MONEY TROUBLE

Lottery winners LIVE – £4.5 million jackpot winner Barry Chuwen’s charity investigated for ‘financial misconduct’

- Who are Joe & Jess Thwaite?
- The biggest UK EuroMillions lottery winners
- Where are the UK EuroMillions winners now? 
- How EuroMillions winners spent their cash

A LOTTO winner's kids charity is being investigated by watchdogs over allegations of "financial misconduct", say reports.

Barry Chuwen, 52, won £4.5million in 1997 and invested it in commercial premises, including some of Glasgow's most exclusive addresses.

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The Lottery winner also set up The Teddy Bear Foundation with wife Jenny in 2004, after they tragically had a stillborn baby at six months.

The charity claimed to have spent a total of nearly £500,000 to take children with special needs to Disneyland Paris - as well as providing them riding lessons, massage sessions and sensory gardens.

According to the Daily Record, OSCR are investigating payments made by the charity to a company connected to one of its trustees last year.

They have now taken action to make sure that any property owned by the charity can't be sold.

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OSCR said: “We are concerned that there has been misconduct in the administration of the charity and consider it necessary and desirable to take protective action in respect of the charity’s property.

“We have therefore issued a formal direction to the charity’s bank preventing it from parting with any property of the charity without OSCR’s consent.”

Read our Lottery live below for the latest news and updates...

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'I'm glad I didn't get the £3M ticket'

Martyn and Kay Tott got the shock of their lives when they realised they’d won £3million back in 2001 – six months after buying the ticket.

By the time they saw an appeal for the winner to come forward, they couldn’t find the ticket.

After 45 agonising days of deliberating, Camelot told the devastated couple that they weren’t going to receive the cash.

“Having that money taken away was torture,” Martyn told the Mail on Sunday.

“For a long time I lost sight of who I was and what I believed in. But I can honestly say I’m glad I didn’t get the £3million now.

“There is no guarantee it would have brought me happiness.”

Gran escapes jail after Lotto theft

A gran stole £33,000 worth of Lotto scratchcards from a corner shop while working behind the till, a court heard in September 2021.

Trusted shop assistant Sheila Hancock, 60, took thousands of cards from the display without paying for them.

And if she saw it was a winning card after scratching off the silver foil she took the prize money out of the till, it was said.

Puzzled owner Virajkumar Patel couldn’t understand why his busy store wasn’t making a profit despite staying open throughout the pandemic.

So he checked CCTV and was horrified when he saw Hancock repeatedly helping herself to cards and winnings. York crown court heard she had become addicted to the “easy” gambling and got away with the deceit from January 2020 until April of 2021.

School dinner lady vows to carry on working despite HUGE win

Karen Dakin, 53, won in the draw hours before Mother’s Day, with numbers based on the birth of her son Callum, 14.

She said: “My son has, in some strange way, helped give me the most amazing Mother’s Day gift of all time!”

She added: “I’ve always picked numbers special to me, including my son Callum’s date of birth – the year and the time – so I instantly recognised the winning numbers.

“What an amazing turn of events.”

Read more here.

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Choose number 27 to help you win

National Lottery ball number 27 is the most likely to help punters win a jackpot, researchers say.

It has made more appearances than any other in 3,071 draws in the past ten years.

The number came up 399 times in the UK National Lottery, Thunderball, EuroMillions and Irish Lotto.

That is 141 more times than number 57, the unluckiest number, which was drawn just 258 times.

The second luckiest is 54, which appeared 387 times. It was followed by 29, 42, 52 and 58 in joint third on 381 times.

The next luckiest was number 20 with 378. Then came 23, with 372.

National Lottery timetable

Here’s a timetable for all UK lottery games including Lotto, EuroMillions and Set For Life.

There is a draw 6 nights a week.

However, there are no draws on Sundays.

What happens to the money if no one claims it?

If no UK players come forward within 180 days then the prize money, plus all the interest it has generated while it is held in trust, goes to National Lottery-funded projects across the UK.

The National Lottery have said: “Our players change the lives of individuals as well as communities by raising, on average, over £33 million for National Lottery-funded projects every week.”

Afternoon, Milica Cosic on until 10pm tonight. I'll be bringing you the latest news and updates.

Lotto winner's kids charity investigated over allegations of "financial misconduct"

A LOTTO winner's kids charity is being investigated by watchdogs over allegations of "financial misconduct", say reports.

Barry Chuwen, 52, won £4.5million in 1997 and invested it in commercial premises, including some of Glasgow's most exclusive addresses.

The Lottery winner also set up The Teddy Bear Foundation with wife Jenny in 2004, after they tragically had a stillborn baby at six months.

The charity claimed to have spent a total of nearly £500,000 to take children with special needs to Disneyland Paris - as well as providing them riding lessons, massage sessions and sensory gardens.

According to the Daily Record, OSCR are investigating payments made by the charity to a company connected to one of its trustees last year.

They have now taken action to make sure that any property owned by the charity can't be sold.

OSCR said: “We are concerned that there has been misconduct in the administration of the charity and consider it necessary and desirable to take protective action in respect of the charity’s property.

“We have therefore issued a formal direction to the charity’s bank preventing it from parting with any property of the charity without OSCR’s consent.”

Stay gamble aware

It is important to stay safe when playing the lottery, to help with this, the National Lottery operate a ‘Healthy Play’ policy.

The National Lottery released the following statement, “We know that extraordinary things happen when lots of people play a little.

“We’re proud to say that around 60% of UK adults enjoy our games, so encouraging healthy play is at the heart of everything we do. The way we design our games and tools helps put you in control of your play.

“To keep players safe online, we use an in-house behavioural analytics model. This identifies at-risk players, enabling us to support them through targeted interventions.”

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Revealed: The most common EuroMillions numbers

For EuroMillions, you pick five main numbers and two Lucky Stars, with draws taking place every Tuesdays and Fridays.

The five most drawn main numbers since EuroMillions launched in February 2004 are 23, 44, 50, 19 and 37.

The two most drawn Lucky Stars are 2, 3 and 8. The least drawn numbers are 33, 36, 22, 40, 18.

The original Lucky Stars were 1 to 9 – of those, the least drawn are 4 and 1. The more recently added Lucky Stars 10, 11 and 12 have been drawn less.

In the UK, a single entry to a EuroMillions draw costs £2.50. EuroMillions is different to the main Lotto draw.

Expert suggests ways to handle massive win

The dilemma of what to do with a huge lottery win is the stuff of dreams for most people.

But those lucky enough to have a huge windfall should plan for the future as well as readjusting to day-to-day life on their new, turbo-charged income, according to finance experts.

Joe and Jess Thwaite, from Gloucester, were revealed on Thursday as the winners of Britain’s biggest EuroMillions lottery jackpot of £184 million.

The couple, who are aged in their 40s and have two children, scooped a record-breaking £184,262,899.

Alistair McQueen, head of savings and retirement at Aviva, said: “Average household wealth in the UK is just over £300,000, including property, savings, pensions and everything else which is owned.

“Fewer than 1% of all households hold more than £3 million of wealth and so winning millions would lift most people into a very select segment of the population.”

What happens to unclaimed prizes?

Any cash that isn’t claimed after a total of 180 days from a game played in the UK goes to National Lottery projects across the country.

Folks in Ireland have just half that time to claim too, with only 90 days before the prize money is off the table.

Once the claim period is over, the ticket officially expires and the owner of the lottery ticket will no longer be able to claim any of their winnings.

But after that time has expired, any unclaimed prizes, plus any interest they might have accumulated in that time, are allocated to the National Lottery’s Good Causes fund instead.

This will usually then go on to help fund things like sport programmes or local community buildings or other projects.

Former lottery operator Camelot FURIOUS over license loss

A recent decision saw the lottery operator lose the right to run the national lottery, in response, the company has taken the lottery to court.

This decision could result in the National Lottery being suspended for the first time in its long history.

The company selected by the Gambling Commission is Allwyn, which will take over from February 2024.

Joe and Jess will not return to work following eye-watering lottery win

£184m is more than enough to set anyone up for life, with that mind, these lucky winners will not be going back to work any time soon.

Asked if they would carry on working after their win, Jess Thwaite said: “I don’t think we are at the moment.

“I’m going to take some time with that and what we’re going to do.”

Her husband Joe Thwaite said he has handed his notice in.

He said: “I’m leaving work.”

Mrs Thwaite added: “I think we’re going to have a full-time job managing all of this for quite some time.”

Tomorrow's Lotto draw

Tomorrow Lotto draw jackpot is currently sitting at a whopping £8.5 million.

The numbers are expected to be announced at 8:00pm and will be followed by the Thunderball draw.

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Set For Life numbers revealed

The National Lottery Set For Life numbers are in and it's time to find out if you've won the top prize of £10,000 every month for 30 years.

Yesterday’s National Lottery Set For Life winning numbers are: 02, 06, 21, 24, 25 and the Life Ball is 05.

What Lotto draws are on tonight?

Tonight will see the return of the Euromillions and the Thunderball draws.

Players will have the chance at winning £44 million in this evenings Euromillions following last weeks roll over.

The Thunderball draw sits at the usual £500k jackpot.

Draw times will be at 8:00pm for the Thunderball and 8:45pm for the Euromillions.

The Thwaites set sights on MASSIVE mansion

Joe and Jess Thwaite are set to splurge a cool £7 million on a gorgeous mansion in the Cotswolds.

The dazzling property is not far from Jeremy Clarkson’s sprawling farm.

With seven bedroom, they won’t be stretched for space! The property has huge gardens, a tennis court, swimming pool, stables for their two ponies, standalone secondary accommodation and a gym!

Former lottery operator Camelot FURIOUS over license loss

A recent decision saw the lottery operator lose the right to run the national lottery, in response, the company has taken the lottery to court. 

This decision could result in the National Lottery being suspended for the first time in its long history. 

The company selected by the Gambling Commission is Allwyn, which will take over from February 2024.

Lotto winner’s charity to be investigated by Watchdog

A kid’s charity launched by Barry Chuwen, 52, who won £4.5million in 1997, is being investigated for financial misconduct. 

As reported by the Daily Record, OSCR are looking into payments made by the charity to a company connected to one of its trustees last year.

They have now taken action to make sure that any property owned by the charity can’t be sold.

OSCR commented: “We are concerned that there has been misconduct in the administration of the charity and consider it necessary and desirable to take protective action in respect of the charity’s property.

“We have therefore issued a formal direction to the charity’s bank preventing it from parting with any property of the charity without OSCR’s consent.”

The Lottery: Almost £3,000 is donated every minute!

That is around £50 every second!

In figures, roughly 28p from every £1 spent on all Lottery tickets tickets is donated to The Good Causes Fund. Incredible!

Around £850 million has been raised to help those who are lonely and isolated in the UK.

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Joe and Jess will not return to work following eye-watering lottery win

£184m is more than enough to set anyone up for life, with that mind, these lucky winners will not be going back to work any time soon. 

Asked if they would carry on working after their win, Jess Thwaite said: “I don’t think we are at the moment.

“I’m going to take some time with that and what we’re going to do.”

Her husband Joe Thwaite said he has handed his notice in.

He said: “I’m leaving work.”

Mrs Thwaite added: “I think we’re going to have a full-time job managing all of this for quite some time.”

Weekend Recap: A look at Friday and Saturday’s numbers

Friday night’s Euromillions numbers are in, the numbers drawn were:

 8, 22, 23, 32 and 50

The lucky stars were: 3 and 9

The £7.1m Lotto Jackpot and Thunderball numbers also came in on Saturday night

The winning results for the Lotto are 12, 15, 25, 37, 48 and 57.

Meanwhile, the all important Bonus Ball is 08.

The winning digits for the Thunderball are as follows: 1, 13, 23, 31, 35 and Thunderball 7

Stay gamble aware

It is important to stay safe when playing the lottery, to help with this, the National Lottery operate a ‘Healthy Play’ policy.

The National Lottery released the following statement, “We know that extraordinary things happen when lots of people play a little.

“We’re proud to say that around 60% of UK adults enjoy our games, so encouraging healthy play is at the heart of everything we do. The way we design our games and tools helps put you in control of your play.

“To keep players safe online, we use an in-house behavioural analytics model. This identifies at-risk players, enabling us to support them through targeted interventions.”

Lotto winners set to embark on globe-spanning adventures

With 184 million quid in your pocket, there aren’t many places you can’t go! 

With that in mind, Jess and Joe Thwaite, who are 44 and 49 respectively, will set out on a trip that will take them from the UK to Hawaii. 

The lucky couple said: “Our two children have always talked about going to Hawaii, I’ve no idea why, but we can now make that dream come true.

“Just to see their faces when we can make these things come true will be worth every penny.” 

A source told The Sun: “The children haven’t had many overseas trips and Jess and Joe want to make it special for them.” 

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