The UK’s Oldest Lottery Winners
South Gloucestershire couple who became UK’s oldest lottery winners moves into a budget hotel while their modest home is renovated.
A couple from South Gloucestershire, who became UK’s oldest lottery winners, moves into a budget hotel while their modest home is renovated.
They opted to stay in their unassuming three-bedroom home of 57 years, which is being done up.
Britain’s oldest lottery winners say the £18million windfall “hasn’t changed” them and they have gifted or given most of the cash away.
Modest Dennis Banfield, 87, and wife Shirley, 83, hit the jackpot in February, bagging £18,139,352 on a lottery ticket purchased from their local newsagents in the South Gloucestershire village of Winterbourne.
But they opted to stay in their unassuming three-bedroom home of 57 years – which they paid just £2k for in 1961.
The couple, who have been married for 61 years, is spending some of the winnings on having the inside of their “dream” house completely renovated.
The Banfields have been living at a local budget hotel in Bristol, since August 12, where rooms cost just £66 per night.
But they say they are looking forward to returning to their Winterbourne home for a quiet Christmas with their family, including the two daughters they split their winnings with.
The Win Hasn’t Changed Who They Are
Speaking outside the hotel on Wednesday, Shirley said…
“We decided to stay in the house, and just have the whole of the inside of it completely redone.
“We’ve been there for 57 years now. We know the area, the house is not overlooked, it’s got a lovely big driveway.
“We’ve been staying here at the Hilton since August 12. However, we’re near to our house so we’ve gone back to see it as it’s been done up.
“There’s still a bit of a way to go on it, but we’re hoping to move back in within the next fortnight.
“We’ll definitely be back in time for Christmas.”
Earlier this week, a builder outside the couple’s home said…
“They’ve gone to stay at a hotel while we’re working here renovating the place.”
The front garden is currently full of fittings that have been torn out for the renovations.
The Banfields would not comment on what they had treated themselves inside their newly-renovated home. It has a current estimated market value of £316,000.
Giving For Christmas
But the generous couple has given away large sums of their £6million share of the winnings. The winnings have been spread to various charities, including Bristol Children’s Hospital.
Shirley said: “We’ve given a lot of it away in lump sums.
And Dennis, who will be 88 on December 11, added: “It doesn’t mean anything to us, really. It just means a lot to us to know that our daughters are looked after.”
The couple also bought five of the Wallace and Gromit statues that were dotted around Bristol for a month. They were sold at The Grand Appeal auction – with the money going directly to Bristol Children’s Hospital.
They plan to donate one of the statues, a penguin, back to Bristol Children’s Hospital where it was originally displayed. This will be done in a presentation on December 11 – Dennis’ 88th birthday.
The couple added that they are considering giving some of their winnings to the staff at the Hilton hotel. Shirley saying: “We see the staff here almost like family now.”
