Euro Millions

I've done the lottery for years because I think their good causes are worth it. I have daydreamed about winning 'the big one' and have a definite list of friends and family I'd like to help but also there are certain charities I'd certainly give to. I have often thought I'd like to set up a fund for Noel Fitzpatrick Referrals so that those people who love their animals but can't afford the enormous costs involved in the work he does could also benefit.

I would love a big win but never go public. There is so much good you can do and DH and I would be very happy to give it all away.

Don’t do the national lottery anymore but do Macmillan and Veterans lotteries instead. The amount you can win isn’t too huge to worry about and I like that I know the charities it supports.

I thought they won £114.9 million!

I think that amount of money is obscene, and unnecessary.
No one needs that much.

The lottery should divide it up into smaller amounts.
Even after donating to charities and helping family and friends, it too too much money for any one person.

I don't really think anyone who suddenly finds themselves in receipt of such huge sums of money could realistically not "go public" even if they don't choose publicity.

I know when I win big (I am always positive ), immediately DH and I would have new(er) cars, we'd both give up our jobs, would have work done to the house, our children would have homes purchased outright etc.

It wouldn't take a Mensa genius to put two and two together and work out that we'd suddenly come into some serious money, even if they didn't know the exact amount.

I agree with Watermeadow,i think these gigantic wins are all wrong, most people would be happy to win 1 million
Huge amounts like this could be shared out amongst so many others who would be pleased to help their families and could still give some to charities
It would encourage more people to play the lottery,i am sure,
I also think they have made a big mistake in stopping the raffle

They have 50 friends they will share some with. The 51 friend is going to hate them. Sadly this 51st often ends up doing more to spoil their lives than anything else.

In these circumstances it is impossible to hide the sudden accession of wealth, but I would never go for publicity. The last thing you want is the world to know. Enough will find out as it is.

Personally if I won this much money I would immediately place £100 million into a charitable foundation with clear rules over what types of cause the foundation would support. All appeals for support could then be directed or handed over to the trustees of the fund and dealt with appropriately. The balance of the win would be quite sufficient to meet any of my unmet needs and help family and close friends, without anyone thinking that there are endless funds to meet their every wish. No trustifarians in the family, they would all need to keep working.

It was £114.9m, not £14.9m.

Good luck to them both hope it changes their lives in a nice way so that they never have to worry about paying bills again. It's nice to hear their good intentions. Well done and deserved.

lets hope she can keep her strength and good humour. She has a good husband and good family but we do all know of the risks of the public thing...so my pennorth would be that they hired a team of people that protected them from the immense pouring of begging letters and need so they can concentrate on what and to whom they wish to give. They really do need to be shielded on the level of top celebs and royalty and speed is of the essence. Such a wonderful couple it is very warming so here's wishing them some peace because the demands will be superhuman. I hope the lottery people help enable this fast because the couple has done loads for the lottery company by going public . She's a strong woman may she stay that way.

One million would be enough for me - I don't want a sports car, a yacht, helicopter, private plane or a country estate, nor even a designer handbag. However, they have much more at their disposal to help others.
As a worrier, going public is something I wouldn't want to do but how do you help others anonymously?
As a cynic I feel that Camelot surely must put some pressure on winners to go public as it's such good publicity for them. They added more numbers, doubled the ticket price and sales went down which is hardly surprising to anyone with a brain.

Aren’t the lottery companies supposed to use some of the proceeds for charitable purposes such as projects for the community.

Ot sure about that Water as many big winners do give many charities a great deal of money, also to their hometown, money to refurbish all kinds of buildings and projects for their communities.If people only won a million
(One nice barn conversion where I live)! Then nobody but themselves and family would benefit at all.

I think these gigantic wins are absolutely immoral and make me despair of this wicked stupid world.
I don’t gamble but think the winnings should be capped at, say, £1 million. It would change so many more lives if there were more prizes of a lesser amount.

I would never go public about a win of this size, not an issue because I do not buy Lotto tickets. I decided right at the start that the chances of winning are so low as to be not worth the effort. I bought premium bonds instead and I seem to be fairly lucky winning something every month.

I'd be another publicity-shy winner, but I don't think these winners realistically had a choice. If they began sharing generous amounts with a wide circle of family and friends it wouldn't be long before someone put 2 and 2 together! Better to do it in a managed way than be 'exposed' at a time not of their choosing.

NI is still a close-knit place, so I would think they've made the right choice. As others have said, what immense fun to be able to help charities and people in need.

I would love to win millions but would probably not go for the publicity as I would certainly not enjoy that. Think of all the good that can be done for people and causes that are close to my heart. I would take great pleasure in sharing out the money and knowing I had made a difference.

I wish them luck, too, but doubt the wisdom of going public - there's a lot of strange people out there. They may find themselves with 'friends' and 'family' they didn't realise they had!!!

I agree GG13 I would have kept it very quiet.
They do seem a nice couple, and no doubt will give lots of it away to charities, so many people will benefit.

Well, their life style is going to change dramatically, and they say they have a list so far of 50 family and friends they're going to give money to. The probability is that the secret would be out before too long anyway.

I am happy for their good fortune, but cannot understand why they have gone public.

It's lovely but personally I would never go public.

I’ve stopped doing lotto since they got rid of the lotto raffle, now just do euromillions and keep my fingers crossed for the premium bonds. Won 3 lots of £25 on the premium bonds this month so that’s a good start to the new year.

I was quite envious to hear someone had scooped the jackpot, thinking how life would change for me and my loved ones if money was no object. However, I have learnt over the years that 'enough is as good as a feast' and we get by and count ourselves lucky.

I'll keep on having a small flutter each week. The national lottery sums are used for good causes so I don't see my stake as money down the drain.