Generally speaking, most people would doing something stupidly extravangant if they suddenly came into a ridiculous amount of money. Not this guy though, instead he chose to share his good fortune and travel the world, giving random people £1 000 at a time requesting only that they “do something positive” with the cash.

Some time last year, the mystery man came into a very large amount of money, or as he put it, “[m]ore money than I’ll ever need.” His initial reaction was the same as most, he rushed out to fulfil a life-long dream – space flight – and booked a ticket on the Virgin Galactic venture. He excitedly shared the news with his friends and family and asked if they would’ve done something similar with cash, turns out they would not have.

Their own ideas were more creative, generous and responsible than mine. I became increasingly embarrassed as I realised I was blowing a life-changing amount of money on what was essentially a selfish and pointless whim. A few days later I cancelled the flight.

Soon after the idea for Wearelucky was born.

I promised myself that I’d do something great with that space flight money. Something to really make a difference. I wanted to find a cool way to give the cash away – spread it around – but at the same time retain some kind of affinity with the benefactors. I thought long and hard about how to make an impact in a way that I could be involved in and would feel good about. I wrestled with this for ages and the more I thought about it, the more difficult it was.

That was how Wearelucky came about. I decided to pass on my good luck to others by giving away £1 000 every day. I planned to give the money to complete strangers – someone different every time – and all I’d ask is that they’d do something positive with the cash. I didn’t just want to share the money; I wanted to share the responsibility that came with it. I would take a few photos, ask a few questions and build a gallery of Lucky people and stories.

I wanted to give some money away so I thought hard about how to make the most impact, something that would maximise smiles, and spread the money in as many directions as possible. I couldn’t decide what was most important: home or abroad, young or old, smart or challenged, fit or sick. So I decided to pass on that responsibility to others in smaller, more manageable chunks.

[Source: Good, Wearelucky.]