Lottery couple save veterans' trip

The group wants to take 50 veterans to Monte Cassino

A lottery winning couple have come to the aid of a group of Second World War veterans whose trip to honour their fallen comrades was in jeopardy.

Ray and Barbara Wragg, from Sheffield, were moved by the plight of the Monte Cassino Veterans' Association, which was struggling to secure £12,500 in Lottery funding.

The group needed the money to pay for 50 war heroes to visit Italy in May 2004 for the 60th anniversary of the battle of Monte Cassino.

Mr and Mrs Wragg's have already given away £5.5m to their family, charities and good causes since scooping £7.6m in 2000.

Mrs Wragg, 62, said: "They are getting on a bit and this trip is something a few of these veterans may never get a chance to do again.

I'm overcome - overjoyed. I never thought people cared that much John Clarke, secretary of the Veterans' Association

"You appreciate as you get older that there is no rehearsal in life and if you can help someone else you should.

"We didn't have all that much money and it isn't going to do any good sitting in the bank."

John Clarke, secretary of the Monte Cassino Veterans' Association, said they has all been touched by the offer.

He said: "I'm overcome - overjoyed. I never thought people cared that much."

Community fund approach

The £12,500 gift will pay half the cost of the trip.

But Mr Clarke added that other offers had come in since news of their plight broke and that it might now be possible to cover the whole cost and invite other veterans.

The group said it had approached the Community Fund, one of the bodies which distributes Lottery money, to ask for its help.

A spokeswoman for the Fund said no formal application was made but they did advise the veterans they needed a written constitution to stand a chance of getting a grant.

She said: "We are very keen to fund these type of groups and have helped very many veterans' organisations in the past.

"It is wrong to say we only fund charitable organisations."