Edinburgh's biggest National Lottery winners since it started in 1994 - including Jane Park

The first Lotto draw took place on November 19, 1994, and since then it has raised over £49 billion for good causes and handed out nearly 700,000 individual grants to projects and organisations.

They say you have to be ‘in it to win it’ and over the past three decades, Edinburgh and the Lothians has done exactly that, with some huge winners.

Auld Reekie’s most famous Lotto winner is Jane Park, who became the youngest ever Brit to scoop the £1million EuroMillions jackpot in 2013 - aged just 17.

The future tabloid favourite had been living in a small two-bed council house in Niddrie, and sharing a room with her sister, when she won after buying her first ever lucky dip ticket. She worked in an office doing admin for a charity organisation, earning £8 an hour.

Edinburgh’s Jane Park wishes she'd never won the lottery. Photo: Jane Park / Instagram | Jane Park / Instagram

Park has since lived a luxury lifestyle, investing in cars, handbags, and cosmetic surgery. But they say money can't buy happiness, and sure enough, in a TV interview last year she said she wished she’d never won.

Appearing on the popular US talk show Dr Phil, in a special episode called 'The Curse of the Lottery', Park recounted her experience with the celebrity psychologist, and suggested that winning made her miserable.

Host Dr Phil asked her about the abuse she received, saying: “You had stalkers, death threats...” She replied: “I wish I'd never won it, I wouldn't wish it on anyone.”

In 2014, Willie Sibbald, a 48-year-old painter and decorator from Moredun, matched all six numbers on his Lucky Dip ticket to bank £7,084,472.

Willie missed the moment his numbers came up as he had fallen asleep in front of the television. It was only later when he was watching Big Brother that he caught the winning line during an ad break and realised he was a multi-millionaire.

His first reaction was one of disbelief: “I was staying the night at my aunt’s house and when I saw the numbers I shouted through to her ‘I’ve won the Lottery!’. She came through and we checked the ticket again and again.

“My brother was on a night out so I waited until the following morning and called his wife to pass on the good news. She didn’t believe me at first and thought I was joking – it’s not exactly a call you expect on a Sunday morning!”

An Elvis-mad couple scooped more than £4 million in the National Lottery in January 2015.

David and Donna Hendry, from Livingston, bagged a massive £4,078,509 in the Lotto triple rollover draw, and then announced plans to splash out on a pilgrimage to Graceland to pay tribute to their rock ‘n’ roll hero.

In 2016, a syndicate of six Hibs supporters from Edinburgh scooped an incredible £1m in the special Lotto Medal Draw. The syndicate, made up of six retired friends – Douglas Gibson, William Mackie, Jim Robertson, David Hannan, David Hastie and Stewart McLaren – had been running since The National Lottery’s inception in 1994. It is thought each member got £166,666.66.

In August 2021, Paul and Louise Drake, from West Lothian, scooped the £5,162,779 Lotto jackpot after Mr Drake checked his numbers the next morning before his shift as production operator with Lidl.

Speaking at the time, he said: “I’m not an emotional guy but I just burst into tears. I ran back into the house screaming and woke Louise up to tell her. We just couldn’t believe it.”

In May 2023, a Midlothian man was celebrating after winning a life-changing £500,000 in the National Lottery. The mystery winner, known only as Mr H, scooped the top prize on the Thunderball.

The project manager said he planned to pay off his mortgage and go on a family holiday to the east coast of America.

In March this year, a retired gas worker from Edinburgh recalled the moment he realised he'd scooped a whopping £500,000 in the National Lottery.

Raymond Young, 63, woke up in the middle of the night and went to check his ticket. Still half asleep at the time, he discovered he had won the Thunderball jackpot prize – but then went back to bed. The next morning, when he woke up, he thought it had all been a dream – but then he realised his ‘dream’ had come true and he was half a million pounds richer.

Raymond celebrated his new-found wealth by buying a car and going on holiday to Blackpool, which he said was the only place to celebrate his win.

These are just some of the many winners from Edinburgh and the Lothians - and who knows? Maybe you will be next.