Lottery winners make political donation

LOTTERY WINNERS MAKE POLITICAL DONATION

The UK’s wealthiest ever lottery winners have made a surprising donation, to the Scottish Independence Campaign. The millionaires have become the biggest political donors in Britain for more than a year.You might remember them as the couple who won the largest every EuroMillions jackpot back in 2011, but Colin and Christine Weir are now being talked about as the couple who are bankrolling Alex Salmon’s campaign to separate Scotland from the rest of the United Kingdom. The lottery winners, from Ayrshire, Scotland, have donated huge sums of money to the Yes vote in the last 15 months.Mr and Mrs Weir have given over £3 million to the Scottish National Party, with £2 million of that coming in the last few months. That added to the £1 million that the couple donated in 2013 makes the lottery winners the sole funders of the pro-independence campaign.The Scottish Independence Campaign, thanks to the help from the EuroMillions winners, has earned more than twice the amount in donations than the opposing Better Together Campaign, led by the former Chancellor Alastair Darling. The Yes campaign is currently rolling out one of the largest advertising campaigns that the country has ever seen.Until now the Weirs have spent their millions on various charity projects, including setting up their own trust, the Weir Charitable Trust. The trust aims to help and support Scottish based community groups and small charity which help the Scottish community as a whole. The group specifies that charities will have struggled to find funds elsewhere.The Weirs are passionate about supporting projects in sport, recreational facilities, animal welfare, health and culture that will improve the quality of life for Scottish people.Meanwhile, the Scottish loyalists have also recently splashed out on a new home in South Ayrshire, impulsively purchasing the home and all of its contents within ten minutes of walking through the door. The former home of chef and hotelier Bill Costley was bought for £3 million by the lottery winning couple, who loved it so much they wanted it exactly as it came.Mr Costley, who opened the Frognal estate as a hotel in 2008, said that he left the home with just a few personal items and “four pairs of underpants” after the Weirs’ visit, but admits that the house is uniquely special.The lottery winners are expected to keep the rest of the properties that they have owned since winning the lottery, as they expand their property portfolio rapidly. The sale of Frognal estate is one of the largest property sales in Scotland, and the Weirs certainly have the funds to justify it!Next lucky one could be you... so many things could be done with a EuroMillions windfall! So don’t forget to purchase your tickets online at Lottery24.com.