The Health Lottery - the society lottery supporting Britain's health

The phenomenon of the society lottery is, without doubt, a tremendous fundraising success story.  

article body image

The concept is all about supporting great causes especially health and wellness charities. In fact, society lotteries raise hundreds of millions of pounds for local initiatives nationwide. 

Some well-known charities and organisations operating society lotteries include The Health Lottery, Age UK, Samaritans, the Air Ambulance Service, and many more amazing charities who all rely on the society lottery organisation to raise funds. They operate under strict regulations and licencing rules to ensure transparency for the public.

Public awareness of the society lottery and the advantages they bring to good causes has greatly increased in recent years. The continued success stories are helping to grow their fundraising activities, resulting in a win-win situation for both the nation and the good causes to which the associations contribute. In fact, the main reason many people choose to become players of charity lotteries is to help local charities.

article body image

Outdated rules for the society lottery 

For a society lottery, there are many hurdles to overcome and they are constantly burdened by regulatory bureaucracy. However, there is a strong campaign underway pushing for reforms on outdated rules, and these reforms are currently being discussed. 

In the pipeline (hopefully) are imminent changes allowing society lotteries to increase the levels of money raised. The emphasis is on encouragement for these small lottery organisations to be allowed to coexist alongside the larger and more dominant National Lottery. These changes are crucial to allow the charity lottery to continue to generate much-needed funds for good causes.  

article body image

The main issues stifling the growth of charitable gambling are the cap on the lottery funds that can be raised in a year (currently £10 million) and the maximum jackpot that can be given (currently £25,000 or 10% of ticket sales – whichever is greater). There is a great amount of campaigning by the Lotteries Council on behalf of society lotteries for the Government to increase these limits and thereby help to raise even more money for good causes.  

For a society lottery organisation to survive, the current regulations need to be updated to allow their continued success. The positive impact they bring to charitable causes is under threat if growth is restricted. They rely upon recruiting new players, but this can be quite an expensive and lengthy administrative process with the current caps and limitations.

The Health Lottery supports thousands of needed developments

Since its launch in 2011, over £133 million has been raised for local projects and causes through The Health Lottery. This funding supports thousands of needy developments. Many of these crucial projects would not exist were it not for funds raised through The Health Lottery. 

In the main, money raised through The Health Lottery provides financial assistance to a range of commendable initiatives. Where there are health inequalities or where individuals may not have access to adequate treatment for a range of health-related problems, like asthma, diabetes or mental health issues, The Health Lottery often provide funds for much-needed services.  

article body image

Regardless of the size of the lottery, from the standalone small society lottery up to the larger, well-established players, the difference they make is phenomenal.  Communities benefit with the continued support of grassroots charities, health and wellness charities, and many others. 

The all-encompassing and important work that society lotteries do should be recognised and applauded. Society lotteries and charity raffle websites have become a crucial fundraising tool for important causes and as a result are to be encouraged to ensure they thrive and grow today and in the future.

How can I help?

The fact that you're reading this and already on our website is a great start! And when you play any of our games, whether that's The Big Win, QuickWin, All or Nothing or any Instant Win game, you can take heart that 20p of every £1 you spend is set  aside for good causes. So, as long as you play responsibly and keep having fun, everybody wins!

article body image

The Health Lottery operates on behalf of The Health Lottery Foundation, PO BOX 8109, Daventry, NN11 1JA. Promoter: Delva Patman.

The Health Lottery Foundation exists to raise funds in support of health-related causes throughout Great Britain. It receives and assesses grant applications and awards funding across GB. For information on good causes and to apply for a grant click HERE. 20% of every lottery draw ticket and online scratchcard purchased goes towards good causes. Across all games, 34% is spent on prizes and 46% is spent on expenses (actual expenses exceed this figure). Our average annual proceeds from lotteries are £14.5m. The odds of winning The Big Win jackpot are 1 in 2.1m and the odds of winning any Big Win prize is 1 in 9.7. The odds of winning the All or Nothing jackpot is 1 in 1.35m and the odds of winning any All or Nothing prize is 1 in 4.5. The odds of winning a QuickWin jackpot is 1 in 2.1m and the odds of winning any QuickWin prize is 1 in 6. All winning lottery numbers are selected using an approved random number generator (RNG). Click on the links below for full T&Cs and FAQs for each of our games.

Please help us to support vital health causes in your community. The Health Lottery Foundation is licensed by the Gambling Commission.