UK charities win double jackpot in lotteries amendment

Fundraising | 26 Feb 2009

Charity lotteries can now raise up to £4m - double the previous maximum amount allowed - after a change to the Gambling Act 2005 was passed in parliament.

The amendment to the law means the top individual prize amount that can be offered has also doubled, from £200,000 to £400,000.

Many charities felt the previous imposed limit put them at a significant disadvantage compared to the national lottery, scratchcards and bookmakers’ lotto games, and the Lotteries Council and the Hospice Lotteries Association have been campaigning for change for eight years.

Potential for super-draw

The amendment opens up the possibility of a super-draw being created by a coalition of hospices.

When sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe originally proposed the motion last year, he said the change would benefit 630 charity lotteries already licensed to run draws, but could also prove an incentive for other charities to set up lotteries.

The last time society lottery limits were increased was 2002 when the government doubled proceed limits to their present level of £2m.

The campaign by the Lotteries Council and the Hospice Lotteries Association argued that the previous limits held them back from raising significantly higher sums for good causes and also prevented several societies coming together to promote a larger, one-off annual draws, such as a Christmas bumper draw.

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.