An elderly woman, who grabbed £1 million lottery jackpot and gave it to charity, kept her win in a secret for three years
Charitable lottery millionaire unveiled her untold wealth at own funeral
An elderly single woman, who grabbed £1 million lottery jackpot, kept her million pounds win in a secret for three years. After the 2001 drawing, Ms Gail German went on leading a simple life in a village of Catsash near Newport, Gwent.
The lottery winner decided not to reveal her fortune to neighbours, family and friends until her death. According to Timesonline.co.uk, 53-year-old Gail German, bequeathed virtually all her money and all her property to charity.
The old maid made quite strict arrangements in her will: “I wish my body to be buried following a service at which I would like an announcement made regarding my lottery win of almost £1 million in October 2001 and that the majority of the winnings were left to charity.”
Ms. German's £953,334 estate beneficiaries are a children’s hospice, church and hospitals. Gail German's home and its garden went to a children’s hospice. Other cash passed to her local church and hospitals in Newport and London, while the small church in Langstone, near Newport, where the woman was buried, received £5,000 from her.
Relatives and neighbours at the village were shocked to have heard about Gail’s jackpot win. 72-year-old aunt Joan Richards, who lives in the village with her husband, Richard, said: “I knew nothing at all about it. I was shocked to find out like everyone else,” she said. Ms. German’s next-door neighbour also knew nothing about the win.
