Have you ever dreamt of winning a lottery? If it’s a no, you must be a multi-billionaire. Other than that, almost every person has dreamt of winning a lottery. But, the most fun part is dreaming of ways to spend the money. 🙂
The budget will include sports cars, mansions, luxury goods and many more. Sometimes the expenses would exceed the winning amount. Yet we also add some donations to the list. So here we are to read about a woman from the UK who had her dream of winning a lottery. But the amount she had donated is iconic.
Fifty-five-year-old Frances Connolly won the EuroMillions in 2019. She was a former social worker and a teacher from Nothern Ireland. She did score a whopping £115 million. Approximately is about $145 million.
In the first place, Connolly had blessed all her friends and family with financial help. She had a priority list prepared in advance. Hence she had believed that she would win one day.
However, her biggest beneficiary wasn’t her family. Connolly had decided to set up two charitable foundations with a massive investment. One of the foundations was located in Northern Ireland; It was named after Connolly’s late mother, Kathleen Graham. The other was called PFC Trust; it started to support local carers, the elderly, and refugees in her hometown.
The amount she had spent on giving back had surpassed more than half of her winnings. First, though, she had to keep it a secret from her husband.
Since Connolly was a former social worker, she isn’t new to giving back and doing community work. Connolly had volunteered with St.John Ambulance as a child. Also, she had been a part of an AIDS hotline while she was a student in Belfast.
Money doesn’t change you. It only amplifies a person’s real character.
According to the BBC, she said, ” If I had any advice for a winner… money could liberate an individual to be the person you want to be”.
At present, Connolly is involved in community work. She is especially interested in helping the unemployed, refugees, caregivers and the elderly. Besides that, Connolly had taken steps to provide the seniors with tablets to keep in touch with their families.
Helping others is addictive, said Connolly. The local news outlets questioned her if she was happy to give so, and she answered, “Why wouldn’t you? I’ve done that all my life.”
Connolly also added that she would have been a millionaire before the win if she had taken back all the money she gave away. Recently she had spent £5000 on clothes and toiletries for Ukrainian refugees.
They also didn’t forget to spend on their luxury. The couple had purchased seven acres of land containing a six-bedroom house in County Durham. Mr Connolly also owns a second hand, Aston Martin.
Leading a luxurious life is not on my bucket list of Connolly. Once on the television, she had seen a person spending £25000 just on a champagne bottle. Yet Connolly thinks it could have been used better by helping the needy.
Although they have vast wealth, the couple continues their everyday life. While Connolly is working on her established foundations, Mr Connolly is still running their plastic business. Even though she spent so much to hive back, she doesn’t regret that.
Some of Connolly’s ideas for Mirror UK were golden; First, she asked everyone, “If you can do good things for the needy, why wouldn’t you just do it? Also, she said it makes no sense for her to have that kind of wealth and not use it to do good for the world. She is an excellent example for everyone.
To learn more about the incident, watch the video below.