£7.6m Lotto Jackpot Winner Barbara Wragg Passes Away Aged 77
Last Updated: Thursday 24th May 2018, 11:13
Barbara Wragg, a £7.6m Lotto jackpot winner in 2000, has sadly died after a five-year battle with ill-health. The 77-year-old will be fondly remembered for her generosity and willingness to share her seven-figure windfall with other people. She will be sadly missed by all who knew her, but she leaves behind an incredible legacy after donating substantial amounts of her winnings to several charities, hospitals and schools, alongside her husband, Ray.
Kind-Hearted Barbara Shared Her Jackpot
Barbara and Ray, 80, matched the numbers 7, 9, 10, 40, 41, and 44 to scoop £7.6m in the Lotto draw on 22nd January 2000. The couple decided soon after they won that they would help other people, and they gave away a reported £5.5 million of their winnings to good causes over the course of 18 years.
At the time of their win, Barbara said “I look at it this way - £7.6 million is too much for one couple in their 50s and 60s to spend. As soon as we knew we’d won we made our decision to give much of it away. By the time we went to bed we'd already worked out that we might give away about four-and-a-half million pounds.”
Numerous Donations Made To Good Causes
The Sheffield-based husband and wife helped numerous hospitals in the South Yorkshire area over the course of almost two decades, including donating an MRI scanner to Sheffield Children’s Hospital in 2002. Barbara, a former hospital support worker, and Ray, previously a building firm supervisor, made significant donations to hospices and a wide range of charities including Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, Make a Wish Foundation, Whirlow Hall Farm Trust, Meningitis Trust, Macmillan Nurses, Help For Heroes, Breast Cancer Research and Help The Aged.
The Wraggs, loyal supporters of Sheffield United Football Club, also supported their three children Mark, Shaun and Amanda financially, and took deprived local schoolchildren from the inner city to the pantomime every year for six years around Christmas. Their kind-heartedness didn’t stop there, as they also helped fund an emotional trip for a group of World War Two veterans to honour their fallen comrades in Italy.
Widowed Husband Pays Tribute To Charitable Barbara
The duo were married for 56 years and Ray said: “It is so very sad because Barbara, who has given so much to the NHS, both working for them and charitable donations, didn’t deserve this.
“She was so kind and caring. She was naturally like that, even before the lottery win. We’d like to say we made a lot of people happy with what we’ve been able to do to donate to a lot of charities”, he added.
“We were happy before we won and happy afterwards. We had a marvellous 18 years”, he went on to say.
The kindness and goodwill Barbara Wragg displayed over the course of 18 years made a positive difference to the lives of many, and she will be remembered as one of the most generous people to ever win the lottery.