Casino
Scratchcards
PlayFormer Belfast bus driver Peter Lavery won a UK Lotto jackpot of £10.2 million in May 1996 and was rumoured to have tripled his wealth by 2014 after ploughing his cash into rental properties and housing developments. A whiskey distillery in which he has a stake has seen £35 million of outside investment, which he describes as being “like winning the lottery again.” At the other end of the scale is the family from Dublin who won €7.3 million on Irish Lotto in September 2015 and who declared they intended to find their dream house and splash out on a home cinema, popcorn maker and an indoor slide to help them “get downstairs quicker.”
If tonight’s EuroMillions jackpot ended up resting in your bank account by the end of the week, you could afford to do both! You could section off a certain amount to splurge, set aside some to invest and use the rest to live day-to-day. You might also want to help out good causes by setting up your own charitable trust like Colin and Christine Weir of Largs in Ayrshire. The Weirs scooped £161.6 million (€185 million) in July 2011, the largest sterling amount ever paid out by EuroMillions, and have launched a foundation that has given away over £1 million so far.
The Weir Charitable Trust accepts applications for funding from Scottish groups that have an income of less than £100,000 per year, with an average donation of around £3,500. Recent beneficiaries include the Scottish Women Warriors Wheelchair Basketball Club and 4 Arts, a charity that helps to boost the self esteem of disadvantaged groups in Dunfermline through art classes.
You can buy EuroMillions tickets online or from authorised retailers across all nine participating countries up until 7:30pm GMT (8:30pm CEST) tonight. Good luck!