A former Bermuda reinsurance executive who quit his job and left the Island last year after receiving a hefty bonus has been busy giving money away.The man, who is in his 30s and does not want to be named, told The Royal Gazette he had originally planned to spend his windfall on a trip into space, but changed his mind and decided to give away parcels of £1,000 ($1,570), or the local currency equivalent, to people he met and who impressed him in some way.He has already given away £80,000 of the £100,000 ($157,000) he set side for the big giveaway.Speaking during a visit to Bermuda this week, he said: “This bonus was the third in a row that I’d received that was a large amount and was tax-free from working on this wonderful island. Initially I booked a ticket on the Virgin Galactic space flight for $400,000.”Despite his lifelong fascination with space, he realised the amount he was spending on becoming a space tourist could do a lot of good, spent on other things. His friends told him as much.“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,” he said.“I decided to do something different with that money and give it away. I looked after friends and family first, but I found it very difficult to know what to do with the rest.“After a lot of thought, I decided to parcel it up into little cheques and pass on the luck and responsibility that comes with that.”The money goes to strangers the man meets in everyday situations, people who go out of their way to do something helpful for another, or even just smile nicely — in short, people who strike him as being nice.In Bermuda last week, he said he had given £1,000 to a taxi driver and another £1,000 to a runner in the May 24 half-marathon who was raising awareness for those with fertility problems.Beneficiaries also include people he met on his travels in India, South Africa, France, the UK and the US.He calls the project “Wearelucky” and has posted pictures of beneficiaries on his website (www.we-are-lucky.com). There are no applications or rules governing the payouts, all is based on chance meetings and luck.Beneficiaries are asked what they will do with the money and come up with widely varying answers.Rufus, the coach of a youngsters’ football team in Kerala, India, was blown away when the former executive offered the cash. The money, he said, would go towards supporting the needs of the team. He saw the surprise donation as a gift from God.Another was Lilly, who said she would go to Paris for the weekend. Not the most selfless response, it might seem at first, but she then explained that she was going through difficulties with a relationship at the time, and was grabbing the chance to get away with her son for the weekend.The former executive, who is now pursuing his passion for photography, said he had heard heartening stories of beneficial knock-on effects from his donations. “For example, Freddie said he wanted to give his money to the lifeguards,” he said. “Then he decided that was not enough, so he decided to train to become a lifeguard as well. The money can be like a seed.”Perhaps the most extraordinary use for the money came from a xylophone player with a happy disposition whom the man met halfway up Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. The 26-year-old said the first thing he would do with the money was to get circumcised. In his culture, he could not be called a man until he had undergone the procedure.*Are you a “Wearelucky” beneficiary? E-mail news@rg.bm.Useful website: www.we-are-lucky.com