It’s not often that gambling and charity combine to do good in the world, but Nicholas Newlife from Oxfordshire, England was a gambler with a big heart.
A keen sports fan, he often wagered several long-term bets on his favorite sporting events and before he died in 2009, he left his entire estate to Oxfam, making sure to include his outstanding betting slips, reports Sky News.
So when Roger Federer beat Robin Soderling at the French Open last year (Newlife had bet that the tennis champ would win 14 Grand Slam titles before 2020), Oxfam, a charity that supplies aid and development to less fortunate countries received his winnings of $25,000, as the 69-year-old had since passed away.
And the giving doesn’t stop there — one of the gambler’s outstanding bets was that the tennis superstar Federer, would win Wimbledon seven times before 2020. If the ‘Fed Express’ pulls it off (likely, as he has won six times already), the wager will net Oxfam over $152,000 — enough funding to provide emergency rations for 46,000 famine victims or supply safe drinking water for 350,000 people.
Cathy Ferrier, a spokesperson from Oxfam says she might just be glued to the television come July when the British tennis tournament takes place: “We’re enormously grateful to Mr Newlife for his generous gift, and will be keeping a close eye on Wimbledon this year as a result,” she says.
Other weird and wonderful legacies left to the charity over the years include a pair of gold teeth, a letter written by Florence Nightingale, racing greyhounds and shares in a football club. All of which, are of course, gratefully received.
Photo by nicogenin via Flickr.