Published on 20th March 2019

Gardners Lane and Oakwood Federation team members pictured together at Gardner’s Lane Children’s Centre, with Cllr Flo Clucas and Richard Gibson

Plans have been revealed for a Cheltenham Lottery, which will go live later in the year to support local good causes. The weekly, online lottery will launch later in the summer.

At a cabinet meeting earlier this month, members agreed that a Cheltenham Lottery would create a long term opportunity of supporting local people and communities. 

Tickets for the lottery will cost £1 and from that 50% will be donated to the player’s chosen charity. As part of the plans, 10% of the proceeds will be held by the borough council for a chosen good cause. It is proposed that this cause is the No Child Left Behind year of action, which is being delivered by the borough council and partners, aiming to make transformational change for local children living in poverty.

In addition, if a player chooses not to name a specific good cause, 60% (50% + 10%) of their proceeds would go by default to the No Child Left Behind year of action.

A Cheltenham Lottery website – with details about how to play and support local causes - will be created ahead of the summer.

Councillor Flo Clucas, cabinet member for healthy lifestyles said:  ‘’A local lottery brings many benefits to the community, supporting groups with their fundraising challenges.  Players can be assured that proceeds will stay in the borough and go directly to their chosen cause. Lotteries have to deliver a minimum of 20% to local causes, whilst the Cheltenham Lottery will make 60% of proceeds available to charities and community groups. We hope this will raise thousands for our local good causes.’’

Paul Jones, executive director for finance and assets added: ‘’This is another commercial and innovative approach to bring in money to support our local communities. Many measures are being put into place to make sure that the Cheltenham Lottery is played safely and responsibly. The lottery will only be playable by pre-arranged sign up, there is no instant reward and it will be possible to put a cap on the number of tickets any one person can purchase.’’

To be eligible for funding from the Cheltenham Lottery, good causes need to be based in the borough and provide a service which directly benefits Cheltenham’s residents. The full criteria can be viewed on the cabinet papers

Charities and community groups can find out more about how they can benefit by emailing [email protected] or calling 01242 264297.

For press enquiries, contact: the communications team, 01242 264231, [email protected]

Notes

Photo

Gardners Lane and Oakwood Federation team members are pictured together at Gardner’s Lane Children’s Centre, with Cllr Flo Clucas, cabinet member for healthy lifestyles and Richard Gibson, the council’s strategy and engagement manager. The Federation is supporting the launch of the local Cheltenham Lottery and is delighted that it will bring in additional money to support many different types of causes, including those supporting local children.

The community lottery is a well-recognised model operating in over 60 local authority areas.