The National Lottery celebrates its 25th birthday today, Tuesday 19 November – a quarter century on from the first ever draw.
Since then, more than £3.1 billion has been invested in 64,000 local good causes in Scotland across the sport, community, arts and heritage sectors.
This includes a host of people and projects across Scotland’s world-class sporting system, including funding to develop the talents of Scottish sports stars like Dame Katherine Grainger, Sir Chris Hoy, Duncan Scott, Laura Muir, Eve Muirhead and Rhona Martin.
25 years
A new film, ‘25 years in 25 seconds’ has been released to showcase the 25 years of funding in Scotland in just 25 seconds, highlighting 100 beneficiaries of National Lottery support.
Among the featured projects is investment into the refurbishment of Hampden, Scotland's National Stadium, which re-opened for the 1999 Scottish Cup Final and Dundee Ice Sports Centre, which opened in 2000 with a £2m investment from The National Lottery.
An opportunity to reflect on what’s been accomplished thanks to National Lottery players, the video encourages viewers to pause the film and read all about the huge range of investments from 1994 to 2019.
Watch the film
Impact
Maureen McGinn, chair of The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland and spokesperson for The National Lottery in Scotland said: “When the National Lottery launched in 1994, no one could have anticipated the phenomenal impact it was set to have on good causes across Scotland and beyond.
“Over the last 25 years, more than £3 billion of National Lottery players money has been invested in more than 64,000 local people and projects across the country.
“National Lottery funding has allowed our sporting stars to compete at the highest level and we have the gold medal, world titles and major championships to prove it.
“We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has played The National Lottery over the last 25 years. You have truly made extraordinary things happen.”
Sir Chris Hoy, eleven-times a world champion and six-times an Olympic champion said: “National Lottery funding certainly changed my life; without it I really wouldn’t have achieved the success I did in my track cycling career. It allowed me to train full time without having to worry about getting another job and really focus on my sport.
“When you hear about how many other lives The National Lottery has changed in the last 25 years, from lucky winners to charities that have received funding, it really brings home the positive impact it has had.”
Find out more
- Discover the positive impact playing the National Lottery has had on your community over the past 25 years by visiting The National Lottery Good Causes website and get involved by using hashtag: #NationalLottery25.
