Latest news with #WeirCharitableTrust
The National
02-07-2025
- General
- The National
Highland Wildlife Park reveals names for 3 rescued lynx
THE three lynx rescued by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) after being abandoned in the Highlands earlier this year have been named. Having settled in well at their new home at Highland Wildlife Park, the wildlife conservation charity gave Scottish schools and donors the chance to name the three female cats. Kinlochleven Primary school, a prize draw winner, and the Weir Charitable Trust named the lynx Bluebell, Caledonia, and Cardrona. READ MORE: Experts explore Swiss-style lynx reintroduction in Scotland The prize draw raised more than £7600 for RZSS and the Weir Charitable Trust made a "generous donation" to help care for the lynx.
The Herald Scotland
13-06-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
The UK's 10 biggest EuroMillions wins
Here are the 10 biggest UK lottery wins to date – all from EuroMillions draws – and what some of the winners did with their fortunes. – Anonymous, £195,707,000 A UK ticket-holder scooped a EuroMillions jackpot of £195 million on July 19 2022. – Joe and Jess Thwaite, £184,262,899.10 Joe and Jess Thwaite, from Gloucester, scooped a then record-breaking £184,262,899 with a Lucky Dip ticket for the draw on May 10 2022. Joe and Jess Thwaite (Andrew Matthews/PA) At the time, Joe was a communications sales engineer, and Jess ran a hairdressing salon with her sister. – Anonymous, £177,033,699.20 A UK ticket-holder became the third biggest National Lottery winner after receiving a £177 million jackpot. The winner, who chose to remain anonymous, came forward to claim the EuroMillions jackpot after the draw on November 26 2024. They became immediately wealthier than popstar Dua Lipa, who is worth an estimated £104 million, and Michael Buble, worth around £63 million. – Anonymous, £171,815,297.80 A UK ticket-holder scooped £171,815,297.80 in the September 23 2022 draw – at the time the country's third biggest National Lottery win. – Anonymous, £170,221,000 The fifth biggest winner of the National Lottery to date scooped £170 million in 2019 after matching all the numbers in a Must Be Won draw on October 8. – Colin and Chris Weir, £161,653,000 Colin and Chris Weir (Andrew Milligan/PA) Colin and Chris Weir, from Largs, North Ayrshire, bagged their historic winnings on July 12 2011, making them the biggest UK winners at the time. Colin invested £2.5 million in his beloved Partick Thistle FC, which led to one of the stands at the stadium being named after him. He later acquired a 55% shareholding in the club, which was passed into the hands of the local community upon his death in December 2019, aged 71. The couple also set up the Weir Charitable Trust in 2013 and donated £1 million to the Scottish independence referendum in 2014. They divorced in the year of Colin's death. – Adrian and Gillian Bayford, £148,656,000 Adrian and Gillian, from Haverhill, Suffolk, won 190 million euros in a EuroMillions draw on August 10 2012, which came to just over £148 million. Adrian Bayford and wife Gillian (Sean Dempsey/PA) The couple bought a Grade II-listed estate in Cambridgeshire, complete with cinema and billiards room, but it was sold in 2021, some years after the pair divorced. – Anonymous, £123,458,008 The eighth biggest National Lottery winner won a Superdraw rollover jackpot on June 11 2019, and decided not to go public with their success. – Anonymous, £122,550,350 After nine rollovers, one lucky ticket-holder bagged more than £122 million in April 2021. Anonymous, £121,328,187 Another of the UK's top 10 lottery winners found their fortune through a Superdraw jackpot rollover, this time in April 2018.
Metro
06-06-2025
- Business
- Metro
UK's 10 biggest EuroMillions wins ahead of tonight's £208,000,000 draw
Someone could become the UK's biggest ever lottery winner tonight after the EuroMillions jackpot reached £208,000,0000. It follows Tuesday's £199 million draw, which had no winner. Several UK ticket holders have scooped staggering EuroMillions jackpots, with some, like Joe and Jess Thwaite, from Gloucester going public, while many choose to remain anonymous. Here, we take a look at the UK's 10 biggest wins since the competition begun in 2004. As it stands, the biggest lottery win in the UK was in July 2022, when an anonymous ticket holder scooped £195,707,000. Joe and Jess Thwaite, from Gloucester, scooped a then record-breaking £184,262,899 with a Lucky Dip ticket for the draw on May 10 2022. At the time, Joe was a communications sales engineer, and Jess ran a hairdressing salon with her sister. Joe saw they'd won when he woke early the next morning. He said: 'I saw how much and I didn't know what to do. 'I couldn't go back to sleep, I didn't want to wake Jess up so I just laid there for what seemed like forever. 'I spent some time searching for property with no budget limit, which was a novelty!' When the alarm finally rang, Joe turned to Jess and said: 'I've got a secret, I've got something to tell you.' A single-ticket holder, who chose to remain anonymous, won the £177,033,699 jackpot for the draw on November 26 2024. The winner became immediately wealthier than popstar Dua Lipa, who is worth an estimated £104 million, and Michael Buble, worth around £63 million. Another person who chose to remain anonymous scooped £171,815,297 in the September 23 2022 draw. At the time this was the country's third biggest National Lottery win. The fifth biggest winner of the National Lottery to date scooped £170 million in 2019 after matching all the numbers in a Must Be Won draw on October 8. Colin and Chris Weir, from Largs, North Ayrshire, became the UK's biggest lottery winners the time after winning £162,653,000 on July 12 2011. Colin used £2.5 million of his fortune to invest in his beloved Patrick Thistle Football Club, which led to one of the stands at the stadium being named after him. The former TV camera man later acquired a 55% shareholding in the club, which was to be passed into the hands of the local community upon his death. The couple, who set up the Weir Charitable Trust in 2013 and donated £1 million to the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, divorced in 2019. They had been married 38 years. Colin died of sepsis and an acute kidney injury a few months later at the age of 71. Adrian and Gillian won £148,656,000 in a EuroMillions draw on August 10, 2012. The couple bought a Grade II-listed estate in Cambridgeshire, complete with cinema and billiards room, but it was sold in 2021, some years after the pair divorced. Gillian now has a conviction for threatening her ex-boyfriend, domestic abuse charity worker Gavin Innes, who she pushed and shouted at in 2017. She then married convicted fraudster Brian Deans, before ending their ending their relationship, claiming he asked for more and more money after blowing the monthly allowance she gave him on cars, watches and trips with friends. Adrian, meanwhile, started a relationship with ex-horse groom Samantha Burbidge, a woman 16 years younger than him, in 2017. He also dated waitress Lisa Kemp, but she dumped him after discovering saucy messages sent to his ex Marta Jarosz. More Trending In 2019, Adrian said he ate 50 Cornish pasties delivered to his mansion each week to cope with his loneliness. One ticket holder got lucky with a Superdraw rollover jackpot of £123,458,008 on June 11 2019, and decided to remain anonymous. Another ticket holder scooped more than £122 million in April 2021, but didn't go public. And the 10th biggest lottery winner in the UK won their fortune in April 2018, and chose to remain anonymous. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Tonight's EuroMillions £208,000,000 jackpot will be the biggest UK has ever seen MORE: 'I won the National Lottery – this is what I now do day to day' MORE: Experts reveal how you could win Friday's £208,000,000 EuroMillions jackpot
