National Lottery Players Raise £40 billion for Good Causes
It was announced this week that, since its initial launch on the BBC back in 1994 featuring TV star Noel Edmunds and a huge pile of cash, that the National Lottery has managed to raise in excess of £40 billion for good causes.
The £40 billion figure only encompasses the money handed out to charities and good causes around the UK, making it an incredible amount raised over the last 25 years and while problem gambling is a hot topic in the country right now, there is no disguising the good things that have been done with players’ cash as the amounts far exceed the old betting tax previously added to bet slips in high street bookmakers.
Contributions to Good Causes Maximised
Those playing weekend and midweek lotteries, as well as any of the plethora of scratchcards available in thousands of outlets around the country, only get to see a fixed price for their ticket and see it as fair value as they attempt to change their own lives via a big, lucky win.
The organisers however have a duty to ensure that returns to good causes are fully maximised and this strategy remains a priority for them.
Lottery regulators are not looking the change this outlook either as they look to what the future brings to the National Lottery, as new technology and new innovations take hold it’s hoped they can not only ensure the lasting success of the Lottery but also further enhance its charitable contributions.
The Positive Side to Gambling
Far from castigating those who essentially gamble on a system they have no control over, unlike those betting on horses, football or dogs for example and are able to read form, the National Lottery Family Forum believe players can feel immensely proud of what they have done over the last 25 years.
Those buying tickets have been anonymously but relentlessly contribution billions of pounds to charities and good causes every single week, strengthening communities, funding sports teams, encouraging creativity and even helping out the environment and all without needing to choose a charity themselves or choose an amount to give.
Not that funding is just dished out willy-nilly nationally however. Grants have been given out to over 565,000 individual projects so far, the equivalent of 200 projects per postcode which is a huge achievement by both the organisers and the players.
All lottery players know full well that a huge chunk of their money goes to good causes and helps communities, proving the point that those wishing to gamble absolutely are willing to help, they just don’t trust centralised politicians to use any form of tax on gambling to use the money in the right way.
With there being no let-up in the number of people playing the National Lottery’s various games and the entity continuously moving forward as new tech becomes available, it seems good causes are in for more billion-pound windfalls over the coming years too and that can surely only be a good thing.
