How Sheffield pensioner became Britain's most generous lottery winner, giving away most of £7m fortune

But pensioner Ray Wragg, now a widower and aged 86, has now given away most of the fortune that he and his wife Barbara, who sadly died in 2018, won nearly 25 years ago.

The couple matched six numbers in January 2000. And since then, thousands of people have benefited from their generosity while the Sheffield couple lived a relatively modest lifestyle, with lottery organisers even giving them a trophy acknowledging their philanthropy.

Ray, a retired roofer, and Barbara - who worked as a nurse - gave money to family and friends but also 17 separate charities including a hospitals in Sheffield

Barbara, who died of sepsis in 2018 at the age of 77, previously said their winnings were "too much for two people".

And reflecting on the win almost a quarter of a century on, Ray says the windfall never changed them as people.

He 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.

Ray, then 62, 'effectively retired' from work that night as did Barbara, who had worked night shifts at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital for 22 years by that time.

The first thing Ray did with the winnings was buy a £52,000 white Range Rover before the couple set sail on a glamourous cruise around the Caribbean.

They then began their lifetime of philanthropy, which eventually earned them invitations to Buckingham Palace and the Pride of Britain awards.

They went to Sheffield Hallamshire Hospital to pay for a bladder scanner and Weston Park Hospital where their daughter had been treated for Ewing’s sarcoma.

The couple also bought 30 television sets so each child in a local hospice could watch TV in bed.

Every Christmas for six years they picked up the bill for taking 250 children from a deprived inner city school to enjoy Sheffield’s pantomime.

Barbara once recalled a visit to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital breast clinic in 2010.

While waiting for her appointment she noticed a pot for donations and during her consultation she told the specialist she would like to write a cheque.

She said: “He asked me how much I wanted to donate and I told him £5,000. He said: ‘That will keep my young lads in research for a year’.”

Other beneficiaries included Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, the Make a Wish Foundation, Whirlow Hall Farm Trust, the Meningitis Trust and Help The Aged.

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The couple once helped a group of World War Two veterans on a trip to honour fallen comrades in 2003.

And they paid for 50 war heroes to visit Italy for the 60th anniversary of the battle of Monte Cassino in 2004 after they had failed to secure enough funding.

Good causes they have helped: Meningitis Trust, Macmillan Nurses, Childline, Help The Aged, Help For Heroes, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Monte Cassino Veterens, Weston Park Hospital, Sheffield Children’s Hospital, Bents Green School Sheffield, Manor Boxing Boys and Girls Club, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Park Hill School Sheffield, Park Hill Lodge Sheffield, Help A Hallam Child, Norton House Country Club, Breast Cancer Research headed by Professor Malcom Reed at Sheffield University.