Teacher leaves £4m to good causes

Sheila Mair was described as "very generous but modest"

A retired Aberdeenshire art teacher has left £4m to good causes in her will.

Sheila Mair, of Longside, who died aged 88 last June, played the stock market after inheriting a shares portfolio from her father, who died in the 1960s.

Her fortune is being shared between Peterhead Cottage Hospital, Guide Dogs for the Blind, the ex-services Erskine Hospital, and Marie Curie Cancer Care.

It has also emerged she was the secret benefactor of many people and organisations during her lifetime.

Norman Smith, a councillor in the Buchan area, said she had been "generous over the years".

He said: "There were a lot of things she did for people, and they would never know about it.

"That was the type of person she was, very generous but modest too. I remember she gave donations to the local gala, but it was on the condition she remained anonymous."