£62,000 raised for good causes in first year of local lottery

THE West Berkshire Lottery has celebrated one year since its first draw and a £2,000 winner.

West Berkshire Council launched the lottery in March 2019 to offer local good causes and charities a fun way to fundraise.

So far nearly £62,000 has been paid out in funds to good causes.

To date, there are 118 local good causes signed up to the West Berkshire Lottery and more than 1,000 players currently supporting the lottery each week.

The lottery has paid out nearly £20,000 in winnings and has recently celebrated its third £2,000 winner.

The lucky winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: “I was so surprised to find I’d won £2,000 as I’ve only being playing the lottery for about a year.

“I’d started playing to support Home-Start which is a local charity that I volunteer for.

“I’ve given some of my winnings to Home-Start and some other local charities.

“The lottery is a great way to support local causes.”

Grace Green from HomeStart said: “We were delighted to see one of our volunteers had won £2,000 on the lottery.

“The funding we receive from the regular lottery donations is essential to covering some of the day-to-day costs that keep our charity functioning to support families in need.

“Our lovely volunteer donated £500 of her winnings back to the charity for which we are immensely grateful.

“It is a great way for our supporters to help our charity for a small sum each week.”

Charities have seen a significant increase in the number of volunteers coming forward to ensure the vulnerable and elderly are being looked after.

However, many good causes have also seen a decrease in funds to stay operational due to cancelled fundraising events or people donating less money.

West Berkshire Council executive member for finance and economic development Ross Mackinnon (Con, Bradfield) said: “To have a collection of 118 varied causes at the end of the first year is great news.

“These range from wildlife and animal organisations, schools and PTAs, groups for young and elderly people, community groups and charities.

“We know how much of an impact raising funds through the lottery has had for the local charities across the district.

“The more tickets we can sell, then more funds can be raised for all the causes from as little as £5 a month.

“The pandemic has had a huge effect on charities across our community so being a player in the West Berkshire Lottery will help raise money to continue to fund these invaluable services to the communities and residents in West Berkshire.”

Residents and charities can both take part in the lottery.

West Berkshire good causes can set up their own lottery page, with 50p from each £1 ticket sold going directly to local good causes with a further 10p going into the community fund – the remainder being put towards prizes, operating costs and VAT.

Players not wishing to support a specific cause can still take part in the West Berkshire Lottery, with 60p of their ticket price going into the general community good causes fund, which will be distributed by the council.

The draw is weekly with a jackpot of £25,000 for a matching sequence of six numbers.

Other prizes are £2,000, £250, £25 or three free tickets.

To buy tickets and support a good cause in West Berkshire, visit the website www.westberkshirelottery.co.uk or call (01635) 597111.