Shaun_Posh
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- Apr 14, 2026
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Every week, I always daydream about what I'd do if I were to win the lottery. And every week, the day after the Euromillions draw, I remember that I didn't bother to buy a ticket. Occasionally, I do, and I've always said - and I genuinely mean it - that if I were to win, I'd set up a number of non-profit charitable enterprises designed to help people less fortunate than the rest of us. So far, my list is still quite brief, but includes:
Supported living accommodation for adults with learning disabilities, with all care workers paid twice the minimum wage. When I worked as a care support officer, my pay was a couple of pence above minimum wage. I supplemented it with overtime and "sleeps", which helped, but it made me realise how society undervalues care workers. Also made my blood boil when a certain politician said, "I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to wipe someone’s bum." Well, I did, and lots of my colleagues did. We helped with medication, we helped people to shower, take baths, and get dressed. We helped them on days out, to get their shopping, to attend hospital appointments. And all for an inconsequential amount. The truth is that in life, some people need support, and other people provide that support, and devaluing carers is certainly not on.
Free counselling services for people living in the hardest hit parts of my home town. I worked as a qualified counsellor for about 5 or 6 years, and it was my goal, when I took my pension early, to set up a free counselling service along these lines. Fate stepped in the way, and I wasn't able to. But I think that there are lots of people - thousands of people - who are having to rely on the underfunded and undermanned mental health services the NHS provides. As a person-centred counsellor, I'm also aware that the 10 sessions of talking therapy the NHS usually offers are invariably not enough to help people overcome their mental health issues, and there is a severe lack of alternatives for most people. Not many can afford to spend £200-£250 a month on personal therapy. It should be noted that most newly qualified counsellors provide their services for free, volunteering with organisations such as Mind.
Hostel for those people who are sleeping rough. This is a tough one, because it's outside my area of expertise, but there are too many people sleeping rough, and though it would be a drop in the ocean, it would be nice to have a space where 20 or 30 people could call home. It would have to be carefully managed to avoid abuses, but it could be linked to other charitable causes.
I'm sure I'd come up with many other enterprises if I were to win the lottery (I mean, the odds are only something like 18 million to one!), but for now, that's about it. I wonder what people would add to a similar list should they become absurdly wealthy overnight. Or perhaps most people would put friends and family first.
Oh, and of course, I'd buy myself a huge house and loads of cars, because that's what bipolar people tend to do with money!
Supported living accommodation for adults with learning disabilities, with all care workers paid twice the minimum wage. When I worked as a care support officer, my pay was a couple of pence above minimum wage. I supplemented it with overtime and "sleeps", which helped, but it made me realise how society undervalues care workers. Also made my blood boil when a certain politician said, "I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to wipe someone’s bum." Well, I did, and lots of my colleagues did. We helped with medication, we helped people to shower, take baths, and get dressed. We helped them on days out, to get their shopping, to attend hospital appointments. And all for an inconsequential amount. The truth is that in life, some people need support, and other people provide that support, and devaluing carers is certainly not on.
Free counselling services for people living in the hardest hit parts of my home town. I worked as a qualified counsellor for about 5 or 6 years, and it was my goal, when I took my pension early, to set up a free counselling service along these lines. Fate stepped in the way, and I wasn't able to. But I think that there are lots of people - thousands of people - who are having to rely on the underfunded and undermanned mental health services the NHS provides. As a person-centred counsellor, I'm also aware that the 10 sessions of talking therapy the NHS usually offers are invariably not enough to help people overcome their mental health issues, and there is a severe lack of alternatives for most people. Not many can afford to spend £200-£250 a month on personal therapy. It should be noted that most newly qualified counsellors provide their services for free, volunteering with organisations such as Mind.
Hostel for those people who are sleeping rough. This is a tough one, because it's outside my area of expertise, but there are too many people sleeping rough, and though it would be a drop in the ocean, it would be nice to have a space where 20 or 30 people could call home. It would have to be carefully managed to avoid abuses, but it could be linked to other charitable causes.
I'm sure I'd come up with many other enterprises if I were to win the lottery (I mean, the odds are only something like 18 million to one!), but for now, that's about it. I wonder what people would add to a similar list should they become absurdly wealthy overnight. Or perhaps most people would put friends and family first.
Oh, and of course, I'd buy myself a huge house and loads of cars, because that's what bipolar people tend to do with money!