Is it a lottery or a tax?

The UK’s National Lottery raises over £30 million each and every week for good causes. It has been a phenomenal success ever since it was first introduced some 18 years ago, so much so, that almost 80% of the UK adult (16 or over) population regularly buy lottery tickets.

The money raised goes to help a myriad of different things. In the Cambridgeshire area over the past few years, examples of the type of causes that have received grants include children’s activity clubs, a kidney disease research project, the Age Concern charity, a sports project for the blind, a grant for the Citizens Advise Bureaux and a community transport scheme for the disadvantaged.

Over the past seven years since the UK were awarded the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, almost £1,800m of lottery funding has gone towards the building of the infrastructure required to run a successful games.

All of these are good worthwhile causes that most of us imagine lottery funding was meant for. What is often forgotten, is that before the advent of the National Lottery, many of these types of grants came from the local council funded by our taxes. Certainly there was no lottery funding for the Olympic Games when they were held in London in 1908 and 1948, it was the government that paid for those games. Admittedly, nothing like as much infrastructure was required, but nevertheless, whatever was spent came from tax revenues.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not complaining about how lottery funding is distributed; in fact I think the organisation responsible for distributing lottery funds does an admirable job.

We’ll never know, but had it not been for the National lottery, I wonder how much more of our taxes would have gone towards the 1,000’s of projects including the London Olympics that the lottery fund has helped over the last 18 years.

We can’t blame the lottery for our current woes regarding the economy, but perhaps it has gone a long way towards helping the overall rise in the standard of living that we in the UK have experienced over the past 18 years.

I don’t think we can ever say that the lottery is just another tax, but what we can say is that it has been a good thing for everyone.

If Your Credit Is In Need Of Repair Then Follow These Tips!

Having poor credit can be a devastating occurrence in life. It can limit opportunities and deny you of financial options. There are a few steps you can take to start repairing your credit now. None of them are simple or pointlessly unhelpful tips, like win the lottery or stop spending.

Having to deal with a collection agency can be extremely stressful. You can submit a cease and desist statement to a creditor to stop harassment. The consumer still has to pay disputed debts even though these letters stop agencies from calling.

When looking to improve your credit, avoid companies claiming that they can remove negative information if the debt is true. These things are, generally, on your record for seven years. Be aware, however, that incorrect information can indeed be erased from your record.

Paying your bills is a straightforward, but truly vital prerequisite for credit repair. Paying your bills on time and for the full amount is important. Getting rid of past-due bills will have a fast and dramatic effect on your credit score.

Before consulting a credit counseling agency, be sure to check out their background and history. Although some can be quite legitimate, others have motives that are less than kind. Some are just people trying to scam you. You should research any counseling service you are considering prior to initiating communications with them.

When attempting to pacify your creditors, do not let pressure make you feel the need to commit to unrealistic monthly payments, or lump-sum settlements that are not affordable. Understand what your budget is, and don't go over this. Even if some arrangements might give you temporary relief from harassing creditors, not being able to fulfill your commitments will ruin your credit report even more.

Seek advice from a trustworthy credit counseling service if you are having difficulty managing your debt. They may be able to talk to your creditors and figure out a repayment plan; they can also assist you with your long-term financial goals. Good credit counseling can help you understand the best, easiest ways to oversee your finances and pay your financial obligations.

Taking time to examine your monthly credit card bill is critical to ensure that there are no errors. if you find any, then you need to get in touch with the company right away so this does not become a blemish on your credit record.

Before you concede everything on your credit report is valid, scrutinize it very carefully. Mistakes or errors in your file can cause issues for your credit. If you can prove that a given discrepancy is invalid, file a credit dispute and the offending mark will get removed after a while.

You can get a house mortgaged at the snap of a finger if you have a high credit score. You will get a better credit score by paying your mortgage payment on time. Having a major asset like a house also looks good to potential creditors. If you have to take out a loan, this will help you.

Now that we have gone over the different ways you can go about repairing credit, why not get started now? You should take action before your credit gets worst, at least to slow down the process.

Save £1,000’s with uSwitch

uSwitch.com is a UK company that provide an online comparison and switching service.

Through their site, consumers are able to compare prices for a range of energy, personal finance, insurance and communications services. The products they handle include gas, electricity, water, home telephone, mobile phones, broadband, digital TV, personal finance products, heating cover and car insurance. uSwitch are always looking to expand their product base and expect to introduce new lines later in 2012.

According to The Times uSwitch is one of the two most established price comparison websites, and has been highlighted as being among the best money-saving websites for students.

Company History

Uswitch was launched in September 2000 by British businessman and peer Lord Milford Haven. Set up to take advantage of the UK’s deregulated gas and electric markets with an initial investment of £4 million, uSwitch soon expanded its portfolio to include the telecommunications market.

To consolidate its position in the market uSwitch acquired buy.co.uk in 2001 and followed it up by buying the local community website UpMyStreet two years later.

By 2006 uSwitch was the market leader in the UK for the comparison and switching market and were acquired by an American media business, E.W. Scripps Company for the princely sum of £210 million.

Three years later Scripps sold uSwitch to Forward Internet Group, a private company with a collection of consumer facing internet-based business’s.

How uSwitch works

When looking to compare prices, consumers are asked a range of questions covering location, prices, payment method and service type. uSwitch’s software then searches through their database of relevant service providers and displays a selection of cheap, or cheaper deals that meet the criteria set by the consumer.

At that point the consumer can decide to switch there and then through the arrangement that uSwitch has with the particular service provider. Alternatively, the consumer can approach the provider directly and switch their service through them.

This service is free to the consumer. uSwitch make their money by receiving a commission from the service providers for introducing the consumer to them.

The commercial relationships that uSwitch have with their suppliers do not influence the order in which services are ranked when displayed to the consumer.

There are no direct costs to consumers for the service. The company receives commission from some suppliers when a customer chooses to switch through the uSwitch site.

Visit uSwitch today and see how much you can save!

How Writing A List And Keeping It Handy Can Help You Remember

Our memory is something we never want to lose. It is possible to prevent memory loss with a few simple steps. By being educated about memory loss and ways to prevent it, you will save yourself agony later in life. You can never start too early with memory loss prevention. This article will give you plenty of tips on how to prevent memory loss.

Remember that you are a lifelong learner, even after you are officially done with school. When you stop acquiring new knowledge, you stop utilizing the part of your brain that aids in memory. If that portion of your brain has not been exercised regularly, it will be difficult to remember things.

One way to improve memory is by building a "memory tree." First, focus on the big subjects that you are trying to remember. Important details will form the limbs branching off of this core concept that represents the trunk of the tree. The smaller details and examples represent the leaves to each branch. Organizing the relative importance of information can help you remember details better.

Although memories become less sharp as we grow older, there are many ways to keep your memory strong. To aid this process, it is important to get enough sleep, get regular exercise, eat a healthy diet and keep your brain stimulated. This can be done with various activities such as games, crosswords and reading. And don't forget to enjoy life, laugh a lot and keep stress to a minimum!

One of the most important tactics for improving your memory is to always pay attention to your surroundings. When new information is presented to you, then picture it in your mind how it's spelled. Another good way to remember someone's name is to ask if there's a variation in the way they spell their name. For example, ask, "Is that Christy with an I or a Y?" Then, repeat what you learn to improve the chance that you will remember it. Address her by name whenever you ask her a question to help commit it to memory.

Mnemonic devices can help you recall important pieces of information. Mnemonic devices are basically a word association that helps you remember and recall information. As an example, names are hard to remember, but if you associate a new persons name with a product or character that is easy for you to remember can give you the clues you need later to figure it out.

If you'd like to give your memory a boost, make an effort to laugh more often and to regularly listen to jokes. Hearing jokes encourages you to think of potential punch lines, which activates the area of your brain responsible for learning and being creative. Start laughing, or act like a clown, to assist others with bettering their brain too.

Link bits of information together in your mind by constructing a memory chain to facilitate learning. You can link together related facts or even link relevant material with completely irrelevant material. For instance, if a chemistry student needs to memorize the periodic table symbol for lead (Pb), he can link it to panda bears for maximum recall ability. This connection is bizarre, and that makes it easy to remember.

Recovering lost memories is not possible in all cases, but it is worth a try. But by following the tips laid out in this article, you can be sure that you are always holding on to the new memories you make. Learn about how to keep your memory strong and use these tips.

Lottery

Do Lottery Systems Really Work?

There are many so called ‘lottery systems’ that claim to have more chances of predicting what lottery balls are likely to come up that say a ‘lucky dip’. But as any true statistician will tell you, there is no such thing as a formula that can work any better than you randomly selecting your own numbers for any one lottery ticket.

Of course, by buying multiple tickets for one draw certainly improves your odds against winning, but it’s hardly a formula.

Having said that, there is one true story that does make you think that maybe there is something to be said for a ‘system’.

A group of 17 university professors and tutors from Bradford University set a lottery syndicate in 1994 when the National Lottery was first launched. At first, each member used to randomly select a line of their own with the syndicate buying 17 tickets for every draw.

After years of failing to win anything other than the odd £10, the syndicate decided to come up with a formula to help improve their chances of winning.

The Formula

Playing the Lotto game where you have to correctly match 6 numbers from 1-49, the syndicate wrote out each number on a piece of paper and put them into a box.

Next, the first syndicate member pulled 6 pieces of paper out of the box. These numbers then made the first line. The six pieces of paper where then placed into a second box.

This process continued until 8 of the members had chosen their numbers using up 48 of the 49 pieces of paper. That left just one piece of paper remaining in the first box. The ninth member of the syndicate then used the remaining number in the first box to start his line, adding 5 numbers from the second box to complete his line. He then placed all 6 numbers back into the first box.

This process again continued for the next 7 lines at which point there were only two numbers left in the second box. The final member of the syndicate then used those two numbers, plus 4 more picked from the first box again, to complete the final line.

The syndicate now had 17 lines which included all of the numbers from 1 to 49 at least twice and four of the numbers three times.

Not satisfied with that, they then created a computer programme that helped then check their tickets after each draw. All they had to do was input the winning numbers and the bonus ball and the computer programme told them which if any tickets had won.

For the next four years, the syndicate continued to win the occasional £10 but on eventually it came good. On Saturday 6^thOctober 2006, they hit the jackpot winning £5,299,849 netting each member £311,755.82p each.

At the time, a spokeswoman for Camelot (operators of The National Lottery) said they were aware of the system employed by the university syndicate.

She said: “We are not overly concerned by it as everybody has a method of trying to win. However, we would say that being in a syndicate does increase your chance of a win as one in four jackpots goes to a syndicate.”

I’ll leave it up to you to decide if it was just luck or the formula that won them the jackpot. I’m off to find 16 friends to join my syndicate.

Daily Telegraph – play the lottery for free!

This is what The Daily Telegraph said about us in their article on 12th October 2011

Play the lottery without paying a penny – thanks to new cashback site

Fancy a flutter on the lottery but feel guilty about buying a ticket? A new cashback website could be the answer.

You could earn 2,000 points, enough for two lottery tickets, by placing your first online shopping order at Tesco through the new site.

The site, freenationallotterytickets.co.uk, allows users to build up cashback balances when they buy goods and services through the site. These balances, called lottery points, can then be used to buy tickets for the Lotto and Euromillions draws.

Buying a single £1 lottery ticket costs 1,000 lottery points. You could earn 2,000 points, enough for two lottery tickets, by placing your first online shopping order at Tesco through the site, for example.

Other offers on the site include 24,000 points (enough for 24 tickets) for taking out an O2 mobile broadband contract and 20,000 for joining the RAC.

Players can also buy a share of a syndicated ticket for as little as 10 points. Any winnings in this case would be shared with 99 other players.

If your ticket does win a lottery prize, you will receive it in full. However, you can’t choose your own lottery numbers. The site, which is free to join, is not connected with the National Lottery. You have to be aged 16 or over to join.

Ian Lowe, the managing director of Wincot Media, which owns the site, said: “Unfortunately we don’t have any secret magic formula for selecting our lottery ticket numbers, but it’s no secret that you have to be in it to win it, so we’re all keeping our fingers crossed that one of our members’ tickets wins them a jackpot.”

How To Manage Your Money In A Tough Economy

If you're hoping to make a big purchase in the future, consider beginning to track your finances today. This article has many useful ideas that can help you better manage your finances.

 

You should have at least three months' salary in this account. Take around ten percent of the money you make and put it in a savings account.

 

If you want to save money when eating in foreign countries, you can try eating like a local. Most likely, the restaurant in the hotel, and the restaurants located in tourist areas will be expensive, so look around and discover where the local people eat. Food that is higher in quality and lower in price can always be found.

 

The ability to save money is central to any successful personal financial plan. The importance of regularly contributing to your savings cannot be overestimated. Make setting aside a certain amount each payday toward savings just another one of your bills. You will start to accumulate money if you make paying yourself a priority.

 

Taking advantage of a sale is not a wise move if it causes you to buy a product or quantity that you do not plan to use. If you end up throwing out food because it has gone bad, you are essentially throwing out money and negating the bargains. Shop for bargains, and don't be afraid to buy 10 pounds of peanut butter if your family loves it, but use common sense.

 

Prevention is the best remedy for credit card debt. Consider the consequences in full before making any purchases on credit. Think about the length of time a particular purchase will take in order to be paid. If it will take you in excess of one month to fully pay and the item is something you can live without anyway, leave it in the store.

 

Each time you receive a check, the first thing you should do is put some of it in savings. If your intention is to just tuck away whatever dollars you still have at the back end of your pay period, your saving will never get going. Once you put the money aside, your brain tends to see it as unavailable.

 

Getting your finances in order is a great way to improve your quality of life. You should invest your capital and protect your profits. Allocating profits into capital to build a larger foundation for growth is acceptable, however, managing those profits wisely allows you to see return from your investments. Decide on a plan ahead of time regarding your profits and capital.

 

Watch for letters that tell you about changes in your credit accounts. The law says that they have to let you know 45 days ahead of time. Read the changes carefully and consider if you want to keep your account. If you decide that they are no longer worth it, pay off the account and close it down.

 

Find out if anyone in your family or amongst your friends has worked in finance, as they can give you great advice for your business. If one does not know anyone that has worked in financial services, a friend or family member who is very good with their finances may be able to offer some help.

 

As was discusses in this article, good financial management will help you save for more expensive purchases in the future. You should now be better prepared for making the best financial decisions now that you have learned the advice in this article.

 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lottery-Results-UK/278632112174400

https://plus.google.com/b/114327771125040616397/114327771125040616397/posts

Lottery Winners Facts

Every winner of a big lottery prize has a story to tell. From the stories told we have accumulated the following list of interesting lottery facts:

• The largest single Lottery prize won in the UK was £161,653,000 won in July 2011.
• The largest Lotto jackpot was £42 million won in January 1996.
• The average of the Lotto jackpot prizes paid out in both the Wednesday and Saturday draws is just over £2 million.
• More than 2,500 people have become lottery millionaires in the UK since its launch in 1994.
• Over Christmas 2011, a record 50 millionaires were created by the National Lottery’s Millionaire Raffle.
• On average, 13 new millionaires are created each month.
• If you are a builder, you are more likely to win a jackpot prize than anyone else.

Lucky Lottery Hotspots

Residents of these places have to-date had the best chance of winning a lottery jackpot:

Ilford
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Medway Towns
Romford
Teesside
Perth
Dartford
Sunderland
Bromley
Doncaster

How Winners Chose Their Numbers

Lucky Dip
Birthday dates
Ages of family & friends
Car registration plates
Door numbers of previous homes
Telephone numbers
National Insurance Numbers
Dreamt them
Picked out of a hat
Randomly selected

Unusual Places To Hide A Winning Lottery Ticket

Inside a sock
Inside a bra
Under the mattress
In a biscuit jar
In the freezer
Under the carpet
Under the floorboards
In a piggy bank
Under the PC
Behind a picture

Lucky Professions

Builders
Office workers
Management
Drivers (taxis, lorries, buses)
Catering (chefs, publicans)
Manufacturing (factory workers)
Customer services & retail
Financial sector (banks, accountancy)
Care/Social/Charity workers
IT/computing/electronics

Favourite Purchases

House
Car
Holiday home
Holiday
Jewellery
Swimming pool
Farmland/field
Football season ticket
Motorbike
Dog/cat

Favourite Cars

Mercedes
BMW
Mini
Vauxhall
Land Rover
Range Rover
Ford
Porsche
Audi
Jaguar

Favourite Holiday Destinations

USA
Caribbean
Dubai
Canada
Australia
France
Canary Islands
Spain
Far East
Portugal

Unusual Purchases

A gastric band for wife
New knee
Hair salon
Racehorse
Robin Reliant
Woodland & 300 new trees
Breast enlargement for sisters
Flock of sheep
Whiskey factory
A ‘Lady’ title

Favourite Home Features

Bar
Hot tub
Walk-in wardrobe
Electric gates
Snooker table
Games room
Home gym
Swimming pool
Home cinema
River/lake in grounds

The Best Thing About Winning

Financial security/no money worries
Looking after family friends
Giving up work
Spending more time with the family
Having choices – freedom/time to do what you want
Being able to afford luxury items
Being able to afford luxury holidays
Paying off the mortgage
Being able to help charities
Being able to put children through university

Lottery Winner At 16

Callie Rogers won almost £1.9 million in the NationalLottery at the tender age of 16. As many people would in that situation, she immediately went on a spending spree that included holidays, homes, breast implants and unfortunately drugs.

Six years later Callie was left with £20,000 and not a lot else.

Commenting on her win, she said: “I honestly wish I’d never won the lottery money – and knowing what I know now I should have just given it all back to them. I was just too young to cope with suddenly having that amount in the bank when I’d come from nothing. In the past six years I’ve sunk into a black hole – a black hole that at one point I thought I could never crawl out of. I was spending a fortune on cocaine, a nasty evil drug which tears your life apart. I’ll be honest, about £¼ million of my win has been wasted on it. Most of it wasn’t for me, it was for my ex Nicky Lawson who was addicted to it. But it was all my money that bought it. And that makes me absolutely disgusted with myself for allowing that to happen. I might as well have thrown it down the toilet.”

“I started taking coke within weeks of winning the Lottery and pretty soon I was hooked. It made me forget about all the problems in my life and at the start made me feel like everything was OK. But that didn’t last long and soon drugs made me fall into a deep, dark place. Somewhere which made me feel I didn’t want to live anymore.”

“I honestly just felt so low I thought in death I’d find a safer happier place.”

Callies drug induced depression had previously caused her to attempt suicide three times. On the last occasion in November 2008 her then drug dealer boyfriend Ryan Thompson found her at home with her wrists slashed. She claims to have not touched drugs since and is attempting to rebuild her life.

Callie went on to say; “It wasn’t like Ryan was a bad guy, unlike Nicky. He was just young and naive and had fallen in with the wrong crowd. It wasn’t anything like when I was doing cocaine with Nicky but it sent me back to that dark place where I started to feel like I was better off dead.

“I was still recovering from my on-off relationship with Nicky and mentally I wasn’t well. He was sending me up to 100 abusive texts a day. One said, ‘Why don’t you do everyone a favour and finish yourself off?’.

“It was at the end of November on Ryan’s birthday when everything just crumbled. We’d all been drinking heavily and doing cocaine. It was a Saturday night."

“A few of us went back to my house but then Ryan didn’t come home. I was calling him and calling him but he didn’t answer."

“I knew he was with another girl and I just couldn’t cope with any more disappointment in my life. The children were with my mum and dad and I just remember collapsing on the floor of my living room and sobbing. I was so wrecked on drugs and drink that most of it’s a bit of a blur."

“But I couldn’t sleep as I was so wired. And because of the cocaine I just started to get more and more anxious until the only answer was to kill myself."

“I swear it wasn’t a cry for help. I just wanted to die. I simply couldn’t take any more. So I staggered to the bathroom and took a razor blade to my wrist. Ryan later found me and thought I was dead. He was high on drugs too but with a friend managed to get me to hospital in a car."

“I was going in and out of consciousness and willing myself to die. I remember feeling angry with Ryan because I just didn’t want to be saved."

“After the hospital stitched me up a nurse said, ‘What are you going to do if we let you go?’ And I said, ‘I’ll do it again.’ But after a couple of hours they couldn’t keep me any longer so they let Ryan take me home then sent a counsellor to talk to me."

“And since then I have NOT touched any drugs and I’ve started to rebuild my life because I never ever want to feel as low as I was that day."

“I love my children to bits and know I have to sort myself out for them. But without them honestly I think I’d have killed myself a long time ago."

“The first time I ever tried coke was because of Nicky, it was barely a month after I’d won the money. Him and a friend drove me down to the docks, parked up and got out a white substance I’d never seen before. Nicky said it was cocaine and would make me feel amazing. I was so young and naive that when he said, ‘Go on, Callie, don’t be boring, it’s only a line’ I did it. Pretty soon Nicky and I were doing it all the time."

“We moved into a bungalow I bought in Flimby and it was just partying all night every night. I was so impressionable Nicky brainwashed me into doing everything he said. He used to get money from me and go and score drugs for him and all his friends."

“Nicky was blowing £500 every day on cocaine as he needed about 10 grams daily just for himself. I was never that hooked but pretty much every weekend I’d snort up to three grams."

“It was only when I fell pregnant I knew I had to give it up. And up until last November I did, because I wanted so much to be a good mum."

But it was five long years of mental torture before Callie could totally give up Nicky.

“He’s a vile, disgusting germ of a man I wish to God I’d never met. He has spent about half a million just for himself and even used to draw money out of my bank account to buy me my own Christmas and birthday presents."

“And as if the drugs and taking my money weren’t bad enough he then went and slept with my younger sister Lauren when she was just 16. Like a fool I even took him back after that. It ruined my chances with a brilliant boy called Joe who I think could have really been great for me. Nicky manipulated Lauren just like he did me so I never, ever was mad with her."

“I know what Nicky’s capable of. He lured her with drugs and ruined her life, too.”

Callie is brutally honest about how she squandered her £1.9 million.

“I won’t lie, I’ve blown most of it,” she said. “But, do you know what? I don’t care. Because all that money has brought me is heartache. Yes I enjoyed buying fast cars, holidays and clothes for the baby but honestly I’m glad it’s nearly all gone. I have the £20,000 in the bank, and that’s about it. But that’s a lot more than most 22-year-olds. Once I spent £20,000 taking 11 of the family to Disneyland Paris. And I splashed out £12,000 on two boob jobs."

“But I can’t think about it as it just depresses me and I need to move on. As long as me and the kids have enough to live comfortably then that’s enough for me. I did set up a trust fund for my son when he was born and it had £30,000 in it."

“Every penny I made from selling interviews went into that account along with his child benefit. And I never once touched it. But Nicky treated it like his own and now there’s only £15,000 left."

“For as long as I can remember I’ve suffered from depression. And there are times in my life when I just haven’t been able to cope, like the first time I tried to kill myself with a blade when I was 13."

“I think everyone thought money would help mend my lost childhood but it just made things much, much worse. Suddenly I went from having nothing to having more money than I could ever imagine, and I was only 16. Everyone all over the world was reading stories about me and I hated being in the spotlight."

“With hindsight I wish someone had taken the money off me when I won it and given it back to me when I was mature enough to handle it. But now, thanks to the counselling and my family, there are more and more times when my life is starting to feel more balanced. And when I feel myself slipping back to a dark place I’m now getting better at coping with my depression."

“I was on anti-depressants years ago but not any more. Now I just rely on my friends and family to help me through. And being a mum gives me so much joy I know I have to stay on top of things. I just want to provide them with the peaceful safe environment they deserve. They make me so proud and I want them to feel the same about me."

“Last night a representative of Lotto organisers Camelot told us: “Our team of advisors have always offered help and support to Callie and we’re still here if she ever wants to take advantage of this.”

“After Nicky slept with my sister I turned into a cold heartless cow. I lost all my trust and am so scared to fall in love in case someone abuses me like that again."

“All I want is to settle down and give the kids a stable family life, but I just don’t know if I’ll ever give my heart to another man."

“Nicky calls me a slag when I refuse to go back to him. But in all my life I’ve only had two one-night stands."

“I did meet someone a month ago but for now we’re taking it slowly as I don’t want to get hurt."

“We haven’t even had sex yet and we’re just enjoying getting to know each other."

“I just hope one day I find a man I can be happy with and who doesn’t hurt me. But I’ll never ever let myself fall for someone like Nicky again.”

I’m sure that many would like to wish you all the luck for the future Callie.

Untitled

Hull grandparents John and Susan Denston celebrate winning £3.3m on the EuroMillions lottery draw.

The couple, who have 10 grandchildren, attended a press conference held this the at Ramada Jarvis Hotel in Willerby.

Mrs Denston, who is unable to work due to ill health, said: "It does not seem real - but we are taking it in our stride."

They matched five main numbers and one Lucky Star in the EuroMillions draw on Friday 8th July 2011.

Sign up to Free National Lottery Tickets today and get your free lottery tickets

See the latest Lotto Results - See the latest EuroMillions Results

Untitled

At the time it was Britain's biggest-ever lottery prize. The winners describe how they celebrated joining the ranks of the super-rich with bacon sandwiches.

Ms Laycock, 41, said: ''It's so strange as I'd been out the night before with friends and I'd bought a ticket as well.

''We'd been talking about what we thought would happen if you won.

''I joked that the machine would explode, smoke would come out from it with ticker tape and glitter and six gold-painted Egyptian men would come out and carry me off. It was slightly different!''

The couple were so relaxed about their win they went for breakfast at the cafe in their local Waitrose while they waited for the Camelot adviser to arrive.

The couple, who live near Cirencester, Gloucestershire, have three children between them from previous relationships.

Ms Laycock said: "Camelot told us an adviser was on their way so while we waited we decided to go out and have some breakfast together as a family.

"It sounds bizarre but we just felt very calm."

Sign up to Free National Lottery Tickets today and get your free lottery tickets

See the latest Lotto Results - See the latest EuroMillions Results

£3.5m unclaimed Lotto ticket in Blackpool area

Are you from the Blackpool area? Did you buy a Lotto ticket from the Blackpool area for a Lotto draw in February? If you can say yes to either of those questions then you could be sitting on a £3.5 million Lotto tickets.

The Lotto draw made on Wednesday 29th February had a jackpot prize of £3,507,769. As of today's date no one has come forward to claim that prize. It's possible the lucky winner is just away on holiday or out of the country with work and will return soon to claim their prize. If that's not the case then if you are from the Flyde Coast area then maybe you should start hunting around for any missing Lotto tickets.

The winning numbers for the Wednesday draw on 29th February were:

13 -14 - 29 - 41 - 46 - 49  with Bonus Ball 43

The holder of the winning ticket has until 27th August 2012 in which to make their claim. If you know anyone who could be holding the lucky ticket, then perhaps you should pass this message on. You never know, if they find out they've won from you passing this on, you ,may get a share of the jackpot?

Sign up to Free National Lottery Tickets today and get your free lottery tickets

See the latest Lotto Results - See the latest EuroMillions Results 

1 in 6 Millionaire Raffle Prizes go unclaimed

As with all the National Lottery games, there is a maximum of 180 days from the date of a EuroMillions Raffle draw in which to claim a £1,000,000 prize.

Today if you visit the National Lottery ‘unclaimed prizes’ page you will see that there are 7 as yet unclaimed EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle prizes. That represents in in 6 of the draws made in the last 180 days.

The Euromillions Millionaire raffle is unique to the UK. It was introduced to justify the difference in the cost of buying a ticket in the United Kingdom as opposed to buying one in any of the other eight European countries that also take part in EuroMillions. Elsewhere in Europe it costs you 2, whereas in the UK it costs £2. With today’s exchange rate that equates to an additional 33p that we Brits pay for each ticket. Each EuroMillions ticket sold in the UK comes with a unique reference of 3 letters and 6 numbers as in the example below.

GGV970672

After each EuroMillions draw the lottery machine randomly selects one of the Millionaire raffle numbers and that is the winner of a guaranteed £1m prize.

The reason that so many prizes go unclaimed is that many players play the same numbers on their EuroMillions tickets week after week and when they see that they haven’t won, often forget to check the raffle.

Hopefully this article will help prompt a few memories.

The current crop of unclaimed £1,000,000 Millionaire Raffle prizes were bought in the following areas. Could it have been one of yours?

4^th November 2011 - South Lanarkshire

25^th November 2011 – North Ayrshire

25^th November 2011 –Wealden (District Council)

23^rd December 2011 – West Berkshire

23^rd December 2011 – Cardiff Area

10^th January 2012 – City of Leicester

17^th January 2012 - London Borough of Hackney

Read our feature on unclaimed lottery prizes

Sign up to Free National Lottery Tickets today and get your free lottery tickets

See the latest Lotto Results - See the latest EuroMillions Results

Can you imagine a 2.52 billion Euro Lottery Win!

The world's richest lottery made some cash strapped Spaniards dreams come true on Thursday when 1,800 people from a tiny town in north eastern Spain took home more than 400, 000 euros each.

Sign up to Free National Lottery Tickets today and get your free lottery tickets

See the latest Lotto Results - See the latest EuroMillions Results

Lottery syndicate cut out co-worker from big lottery win

A group of co-workers in Florida hit it big, winning $16 million. The problem? They all pool their money, but one co-worker wasn't there that day, and the group is refusing to split the winnings.

Sign up to Free National Lottery Tickets today and get your free lottery tickets

See the latest Lotto Results - See the latest EuroMillions Results

Lottery winners give £1m to veterans Charities

The Trustees of the Putnam Avenue Family Trust, the three recent Connecticut Powerball Jackpot winners, awarded their first million dollars in charitable grants to five organizations that provide support services to veterans and active duty military personnel recently returned from deployment. The organizations were selected on their proven ability to work with veterans who are in need of emotional, physical or career support.

Sign up to Free National Lottery Tickets today and get your free lottery tickets

See the latest Lotto Results - See the latest EuroMillions Results

Helped in winning a EuroMillions jackpot by his late wife

With a £26.1million lottery cheque winging its way into the bank, it was a busy few days for George Sturt.
But amid all the celebrations and plans for the future, 75-year-old Mr Sturt spoke movingly of the woman he believes is watching over him - his late wife Maureen.
Mrs Sturt died six months earlier from breast cancer but her husband and their children - Colin, 53, Gary, 51, and Teresa, 44 - are convinced she had a big part to play in helping their family syndicate scoop half of a EuroMillions jackpot.

Sign up to Free National Lottery Tickets today and get your free lottery tickets

See the latest Lotto Results - See the latest EuroMillions Results

Hear what a real-life lottery winner does with their money

Live the lottery winner life! Join TVs Jenni Falconer, the new face of the National Lottery draw show, and Sarah Cockings, National Lottery millionaire, to talk about the glitz, the glamour and the millions

Have you ever wondered what its like to be a millionaire? To jet off to an exotic location at the drop of a hat, and have the doorman at Harrods welcome you by name? To shop til you drop and never have to worry about the daily stresses of paying the mortgage and saving up for lifes luxuries ever again?

The National Lottery has helped make more than the dreams of winners come true. It has raised more than £18.6 billion for Good Causes, funding thousands of projects in every corner of the country that have also helped change lives. National Lottery Day this Saturday is our chance to celebrate this amazing difference the lottery has made tothe UK, with local events held in every region.

So what would you do if you won the jackpot? Get that fancy sports car, buy a mansion, share it with family and friends and splash some more on a huge party? Winning means some serious spending potential, so who better to advise on how to spend, spend, spend than millionaire winner Sarah Cockings, who is joined by the new face of the National Lottery Jenni Falconer

Sign up to Free National Lottery Tickets today and get your free lottery tickets

See the latest Lotto Results - See the latest EuroMillions Results 

New York man wins $168m on Lotto

James “Jimmy” Groves is no stranger to New York’s Mega Millions game. The 49-year-old grandfather of one has been buying his Quick Pick tickets for the twice weekly multi-state game since the first Mega drawing in May 2002. His loyalty paid off in 2009 as the former Madison Square Garden employeeaccepted his 50 percent share of a $336,000,000 Mega Millions jackpot from the drawing held on August 28, 2009.

“It’s a gift from God, no doubt,” said Groves who recently retired from the Garden after 18 years on the job. “I can think of 168,000,000 reasons why this was a good time to retire.”

Groves credits his $168,000,000 win on a last minute change to his ticket purchasing strategy.  “I play Mega every week and 99 percent of the time I go with the lump sum (payout option) like everybody else,” he explained. “This time I went with the annuity thinking a little change like that might bring a change of luck.”  The Lottery estimates only four percent of New York’s Mega Millions players elect to receive their jackpot prize as an annuity payout for any given Mega Millions drawing. The vast majority of players, 96 percent, choose the cash value or “lump sum” payout option.

Sign up to Free National Lottery Tickets today and get your free lottery tickets

See the latest Lotto Results - See the latest EuroMillions Results

Chris and Colin Weir, winners of the largest ever UK lottery jackpot

A couple from Largs in Ayrshire won a £161m Euromillions jackpot making them the UK's largest ever winners

Chris Weir said she and her husband Colin were "tickled pink" when they realised they had scooped the jackpot last year.

Chris Weir

"I even had a glass of white wine which is something I normally only do at Christmas!" laughed Chris.

The prize was Europe's biggest ever and was capped after a series of rollovers.

On the night of the draw Chris was checking their numbers on the BBC's Red Button digital text service about midnight on the television in their bedroom.

"I started circling the numbers I had matched but wasn't doing very well. Then on the fifth line, all the circles seemed to join up."

The telephone line run by Camelot for claims was closed. Chris and husband Colin sat up all night they were so excited.

"When we first realised we had won, it felt like a dream," Colin said. "Everything went into slow motion."

Life changing

When asked at a media conference in Falkirk what they will do with the money, Chris said: "We're not flashy people."

"The next steps are going to be the most difficult... with great wealth comes great responsibility," added Colin.

The Weirs have both had serious health conditions in recent years and have not been able to work.

Colin, 64, had previously worked as a television cameraman and Chris, 55, is a fully-trained psychiatric nurse.

The most exciting aspect of their windfall is the opportunity to travel.

"We have both always wanted to see the Great Wall of China and Colin would love to stand at the foot of Ayers Rock in Australia," said Chris.

"We also love art galleries, so this gives us the chance to visit those in Paris and in Russia. These are all things we thought we would never see."

They have also already decided to buy homes for their two children, Carly and Jamie (both in their 20s).

Sign up to Free National Lottery Tickets today and get your free lottery tickets

See the latest Lotto Results - See the latest EuroMillions Results

Meet the Scottish Couple who won £8.5 million on Lotto

This Scottish couple won £8.5m on the National Lottery back in 2005. This is their story.

Alec and Sandra Fraser, of Loanhead, Midlothian, bought the golden ticket at the local Scotmid store.
Mr Fraser used to live in the town's Paradykes Avenue with his parents.
By coincidence, family friends Catherine and John Peacock won £1.4m on the lottery while living in the same street in 2003.
The Peacocks presented Hibs fans Mr and Mrs Fraser with their cheque at the football club's Easter Road ground.
If you can imagine the sight, there were two overweight adults jumpng about the living room

Alex Fraser

Mr Fraser said he found out he had hit the jackpot on Sunday morning after checking his lottery numbers on television. "I went for a cigarette and the lottery tickets were underneath the packet and I said 'oh yes, the lottery, I'd better check it'," he said.

'Heart pumping'

"I got Teletext on, I'd £10 worth, so I was checking one and Sandra checked the other.
"I threw mine in the bin, no winners, but Sandra said she had four numbers, which I said was good."
Mr Fraser said he took the ticket and checked the numbers on television.
"The old heart started pumping a bit," he went on.
"I got the glasses on, I lifted it up again, checked it again and, if you can imagine the sight, there were two overweight adults jumping about the living room.
"It was absolutely fantastic."
Mr Fraser said he intended to give up his job as a driver but would continue to help out on a voluntary basis.
The lifelong Hibs fan said he would consider buying a box at Easter Road and planned to buy a new house, a new car and then "play it by ear".
But he revealed he would not buy another lottery ticket.

Sign up to Free National Lottery Tickets today and get your free lottery tickets

See the latest Lotto Results - See the latest EuroMillions Results

£101m EuroMillions winner - Dave Dawes

A couple who scooped over £101 million in the EuroMillions draw had only played twice before, they revealed today.

It really was third time lucky for Dave Dawes, 47, a shift supervisor for Premier Foods, and Angela Dawes, 43, a volunteer for the British Heart Foundation, when they hit the jackpot last Friday.

The couple, from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, also became the third biggest lottery winners in the UK.
Mr Dawes described today how they discovered their win.

He said: "We were watching TV and the EuroMillions draw show came on so we kept watching, not thinking we would win anything.

"We got our tickets out and watched in shock as, one by one, the numbers came up on the line I'd chosen.

"We couldn't believe it! It was too late to call Camelot so I kept the ticket on me all night until the morning but we didn't sleep a wink."

Sign up to Free National Lottery Tickets today and get your free lottery tickets

See the latest Lotto Results - See the latest EuroMillions Results

Lottery stories to make you glad you haven’t won a jackpot.

Most of us have daydreamed about what we would do if we won the lottery, but in real life, it doesn’t always work out.

I Threw Away £100,000!

In April 2010 Mail driver Cemal Celikkanat, 38, made the headlines when it emerged that he had thrown away a £100,000 winning scratch card. He’d scratched off the cover but not understood the rules. Thinking the three £100,000 symbols on his national Lottery Blue Card had to be all in a row and not just anywhere, Cemal simply threw his scratchcard away.

Ironically, he only discovered his mistake because a work colleague asked him to collect the £25 winnings she had on another Blue scratchcard. Upon discovering his mistake Cemal rushed to the shop where he had bought and disposed of his ticket to see if he could retrieve it. Unfortunately, the bin had been emptied the night before and the contents had already been taken to the local incinerator.

As the National Lottery operators rules clearly state that they will only pay out when winning scratchcards are produced, there was little Cemal could do.

Celikkanat told his local newspaper the Sheffield Star: “I threw away £100,000. I feel so terrible, I think about it every day. It’s had a massive impact on my life.” As I think it would with anyone’s life.

We hope you win again Cemal, but this time collect your winnings.

€10,000 In-flight Meal

One of the most bizarre lottery stories has to be the one about an un-named Ryan Air passenger.

On a Ryan Air flight to East Midlands Airport from Krakow in Poland, a gentlemen won €10,000 on a scratchcard he purchased on the flight from one of the cabin crew.

However, his excitement at winning soon turned to frustration when he discovered that he would have to claim his win directly from Camelot as understandably the Ryan Air crew didn’t have enough cash to payout his winnings.

The man didn’t seem to understand this and became more and more annoyed. Eventually, despite the attempts of fellow passengers and the Ryan Air crew to placate the man, out of sheer frustration the man ate his ticket.

No wonder he decided to remain un-named.

Winning The Lottery Was The Worst Thing That Ever happened To Me!

In Keith Gough’s case, the reality of winning a lottery jackpot was certainly nothing like he had imagined it would be.

Back in 2005 Keith, then a 58 year old baker won £9 million. He later told newspapers that his lottery win had completely ruined his life.

He had blown most of his winnings, lost his wife of 25 years and fallen out with all his friends.

Keith claimed that boredom had driven him to drink which he blames for his woes. Boredom brought on because he gave up his job after winning.

He was also duped out of £700,000 by James Prince, a conman who persuaded him to invest in bogus business schemes. This came as a result of his drinking as he met Mr Prince whilst being treated for alcohol dependency at the renowned Priory rehabilitation clinic in Birmingham.

Prince was subsequently arrested, tried and jailed for 3 years for fraud but Keith Gough never got his money back.

Keith died in March 2010 after a heart attack brought on by drink and stress.

Keith’s story is testament to the saying ‘money can buy you everything except happiness’.

What type of lottery winner would you be?

Lottery winners are defined by their initial reaction to discovering that they have won a lottery jackpot.

They either seek publicity or shun publicity. Often, the decision isn’t a conscious one. If you happen to be in a public place when you discover that you’ve won, your instinctive reaction may such that before you know it everyone around you knows you’ve won and you haven’t even considered whether you’d like publicity or not. That in itself may not lead to the type of publicity you could get if you agreed with The National Lottery operators Camelot that you wanted to ‘go public’, but a call to a local newspaper by a witness to your reaction could spark off quite a media scrum.

Those who actively seek out privacy will sometimes not even tell their closest friends or family. Fear of becoming known only as ‘that person who won the lottery’ is often the reason for this type of reaction.

On the other hand, some people yearn for the publicity, although if they still feel that way after their lives have been turned upside down and their actions scrutinised by everyone is unsure.

In 1995 Mark Gardiner from Hastings won a half share of £22.m million in the National Lottery. His story isn’t untypical and would make anyone think twice about going public. How Winning The Lottery Ruined My Life

Back in 2003, Callie Rogers scooped a £1.9m Lotto jackpot aged just 16. Read how she ended up penniless just six years later. Lottery Winner At 16

Some lottery winners stories take a bit of believing, particularly the two told in this article where neither winner actually got to collect their prizes. Lottery Winners Stories

What chances do I have of winning a Lotto jackpot?

Did you ever wonder what the odds of winning any one of the prizes in the UK National Lottery are? Or what your chances are of winning a jackpot? Well now you can find out and work out for yourself if buying lottery tickets is worthwhile.

What Are The Odds Of Winning The Lotto Jackpot?

To win a jackpot prize in the National Lottery (Lotto) you must correctly predict all six winning numbers. Here we can calculate the chance of this happening.

The numbers you have to select from for the National Lottery Lotto game are 1 to 49. So, for the first winning number there are 49 balls that have an equal chance of being selected. On your Lotto ticket you have picked 6 numbers - the first ball drawn by the National Lottery machine, just has to match one of your chosen numbers as the order in which they are selected doesn’t matter. The chances of the first ball being drawn matching any of the 6 numbers on your ticket is therefore 49 divided by 6.

For the second drawn number, there are now only a maximum of 48 balls to select from and you have 5 numbers remaining unmatched numbers on your Lotto ticket. The chances of the second drawn ball matching your Lotto ticket is therefore 48 divided by 5.

For the third winning number you are left with just 47 balls and 4 selections to match it with. This gives you chances of 47 divided by 4. , and so on up to the sixth and final winning number when there are a only 44 balls remaining and only one unmatched number left on your ticket.

If you multiply all of these numbers together, you get:

49/6 x 48/5 x 47/4 x 46/3 x 45/2 x 44/1 = 13,983,816 (just under 14 million)

So the chances of you winning the UK National Lottery (Lotto) Jackpot if you only buy oneLotto ticket for a particular draw is approximately 1 in 14,000,000.

See the latest Lotto Results

What Are The Odds Of Winning Any Of The Other Prizes?

With five tiers of prizes in the Lotto game, you do not have to win the jackpot to receive a cash prize - matching 3 numbers, 4 numbers, 5 numbers or 5 numbers plus the bonus ball,  would result in you winning a prize. The following are the odds of winning one of the lower tier prizes in the UK National Lottery Lotto game:

Matching Three Numbers:

Here is the calculation for working out the chance of matching any 3 numbers from the 6 drawn. To calculate these odds we first work out the following:

• The chances of matching the first drawn number: 49 divided by 6  (49 possible balls, divided by 6 chances)
• The chances of matching the second drawn number: 48 divided by 5 (48 possible balls, divided by 5 chances)
• The chances of matching the third drawn number: 47 divided by 4 (47 possible balls, divided by 4 chances)
• The chance of not matching the fourth drawn number: 46 divided by 43 (45 possible balls, divided by the remaining 42 balls that do not match the selection on your ticket)
• The chance of not matching the fifth drawn number: 45 divided by 42 (45 possible balls, divided by the remaining 42 balls that do not match the selection on your ticket)
• The chance of not matching the sixth number drawn: 44/41 (44 possible balls, divided by the remaining 41 balls that do not match the selection on your ticket)

If we multiply all these together, this is what we get:

49/6 x 48/5 x 47/4 x 46/43 x 45/42 x 44/41 = 1133.119

Depending on the order in which you matched the balls, you have 20 different ways of matching exactly 3 balls. You could match the first second and third balls as in the example shown above, or you could match the third fifth and sixth balls, or any other combination across all 6.

So this is the calculation for working out the odds of matching exactly three numbers:

1133.119/20 (chance of matching 3 balls divided 20 by the number of possible combinations) = 56.65593

This then gives you odds of winning a Lotto prize for matching just three numbers as approximately 1 in 57.

Matching Four Numbers:

Calculating the chances of matching 4 numbers is not dissimilar to the way we worked out the odds of matching 3 numbers, the only difference being that this time we first take the odds of matching 4 numbers and the odds of not matching two numbers. This is how it looks:

49/6 x 48/5 x 47/4 x 46/3 x 45/43 x 44/42 = 15,485.95

As the total number of combinations possible for matching 4 numbers is 15, We now have to divide this by 15 to get the exact odds:

15,485.95/15 = 1032.397

Therefore your odds of winning a Lotto prize for matching four numbers is approximately 1 in 1032

Matching Five Numbers:

To calculate the chances of matching exactly five numbers is marginally different, because at this point you need to take into account the bonus ball - if you were to also match the bonus ball you would win an even bigger cash prize. To do this we have to multiply the chances of matching five drawn numbers by the chances of not matching the final number or indeed the bonus ball (43/42 - 43 remaining undrawn balls divided by the remaining 42 balls that do not match those on your ticket):

49/6 x 48/5 x 47/4 x 46/3 x 45/2 x 44/43 x 43/42 = 332948

You then have to divided by the number of possible combinations which is six:

332948/6 = 55491.33

Giving you odds of winning a prize for matching 5 Lotto numbers of approximately 1 in 55,491.

Matching Five Numbers plus the Bonus Ball:

To work out the chances of matching five numbers and the bonus ball, we can use the calculation we used for matching five numbers but we change the bonus ball part. Now we are looking at the chances of matching five of the drawn numbers multiplied by the chances of not matching the sixth and final number multiplied by the chances of matching the bonus ball (43/1 - 43 remaining balls and only one last remaining chance):

49/6 x 48/5 x 47/4 x 46/3 x 45/2 x 44/43 x 43/1 = 13,983,816

Divided that by the number of possible combinations which is six, the same as matching only 5 balls:

13,983,816/6 = 2,330,636

This gives your odds of winning a Lotto prize for matching 5 numbers + the bonus ball as 1 in 2,330,636.

Matching All Six Numbers For The Jackpot:

As shown at the start, these are 1 in 13,983,816

So What Are The Odds Of Winning One Of The Prizes?

Using these calculations we can also work out the chances of winning any prize in the National Lottery lotto game - approximately 1 in 53.7. In other words, if you were to buy 1 ticket for 57 consecutive Lotto draws, the likely hood is that you will win a prize once out of those 57 attempts. That doesn’t sound too bad until you realise that when you do win, it will probably only be £10 for matching 3 balls.

Don’t let this put you off through. Read our article on lottery syndicates and find out how you can slash those odds without spending any more money.

Alternatively, join the 1,000’s signing up to Free National Lottery Tickets to get Free Lotto and EuroMillions tickets for all the draws!

Sign up to Free National Lottery Tickets today and get your free lottery tickets

See the latest Lotto Results - See the latest EuroMillions Results

A month’s worth of free lottery tickets for 10 minutes of your time

If you’ve got ten minutes to spare and would like to get yourself a month’s worth of free Lotto and EuroMillions tickets then you should read on.

Firstly, this is a genuine opportunity. Secondly, this really won’t cost you anything other than a bit of time. Here’s how you can do it.

1. If you like watching films then you’ll like this. Netflix have recently launched their TV and film online streaming service in the UK. As part of their launch they have a great FREE TRIAL offer available. All you have to do is sign up and you’ll get a 30 day trial with 5 hours of uninterrupted films or TV shows to watch. If after the trial you’d like to continue with the service, it will cost you £5.99 a month, you will then be able to instantly watch unlimited films and TV episodes streamed over the internet to PS3, Wii, Xbox, PC, Mac, iPad, Apple TV and more!
2. Ever wondered what your credit rating was? Well sign up to Quick Credit Score’s 10 day free trial with no commitment to continue your subscription and you’ll find out how credit-worthy you are with instant and unlimited direct access to your Credit Report and Score. Stay protected with 24/7 Identity Alerts of suspicious activity on your credit file provided by Callcredit. Rest easy with Identity Recovery Assistance should you ever become a victim of ID theft.
3. Ever wanted to get your opinion heard? Well now’s your opportunity. Toluna is an interactive, modern site where your opinion is sought and paid for. If you want to influence today's products and services. They allow you to test the latest products and in most cases, you get to keep them after your testing is complete! Registration is free and easy

So how does doing any of that get me a month’s worth of free lottery tickets I hear you say? Well, the answer is to do them as a member of Free National Lottery tickets. By joining Free National Lottery Tickets and taking up those three offers through their links, you’ll receive 15,000 lottery points which you can convert into Lotto and EuroMillions tickets of your choice.

Don’t delay, join the thousands of other UK residents 16 and over who have already joined and who are getting free lottery tickets for the Lotto and EuroMillions draws every week!

Sign up to Free National Lottery Tickets today and get your free lottery tickets

See the latest Lotto Results - See the latest EuroMillions Results