Moves to Help People’s Postcode Lottery Raise More Money for Charity

MOVES TO HELP PEOPLE’S POSTCODE LOTTERY RAISE MORE MONEY FOR CHARITY

The People’s Postcode Lottery recently appointed a new managing director. Clara Govier is hoping for a promising future and hopefully the opportunity for the non-profit business to raise more money for charity and offer higher prizes.Speaking about the People’s Postcode Lottery, Govier described it as a “great business that is doing good.”  It could do even better though but for regulation that affects how much the People’s Postcode Lottery can earn.Their new managing director is also a director of the Lotteries Council who are urging the UK Government to raise the limits placed on society lotteries under the Gambling Act 2005. That currently imposes a £10m cap on annual revenue and £4m for a single People’s Postcode Lottery with current figures at nearly 3m.Last week we reported about a group of neighbours in Barrow in England that shared a £3m People’s Postcode Lottery prize. Also celebrating were residents in Greenock, Scotland after their £30,000 win playing the People’s Postcode Lottery. One couple in Coventry, England won a fantastic £428,570 People’s Postcode Lottery windfall.Govier describes the rules as “bizarre” and feels that “The more successful you are, almost the less you can give which seems quite challenging.” Something not needed at a “challenging time” for UK charities.The rules have caused the People’s Postcode Lottery to turn down four out of five applications for its small grants programme, but changes would prevent that. Govier commenting: “this is a huge opportunity for us to send an amazing amount of money back to charities. We’ve got an opportunity to do so much more, so why are we being hampered?”Those supporting the restrictions feel that if they weren’t in place it would affect the National Lottery which gives millions every year to good causes with over £38bn raised in its history. That includes a £312,086 Big Lottery Fund grant to Brighton LGBTQ mental health charity MindOut.The fear is that higher prizes being offered by society lotteries would eventually lead to a fragmentation of the money spent across all the lotteries ultimately hitting sales. Recently, there were calls in Canada for the $60m Lotto Max jackpot cap to be increased.Now news has come through that the laws will be changed with the turnover limit increased to £100m with consultation taking place on the proposals so hopefully more money will be raised in the future.