Community Lottery raises almost £50,000 for good causes
St Albans District Community Lottery has raised almost £50,000 for good causes since its launch with more than 93,000 tickets sold, a report has revealed.
So far, 42 local community groups, sports clubs and charities have signed up to become good causes and potentially benefit from the scheme.
They can encourage their supporters to buy the £1 tickets as a different way of donating to them.
From each ticket, 50p goes to a good cause of the buyer’s choosing and 10p into a central fund to support community groups.
Of the remainder, 20p goes towards the prize fund with a potential jackpot of £25,000 and 20p on VAT and the administrative costs of operator Gatherwell.
Among the groups registered as good causes are Colney Heath FC, Youth Talk, Harpenden Colts FC, Redbourn Community Group, The Friends of St Leonard's in Sandridge and Sustainable St Albans.
In a survey of the good causes, the majority said they found the lottery beneficial with eight saying it had been effective and four saying, very effective.
One good cause stated that the money raised has been enough to fund bursaries for young people to access arts in the District.
A report about the Community Lottery’s progress since its February 2022 launch was given to a meeting of the Council’s Housing and Inclusion Committee on Thursday 6 September.
Councillor Sarwar Shamsher, Committee Vice-Chair and Lead for Inclusion, said afterwards:
The Community Lottery is now well established and raising significant funds for the benefit of our diverse communities.
Dozens of good causes have signed up and they are involved in a wide range of activities including sport, mental health, the arts, homelessness and the environment.
There is still scope for other groups to sign up and I would urge them to do so. More than anything, though, we need people across the District to buy tickets.
In doing so, they can help a good cause of their choosing and will have the chance of winning the jackpot.
To buy Community Lottery tickets for the weekly draws, go to: https://www.stalbansdistrictlottery.co.uk/.
Contact for the media: John McJannet, Principal Communications Officer: 01727-819533; john.mcjannet@stalbans.gov.uk.