Woman wins £115,000,000 lottery – and gives half of it away

To most people, it would be obvious what you’d buy if you won the lottery: yachts, a mansion (or two), luxury clothes and a lot of champagne.

Yet when Frances Connolly won the £115million jackpot with her husband Paddy in 2019, she decided to give more than half of it away.

The social worker and teacher handed piles of cash to friends and family before setting up a charity to help local causes where she lives.

PFC Trust has, among other things, bought caravans so young carers can take a break, funded loneliness projects, taught older people how to use new-fangled technology, delivered food parcels and installed defibrillators at sports clubs.

Before her life-changing win, Frances helped others from a young age while growing up in Northern Ireland.

She moved to Hartlepool for work in 1990, planning to stay for only a year or two, only to live there for more than 25 years, the trust website says.

Within three years of scooping up the life-changing money, Frances had already spent up to 2032’s allocation, she told the BBC at the time.

With her father a fan of country and western music, Frances named the late Dolly Parton, who died aged 80 last month, as her ‘inspiration’ for her philanthropic work.

Parton gave vast amounts of her wealth to good causes, including child literacy.

‘Maybe if we had been younger I’d have kept more, maybe you’d be a bit more nervous about how much you could give away,’ Frances said.

‘But unless I intended to live forever – I was 50-whatever when I won it – so even being generous, I was well over halfway through.

‘So as long as the kids are sorted and they had enough to live comfortable, nice lives, I didn’t see the point.’

The couple insist they live the same life they did before their huge win, with Paddy still running plastics businesses, but say they have a ‘lovely life’.

Frances said: ‘I always tell people, we have the same life, we just live it bigger.

‘You know, we haven’t particularly changed, if you talk to my friends.’

As charitable as she is, Frances knows all too well that she can’t single-handedly ‘cure poverty’.

‘I get help and support every single day,’ she said of the hundreds of people she works with.

‘I think people just need to be asked, and they just need to have that opportunity to do exactly what I do and change lives.’

In honour of Frances’ 60th birthday, seven athletes are to undertake a series of gruelling challenges to raise money for her charity.

The 60 for 60 Challenge will see the team run, swim or cycle a total of 60 miles.

Following family fun day today at Middlesbrough Velodrome, the team will tackle a series of tough events, culminating in the Great North Run, the world’s largest half marathon.

Paul Hewitson, who will take on the Great North Run for the trust, said of Frances: ‘She has set such an example, and we wanted to help through sport, as we all know how vital it is for young people to live healthier lives.’

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