A look back at 25 years of lotto winners in Lancaster and Morecambe

For 25 years The National Lottery has been changing the lives of winners and supporting good causes across the UK.
Geraldine Smith MP presents a National lottery "Awards for All" grant worth £4676 to Graeme Isherwood acting chairman of Morecambe Bay Movie Makers.Geraldine Smith MP presents a National lottery "Awards for All" grant worth £4676 to Graeme Isherwood acting chairman of Morecambe Bay Movie Makers.
Geraldine Smith MP presents a National lottery "Awards for All" grant worth £4676 to Graeme Isherwood acting chairman of Morecambe Bay Movie Makers.

Since November 19, 1994 there have been 5,550 new millionaires created and over £40 billion has been given to good causes across the UK.

The first lotto draw took place on November 19, 1994, Noel Edmonds taking his place next to the machine and addressed a TV audience of more than 20 million people. Across the UK more than 48 million tickets had been bought.

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Among those ticket holders was then Prime Minister John Major, who bought five lines for the first draw from a shop at Victoria Station.

Members of the executive committee at Vale of Lune Rugby Club, president Nigel Armstrong, chairman Geoff Marsden, secretary Andrew Perry, treasurer Barry Parsonage, past president Dave Bennetts, vice president Norman Hailes and assistant secretary Stuart Hesketh. (commercial manager Alison Freedman missing) celebrate receiving £50,000 National Lottery funding, which will go to reroofing and refurbishing the front of the clubhouse at Powderhouse Lane.Members of the executive committee at Vale of Lune Rugby Club, president Nigel Armstrong, chairman Geoff Marsden, secretary Andrew Perry, treasurer Barry Parsonage, past president Dave Bennetts, vice president Norman Hailes and assistant secretary Stuart Hesketh. (commercial manager Alison Freedman missing) celebrate receiving £50,000 National Lottery funding, which will go to reroofing and refurbishing the front of the clubhouse at Powderhouse Lane.
Members of the executive committee at Vale of Lune Rugby Club, president Nigel Armstrong, chairman Geoff Marsden, secretary Andrew Perry, treasurer Barry Parsonage, past president Dave Bennetts, vice president Norman Hailes and assistant secretary Stuart Hesketh. (commercial manager Alison Freedman missing) celebrate receiving £50,000 National Lottery funding, which will go to reroofing and refurbishing the front of the clubhouse at Powderhouse Lane.

He wasn’t a winner but seven people did match all the numbers and shared in a £5.9 million jackpot.

There have been 565,000 grants given since 1994, one of the first to receive National Lottery funding was Morecambe Brass Band (for new trumpets).

Since then, more than 565,000 grants have been given out worth £40 billion.

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These grants have done enormous good, including helping to safeguard UK species facing extinction and funding 12,000 schemes to help fight loneliness.

Janice Hanson, deputy leader of Lancaster City Council, with Stuart Clayton, chief executive of Galloway's Society for the Blind, celebrating a £125,000 grant to Galloway's via the Heritage Lottery and Lancaster City Council's THI2 scheme. This will be used to renovate the former Visitor office in Morecambe into a new centre for blind people.Janice Hanson, deputy leader of Lancaster City Council, with Stuart Clayton, chief executive of Galloway's Society for the Blind, celebrating a £125,000 grant to Galloway's via the Heritage Lottery and Lancaster City Council's THI2 scheme. This will be used to renovate the former Visitor office in Morecambe into a new centre for blind people.
Janice Hanson, deputy leader of Lancaster City Council, with Stuart Clayton, chief executive of Galloway's Society for the Blind, celebrating a £125,000 grant to Galloway's via the Heritage Lottery and Lancaster City Council's THI2 scheme. This will be used to renovate the former Visitor office in Morecambe into a new centre for blind people.

Since National Lottery funding for Olympic and Paralympic sport started in 1997, National Lottery funded athletes have won 864 medals.

All Olympic champions benefit from support in the shape of National Lottery funding, which gives them access to training, coaching and medical assistance.

The National Lottery has made 5,500 millionaires.

In 2004, Iris Jeffrey from Belfast won £20.1 million on Lotto, becoming the game’s biggest single publicity winner.

West End Festival.
The team who are asking how Morecambe should spend their One Million Lottery Funded grant on the West End.West End Festival.
The team who are asking how Morecambe should spend their One Million Lottery Funded grant on the West End.
West End Festival. The team who are asking how Morecambe should spend their One Million Lottery Funded grant on the West End.
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Then in 2016 an anonymous ticket-holder became the biggest-ever Lotto winner, scooping £35.1 million.

Not to be beat, Colin and Chris Weir from Largs, Scotland, became the UK’s biggest ever National Lottery millionaires in 2011 after hitting the record-breaking £161 million EuroMillions jackpot.

A 24-strong syndicate of Lancaster Benefit Agency staff shared the £8.6m Lotto jackpot in 2004.

The King’s Speech won four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor, in February 2011 and yet, without £1 million of National Lottery funding, the film might never have happened. In fact, The National Lottery has invested over £933.6 million into film-related projects over the past 25 years, funding over 22,860 projects – from iconic films to community film clubs.

Pictured are some of the lottery winners from the area and also some of the organisations, projects, or buildings in the area awarded National Lottery funding over the past 25 years.