News
Lotteries Council call for Government to ‘future-proof’ Society Lottery limits
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As you might know the Government is consulting on changes to the amount of money society lotteries can raise for good causes.
Whilst we were encouraged by the broad thrust of the Government’s plans, we would like them to go a little further in order to enable charities to raise money over the longer term.
As such, we are calling on the Government to:
• Increase the Annual Sales Limit to £100 million worth of tickets. This will help reduce administration costs and allow more funds to go to charities that society lotteries support.
• Increase the maximum prize limit to £1 million, regardless of sales. This will still be well below the prizes offered by the National Lottery, but will allow society lotteries the flexibility to use higher prizes if desired, in order to increase sales and therefore raise more money for good causes.
• Increase the per Draw Sales Limit to £10 million worth of tickets, regardless of the maximum prize limit. This will safeguard society lotteries for the long term and help them avoid unnecessary costs.
• Reduce the regulatory burden on small society lotteries (currently defined as having proceeds of less than £20,000 per draw and £250,000 per year) by raising the sales thresholds to £40,000 per draw and £500,000 per year.
• Allow new lotteries to aggregate their returns to good causes over a three year period to enable them to meet the statutory 20% to good causes but take into account sizeable start-up costs.
Our response to the consultation including arguments for each of these calls can be found here
New Lotteries Council Chair
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The new chair of The Lotteries Council will be Tony Vick, Director of the 51 Community Interest Companies which were formed to address health inequalities across Great Britain and which raise money through The Health Lottery scheme.
The Lotteries Council is the body that supports a range of fundraisers who run lotteries and supports them on legal, regulatory and compliance issues.
Mr Vick said: “It is a real privilege to have been elected Chair of the Lotteries Council. The Council is a tremendous day to day forum and support mechanism for those working in the sector. In recent years, the Council has also been at the forefront of important activity to speed up and improve society lottery reforms to enable much more money to be raised for good causes.
I am delighted to be leading the organisation and look forward to continuing the good work of my distinguished predecessors.”
President of The Lotteries Council, Lord Mancroft, said: "This is an important announcement at this pivotal time for the charity lottery sector. The Lotteries Council continues to have a dialogue with government and is pushing for deregulation to allow us all to raise even more money for good causes. Tony Vick has been a director of the Lotteries Council for a number of years and is well qualified to lead the voice of our sector and continue the important work of previous Chairs.”
Mr Vick has been a Finance Director in the not-for-profit healthcare sector for over 25 years, working at organisations such as the Royal Masonic Hospital, the Hospital of St John & St Elizabeth (incorporating St John’s Hospice) and The Hospital Management Trust. As well as having responsibilities for finance and IT, he has regularly been involved in fundraising at a senior level. For the last few years, he has been Director of the 51 Community Interest Companies which were formed to address health inequalities throughout Great Britain and raise money to do so by operating lotteries under the banner of “The Health Lottery”.
For more information on The Lotteries Council please visit www.lotteriescouncil.org.uk
UK Government urged to speed up charity lottery reforms
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EMBARGO 00.01 Sunday 25 March 2018
UK Govt urged to speed up charity lottery reforms.
Today, [Sunday], three years to the day since a Parliamentary report backed raising the fundraising limits imposed on charity lotteries, the UK Government is facing a call to speed up it’s process to reform the law in this area.
The Lotteries Council, The Institute of Fundraising and the Hospice Lotteries Association have now written a joint letter to the Government on the matter.
The three organisations, who all gave evidence to the original House of Commons, Culture, Media and Sport Committee inquiry, which reported on 25th March 2015, are concerned at the length of time it is taking the Government to raise the fundraising limits and provide a final response to the committee report.
They feel it is of particular concern because the fundraising limits are now impacting on an increasing number of charity lotteries - restricting their ability to raise funds for good causes.
Earlier this week, [Thursday] Sport and Civil Society Minister, Tracey Crouch MP, told the House of Commons that she would “be publishing a consultation paper shortly”.
Commenting Jo Bucci, the Chair of The Lotteries Council, said:
“Three years on from the Committee report we urge the Government to finally bring forward plans to raise these fundraising limits.
“Whilst we appreciate that the Government needs to give due consideration to any changes to the law it's progress on this issue has been slow. It is especially unfortunate given that every month that passes these fundraising restrictions are impacting on the money that goes to good causes.”
Peter Lewis, Chief Executive of the Institute of Fundraising, added:
“The changes on society lotteries that we proposed to Government and Parliament three years ago would have a direct impact on helping charities raise more money to deliver more for their beneficiaries and causes. The current limits are starting to bite and impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of society lotteries and we urge the Government to move forward with the consultation as soon as possible.”
David Griffiths, Vice Chairman of the Hospice Lotteries Association, said:
“Charity lotteries raise vital funds which make a huge difference to the lives of millions of people. However an increasing number of charities - including hospices - are affected by the continuing delay on resolving this problem. We hope Ministers take action as soon as possible.”
The three organisations are calling for the Government to:
ENDS.
CONTACT: Malcolm Fleming; 0777 500 6245, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
NOTES: 1. The Hansard extract of Tracey Crouch MP’s comments in the House of Commons this week can be seen here: https://goo.gl/rb3fDf
Society lotteries go from strength to strength
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Lotteries Council reports a record breaking year for membership
The Lotteries Council, which represents Britain’s diverse society lottery sector, has reported its best ever year on record for membership – seeing an increase of 12% throughout 2017.
Over the year 44 new charities and society lottery operators joined The Lotteries Council. The trade body, which champions the needs of society lotteries now represents over 400 operators or supporters of prize-led fundraising through lotteries or competitions, spanning a variety of sectors across Great Britain.
These latest membership figures come ahead of The Lotteries Council’s annual, two-day conference which will see member organisations gather in Warwick on 18 and 19 April.
New members included organisations supporting ageing and older people, sports, care and community initiatives, as well as a number of local authorities – with membership increasing in this area from five to 22.
This positive trend in growing membership follows recent figures published by the Gambling Commission, which revealed that over £255million was raised for good causes by Britain’s society lotteries; a rise of over £43million. The percentage of society lottery income going to charities and good causes also increased over this period from 43% to 43.6%.
Jo Bucci, chair of The Lotteries Council, said: “2017 proved to be a particularly strong year for our members and the wider society lottery sector. The Lotteries Council recorded our biggest ever increase in membership, which was up 12% year-on-year. At the same time published figures also showed that society lotteries raised an impressive £255million for good causes – up £43million on the previous year – a huge fundraising success story
“These latest figures demonstrate the real value of society lotteries and their valuable efforts to raise funds for good causes. It’s fantastic to see the growth in our membership and the sector more widely, with member organisations and their players contributing to creating lasting change at a local, regional and national level.
“Our upcoming annual conference will provide an opportunity to celebrate these achievements, share best practice and prepare our members for the challenges ahead as they seek to raise even more for charities and good causes. “
The Lotteries Council Annual Conference & Networking Event 2018 takes place in Warwick on 18 and 19 April. For more information, sponsorship opportunities and delegate bookings, please visit: www.lotteriescouncil.org.uk/events/annual-conference
For more information relating to this article please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 07775 006 245
If you require more information relating to conference please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Lotteries Council welcome National Audit Office report on National Lottery
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Report backs up view that Society Lotteries complement the National Lottery
The Lotteries Council has welcomed today’s report by the National Audit Office on funding for good causes – in particular its positive comments on the relationship between Society Lotteries and the National Lottery.
Today’s report states that “The Department is not aware of any evidence of significant substitution of sales between the Lottery and society lotteries to date.”
This statement backs up the findings of numerous other reports in recent years, including those by the Centre for Economic and Business Research, NERA Economic Consulting, nfp Synergy and the 2015 report into Society Lotteries by the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
It follows on from a Westminster Hall debate on Society Lotteries yesterday [Tuesday], which showed growing cross-party support for the Lotteries Council proposals to update the law on Society Lotteries and raise the current limits on fundraising.
Speaking from today’s Lotteries Council Board meeting in Birmingham, Lotteries Council Chair, Jo Bucci, said:
“Today’s National Audit Office report includes a welcome statement on Society Lotteries and adds to the growing body of evidence showing that charity fundraising by Society Lotteries complements the fundraising by the National Lottery.
“It also comes on the back of yesterday’s Parliamentary debate on Society Lotteries which showed growing cross-party support for the Lotteries Council’s proposals to update the law on Society Lotteries.
“The Lotteries Council has over 400 member organisations representing a healthy and vibrant sector which puts in a huge amount of work every year to raise funds for charities – raising a record £255 million in the last year. Simple changes to the law on Society Lotteries will help raise even more for good causes, and we look forward to Ministers bringing forward proposals in the New Year.”
If you have any questions regarding the above then please contact:
Malcolm Fleming, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , 07775 006 245