Inside amazing generosity of lottery winner who gave away £5.5million of his fortune
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Britain's most generous lottery winner says he still checks the price of socks - after giving away most of his £7.6 million jackpot prize. Widower Ray Wragg, 86, and his late wife Barbara gave away more than £5.5 million of their National Lottery winnings. Thousands of people benefited from the generosity of the Sheffield couple who’d never been abroad until they hit the jackpot in 2000.
Retired roofer Ray and Barbara, a former nurse, gave away more than 70 per cent of their winnings. The couple, who received a special trophy from lottery organisers for their philanthropy, helped their family and friends and 17 separate charities. Barbara, who died of sepsis in 2018 at the age of 77, previously said their winnings were "too much for two people". The couple had spent 31 years on the trot having holidays in Torquay as Barbara was too scared to fly.
But after their win they took to the seas, making up for lost time by going around the world on 29 cruises. And reflecting on the win almost a quarter of a century on, Ray says the windfall never changed them as people. Ray told the BBC: "I was working, Barbara was working, the kids were working. We were all right. Like other families do, we saved up. It changed our lives but not us as persons. That's stood us in good stead. I still look at the price of a pair of socks, you know.".
Ray cracked open a can of Guinness, while Barbara had a glass of wine to celebrate the win before calling their children to announce their news. Sheffield United fan Ray, who was due on a building site in South Wales at 8am the following Monday, then rang his boss to tell him he wouldn't be there.
