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Tickets are on sale now for the Worcester Community Lottery – a new local lottery to raise funds for city charities and other good causes. The new Worcester Community Lottery gives players the chance to sign up at www.worcesterlottery.org for entry into a weekly draw and to choose which local causes they want to benefit from their subscription.
Mayor of Worcester, Cllr Jabba Riaz, launching the Worcester Community Lottery with representatives of two of the local good causes that will benefit from it – Helen Simmons, Care Manager with Crossroads Caring for Carers; and Graham Heath, Vice Chairman of Worcester Wheels.
Players have a one-in-50 chance of winning a prize, up to a maximum of £25,000. Many local good causes have already signed up to benefit from the Worcester Community Lottery and tickets have gone on sale today (March 26) ahead of the first prize draw on April 27. A 32GB Apple iPad will also be on offer to players who enter the first draw.
The Mayor of Worcester, Councillor Jabba Riaz, said: “The new Worcester Community Lottery is an exciting fun way for city residents to support their favourite local good cause – and they might even scoop £25,000! The great thing about this new lottery is that players can choose exactly which good cause they want to support when they sign up at www.worcesterlottery.org. And if they’re not sure who to play for, they can back the community fund, which the City Council will distribute to good causes.”
Good causes that have already registered to benefit from the Worcester Community Lottery include youth clubs, sports clubs, arts organisations and medical charities. And more are coming on board all the time!
Crossroads Caring for Carers was the first good cause to sign up for Worcester Community Lottery. Care Manager Helen Simmons said: “Crossroads Caring for Carers is here to improve the lives of carers by giving them a break from caring. Worcester Community Lottery is a great way of encouraging support for the important work that we do for city carers. We’re supporting it in every way we can and are hoping it will prove to be a huge success.”
How to play
Players can sign up for a subscription to the lottery at www.worcesterlottery.org. When they register, they will be asked to choose a local good cause to benefit from their ticket purchase or to opt to support the community fund – which the City Council will distribute to good causes. The local good causes that have signed up for the lottery are expected to encourage their supporters to play in order to raise funds for their activities. Tickets will cost £1 each, which will be divided as follows:
The top prize available in the weekly draw will be £25,000. The draw results and winners will be announced every Saturday at 8pm, with the first draw on April 27. Results will be posted at www.worcesterlottery.org , on Facebook at Worcester-Community-Lottery and on Twitter at @WorcesterLotto. Winners will be contacted directly.
Each ticket will consist of six numbers and each number will be between 0 and 9. Each week’s draw will see a six-digit winning combination picked. Prizes will be given to players with tickets that match the first or last two-six numbers from the winning combination. Match all six in order and you win the top prize.
All players have a one-in-50 chance of winning a prize. The prize breakdown is:
Good causes
Local good causes have been signing up for the Worcester Community Lottery since February and more are coming on board all the time. More than 30 good causes are available at www.worcesterlottery.org for players to choose to support. Each good cause has a dedicated page on the website and receives 50% of every £1 ticket sold via that page. The money is paid directly to them each month. The good causes also benefit from the lottery’s community fund –which the City Council distributes on an annual basis. Good causes do not have to pay to sign up for the Worcester Community Lottery and they are provided with free marketing materials to promote the lottery to their supporters. To register as a good cause with the Worcester Community Lottery, organisations need to meet a range of criteria, including being not-for-profit and provide community activities or services to the benefit of Worcester residents. A full list of criteria is available at www.worcesterlottery.org/good-causes/terms.
Operating the lottery
The City Council has brought in Gatherwell Ltd to operate the lottery. The company already runs successful draws for Aylesbury, Portsmouth, Melton Mowbray, Gloucester and around 50 other councils across the UK. Worcester Community Lottery has been approved by the Gambling Commission and will be run as a “low risk” model that will not encourage gambling. Players will only be able to take part by signing up in advance, there will be no “instant reward” element and the prizes are relatively small. The marketing of the scheme will focus mainly on the potential for supporting local voluntary, charity and community groups.
Notes
The following is a list of good causes that, at the time of publication, players of the Worcester Community Lottery can choose to support.
Survivors
Crossroads Caring for Carers
Worcester Community Action
Perdiswell Young People’s Leisure Club
Friends of Fort Royal Community Primary School
The Battle of Worcester Society Charity
Worcestershire Wildlife Trust
Worcester Talking Newspaper
Opera Worcester
Worcester Wheels Community Transport
Worcester Cricket Club
Worcester Warriors Community Foundation
Disability Sport Worcestershire
Active Communities Worcester – Freedom Leisure
Maggs Day Centre
Worcester Live Charitable Trust
The Elgar Festival
RSPCA Worcester & Mid-Worcestershire Branch
St Paul’s Hostel Worcester
Kinship Carers UK
C&T
West Mercia Rape & Sexual Abuse Support Centre
Worcester Festival Choral Society
Worcester Rowing Club
Worcester Heritage & Amenity Trust
Worcester TheatreMakers CIC
Herefordshire and Worcestershire Earth Heritage Trust
Chestnut Community Action Group
*** Press release by Worcester City Council, for publication on 26/03/2019 ***
