NCVO worried Olympic funding could divert lottery funds from good causes

Howard Lake | 19 May 2003 | News

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations has called for the protection of lottery funding for good causes from diversion to the British Olympics.

“The National Lottery’s existing commitment to the good causes must be honored and new lottery games must not be allowed to undermine income to the existing good causes”, said NCVO Chief Executive,
Stuart Etherington.

“Whilst the staging of the 2012 Olympic Games in the UK is a very exciting
prospect indeed, the Government must state clearly how it will protect the funding of voluntary and community organisations doing vital work throughout the UK if we are to see the diversion of lottery revenue to the Olympics.”

“NCVO believes that if the UK’s Olympic bid is successful the Government’s plan to use a new lottery game to raise £1.5 billion for the Olympics would eat into sales of other games and could significantly reduce the returns to the existing good causes. This is a particular worry at a time when National Lottery ticket sales are already in decline.

He added: “This move sets a worrying new precedent for future decisions about the distribution of Lottery funding. We continue to hold by the principle that Lottery funds should be distributed by an independently appointed bodies which have the freedom to take final decisions on both funding priorities and specific projects after consultation.”

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.