It gets out. I know someone who won and didnt go public and everyone found out. I guess going public with camelot is controlled and you have support.
Just had to put on a cardigan!
Is it normal to talk to yourself?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-46756469
I just watched a news conference for Frances and Patrick Connolly winning £14.9m on Euro Millions. What lovely people they are and I wish them all the best for the future. They will obviously keep their feet grounded and remain happy in the knowledge that they can make a difference to so many people's lives..
In my mind, there can never be too big a windfall - the more you win, the more you can help others.
Keeping my fingers crossed that I win next time!
It gets out. I know someone who won and didnt go public and everyone found out. I guess going public with camelot is controlled and you have support.
It always baffles me why these huge lottery winners go public? Surely all the begging letters and people expecting money from you would be overwhelming. I wonder what Camelot says to the winners to convince them to announce their winnings to the entire world?
In my fantasies about what I would do if I won BIG I decided that we would tell people we had a win but tell them it was a relatively small amount. £750,000.
That would explain our gifts to family and our house move but wouldnt make us stand out as a target.
It would allow us to be generous and a bit flash.
I would start foundations rather than give to existing charities so that I knew exactly where money was going and would admit to founding it but would claim to have other big donors.
It's lovely but personally I would never go public.
I heard somewhere that Camelot withhold some of their support services to winners unless you do? But not sure how true that is.
I think its prob a case of "go public now and we will look after you, or dont and have it come out later and youre on your own" sort of thing
Either way they do heavily encourage people to go public.
I agree with Watermeadow too. Lots of millionaires or even double millionaires would be so much better. I would be terrified of kidnapping and extortion with the amount they have won, I would be scared to let any of my family out without a bodyguard and what fun would that be?
I remember a joke years ago about a couple who had won £75,000 on the pools.
A friend said"What about the begging letters?"
The reply was"Oh we will still keep sending them"
I do have little daydreams sometimes about what I would do if I won the lottery jackpot.
However, as I never buy a ticket it's all a waste of time 
They do seem like a nice and very grounded couple so I wish them all the best and hope everything goes well for them and their family.
I do hope they don’t get inundated with begging letters. I too would have kept it quiet, still getting the pleasure of giving it away if I wanted to.
I don’t do the lottery these days but I did used to fantasise about how I would spend it when I did. So many people to help.
I watched it also , but what is also funny my brother in law is a Patrick Connolly as well, related ?????
Mick
@ MOnica I agree about a charitable foundation as so much good could be done with that. I have always said if I win that sort of money I would set one up and my new job would be as one of the trustees, however I would give significant amounts to my favourite charities and some to my family (set them up in business etc.) first.
Daddima that's a great idea, will remember that when I win!
Gabriella and orly Yes, you're right, didn't check my typing.
It would change my lifestyle but hopefully wouldn’t change me. I would help out the family but only small local charities, the big ones pay their execs too much salary. My mum says money can’t buy happiness but at least you can be miserable in comfort.
I was once told by a door-to-door Romany lace seller (remember them?) that I would be very, very rich very, very late in your life. I think this might mean that the shock of winning my multi-millions will finish me off. 
Yes the bigger the better , I would buy as much of the Amazon rain forest as I could and let the tribes and animals live in peace, safe from the loggers.
I have my lottery win plan made already! I say nothing when I win the £100,000,000, but announce a couple of weeks later that I’ve won a much smaller amount ( just a few million!)
Thus, my lifestyle change is explained, my friends and family think I’m terribly generous, and I can distribute the rest as and when I want.
Everyone’s a winner!
Maggiemaybe I would be too fearful ?, then there would be my widower son in law, my son in law who isn’t, and younger daughter and her second husband , definately not for me
I would set up my own charity to improve the health of a part of Africa. That way I could ensure that the money didn't go on admin, directors salaries, and hassling the public to give more! In that scheme of things £114 million wouldn't go that far, but at least it might save a few lives, improve the health of the the population and set them up to be self sufficient. What could be more worthwhile?
That’s the worry, Annie, isn’t it? I think I’d just make sure they each had their further education covered, if they wanted it, and enough to buy a nice house each, wherever they chose to live. Anything else they’d still have to work for. I think that’s what Bill Gates did for his children, so I’d be in exalted company!
My thoughts are what damage me winning this ammount would do to my grandchildren. I don’t buy lottery tickets so wil never have this worry
Lovely couple ..... Was just reading about them ..... So started to make my list of 50 people I could give a million each to! I can't think of 50 so will stick to charity instead. I guess I had better start buying a ticket ;)
I only do Thunderball, never done Euro & gave up on Lotto when it went up to £2.
I also do our Air Ambulance Lottery & Helipad Lottery, it's my way of supporting them, prizes are small but that doesn't bother me.
I think the amounts that can be won on Euro & Lotto are obscene. I believe that the people who run these Lotteries withdraw their support network through you to the wolves if you don't go public
Many years ago we worked for the company who ran the "POOLS" anyone remember them? We saw people every week who had won what to them were life changing sums of money ,rarely over a million pounds.Usually around £500k or a bit over.
They were offered all sorts of support and advice about how to deal with it and whether or not publicity would be the way to go..of course the company needed them to go public to encourage more people to do the pools every week.I would imagine its the same with the lotteries its just the numbers are bigger.I dont think they'll hand a cheque over an disappear ,they'll be available for help when its wanted.
It’s a life changing amount. I love my life as it is. I’d be scared I wouldn’t be ‘me’ anymore and that friends and family would change too. Not worth the risk.
I agree Grecian Girl.
Far better for 114 people to win a million pounds than for one person to win such a vast amount of money.
Having said that if One did win a vast amount -I couldn't because I don't subscribe to any lottery-what pleasure that person would get in giving the vast amount away to Charity -anonymously .
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