£25m Brian: I still do the EuroMillions ..I won £7.50
Winner has a punt for charity
Crowd pose at event AFTER nabbing £25million in the lottery, you’d think Brian Caswell would have a butler on hand – but he was the one pouring the brews at a charity event yesterday.
And, despite being one of Britain’s biggest-ever EuroMillions winners, he still plays the lotto and has not lost his touch, recently bagging £7.50.
While he hardly needs the cash, Brian likes to back the good causes supported by lotto funding. But he is also happy to be a bit more hands-on when it comes to helping out.
So he was delighted at the chance to serve swanky sandwiches to more than 200 hospice patients and their carers in Blackpool yesterday.
Brian, 83, who won the EuroMillions nine years ago, was invited to volunteer at the event along with more than 40 other lottery winners.
The group, with a combined wealth of over £115million, served afternoon tea to patients and staff from Trinity Hospice in Blackpool, in the town’s iconic Tower Ballroom.
Brian, from Bolton, Gtr Manchester, was joined by his wife Joan, 82, and daughters Helen, 57, and Angela, 54.
He said: “The lottery gets all the publicity when there is a big winner, but the public does not know about all the other good work that is going on in the background.
“We do something like this every year. It is something I want to do. I am the lucky one and there are a lot of people out there who are not so lucky. You have got to put something back.”
Hospice patient Pam Vanson, 56, said: “It has been lovely day. Everyone has been so kind.”
Along with volunteering, Brian – a grandad of four – buys two EuroMillions lucky dips every week, to support the many organisations that benefit from lottery funding.
Last week’s £7.50 jackpot went on a quiet night in the pub.
Brian laughed: “I still go round to my local with my four mates and we play dominoes. It is 20p a game.”
And Joan is happy for her husband to have a punt. She said: “If you don’t put money in, people won’t benefit from things like today.” Also helping to serve the guests yesterday were John and Patricia Gill, from Warrington, Cheshire, who won £1million in 2015.
Patricia, 55, an accountant, and John,
59, who had a truck repair business, both retired after their windfall.
Mum-of-two Patricia said: “It BRIAN CASWELL ON WHY HE LIKES TO VOLUNTEER is great what they do and we are happy to come along and help out.”
Husband John added: “The lottery is not just about the winners and the money, but the charity work they do for various good causes.”
I am lucky, but many people are not. You have got to give back