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Scotland’s National Treasures Celebrate 20 Years of The National Lottery

18th November 2014

20 years on from the first National Lottery draw, two of Scotland’s ‘National Treasures’ came together today (18 November 2014) to celebrate its life changing impact. Sir Chris Hoy and the Kelpies in Falkirk were both chosen by the Scottish public as ‘National Treasures’ as part of a poll to mark The National Lottery’s 20th year.

Britain’s greatest ever Olympian was joined at Scotland’s newest cultural landmark by representatives from some of the projects that have benefitted from National Lottery funding over the past 20 years. In Scotland alone over £2.6 billion has been awarded to arts, education, environment, health, heritage, sport and voluntary projects.

From the largest grant of £36.2 million awared to Glasgow Science Centre, to the smallest of £36 Home-Start Orkney, a voluntary home visting scheme, every one has made a difference to the charities and organisations that have benefitted.

The National Lottery has also had a lasting legacy for thousands of Scots who have scooped prizes over the past 20 years. 305 millionaires have been created in Scotland and 2,613 people have won prizes of more than £50,000.

In terms of making millionaire dreams come true, Scotland is top of the pile - Dumfries has a lottery millionaire for every 8,288 of adult population, the highest concentration in the UK.

Sir Chris, who credits National Lottery funding with helping him achieve his Olympic dream, comments, “It’s brilliant to be here today to mark 20 years of The National Lottery – I can’t quite believe it’s been that long. It certainly changed my life; without the funding I received at the start of my career I really wouldn’t be where I am today. It allowed me to train full time without having to worry about getting a job and really focus on my sport.

“When you hear about how many other lives it has changed, from lucky winners to projects that have received funding, it really brings home the positive impact it has had in Scotland and across the UK.”

Reflecting on The National Lottery’s many success stories, a spokesperson said, “20 years is a milestone to celebrate and thank National Lottery players from Scotland for their contribution to the many life changing projects that have been made possible across the length and breadth of the country.

“It’s amazing to realise that almost any museum, art gallery, theatre or sports centre people visit has had National Lottery money. It doesn’t just transform the lives of lucky winners, it also supports local communities and thousands of charities. National Lottery players should be really proud of the positive changes they have helped bring about since the first draw in 1994.”

-Ends-

Nodiadau i olygyddion

For further information please contact Katrine Pearson or Pamela McDade at 3x1 Public Relations - Camelot’s regional PR agency: 0141 221 0707 / 07736 176597 kpearson@3x1.com / pmcdade@3x1.com


• Camelot UK Lotteries Limited is the licensed operator of The National Lottery® and is committed to raising money for National Lottery Good Causes designated by Parliament. Camelot is not responsible for distributing or awarding these funds
• Each week, Camelot generates over £33 million for National Lottery Good Causes. £32 billion has now been raised for National Lottery Good Causes and more than 430,000 individual awards have been made across the UK – the biggest programme of civic and social regeneration since the 19th Century. The National Lottery has so far given away over £53 billion in prizes and created more than 3,600 millionaires or multi-millionaires since its launch in 1994.
• National Lottery funding in Scotland is distributed by the Big Lottery Fund, Creative Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund, sportscotland, UK Sport and BFI.
• For further information on Camelot, The National Lottery and its games, please visit the following websites: www.camelotgroup.co.uk and www.national-lottery.co.uk
• Players of all National Lottery games must be aged 16 or over
• The crossed fingers logo is the registered trademark of the Gambling Commission

20 Years of Changing Lives in Scotland

Top Ten Postcode Regions for Lottery Millionaires

POSTCODE AREA NO OF MILLIONAIRES
G Glasgow - 87
EH Edinburgh - 57
AB Aberdeen - 36
KY Fife - 18
FK Falkirk - 17
KA Ayrshire - 17
PA Paisley - 17
DD Dundee - 16
DG Dumfries - 15
IV Inverness - 11

Top Ten Postcode Regions for High Tier Winners (over £50,000)

POSTCODE AREA NO OF HIGH TIER WINNERS
G Glasgow - 697
EH Edinburgh - 445
AB Aberdeen - 247
KA Ayrshire - 191
DD Dundee - 180
KY Fife - 171
PA Paisley - 155
FK Falkirk - 132
IV Inverness - 114
PH Perth - 87


• On average one Big Lottery Fund grant in Scotland creates 2.3 full-time jobs, 18 volunteers and 1,351 volunteer hours

• The first ever National Lottery grant awarded in Scotland was in February 1995 - £9,500 to purchase equipment for Cottiers Theatre in Glasgow. The theatre has since gone on to secure over £2.2million of funding to restore the church building in which it is housed and flourish as a much loved Glasgow arts venue

• Over 80 per cent of the medals secured by Team Scotland at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games were won by athletes receiving Lottery support.

• 1,174 Host City Volunteers and 2,147 Clydesiders received Lottery funding to enable them to volunteer during the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games

• Lottery funding has helped conserve and protect Scotland’s beautiful coastal heritage, with over £13 million given to projects across the country – from Lighthouses on the Mull of Galloway to the rugged landscape of Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands

• Over £6million has been invested in the heritage of Scotland’s National Bard, including the recreation of the press used to first print Burns’ work and enhancing the Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway to create a world-class heritage destination

• The National Lottery helped to fund scotland’s largest ever community buy-out. A grant of £2.25m went to Sealladh na Beinne Moire to purchase the 93,900 acre South Uist estates