1.      You cannot win a lottery unless you have entered it by either buying a ticket or joining a syndicate. In either case you will certainly know you have entered it.

2.      No lottery organization contacts winners. Winners in the UK lottery draw take their ticket to a retailer to start the claim procedure. Of course, if you have won as part of a syndicate then the person who runs the syndicate will advise you.

3.      In any case you do not have to provide identification to claim a prize. Holding the ticket is sufficient.

4.      There is no fee to pay before you receive your winnings.

5.      You can always check with the British National Lottery direct by finding their details online. Do not use the details provided on the email, letter or on the telephone.

The Metropolitan Police in London have an excellent resource but there are a several good websites which can offer good advice on what should be done when you receive such correspondence but by far the best action is to delete the email, destroy the letter or put the phone down. Go no further.

If you want to know more about playing or earning money from the lottery, please visit UK lottery draw.

The Ulster Aviation Society has undertaken the restoration of an English Electric Canberra PR9. The intention is to bring this Belfast-built aircraft to a condition when it can be the subject of guided tours, illustrated talks and even an educational DVD to keep this important part of the history of Northern Ireland alive.

The Society already has a fascinating collection of eleven aircraft at their Long Kesh hangar and of course financing is always a challenge. The Canberra project managed to receive a £50 000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to continue.

The Heritage Lottery Fund is one of the bodies distributing the funds from the British National Lottery and is charged with contributing to historical and cultural projects. It was created in 1994 and since that time it has financed over 33 900 projects across Britain and has distributed £4.4 billion.

The Faughan Valley is an area of some 100km between the Sperrin Mountains and the city of Londonderry. The landscape is a stretch of ancient woodland in a beautiful river valley. The Heritage Lottery Fund is looking to give up to £1.2 million to a partnership between The Woodland Trust, Derry City Council and The Rural Area Partnership In Derry (RAPID) to restore woodland habitats and include local people. Projects will include woodland visits, Heritage Weeks, rural crafts training and walking festivals.

Brian Poots of the Woodland Trust said, “We are absolutely delighted to receive the backing of the Heritage Lottery fund. With our collective efforts, we can make a positive and lasting contribution to the beautiful Faughan valley; it’s good news for the landscape, for wildlife and for people.”

The Heritage Lottery Fund does use British National Lottery funds for some great causes. It is particularly good news therefore to hear that the income from the UK lottery draw is increasing and as a result the Heritage Lottery Funds budget has just benefited to the tune of an extra £25 million a year. This brings the money they have available to £205 million each year.

Clearly the money raised by the UK lottery draw has been put to great use by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the increase in funding just announced will mean more museums, libraries, historical buildings and conservation projects will benefit over the years to come. In every weeks lottery draw the whole country wins.

If you would like to find out more about the lottery and how to make money from it, please come to UK lottery draw.

Kevin Halstead from Lancashire won £2.3 million on the UK lottery draw recently

but has decided to stay driving the same bus he has been for the last seventeen years.

He said, “I don’t want to pack my job in. I asked my boss for time off, a month maybe

two, but I don’t want to cut myself off from my friends and I really enjoy my job.”

Kevin will also buy a pony for his daughter and may move back into the village of

Eccleston where he was born but is happy with his Renault Laguna car he recently

bought.

Most of us dream of winning the British National Lottery but what are the odds of

winning a jackpot like Kevin Halstead?

The chances of winning the top prize has been estimated as 1 in 13 983 816, which

are about the same odds as an individual becoming an astronaut. You are more likely

to be struck by lightning (I in 2.32 million). In 1999, mathematician Bill Hartson

calculated that a smart consortium could buy £100 000 of tickets each time the

jackpot rolled, would have a 1 in 14 chance of winning the jackpot and end up in

profit.

The jackpot is only one of the prizes, of course. It has been calculated that an average

on one million players win some prize in each weeks draw. To win the jackpot you

have to match all six numbers drawn from the range 1 and 49 but you can win lower

amounts with five, four or even three numbers matched. Typical values won in these

lower levels tend to range from £100 000 to £10 and the chances of winning drop

from around 1 in 2.3 million to 1 in 56.7. Indeed, the probability of winning any prize

is approximately 1 in 54.

A more efficient way to play would be through a lottery syndicate. In such a

syndicate, the money won by any member is distributed amongst the group. This of

course improves the chances of any one player receiving some return on his stake. It

is estimated that syndicates win one in four of the jackpots.

There are several schemes available to improve your chances of winning something,

but perhaps the most attractive is the Elottery programme. The reasons for this are

largely mathematical but for five pounds a week you are given forty-four entries into

both the weekly draws (on Wednesday and Saturday) as part of a syndicate of forty-nine

players, although any empty places are covered by Virtual World Direct, the parent company, to ensure no member loses out. The syndicate actually only selects

five main numbers and then enters these numbers forty-four times into the British

National Lottery. The sixth number is selected from the remaining forty-four numbers

in order and is added to the five already chosen. The odds of winning a prize thus

drops to 1 in 13 (an increase of 702%).

The UK lottery draw is just that: a lottery. There are ways to improve your chances of

winning a prize however and joining a syndicate certainly seems to do just that. In

On 14 August 2010, Wilton House near Salisbury will reverberate to the sound of a

range of the world’s most exotic automobiles. Jay Broom (known as Jakaybi) and the

Earl of Pembroke are organising the second Supercar Day in aid of charity. In excess

of one hundred invited supercars will line up on the lawns of the house.

Many of the members of the public who will come to look at and listen to these

beautiful pieces of engineering will undoubtedly dream of owning such vehicles

themselves. Many will rely on winning a lottery to do so.

Of course how you react to winning a lottery depends on your background. Recently

Anthony Castro won $250 000 in the Idaho state lottery. At the age of 19 he was shot

in the head in New York, moved to Idaho after the September 11 attacks and lived

from a homeless shelter for a time. He then got married, had children and then

divorced. He said, "After so much turmoil in my life, and loss of my mother a year

ago, this is truly a blessing for me. My dreams, everyone's dreams, are coming true."

Perhaps it’s not surprising therefore that he has donated some of the jackpot to his

church, set up a trust fund for his daughter and invested the rest.

On the other hand, recent record European lottery winners, Nigel Page and Justine

Laycock knew what to do with their substantial winnings. They have bought a four

million pound mansion in the country and have gifted their four bedroomed house and

a new car to Denise Kelso, the cleaner who kept their house spotless for years. Denise

now cleans Nigel and Justine new house.

Then again you have Jennifer Southall of Newport in Gwent. A cinema supervisor,

Jennifer won £8 million in the British National Lottery and is determined to enjoy the

experience. She has already given up her job, will give up her council house in favour

of a big house with a swimming pool, driving lessons, a “pretty red car,” and a few

luxury holiday for her and her family (once they have applied for passports).

The impact on her life was immediate. Ms Southall said, “When I went to have my

ticket checked, Camelot gave me a bottle of champagne to help me celebrate, but I

just went home and ordered a pizza." The next day she and her mother went shopping

and spent £1500. But do not think the money has entirely changed her thinking: "I

still haven't opened the champagne - I have never tasted real champagne in my life,"

Ms Southall noted.

Most winners of the UK lottery draw take advice and are fairly conservative with their

money but many still have at least one extravagance they want to satisfy. One of the

advantages of playing the British National Lottery is it gives you the opportunity to

dream, to think about what you want out of life. Perhaps if you are lucky enough to be

at Wilton House on 14 August you might allow yourself a little fantasy. Who knows if

it might not come true?

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

In Beijing in 2008, Rebecca Adlington won two Olympic swimming gold medals: the

first British woman to win an Olympic swimming title for twenty years. Ironically, in

the 800 metres even she also beat a twenty-year old record time.

Rebecca is obviously looking towards the London Olympics of 2012 and believes that

the funding she has received from the UK lottery draw has been key in her success.

The money given to her has allowed her access to world class coaching, training and

medical support.

Out of every pound spent in the UK lottery draw, 28 pence goes to good causes. Five

pence of that is used to finance the London Olympics.

The government have set up a body to oversee the distribution of these funds. The

Olympic Lottery Distributor will have an income of £1835 million from the UK

lottery draw from which it will support the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

In preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the British National Lottery invested

£265 million in the World Class Pathway. This supported athletes and resulted in a

haul of over 140 medals for those in the scheme. In the same way, those preparing to

compete in 2012 will also get lottery support.

£2.2 billion of British National Lottery funds will help create the facilities to host the

Games. This will also provide a long-lasting legacy for the people of London and,

indeed, the UK. The money invested in the Olympics will not be lost, however. The

government announced that the land used for the Olympics will be sold and some of

the profits will be paid back to the UK lottery fund.

The Olympic village, partly financed by the UK lottery draw, will house 17 000

athletes and officials during the Games and more than 6000 people during the

Paralympic Games. The Village will then contribute to the regeneration of Stratford

City after the Games. It will provide some 4000 new homes, office buildings, leisure

facilities and a new shopping complex.

There are other related projects, which the Lottery is also funding. For example

Unlimited is an initiative which provides art and sports opportunities for disabled

people and the lottery fund has donated £3 million to ensure it works as part of the

London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

The London Olympics in 2012 are clearly an expensive undertaking so funding from

the UK lottery draw is clearly welcome. Indeed, Rebecca Adlington has used an

On February 12 2010 entries will close for the UK National Lottery Awards. This

scheme searches for the country's more popular project financed from the lottery fund

and highlights an area of the UK lottery draw that tends to be largely overlooked. The

awards were launched by television personality Sally Lindsey at the London

Transport Museum in the company of volunteers from the Women's Royal Voluntary

Service. This was significant as both the museum and the WRVS have benefited from

grants from the British national lottery fund.

Every week, hopeful lottery players bemoan their lack of success in the UK lottery

draw and yet there are many people who win every week - the charities and good

causes.

Since the lottery was launched in 1994, £24 billion has been raised for projects across

the country. That means the lottery players raise £25 million every week for diverse

areas of need. Each entry into the draw gives 28 pence to charity.

St Davids cathedral in Pembrokeshire was built on the site of a previous church in

1181. It has suffered an earthquake, vandalism by soldiers and constant erosion by the

weather. Clearly it has had a long battle for survival. Things were made a little easier

recently, however, by a grant from the National Lottery, which enabled the south

cloister and north porch to be rebuilt.

Rowan Gate Primary School in Northamptonshire received £ 50 000 from the lottery,

this time via an ITV network television programme, 'The People's Millions.' The

money is being used to update the school's physiotherapy pool and make it more

accessible for the disabled.

The UK lottery draw also funded a series of projects in recognition of the role played

by servicemen in the Second World War. The Heroes Return scheme gave £17

million to enable veterans to return to the places in which they fought, including 58

Royal Navy veterans who visited Singapore and Penang.

But this project goes further. Home Front Recall provided grants of between £500 and

£20 000 for schemes that commemorated the events and people of the Second World

War. Also the Their Past Your Future project provides school children with

opportunities to study the war and meet the veterans.

In the 15 years the UK lottery draw has been in existence, it has made a major impact

on many areas of British society. Twenty eight percent of the grants have been

injected into the most deprived areas of the country with great results. Although it can

be too easy to see the lottery purely in terms of the winning and losing of money,

The economic situation around the world is still uncertain so it would hardly seem to be the time to be starting a business. However, in times like these some businesses tend to do better as those with bills to pay consider other options.

Curiously, lotteries can represent a reasonable investment of time and money if approached in the right way. There is a vast market of people who, not confident enough in their abilities, are prepared to play a lottery every week. In the UK 70% of the population already play regularly.

Of course, a lottery is still a lottery (you are more likely to be hit by lightning than win the jackpot) but, if you join a syndicate, the odds are reduced substantially.

Sure, you are still unlikely to win the big one but the point of a syndicate is you are much more likely to win something regularly from the smaller prizes. With the rocky state of the economy, investing in lotteries actually begins to look as attractive as stock market investing.

Perhaps the most enticing lottery syndicate group at present is the Elottery business. Started in 2002 by Tom Brodie and Len Fitzgerald, Elottery plays the UK lottery draw, the European lottery and others and now covers 127 different countries around the world.

Joining the Elottery syndicates and business is attractive for seven reasons:

1.      The model uses a mathematical system employing syndicates of 49 members, which improves the chances of winning a prize in the lottery by an astonishing 733% in the UK lottery draw and 3600% in the Euro millions.

2.      It covers not only the UK Lottery draw and the European lottery but the Spanish Superdraw and the El Gordo scheme too.

3.      Once you build a syndicate of players you earn a commission every time a member plays the lottery. This means you can build a regular ongoing income.

4.      Full support is given by the company including payment processing, marketing support online, promotional material, customer support and email marketing campaigns - all handled for you.

5.      Full training is also provided on the website and personal support and regular online and offline conferences also available. Bear in mind a good business can be successfully built offline as well as online.

6.      There are other unexpected benefits to be found too. There is a ‘Grab-A-Grand’ draw for £1000 twice a week. The interesting twist to this is the person who introduced the winner also gets £1000. Also activities within the business earn ‘Golden Ticket’ points leading to regular draws for several valuable prizes and an annual draw for a new car. As the business grows these prizes are likely to grow.

7.      The business is free to join..

On Friday 6 November 2009, Les Scadding and his wife Samantha won £45 million on the lottery: half of the £90 million jackpot (the other winner also resides in the UK). They were just the latest winners of the European lottery named Euro millions.

A European lottery was considered back in the 1990s but disagreements means it did not appear until 7 February 2004. However, it has since been a success with weekly ticket sales approaching 100 million euros. Total sales now total many billions of euros.

That first draw was operated by Francaise des Jeux in France, the Loterías y Apuestas del Estado in Spain and in the United Kingdom, Camelot run it alongside the UK lottery draw. In October 2004, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland joined to make it a truly European lottery.

The draw regularly ‘rolls over’ (the jackpot is not won so is added to that of the next week) and creates more excitement as the jackpot increases. The rules of the draw state that Euro millions cannot roll over more than eleven times so the twelfth week must produce a winner. Normally the winners of the European lottery need to match five balls and two lucky stars but with the rollover rule it is possible to win the jackpot on the twelfth week with five balls and one lucky star.

The euro lottery results show the largest payout was in July 2005 to a lady in Ireland who received 115 million euros after the jackpot rolled over nine times. The second highest was scooped by a gentleman in Belgium who took home 100 million euros in February 2007.

The draws are held on Friday night in Paris and tickets cost two euros or two GB pounds (Ireland and Portugal also play a ‘plus’ option that costs three euros).

As from 7 November 2009, the UK lottery draw authorities introduced the Millionaire Raffle Game to run alongside the European lottery, which produces an extra millionaire every week.

All jackpots vary according to the contribution of the country concerned and are tax-free (except in Switzerland).

Euro millions, then, is very much a European lottery.

If you want to find out more about how you can get more from the lotteries, please visit UK lottery draw.

How To Play The UK Lottery Draw

The people of Britain seem to have gone wild over the UK Lottery draw. Over 70% of the population play every week and on average 4 million people win prizes. The national lottery numbers are drawn twice a week on Wednesday and Saturday and over £32 billion has been paid out in prizes since its launch in 1994. To win the jackpot you must match all six numbers but smaller prizes are given out for three numbers or more.

To participate in the UK lottery draw, every player must purchase a ticket. The usual way is to buy tickets at one of the 27 500 authorized distributor retail outlets where instant win scratch cards are also available. You choose your numbers and the shop assistant enters the details in a special terminal, which then produces a ticket listing the numbers chosen. The ticket has the details of the numbers and dates and a bar code serial number.

With the development of technology, it is now possible to play the British national lottery online as well. You simply go to the website and enter your selected numbers (and pay, of course). You receive a ticket by email, which can be printed off. This method is quite reliable and as acceptable as the offline method as long as you use the official site where, once again, instant win options are available.

If like me you are not good at picking lottery numbers, you can take the option of ‘Lucky Dip’ where your six numbers are randomly selected by the computer. You can use the same set of numbers for every week’s draw.

The winning national lottery numbers are widely publicized; the BBC indeed shows the draw live. If you should pick the winning national lottery numbers, you write your name and address on the back of the ticket and present it to a British national lottery retailer.

Of course, if nobody claims the top prize then the money is carried over to the next week as a ‘rollover.’

One in four jackpot winners in the UK lottery draw is a syndicate. Indeed, on 30 December 2009, a syndicate of six from the north east of England won £10 million (£1.7 million each). One person sets up a syndicate and coordinates the buying of the tickets. Most workplaces and clubs have a least one such British national lottery syndicate operating.

Playing the UK lottery draw is developing as time goes on. Playing by text has

recently been introduced and the ability to play lottery online has been enhanced by the emergence of Elottery syndicates which provide additional chances to win plus other benefits.

If you want to find out more about the lottery, please go to UK Lottery Draw.