# Charity leaders unite in letter urging go ahead on lottery law changes

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/04/30/charity-leaders-unite-in-letter-urging-go-ahead-on-lottery-law-changes/
- Published: 2019-04-30T08:00:20+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**More than 70 charity leaders have sent a joint letter to Culture Secretary Jeremy
Wright, urging him to press ahead with the proposed changes to charity lottery laws.**

In the joint letter, 73 charity leaders, which include the Chief Executives of the
[British Red Cross](https://www.redcross.org.uk/), NSPCC, Marine Conservation Society,
[War Child](https://www.warchild.org.uk/), and Crisis, outline their support for
the Government proposal, first set out last June, to increase the sales limit for
charity lotteries to £100 million per year.

In a consultation, ministers said their “preferred option” was to increase the value
of tickets each lottery can sell each year from £10 million to £100 million. However,
10 months on and the Government has yet to implement the change. 

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In the letter, the charity leaders write:

>  “The existing £10 million limit is causing excessive bureaucracy, additional 
> administration costs, and in some instances is reducing the funds available to
> supported charities by significant amounts, which benefits no one. “As Secretary
> of State with responsibility for charities we hope you find it useful to know 
> that if you go ahead an introduce a new £100 million annual sales limit you will
> have the support of a large number of leading charities. “Doing so would significantly
> increase the level of funding available to charities like ours to do vital work–
> something we can all celebrate together.”

Between them, the 73 signatories have received almost £220 million from players 
of the [People’s Postcode Lottery](https://www.postcodelottery.co.uk/), which has
been pressing for the reforms, as have other bodies including the Institute of Fundraising,
The Lotteries Council and the Hospice Lotteries Association.

The letter follows [a report by research consultancy nfpSynergy](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/04/25/outdated-lottery-fundraising-cap-means-charities-miss-out-on-millions-says-report/),
which revealed that thousands of local charities have missed out on £45 million 
over the past two years due to the current caps.

It found that a lack of available funds meant three trusts which award grants of
up to £20,000 to small and local charities across the UK were forced to turn down
3,740 applications worth £44.9 million which would have qualified for awards in 
2017 and 2018 – including from projects to help children with mental health and 
to tackle loneliness among older people.

Clara Govier, Managing Director of People’s Postcode Lottery, said: 

>  “This letter shows that virtually the entire charity sector will be cheering 
> from the rooftops if Jeremy Wright bring in ministers’ ‘preferred option’ of a
> £100 million sales limit. “The Government has the chance to unlock millions of
> pounds of extra funding to transform lives in Britain and beyond at no cost to
> the taxpayer – a win/win that will benefit everyone.”

 * **[TheGivingMachine opens GivingLottery to UK charities](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/05/22/thegivingmachine-opens-givinglottery-to-uk-charities/)**(
   22 May 2019)
 * **[Mosaic adds CFP’s lottery services to create UK’s “largest full-service charity offering”](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/07/18/mosaic-adds-cfps-lottery-services-to-create-uks-largest-full-service-charity-offering/)**(
   18 July 2019)
 * **[Charity leaders call for early implementation of charity lottery reforms](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/09/24/charity-leaders-call-for-early-implementation-of-charity-lottery-reforms/)**(
   24 September 2019)

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