Bingo Winner Donates to Charity

A bingo player from Bootle in the United Kingdom has recently announced that she'll be donating a percentage of her big bingo win to charity. The woman – who has chosen to remain anonymous – triggered the massive win when she called Bingo on the number 50. In the club she was playing at, this meant she would take home not only the game's £500 prize (about $828), but also a progressive jackpot that was worth £50,000 (in the region of $83,000).

Big bingo wins aren't always great news. For example, in 2007, another British woman won a massive £1 million in a game of bingo (approximately $1.65 million). You would think that such a large amount of money would have a positive, life changing effect.

Instead it wound up tearing her family apart: her sisters alleged that they had had a pact that any large bingo winnings would be shared. The winner disagreed. Legal action followed, which dragged on for two years, and even though ultimately she decided to share her winnings, the family is no longer speaking to each other.

But this winner from Bootle is doing things differently. She's named two charities that will receive benefit from her surprise bingo win – namely, the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, and the Breakthrough Breast Cancer organisation.

Roy Castle is a group that focuses on issues around lung cancer and smoking. They use the money they raise to fund research into lung cancer, to campaign for anti-smoking legislation, and to provide support to people living with the disease. Breakthrough Breast Cancer works to create awareness around the issue of breast cancer, and also runs a research centre that collaborates with drug manufacturers.

Although the lucky bingo winner didn't specify what she'll be doing with the rest of her cash, we hope she spoils herself – she's earned it!

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