The People's Postcode Lottery has doubled its ticket sales, raising a record £20m for charity in 2014
The People’s Postcode Lottery has doubled the amount of money it raised for charity in 2014 to more than £20million.
One of the UK’s biggest, the society lottery increased ticket sales across the UK by nearly 100%.
An announcement was made at the People’s Postcode Lottery annual gala dinner in Edinburgh on Wednesday (28 January).
The lottery, which donates 25% of every ticket sale to charity, has now raised £58.6m since it launched in the UK in 2005.
Clara Govier, head of Charities, said “People’s Postcode Lottery’s entire mission is to raise funds for, and awareness of, charities and good causes across Great Britain and globally.
“Thanks to the support of the players, we have doubled the amount awarded to charities year on year since 2013. At a time when charitable funding is increasingly more difficult to secure, we are proud to be able to continue to increase support to good causes.”
Charities from across the UK who have been awarded funding from the lottery over the last year attended the gala at the Mansfield Traquair Centre in Edinburgh.
In honour of the record number of ticket sales, a surprise announcement saw every single cause get an additional £25,000 on top of their existing award. It brought the total awards made on the night to £3m.
At a time when charitable funding is increasingly more difficult to secure, we are proud to be able to continue to increase support to good causes - Clara Govier
Olympic double gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes was there to celebrate her own charity, the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, being awarded £200,000 to provide mentors to troubled young people.
“Every young person deserves the chance to change,” she told the audience of 300 guests.
The event also saw the winners of the £1.7m Dream Fund announced.
They were Groundwork London and Repowering London’s Energy Gardens project, the Somerset Levels Development Fund’s Taming the Floods project and Trees for Cities’ Edible Playgrounds initiative.
Energy Gardens was awarded £750,000 to turn 50 of London’s overground rail operations stations into greener spaces – providing sustainable volunteering and training opportunities to grow edible produce and transform under-utilised public spaces.
Ben Coles, director of communities and environmental services at Groundwork London, said: “The Energy Garden project will enable us to reach 1 million people, bringing communities together around their stations, and in turn linking all of these communities together right across London.
“A massive thank you to players of People’s Postcode Lottery for the support that is making the Energy Garden dream come alive.”
Taming the floods is a three way partnership between The Royal Bath and West of England Society, Somerset Wildlife Trust and the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group and was developed as a result of the devastating floods in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
The project will use its £750,000 award to protect the Somerset Levels against future flooding and rebuild both pride and ecological celebration within the landscape.
Edwin White, chairman of the Somerset Levels Development Fund, said: "Our Somerset Levels Dream Fund project will help reduce the extent of damaging flooding such as we have seen in recent years by reducing water flowing from the upper to the lower catchments on the Somerset Levels and helping support a thriving, resilient wetland landscape. This will help protect this unique environment as well as the homes and livelihoods of the communities who live and work on the Levels."
Healthy living project, Edible Playgrounds, is a joint initiative between Trees for Cities, School Food Matters and Chefs Adopt a School.
This project will use the £249,180 awarded to give all primary school children in London the opportunity to grow, harvest, cook and eat healthy food in a positive and safe environment.
Kate Sheldon, development director at Trees for Cities, said: “We are delighted and honoured to have won the Dream Fund 2015. It's thrilling to have the chance to deliver our dream of an Edible Playground in every school across the country, giving all children the opportunity to grow, cook and eat healthy food.”
Check out all the pictures from the night.
