Supporting the Good Causes 15 years of Lottery Funding

To date, the National Lottery has raised over £24 billion for the Good Causes, with more than 330,000 projects large and small having received grants.

In general, the causes supported range from arts, sports, heritage, health, education, the environment or charities. With an average of around 110 lottery grants awarded for every postcode district in the UK, The National Lottery has made a huge difference to lives and communities the length and breadth of the country.

Distributing funds

Camelot has no responsibility for, or influence over, how lottery funds are allocated. The money raised through ticket sales goes to The National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF) and the Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund (OLDF), and is then distributed to the Good Causes by 14 independent National Lottery Distribution Bodies (NLDBs) and the Olympic Lottery Distributor respectively.

The 14 NLDBs decide which projects to support, guided by a set of policy directions agreed by the Government. First and foremost the distribution bodies exist to provide support to their Good Cause area. They do this by funding a range of programmes designed to meet the needs of the target recipients. Since 1998, as some of the largest funding gaps in the UK's cultural and sporting infrastructure have been plugged there has been a shift towards smaller community based grants with the aim of increasing access to funding and spreading its benefits more widely to all communities.

It is important that the general public has some say as to which Good Causes in their region should receive funding. For example, on the ITV show The People's Millions, local projects in 15 regions compete head-to-head for viewers' votes and the chance to win up to £50,000 from the Big Lottery Fund, one of the NLDBs. An example of a past winner is Hill Croft Special School in New Mossley, Northern Ireland - a school for children and young people aged 3-19 years with severe learning difficulties. A grant of £42,123 enabled the school to build a safe, enclosed area for the children to play in.

The Structure of Lottery Distribution

The Structure of Lottery Distribution