Woman Wins $145M on Lottery – She Gives Tens of Millions to Charity Instead of Her Daughters

• Frances Connolly, a 55-year-old woman, and her husband, Patrick, won $145M in 2019.
• Frances spent half of the money on charity and helping people in need.
• But she and her husband decided not to give their daughters “tens of millions.”

Frances Connolly, a 55-year-old woman from Hartlepool in Co Durham, and her husband, Patrick, hit the jackpot and won a whopping £115 million ($145 million) in 2019.

However, Frances went against her and her husband’s budget and donated up to £11 million ($14 million) to charities. Initially, she and Patrick had agreed that she would donate the money over a span of 10 years.

However, the former teacher and social worker had given over half of the EuroMillions jackpot to charities or complete strangers.

The overspending got the 55-year-old in trouble with her husband, but she reasoned that she could not hold herself from helping people. “I get to change people’s lives. I am addicted to it,” she said.

Receiving life-changing money only made Frances want to share it with others more. She gave more insight into how she handled this considerable cheque.

When she first got money, people kept asking Frances, “How did you cope with that amount of money?” and she admitted, “I never did. It wasn’t in the bank for two days.”

However, a charity budget meant to last till 2032 was spent in six months. But for Frances, the joy of having this kind of money was to be able to help people when she wanted to.

In fact, the former teacher said helping people lifted her and gave her a “buzz,” but giving her time was just as satisfying for the 55-year-old.

She also admitted that spending money and time on other people was more thrilling to her than the $2.5 million home and an Aston Martin she bought.

Frances believed she had spent between $12 and $14 million, but she was not keeping count because she did not want her husband to find out. But Patrick had only given out $6,300 to Ukrainian refugees compared to her.

The 55-year-old also agreed to pay school transport fees for a young asylum seeker forcefully removed from their home.

In addition to the many things she’s done for people, Frances bought a $63,000 caravan for young caregivers. The couple set up “Local Heroes” awards and helped OAPS (old-age pensioners) connect with their loved ones by donating electronic tablets.

The couple also donated pajamas and laptops for hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic. Frances has always believed in helping deserving people; she remarked, “It makes no sense to me to have that kind of money and not use it to do good in the world.”

However, her giving nature did not only start when she won a big sum of money; from a young age, Frances volunteered at St John Ambulance and set up an Aids helpline as a student in Belfast. Frances’ kind heart had many people on Facebook praising her. People wished that more people would share their big wins.

The woman inspired many other people to want to hold on to the good feeling of helping others, and others thought Frances must be the happiest person alive because she did not attach her happiness to monetary value.

Frances has contributed to society in many ways, and her life-changing efforts will forever be remembered by the people and charities she donated to.

Before anything, Frances had a list of charities and people in need she wanted to help out. But once she had fulfilled those promises, she gave some of the money to her family.

A big chunk of about $75 million was given to her three grandchildren, eight siblings,15 nieces and nephews, and four great-nieces and nephews.

As for their daughters, the couple said they decided early on that they would not give them “tens of millions.” Frances and Patrick gave their children enough money to buy houses and live comfortably but still wanted them to work hard for what they wanted.

The 55-year-old said her children would get more when she and her husband died, and the rest of their money would be donated to charity. The mother is incredibly proud of her daughters, Katrina, Natalie, and Fiona, for taking after her and being passionate about helping people.

As much as Frances’ husband is not always happy with his wife’s overspending, he’s happy with the work they are doing in the world, but if it were, according to him, he would install top-quality security to protect their money.

Here is another story about a selfless woman that gave away lottery money she won to a police officer despite her struggles.