£29bn raised for good causes in National Lottery's first 18 years
Howard Lake | 21 November 2012 | News
The National Lottery, which was launched 18 years ago this week, has now generated over £29 billion for good causes across the UK.
Since it began on 19 November 1994, more than 390,000 separate grants have been awarded to arts, charity, education, health, sports, heritage and environment projects. It continues to generate £30 million a week for good causes.
Sir John Major, who founded The National Lottery, said: “I am delighted to congratulate The National Lottery on its coming of age. Its birth was difficult, with many critics and few defenders. In the last eighteen years it has raised huge sums of money for good causes – both large and small – that have enhanced the lives of millions of people".
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Not all are satisified with the allocation of Lottery funding. The Directory of Social Change is continuing to press the government to return the £425 million taken from good causes to fund the 2012 Olympics. Its Big Lottery Refund campaign has over 3,000 supporters, both organisations and individuals.
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.