about people over the last weeks is that there have been individuals who I have classed as good people, family and friends. And they have been just that ‘good people’.

“As for the ‘gossiper’s’ they live so called outwardly false religious lives, inwardly full of envy and hate and living a life of ‘gheebat’.

“My advice to any winner is – the ones you classed as family and friends, will always be just that. Look after the poor, needy and hard-working wherever you find them and whatever race and religion they are. The honest ones will never ask for anything.”

© Copyright 2001-2010 Newsquest Media Group

http://www.asianimage.co.uk

Technorati Tags: british national lottery, european lottery, loterry, lottory, natinal lottery, national lotery, uk lottery draw, united kingdom lottery

Originally posted to the Stirling Observer website.

Jun 4 2010 by Stephen Robertson, Stirling Observer Friday

A CHURCH in Aberfoyle has landed a lottery cash boost of almost £10,000.

St Mary’s Episcopal Church, in Main Street, picked up the £9847 award in the recent round of grants from the National Lottery’s small grants scheme, Awards for All.

It will be put to good use to help improve public safety access and the facilities of the church itself.

Railings will be put in place, an audio and public address system will be installed and stackable chairs will also be bought.

A number of other community groups and charities in and around Stirling were also celebrating after being selected to receive grant funding.

Among these were the Stirling-based Aberlour Child Care Trust, which received a £7251 award.

Elsewhere, The Strathendrick Pipe Band Association were awarded £5,000 to buy equipment that will enable members to attend four major pipe band competitions.

Strathblane Out of School Care Ltd received £4865 for play equipment and summer excursions, and the Braehead and Broomridge Childminding Support Group landed £4715 which will be used to pay for things such as hall and equipment rental, snacks, activities and trips.

ACE Cornton, the community based adult learning project, also got a £4000 award to help develop peer support and mentoring services.

http://www.stirlingobserver.co.uk/stirling-news/local-news-stirling/news-stirling/2010/06/04/lottery-tees-up-a-10k-boost-for-aberfoyle-church-51226-26581928/

Technorati Tags: british national lottery, european lottery, loterry, lottery website, natinal lottery, national lotery, uk lottery draw, united kingdom lottery

Originally posted on the HeraldScotland.com website.

Phil Miller, Arts Correspondent

29 May 2010

It may be the first national artistic movement inspired entirely by cold, hard cash.

With government cuts, standstill budgets, the financial crisis and the ongoing recession, many young and established visual artists are facing a bleak financial future unless they get a lucky break.

But a new collective of UK contemporary artists – led by Glasgow-based Ellie Harrison – have decided to engineer their own luck, with a scheme which maximises their chances of winning large amounts of money on the various National Lottery draws.

To be launched nationally in July, the Syndicate, as they call themselves, will “strategically” play the lottery games using a mathematical system they believe increases the odds for the 40 players to win large amounts of money, which will then be shared equally.

The group of artists – including Harrison, who graduates from Glasgow School of Art’s esteemed MFA course this summer, John Beagles, S Mark Gubb, who is representing Wales at the Venice Biennale, and the Becks Futures-nominated Hayley Newman – will purchase 44 lines on each of the two weekly UK Lotto draws, at £1 a ticket, and 36 lines on the weekly EuroMillions which is £2 a ticket.

Each artist joining the Syndicate is therefore required to pay £4 a week for the duration of the year, or a total of £208 a year for each artist.

Each of the 44 lines they choose will use the same five Artists’ Lottery Syndicate numbers, which are secret, with the sixth number on each line being unique to that ticket.

The numbers on a lotto ticket range from 1 to 49, so the remaining 44 numbers available will be entered on the lotto lines filled in by the artists.

This system, the Syndicate said, hugely increases the chances of winning the Lotto or EuroMillions jackpots.

Harrison said the system means they will try to utilise the idea of luck, which has always played an important part in artistic careers, as well as a new way to access Lottery cash which has, since its start in 1994, been a boon for the cultural sphere.

She added: “I had the idea for the Artists’ Lottery Syndicate when it appeared that the glory days of arts funding which we witnessed under New Labour were drawing to a close.

“It seemed clear that artists would have to find new ways of funding their work and surviving in what was being referred to as a new ‘age of austerity’ for the arts.

“The Artists’ Lottery Syndicate aims to be a speculative new way of acquiring funds for artists. I thought it could be a fun collective activity, which would act as a gentle critique of artist’s relationships to the economy, as well as a potential money maker.

“It is a group of artists who are still aspirational, despite this time of economic doom and gloom, and who are coming together to support each other in their attempts to hit the jackpot. We’re using a specially calculated combination of numbers to maximise our odds of winning prizes. At the end of the year, each of the artists will receive a cheque for one-fortieth of the money we accumulate.”

The Syndicate is being run by Harrison and its other members include MFA students and artists from Birmingham, Cardiff, Fife, Glasgow, Lancaster, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Nottingham, Plymouth, Preston, Stoke-on-Trent, Suffolk and Worcestershire.

It will initially run from July 1 this year to July 2011, but may be continued if it proves to be successful.

The GSA Master course has produced artists such as the Turner Prize-winning Richard Wright, Douglas Gordon and Simon Starling.

This year its graduation show is being held at the Glue Factory and the CCA in Glasgow, and runs from June 11.

The big winners

The odds of winning the jackpot with a single ticket are nearly 14 million to one, but for a group running 30 tickets the chances are better, at 466,666 to one. The individual prize each person takes will fall in proportion to this, however.

Around a quarter of all jackpot wins are by syndicates, according to the National Lottery, but organisers warn would-be syndicate managers that they should sign contracts beforehand to avoid disputes.

Issues such as whether or not to go public in the event of a win can be divisive, and even close friends are advised to set out ground rules in advance.

Seven IT workers from Merseyside shared a £45m lottery jackpot in November last year, taking home more than £6m each, just two months after another group of nine friends, based at the Doon Inn in Blantyre, shared £4.5m.

Five years ago a syndicate of six women at the Morrison Bowmore’s bottling plant in Glasgow each won a £2.5m share of the total £15m jackpot.


http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/artists-in-a-bid-for-success-with-different-type-of-draw-1.1031219

Technorati Tags: british national lottery, european lottery, loterry, lottery information, lottory, uk lottery draw, united kingdom lottery

Nigel Page and Justine Laycock of Gloucestershire took home the biggest British win in the European lottery of £56 million on 12 February 2010. Nigel is quoted as saying “I’ve jumped out of a plane at 12000 feet but that’s nothing compared to how I’m feeling now!”

Playing the British National Lottery give players the opportunity to dream about how wonderful their life would become once they win the jackpot. But does it really improve your life?

In 1995 Mark Gardiner won £11 million on the UK lottery draw. He was thrust into the public gaze and then went on to spend and loan out much of the money. He lost many of his family and friends through squabbles over money and says, “The trouble isn’t the money, it’s what the money brings along with it. It enabled me to get rid of a box of problems – but it just gets replaced by a posher box of even bigger problems.”

The challenge winners find is being catapulted from struggling for money one day to being wealthy the next. For this reason Camelot, the promoters of the UK lottery draw, have a support system in place. Dot Renshaw, who must have one of the best jobs in the world as winners advisor for Camelot, told an interviewer that she tells winners not to rush into any decisions but to perhaps take a holiday and come to terms with the change in their lives. Camelot can then arrange for a bank to create an account for the money and a panel of financial advisors and lawyers to give advice on the best ways to proceed. Such large amounts of money require professional advice to manage it.

Staff can even respond to any begging letters on the jackpot winners’ behalf and put them in touch with previous winners who share their experiences. There are even winners events where people in the same situation are encouraged to meet.

Of course one of the biggest challenges found by winners of the UK lottery draw is fame. For this reason, they now have the option of anonymity and the Press Complaints Commission have strict rules to prevent the harassment of those who choose to stay out of the glare of the press.

The advice available now means that British National Lottery winners are making better use of the opportunities presented to them. Ipsos Mori have undertaken a series of polls to understand how such jackpots affect lives. One such study found that 55% of winners were actually happier after the event than before, although this may be more to do with the character of the winners. Nine out of ten of the married respondents were still married to the same person and a same proportion of all winners still had the same friends.

A further poll showed the brand of car bought by UK lottery draw winners and brought some surprises. The first four brands were Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Mini and Vauxhall with Range Rover and Porsche only showing at number six and eight respectively.

The UK lottery draw has created 2300 millionaires since its launch in 1994 and clearly the winners now get more counselling than before. This has helped make the experience a much more happy one than previously. Even Mark Gardiner is now happier with his life. After all his experiences, he has fallen back in love with and is now about to remarry his first wife.

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Technorati Tags: british national lottery, loterry, lottery information, lottery revenue, lottery website, lottory, natinal lottery, national lotery, uk lottery draw, united kingdom lottery