'We gained the lottery but I continue to Verify the price of socks'

Winning a life-changing sum of money is usually a desire harboured by several, but exactly what is life like when that truly comes about?

"Ray, We have got 3 numbers!"

Sat at home with a Saturday evening, nurse Barbara Wragg had switched on the Television set to obtain the National Lottery success.

Providing a running commentary to her spouse Ray, those 3 matching quantities around the few's ticket quickly grew to become "4", then "5" and afterwards astoundingly, the magic "6".

Inside fifty percent one hour, the pair learnt that they had received the £seven.6m jackpot and lifestyle had modified endlessly.


Recalling that instant almost 1 / 4 of the century on, Ray remembers: "I claimed "you happen to be kidding me?!"

"We were being trapped for what to do and what to mention. We were just flabbergasted."

A person in his eighties sits over a black sofa in a living room. He's holding a brass-coloured trophy in The form on the National Lottery symbol
Ray Wragg and wife Barbara been given a Specific trophy from lottery organisers for their philanthropy

Ray, who turns 87 on New 12 months's Working day, cracked open a can of Guinness, though Barbara had a glass of wine.

The pair sang 'Who wants to be a millionaire' because they termed their three young children to inform them the information.

"Half an hour or so later on we rang Camelot and we discovered we would received £seven.6m that night time," Ray suggests.

Another contact roofer Ray, from Sheffield, would make was to his boss, Dave, the next morning.

He was as a consequence of be back at work on a constructing web page in south Wales at 08:00 GMT on the Monday, which would have required the then 62-12 months-previous to depart house for the four-hour generate from the early hours of a dark Wintertime early morning.

When Ray instructed him he had decided to retire, a shocked Dave responded by inquiring him tongue-in-cheek, "Have you ever gained the lottery?!"

"Very well, Of course I've," was Ray's trustworthy reply.

Wraggs to riches
"I retired that Saturday night in some respects," Ray says, recalling that weekend in January 2000.

"I did not know very well what to state but I'd by no means have stated 'stuff your position' or just about anything like that. I'm not that kind of man or woman."

Even though the construction marketplace eventually grew to become "tiring" and included him travelling approximately 1,000 miles each week to all four corners of the united kingdom, Ray suggests he enjoyed work.

But the chance of retirement for him and for Barbara, who experienced worked night time shifts for the Royal Hallamshire Medical center for 22 a long time, was also excellent to miss.

The very first thing Ray did Along with the winnings was buy a £52,000 white Range Rover, even though the pair also went with a glamorous cruise.

Barbara's worry of flying had Formerly limited them to domestic vacations.

"I feel we went to Torquay for approximately 20 years to the trot - all 5 of us," Ray says.

Like most lottery winners, Ray and Barbara took the opportunity to move on some of their winnings for their youngsters together with other kin.

But it absolutely was their generosity to other people outside their family unit which would make headlines from the decades that adopted.

They reportedly gave away most in their winnings - earning a rebuke from their economic advisor.


PA A couple wearing crimson and white Sheffield United shirts keep champagne flutes bearing the Nationwide Lottery logo aloft. A football bearing the Sheffield United badge is between their heads.PA
Barbara Wragg had labored like a nurse in Sheffield for decades
Barbara, who died of sepsis in 2018 for the age of seventy seven, as soon as publicly explained their winnings were "excessive for 2 people".

"We experienced individuals say 'do you not want to keep it for yourselves?'" Ray states now.

"But we ended up within our sixties (at time) and we manufactured quite a bit of men and women delighted."

Tens of countless numbers was presented away to the healthcare facility where by Barbara had labored, and on the nearby kid's healthcare facility.

There was also £12,000 to allow Earth War Two veterans to return to Monte Cassino in Italy in 2004, sixty a long time just after Allied Forces won a vital victory there.

The few ended up remaining touched by a a few of the correspondence they received afterwards, which incorporated letters from widows of soldiers who had died around the battlefield.


A man in his eighties sits on a black couch in a very family room. He is holding a black espresso mug. A lampshade is from the qualifications.
Ray states the lottery altered his and Barbara's life, but not them as individuals
Another act of philanthropy stands out in Ray's head.

"We picked up the Sheffield Star newspaper one particular night time, and also a young lad of eleven or twelve had saved his income up to purchase a motorcycle," he recollects.

"He'd gone to the park and these a few lads experienced run off with it and left him, the lousy lad."

The Wraggs experienced a mountain bicycle they'd barely employed and so identified as up the Star to make ผล หวย contact with the boy's spouse and children so they might give it to him.

"You can not buy the expression on his experience," Ray suggests. "He was jumping up and down for joy and Using up and down, as you should should you ended up A child."

The pair's charity work earned them a Particular trophy from Camelot in 2002, together with Invites to Buckingham Palace as well as Pleasure of Britain awards.

They rubbed shoulders with Richard Branson, Princess Diana's previous butler plus the Coronation Road cast, but Ainsley Harriott stands out in Ray's mind as among the "nicest" celebrities the pair satisfied.


Sheffield United enthusiast Ray still goes swimming at his area leisure centre 3 early mornings a week and he stays a Bramall Lane normal for the weekends.

He insists he's hardly ever had any hassle from people today considering that that massive get 25 decades ago.

"All they've desired to do whenever they us in the road is rub our shoulder for a certain amount of luck and thank us for what we have done for the kids.

"We've experienced a fantastic time and helped a lot of people," he smiles.

Ray suggests he and Barbara remembered their roots and would've remained delighted persons even had they not won the lottery.

"I had been Doing work, Barbara was Functioning, the kids ended up Doing work," he says. "We ended up all proper.

"Like other people do, we saved up.

"It transformed our life but not us as people.

"Which is stood us in excellent stead. I continue to have a look at the cost of a set of socks you understand!"

Hear highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Appears, meet up with the most up-to-date episode of Appear North or explain to us a story you're thinking that we really should be masking below.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *