Community Lottery Proposed for Charnwood

A community lottery could be set up to raise funds for local good causes in Charnwood.

Charnwood Borough Council is looking at creating the weekly lottery scheme to support the local voluntary and community sector.

The Council’s Cabinet will consider the proposal at a meeting on January 18.

The Council is looking at appointing an external management company which runs similar schemes for more than 30 other councils across the country.

If it goes ahead, tickets would be sold online and cost £1. For every ticket sold, 60p would go to a good cause.

Cllr Brian Page, Lead Member for Communities, Safety and Wellbeing, said: “A number of other councils operate successful community lottery schemes and we are looking at creating one for Charnwood.

“The local voluntary and community sector plays an important role in the borough by providing advice, support, events, community venues and activities for residents and we want to support it as much as we can.

“Each year we commit around £400,000 to the sector but we need to be realistic about the challenges facing local government funding and think about ways to help maintain that level of support in the future. 

“A community lottery could be one way of doing that and people would know they would be helping a good cause every time they bought a ticket.”

It is estimated the lottery scheme could raise around £36,000 a year for good causes, depending on ticket sales. Local organisations would apply to the Council to be a potential recipient of funds and ticket buyers could either specify which group to help or it would go into a general pot for the Council to distribute.

If approved, a lottery scheme could launch later this year.

More information is contained in the report to Cabinet.