Limit on what charity lotteries can raise could cost causes £200m

Calls for Government to ditch ‘needless’ £50million limit on charity lotteries as People’s Postcode Lottery warns good causes in Britain could miss out on £200million in just the next five years

• The People’s Postcode Lottery supports more than 70 major charities
• Red tape on ticket sales has been in place since 1960s, limiting amount raised 

Good causes nationwide stand to miss out on almost £200 million over the next five years because of a ‘needless’ legal limit on the amounts that charity lotteries can raise, it has been claimed.

People’s Postcode Lottery, which supports more than 70 major charities, believes it could hand out an extra £198 million if the Government slashed the red tape on ticket sales that has been in place since the 1960s.

Players of the popular lottery have raised more than £1 billion since 2005, benefiting thousands of charities. Last year alone more than £183 million went to good causes, from major cancer and homelessness charities to community projects.

Ahead of a crunch meeting with Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Civil Society Minister Stuart Andrew next month, leading charities and People’s Postcode Lottery are urging the Government to act quickly to scrap the £50 million limit on ticket sales, calling it ‘frustrating’.

The Gambling Commission has already admitted being ‘unable to uncover any reference as to why these limits were put in place’ on the charity lottery sector.

Good causes nationwide stand to miss out on almost £200 million over the next five years

Among regular beneficiaries of donations generated by People’s Postcode Lottery ticket sales, it is estimated that Royal Voluntary Service and children’s charity Barnardo’s could both receive boosts of more than £5 million over five years if the limit was abandoned. 

Cancer charities Maggie’s and Young Lives vs Cancer could gain an extra £4.3 million, while homelessness charities Crisis and Depaul would get another £5.3 million and £4.9 million respectively. 

Keep Britain Tidy would receive £1.7 million more and Magic Breakfast, which supports breakfast clubs in schools across the country, would gain up to £1 million.

No other type of charity fundraising suffers similar limitations, says People’s Postcode Lottery.

But after raising the annual sales limit from £10 million to £50 million in 2020, critics say the Government has been slow to react to support from across Parliament to remove the ceiling altogether, despite the obvious benefits which would come at no cost to the Treasury.

MPs who support scrapping the limit include Tories Tracey Crouch, Esther McVey, Robert Halfon, Stephen Crabb and Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross.

Dame Laura Lee, chief executive of Maggie’s, which provides free cancer support and information, backed the MPs.

‘People’s Postcode Lottery helps Britain’s charities deliver impactful change right across the country – something we know first-hand at Maggie’s,’ she said.

BACKER: Esther McVey is among MPs calling for the lottery cap to be scrapped

People’s Postcode Lottery, which supports more than 70 major charities, believes it could hand out an extra £198 million

‘By removing this needless constraint altogether, the Government can ensure charities are better equipped to tackle the myriad of issues facing people and communities most in need.

‘Given that the changes can be delivered without cost to the public purse, they are a win for the Government and society alike.’

Richard Parry, chief executive of Canal & River Trust, added: ‘It is frustrating – after all of the People’s Postcode Lottery’s efforts in advocating for an increase to charity lottery sales limits – that the lower limit the Government chose to implement [in 2020] is already proving restrictive on the amount of money that can be available to charities and the vital causes they support.’

Clara Govier, managing director of People’s Postcode Lottery, said: ‘We hope that Ministers will at last wake up to the negative impact all of this red tape is having on charities and the communities and causes they serve. 

Ministers should also realise the huge opportunity for them to make a massive difference to these charities, at no cost to public finances.’

Catherine Johnstone, chief executive of Royal Voluntary Service, which mobilises volunteers to aid people in need as well as the NHS, said: ‘To think that Royal Voluntary Service, and the hundreds of thousands of people we support, could be missing out on funding of £5.3 million over the next five years, because of the cap, is agonising.

‘Removing the fundraising limits is an opportunity for the Government to make a huge difference to numerous charities, which in turn will improve lives and communities nationwide.’

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