These are questions that may well be asked amongst the family of Mr. Nigel Page and Ms. Justine Laycock. Mr. Page is the lucky owner of a ticket whose numbers matched with the EuroMillions Draw No. 314 of Friday 12th February, 2010. This resulted in Mr. Page suddenly becoming £56,008,113.20 richer! Regaling his partner with the news they decided to go down to the local supermarket café and celebrate with a bacon butty. It is therefore nice to know that even if their heads are in the clouds, their feet are still firmly upon the ground.
At this point the British Gazette would ask of its readers… “Even if you have never bought a lottery ticket, have not you just once wondered what it would be like to win a huge amount – say £50 plus million – on the lottery?
It is of course a fantasy of so many Britons and when Lady Luck picks upon such as Mr. Page, the nation is keen to know who they are.
Many online commentators will often state that were they in such a fortunate position that they would insist on remaining anonymous. However, when you think of it, for the vast majority of people this is not a practical option. Far better to have one’s “fifteen minutes of fame” in front of a compliant and congratulatory media than to attempt to hide away only to have the tabloids hunt you down like a fox. To those still convinced of the wisdom of remaining anonymous consider this: how would you conceal it from your family, your friends? Most people have wives, partners, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers. Of course if you are a single child of parents who were single children, and live a hermit like existence – restricting your interpersonal contact through the internet – and live in a small crofter’s cottage in the Wester Ross hamlet of Kalnakill overlooking the Inner Sound to the island of Rona – and did not intend to alter your lifestyle and living standard; then you would probably get away with it. But not all of us are like the SNP’s organiser for Ross and Cromarty!
Of course, for Mr. Page and Ms. Laycock the real questions and tensions will come later. The couple, who live near Cirencester in Gloucestershire, have three children between them from previous relationships. Mr. Page’s daughter Ella, 12, and Ms. Laycock’s son and daughter, Jacob, 11, and Georgia, 15. Before the win, they must have been a normal modern family unit. Now, rich beyond the dreams of avarice the couple will be concerned for their children. Had Mr. Page decided not to purchase his ticket these children would have looked towards the prospect of further education and a career in the light that this was the one and only way they would obtain the money on which to live and to build a life for themselves. The daily financial reality which besets most of us. Now these children will have to be shown that there is still worth and value in pushing themselves to achieve success at school and in further education.
The British Gazette wishes Mr. Page and Ms. Laycock the best of luck for the future. They will need it.
Speaking the Truth unto the Nation
