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The first draw of Wokingham borough council’s community lottery is set to take place on Saturday, June 28.
Funds raised by the new community lottery scheme in Wokingham borough will be split between local charities, clubs and voluntary organisations, as well as the winning ticket holders.
Similar community lotteries are already operated by Bracknell Forest, Surrey Heath and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.
The costs of operating the lottery are covered by revenue generated from a percentage of ticket sales designated as the central fund.
Tickets will cost £1 each, and can only be purchased online or by phone via direct debit or payment card.
The proceeds of each £1 ticket sale are distributed as follows:
- £0.50 to the cause.
- £0.10 to Wokingham Council central fund.
- £0.18.2 for prizes.
- £0.18.2 to Gatherwell.
- £0.036 VAT.
Individual lottery players have two options for how the 60% of their ticket purchase is distributed. Either the entire 60% can go to a central fund to be distributed by the council, or 50% can go to a specified cause chosen by the player, with the remaining 10% allocated to the central fund
For comparison, the percentage of each ticket sale that goes to good causes in other lotteries includes 28% for the National Lottery, 33% for the Postcode Lottery, and 20% for the Health Lottery.
Local good causes can range from school groups and PTAs, environmental groups, animal sanctuaries, interest clubs, day centres and support groups for residents in need.
Players can select a line of six numbers (0-9), and prizes will be awarded based on the number of matched numbers.
Six matched numbers will win a prize of £25,000, five matched numbers will win £1,000, four matched numbers will collect £250, three matched numbers will win £25, while two matched numbers will win three free tickets.
The community lottery will not cost Wokingham borough council anything to operate, and it will have no financial exposure to prizes.
Community lotteries are considered to be “incentivised giving” by the Gambling Commission, and have the lowest risk of addiction.
Mitigation factors will include the need for all customers to require validation and set up before a gambling transaction may be processed, a limit of 20 ticket sales per person for each draw, and no cash transactions.
Executive member for finance and governance, Cllr Imogen Shepherd-DuBey, said: “By launching a community lottery scheme it will enhance our ability to support the voluntary and community sector which will bring huge benefits to our residents.
“Every ticket bought would make a real difference to local projects and initiatives.
“The main difference with this type of lottery is that customers are able to select a good cause to support when they buy their lottery tickets, or know any money raised is going to be distributed within the borough rather than going elsewhere.”
A spokesperson told Wokingham Today: “As of Wednesday, June 18, we have 38 live good causes, including our own Wokingham borough community lottery central fund.
“The number of lottery players is 145.”
