Top lottery winners raise a glass !
AS if they haven’t had enough luck already, even the sun shone yesterday as Scotland’s biggest lottery winners gathered for an exclusive al fresco party outside an upmarket Glasgow hotel.
Miniature cupcakes with pink icing were served as champagne bottles were popped – with one rogue cork flying through the air and landing at the feet of the assembled photographers.
As a three-piece band played in the background, the big winners gathered to help the National Lottery celebrate £1 billion paid out to Scottish winners since it all began in 1994.
As the millionaires posed for pictures, three winners each held up a giant number 2, to mark the 222 millionaire lottery winners created north of the Border.
Among the winners at the event at the five-star Blythswood Hotel were Kerry and Tony Robinson from Greenock who had a baby boy in March.
Ms Robinson won just over £2.5 million in January 2007 – before she met her future husband whom she waited a year before telling she was a lottery millionaire.
He recalled how she broke the news by putting on a DVD of her holding a big cheque: “It was a bit of a shock but it was a good moment. I got checked out first.”
Ms Robinson still sounded giddy talking about her big win yesterday, recalling how she initially thought she had only five numbers when she went to the local supermarket to claim her winnings.
She said: “I told my friend at the shop I’d won and she didn’t believe me. But she pulled it up on the computer and said ‘You’ve won.’ And I said, ‘I know’. And she said, ‘No, you’ve really won.’ Then she went this colour of grey and I realised she was serious. It was a bit of a blur after that.”
Her win has opened doors and future plans include “more fun” and investing in their children’s future. The pair dabble in property and have a long-term plan.
A couple well versed in spending their winnings is Tommy and Margaret Webb, below, also from Greenock, who won £1.7m.
Eleven years on from their big win, Mr Webb, a former maintenance engineer at a hospital, joked they are now “skint” but, of course, the reality is different. Life is “excellent” he said with lots of holidays, charity work and time spent helping look after their granddaughter Poppi.
Being able to look after family is the “best and most important part of winning,” said the couple, who go to the bingo and still play the lottery each week.
“Since the beginning of the year, we’ve won about £12,000 at the bingo,” said Mr Webb.
But life has not been all positive since their win. “I worked for three months after the win,” said Mr Webb. “But those three months weren’t very nice. People change – the people I worked with for over 20 years.”
Yesterday’s line-up also included the most recent winners, Alistair and Isobel Cameron from Wick who won £500,000 on March 5 – just three days after Mrs Cameron’s birthday – having played the lucky dip since the lottery started.
Mr Cameron, a train driver, said he has no plans to retire and the couple have yet to spend much of their winnings – although they have paid off their house and bought new cars.
“I didn’t believe we’d won when Isobel told me. I thought she was carrying on,” said Mr Cameron. holiday to Florida
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