Western Isles cash in on local lottery

COMMUNITY groups from the Butt to Barra are to receive a further £3,015 from the Western Isles Lifestyle Lottery for October.

The lottery committee is delighted to be returning such sums back to the community every month. In addition, £3,100 has been shared in cash prizes by winners across the Western Isles.

Five local businesses are now supporting the lottery, acknowledging the potential such a fundraising scheme brings to the Western Isles. The latest two are Lewis Crofters and The Home Improvement Centre, which have funded November’s bolt-on prizes.

Six local area projects have been approved and will receive proceeds until the end of December 2017, after which time the next six projects will be awarded the next period of funding.

A spokesperson said that 60p of each supporter’s ticket is returned to their own area using a postcode system. The level of funding returned to any given area is dependent upon the number of supporters in that area.

The area groups are urging all those in their respective areas to support their communities to raise as much funds as they possibly can for their winning projects. Cash prizes for their efforts can also be won, of course.

If the long-term target of 5,000 weekly tickets is met, that would mean a weekly prize pot of £1,000 with £3,000 each week being returned to the community. That adds up to a lot of funding for a lot of improvements.

Even if this current level is maintained, more than £40,000 over the first year of operation will be raised for the islands. Join in online at www.westernisleslottery.co.uk or call 0300 30 20 444 during office hours.