If you won the euromillions (or had a similar amount of money) how would you spend some of the money to try and make a difference?

[Aspanielstolemysanity]

Partly inspired by driving through some fairly deprived areas and realising what a sheltered /privileged life my children live, and how much difference that makes to their life chances and childhood

And partly just that I like to day dream about having the power and resources to really make a difference in the climate change battle...

So I was just idly day dreaming and wondered what others would do?

I feel like it would be quite daunting to have that much money and know that if you used some of it wisely you could make a difference

I'd buy up as much green space locally as I could and place it in a trust to prevent it being built upon.

I'd give half to charity.

Which charities? This is part of what I ponder,.which charities might make the most impact

Children / grand children would benefit mostly.

I also wonder, if many lottery winners do give chunks.away (especially those who win the euromillions), or do they get used to the money ...

A charity to enable kids to do extracurriculars.
Educational charity to help with tutors etc for low income.

Gaza children starving to death. Though I haven't figured out how I would get the money to the right people.

Oh yes that's a good idea, I know mine benefitted hugely from having tutors and I could see that making a real difference

Holiday playschemes.

Before I was removed from my parents when I was 7 school holidays were something I (and my siblings) dreaded.

One of my teachers (who had flagged to SS multiple times) engineered that I "won" a prize in the Christmas raffle. A wee backpack with a bundle of those wee boxes of cereal, some pouches of milk, and a few other non-perishable snacks was the only reason I didn't go seriously hungry in those holidays. She cleverly made sure the bag it was in was identical to my school bag so my drug addled parents didn't notice it.

Pre Covid I ran a local holiday playscheme where we managed to get funding so we charged £10 a week, which could be claimed as childcare, and we had a good number of children who needed a break from their home in the holidays for various reasons (and that's despite being in a supposedly very nice area!). We lost our space and funding during Covid and haven't run since.

I'd love to run a network of low cost, but high quality playscheme for children during the school holidays. A chance to play in a safe environment, go on trips and, most importantly, be well fed.

That's always my worry.

There’s a few parks near me that have old buildings on them and I would love to turn these into community centres/ non profits/ youth club type places. Get the right people in and make a difference locally. Would definitely be a money sucker rather than spinner but with multiple millions it could be done.

For me, I would want to invest heavily in improving the environment - reforestation, re-wilding, free public transport. As climate change affects everyone, and will impact the poorest the most.

But I would also love to improve the childhoods and education of children who have very little. And not just academic education but investing in clubs and scholarships for children who are talented at or enjoy the arts/sport etc.

I would give to lots of different charities but my first three would be;
WaterAid- cannot imagine what it's like to be without clean water.
A local cancer charity which provides transport and lots of support for cancer patients and their families.
Niall Harbison, a guy who does so much for street dogs in Thailand..
There are plenty of others I would support too.

If I won enough, I’d open a small farm/petting zoo with a cafe and shop selling the produce and put in residential buildings. I’d run it as a residential college for young people and adults that are disadvantaged or unable to access further and higher education, they could earn qualifications in agricultural skills, horticulture, retail, catering, leisure and tourism, woodworking etc. while working there and then receive help to find employment and somewhere to live

A paid assassin to take out a couple of major world leaders might be useful but failing that I think I would probably donate to a few well established charities at home and abroad. I think that even a big lottery win, whilst a huge amount of money to a individual, would soon get eaten up if you tried to create something from scratch. I've seen a few good projects in our area struggle once money for the original set up is exhausted. It always costs a lot to set new things up and you would also need a guaranteed longer term income stream to keep things running. I think I'd look to support charities and projects that already exist rather than create something myself. Not necessarily big ones- I'd donate to our local animal rescue that does great work but always struggles for money for example - but organisations with a proven track record of doing good.

@ARichtGoodDram love this idea. I would also consider something like this, definitely something to help deprived children. I'm sorry to hear about your childhood.

I'd like to set up a mental well-being hub that would be totally holistic and offer counseling, alternative therapies, mediation and relaxation, and company etc

I would set up a foundation focused on research for rare underfunded cancers, support for bereaved families and other health inequality projects

Also a good career/future education advisor in schools

Someone who has the time to sit down with kids and help guide them through what subjects you need to be taking to aim for a career, and an honest look at if their results will get them there and what they need to change and push if not.
Also to help kids look at possible avenues - if you like X then what about Y or Z? If you're good at A then B, C & D might be good options?

Our careers guidance teacher was worth their weight in gold when I was at school, but schools simply don't have the budgets for an extra member of staff to do that full time.

Not taking away the need for kids to do their own research, but just someone with good knowledge to help assist them. And to help parents understand how to navigate the systems.

I'd love to be able to something to make sure good social housing is available for (more of) the people who need it. A bit like the old benefactors who built model villages.

The news is distressing me recently like it hasn't done for decades, all those people with empty bowls.

It struck me last night that we can't even fundraise to help - who would we give the money to?

Also a CEOPs course/talk for Y5 parents in as many primary schools as possible.

My DDs former HT was married to a man who worked for them. Every year the PTA paid for Tea, coffee and cakes and some local volunteers ran a crèche.

This man gave parents a crash course in apps, parental safety settings, how easy they are to get around, the dangers of snapmaps and the likes. Just a general, brutally honest, education in mobiles, the internet and kids. It put the wind up most of us!

Y6 seemed to be when most kids get their phones in prep for high school, hence catching the parents in Y5.

I've now had two younger children go through t schools and the parental attitudes to mobiles is so much more lax than the school with the helpful HT's husband.

I think along the same lines as you and I think there are opportunities to tackle both. I’ll let you know if I get lucky and we’ll do something creative.

I would try and help homeless people.

I’d put the money into animal rescue.

Euromillions- I’d love to get some of the homeless into their own places.