Swindon Borough Council will be among the first few local authorities in the country to launch its own online community lottery to support local good causes.
The Council wants to make sure that community groups and local charities can continue to receive financial support well into the future, and setting up a lottery, known as the Swindon Community Lottery, will help to raise money to continue to fund a host of different projects.
A lottery management company, Gatherwell, has been appointed to run the scheme, having already launched similar lotteries elsewhere.
Tickets will cost £1 with 60p going towards local good causes, compared to just 28p in the pound for the National Lottery. The rest of the money will go towards the prize money, management costs, and VAT.
The draw will be weekly with a jackpot of £25,000 for a matching sequence of six numbers. Other prizes will be £2,000, £250, £25 or three free tickets.
Councillor Keith Williams, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Operational Excellence, said: “The Swindon Community Lottery is a fantastic way of ensuring that those who do important work for their local communities are able to continue to do so without worrying about funds.
“I would fully encourage as many people as possible to take part when tickets go on sale in November.”
Players will be able to set up a monthly payment in advance with the option to do a three, six or 12 month repeating subscription by direct debit or payment card.
Any eligible organisation operating in Swindon can sign up and winners will be informed via email and will have the money transferred automatically to their chosen bank account.
The Swindon Community Lottery first draw is taking place on Saturday, 14 December 2019 and tickets will be on sale from Wednesday, 13 November. In the meantime, good causes in Swindon will be able to sign up from Tuesday, 15 October when a special Good Cause Launch will be held at the Civic Offices.
For more information, please contact us emailing SCL@swindon.gov.uk.