National Lottery celebrates its 25th birthday: How winners have spent their millions
The National Lottery is marking its 25th anniversary with a picture uniting some of its biggest-ever winners from more than 5,500 millionaires created since the first draw.
The 25 individuals from each year of the lottery’s existence, with a combined fortune of more than £110m, have posed for a Vanity Fair-style photo by celebrity photographer Sven Arnstein to mark the milestone.
The line-up includes 84-year-old Brian Caswell, from Bolton, who won £24.9m in 2009 and Bev Middleton, 40, from Bradford, who received £14.5 million in 2017.
Mr Caswell, who now lives in a five-bedroom detached home with his wife Jean, 82, said his EuroMillions windfall not only paid for the new property, but for potentially life-saving surgery.
He said: “Five years ago, I needed an emergency quadruple bypass, and instead of waiting, our daughter researched the top surgeon and I paid to go private – so the lottery has kept me healthy as well as happy.”
While new homes and cars are common purchases, Cheryl Brudenell, from Stockton-on-Tees, used part of her £916,915 winnings to pay for what she calls her “Robbie Hobby”.
Since 2001, the 52-year-old, who won in 1997, has watched singer Robbie Williams perform around 40 times across the world.
Since the first draw on 19 November 1994, the National Lottery has paid out more than £71bn in prizes and raised £40bn to support thousands of projects and charities across the UK.
The lottery’s senior winners’ adviser Andy Carter said: “These are just a tiny fraction of some of the lucky players who have won life-changing sums of money over the past 25 years.
“We have all had the ‘when I win the lottery’ conversation, but these lucky people are now living out their dreams.
“And we have learnt over the years that our players are a generous lot too. From research we have discovered that 11% of winners have made additional millionaires or multi-millionaires through kind donations to family and friends.
“In addition, more than 91% tell us that they have donated time or money to charities close to their hearts, meaning the benefit of every big win is reaching far and wide.”
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