Campaign is calling for the limit on how much society lotteries can raise in a year to increase from £10m to £100m
Dame Ellen MacArthur is urging MSPs to back a campaign to increase the amount of money society lotteries can raise from £10m to £100 million.
The round the world sailor, who now runs the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, made the call ahead of a People’s Postcode Lottery’s Scottish Parliamentary reception on Wednesday 23 May.
She said an increase in the fundraising limits for society lotteries set out in the Gambling Act would mean more money for Scottish good causes.
MacArthur said: “I know from my personal experience with the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, just how important the funds raised by charity lotteries can be. Support from players of People's Postcode Lottery has enabled us to do charitable work that would simply not have been possible otherwise.
“It has allowed us to expand our work in supporting young people living with cancer to transform their lives through sailing, and also in tackling global issues like marine plastics. I support efforts to make People's Postcode Lottery's work even more impactful by raising society lottery limits."
At present society lotteries have an annual sales cap of £10 million a year. The People's Postcode Lottery, which has now reached this threshold, is calling on the UK Government to raise the limit to £100 million a year to allow more funds to be raised for charity.
Clara Govier, managing director for People's Postcode Lottery, said: “We are the only fundraising sector with limits on the amount we can raise for good causes. Currently four out of every five funding applications from local good causes are turned down because of the fundraising cap. A simple change in these limits would mean more money could go to causes across the country.”
Dame Ellen MacArthur's comments come just weeks after Dame Kelly Holmes also called on the Westminster government to increase the limits on society lotteries to support charities like the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust.
