North Kesteven set to launch new £25,000 community lottery to benefit local good causes

The North Kesteven Community Lottery will be run on behalf of the council and 60p in every pound collected will go to good causes in the district with players able to choose the causes to benefit.

The proportion of money given to good causes by the Community Lottery will be twice as much as the National or Health Lotteries, and all the benefits will go to projects in North Kesteven.

The chance of winning a prize is a tempting 1 in 50, with the weekly top prize being £25,000.

For every £1 played, 50p will go to the good cause chosen by the player, and 10p will go to other causes in the district. 20p will go to the prize fund, while the final 20p will cover VAT and administration costs.

Tickets will cost £1 each and can be purchased online by debit card. Players will be able to buy individual tickets as and when they choose, take out a regular subscription, or even create a syndicate.

Tickets for the first draw, set to take place on Saturday November 13, will go on sale on Tuesday October 12.

Council Leader Coun Richard Wright said: “We’re excited to be launching this Community Lottery. It’s a significant moment to be doing so, as the pandemic has made it tougher for local groups to raise much-needed funds.

“It’s literally a win-win, with players and good causes both benefitting. As a council, we want to do all we can to support efforts to help others in our district – you can see this in our annual Community Champion awards for example – and this is a truly tangible way to do that.

“We hope North Kesteven’s residents will support this charitable endeavour and invite any groups that qualify to apply to register as a good cause.”

The winning number will be taken from the Australian ‘Super 66’ lottery draw and will be a six-digit number. Players can choose their own number (perhaps a phone number or date of birth) or can use the ‘choose for me’ feature.

Local charities, clubs and groups can apply to be beneficiaries of the lottery at no cost and are invited to attend a virtual launch event on Monday September 13 at 7pm. Places at the launch must be booked in advance via Eventbrite: https://bit.ly/3kn6Sa3

To be eligible, good causes will need to operate within North Kesteven and be a charity, group with a constitution or set of rules, or a community interest company.

They cannot be individuals, religious or political, or be profit-making. Enquiries from good causes should be addressed to [email protected].

More details for players will be shared prior to tickets going on sale, via a dedicated website. The Community Lottery will be supported by a phone line and email support.

Neighbouring South Kesteven District Council launched its own community lottery almost three years ago, enjoying an incredible start with collective prizes of £25,367 being shared in the first week.

In comparison to the new NKDC lottery, nominated good causes with Lottery SK receive 50p for every £1 ticket sold - with the same chance of a £25,000 top prize in every weekly draw.

It has since gone from strength to strength and is in the top ten performers of the 80 live lotteries managed by specialist Gatherwell.

Company Managing Director, Ben Speare. said: “As an external lottery operator we have never seen such a fantastic start to a community lottery. The response to LotterySK has been amazing and it’s wonderful to see the number and range of good causes that are benefiting from ticket sales every single week.”

Anti-gambling campaigners such as Lord Phillips of Sudbury have warned in the past that such charity lotteries could be increasing the poverty in deprived areas they seek to help.

Lord Phillips says poorer sectors such as manual workers and the unemployed were more likely to spend more money on playing lottery tickets and scratchcards than they comfortably and sensibly should.

Research showed “insufficient funding” went to disadvantaged areas of the country, despite high rates of play by less wealthy people.