Where does the UK national lottery profits actually go ?

Posted by Effective-Ad-6460@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 31 comments

According to .Gov Up to and including the 2021-22 financial year, the National Lottery has generated £43.7 billion for good causes since its launch in 1994[^(\[footnote 1\])](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-lottery-distribution-fund-account-2021-2022/national-lottery-distribution-fund-annual-report-and-accounts-for-the-year-ended-31-march-2022#fn:1), and has benefited over 670,000 projects, large and small. The majority of National Lottery grants are under £10,000 reaching many organisations. A further £2.2 billion has been raised in income from investment. £43.7 billion has been raised for charitable funds ... 43 Billion is a significant amount ... but what benefits did the UK get from this ? Where did it go specifically ? Pretty sure we could have solved the housing crisis by now

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31 Comments

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Danlarks@reddit

I spent a small chunk of my winnings on archeological digs and atm I’m working on setting up a hardship for those struggling with rental property’s but yeah would love to know where the money I spent the £3 ticket on went

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NuclearCleanUp1@reddit

[https://www.allwynentertainment.com/](https://www.allwynentertainment.com/) It goes to Allwyn Entertainment in Switzerland. Allwyn is owned by KKCG. [https://kkcg.com/en](https://kkcg.com/en) KKCG is owned by Karel Komarek. (See image) He's worth £5.9 billion. https://preview.redd.it/zc3yz13xpo7e1.png?width=634&format=png&auto=webp&s=8d5abbafd178a2ce5fea3865afcdce71edd2a24a

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billsmithers2@reddit

The money for good causes goes to good causes. Yes, Allwyn run the lottery having replaced Camelot this year, but they aren't recipients of the good causes fund.

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NuclearCleanUp1@reddit

OP asked about the profits.

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billsmithers2@reddit

The title mentioned profits, but all the text was about the charitable funds, so I think it's fair to say the question was really about those.

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DaftTwat@reddit

You can see where the funding went specifically for yourself here... https://grantnav.threesixtygiving.org/search?json_query=%7B%22query%22%3A+%7B%22bool%22%3A+%7B%22filter%22%3A+%5B%7B%22bool%22%3A+%7B%22should%22%3A+%5B%7B%22term%22%3A+%7B%22fundingOrganization.id_and_name%22%3A+%22%5B%5C%22The+National+Lottery+Community+Fund%5C%22%2C+%5C%22GB-GOR-PB188%5C%22%5D%22%7D%7D%5D%7D%7D%2C+%7B%22bool%22%3A+%7B%22should%22%3A+%5B%5D%7D%7D%2C+%7B%22bool%22%3A+%7B%22should%22%3A+%5B%5D%2C+%22must%22%3A+%7B%7D%7D%7D%2C+%7B%22bool%22%3A+%7B%22should%22%3A+%7B%22range%22%3A+%7B%22amountAwarded%22%3A+%7B%7D%7D%7D%2C+%22must%22%3A+%7B%7D%7D%7D%2C+%7B%22bool%22%3A+%7B%22should%22%3A+%5B%5D%7D%7D%2C+%7B%22bool%22%3A+%7B%22should%22%3A+%5B%5D%7D%7D%2C+%7B%22bool%22%3A+%7B%22should%22%3A+%5B%5D%7D%7D%2C+%7B%22bool%22%3A+%7B%22should%22%3A+%5B%5D%7D%7D%5D%2C+%22must%22%3A+%7B%22query_string%22%3A+%7B%22default_field%22%3A+%22%2A%22%2C+%22query%22%3A+%22%2A%22%7D%7D%7D%7D%2C+%22sort%22%3A+%7B%22_score%22%3A+%7B%22order%22%3A+%22desc%22%7D%7D%2C+%22aggs%22%3A+%7B%22recipientDistrictName%22%3A+%7B%22terms%22%3A+%7B%22size%22%3A+3%2C+%22field%22%3A+%22recipientDistrictName%22%7D%7D%2C+%22currency%22%3A+%7B%22terms%22%3A+%7B%22size%22%3A+3%2C+%22field%22%3A+%22currency%22%7D%7D%2C+%22recipientOrganization%22%3A+%7B%22terms%22%3A+%7B%22size%22%3A+3%2C+%22field%22%3A+%22recipientOrganization.id_and_name%22%7D%7D%2C+%22fundingOrganization%22%3A+%7B%22terms%22%3A+%7B%22size%22%3A+3%2C+%22field%22%3A+%22fundingOrganization.id_and_name%22%7D%7D%2C+%22recipientRegionName%22%3A+%7B%22terms%22%3A+%7B%22size%22%3A+3%2C+%22field%22%3A+%22recipientRegionName%22%7D%7D%7D%2C+%22extra_context%22%3A+%7B%22awardYear_facet_size%22%3A+3%2C+%22amountAwardedFixed_facet_size%22%3A+3%7D%7D#

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ledow@reddit

"[Purchase of A3 Printer](https://grantnav.threesixtygiving.org/grant/360G-tnlcomfund-0030088897) A project by this group based in Dumbleton, Gloucestershire to purchase an A3 printer to allow the printing of planning applications." Hmm... I'm not sure about that one at all! Buy your own damn printer! You're a parish council who has to rule on those things as part of your job, AND you have a budget for admin.

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Defiant-Ad-7665@reddit

Used to work for an environmental charity and I can tell you that each year the lottery will fund X many projects across the country. Mostly encouraging match funding with other organisations in the process

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Jezbod@reddit

Look at how much money the national parks get on matched funding, mainly for self funding projects that last for 12-36 months.

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nolinearbanana@reddit

Camelot make around 100 million in profits each year from ticket sales which are used to support things general taxation doesn't. But always remember that the way it works it's effectively one of the most regressive tax systems in the world. Most of the tickets are purchased by the poorest segment of society. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4103646/#:\~:text=Respondent's%20socioeconomic%20status%20was%20related,past%20year%20(26.1%20days). No society that claims to be civilized should ever condone gambling of any form. It delivers zero benefits to society and a shitload of problems.

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ledow@reddit

It's not a tax when it's entirely voluntary and there's a potential reward. Sure, gambling is NOT A GOOD THING and we have far too little regulation and far too many bookies on high-streets and far too many people putting all their week's benefits into a fruit machine in under an hour. The regulations are far too lax, the licensing far too prevalent (my previous house, there were five bookies on the same high street within a few hundred yards of each other!), and the controls and maximums spend not suitable at all. But nobody is forcing them to pay for it. Or even making them do more than, say, £2.50 a week or £10 a month. But if you're going to have gambling, then a state-regulated lottery that only runs a few times a week and pays back is probably the best way to do it. I would rather have the lottery than any bookies or casino anywhere.

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billsmithers2@reddit

The thing is - the ONLY possible way many people could escape a life on lower earnings is via the Lottery. While a £2m win would change most people's lives, the poorer you are the bigger difference it makes. So, although the odds are tiny it's still a rational choice and it's more rational the poorer you are. It provides hope, and hopelessness is a real disaster.

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NuclearCleanUp1@reddit

https://preview.redd.it/p2axcxcxoo7e1.png?width=1387&format=png&auto=webp&s=460a6773e625ade0e84f7ac34b9ef4ca4920c2ea

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Spare_Knowledge_8455@reddit

So duty isn't at the till point then? I always assumed it was but I guess tickets are too well rounded in price e.g £2

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Spare_Knowledge_8455@reddit

I sense some sort of scandal coming...

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yeahfuckingrightm8@reddit

It's changed a lot over the years. You can see the current funding opportunities here https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes In the beginning much of the funding was for community hobby groups, village halls, conservation etc. Then this moved more towards sport around the millennium. In recent years much of the money (especially larger awards) has shifted towards community cohesion/bringing diverse communities together, "strengthening society" etc.

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Technical_Front_8046@reddit

I used to live opposite some rather run down allotments that were managed by a not for profit organisation after the council wanted out. They got about £100k of funding from national lottery. They tidied the site up, improved access and built a visitors centre for school field days etc. I know a few years back, Richard Branson launched a bid to take over the National lottery. At the time, he said it was ran by the Canadians Teachers Pension Fund and he believed too much money was going back to the pension fund then on charitable causes. Camalot or whatever they’re called won the bid again. Richard Branson was going to challenge the decision in court but dropped the matter when it turned out that the National lottery would be suspended while the matter was heard in court.

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fiddly_foodle_bird@reddit

>Pretty sure we could have solved the housing crisis by now Such naivete!

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Alarmed_Crazy_6620@reddit

u/Danlarks spends it on archeological digging

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Danlarks@reddit

Basically yes

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UnacceptableUse@reddit

Solving the housing crisis is unfortunately not as simple as building more houses

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Pyriel@reddit

Lots of places Our local community centre got new front doors, external signage & a CCTV system under a national lottery grant.

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spanksmitten@reddit

https://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/funding/distributors

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flashbastrd@reddit

I really think you're missing the point. 43 billion went to UK charities..... What benefit did the UK get? Well.... 43 billion in funding it would seem.

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Tim-Sanchez@reddit

I'm sure if you walked around your local town you would see loads of projects that had been funded by the national lottery. It's particularly good at supporting sporting and cultural projects. Like everything, there's a choice about what we spend money on. It could have supported housing, but then where would the 670,000 projects have received funding from?

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The_Blip@reddit

They helped build the new performing arts building at my old secondary school. There was a plaque on the building that said so. School's an academy now.

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Martipar@reddit

[https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/all](https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/all)

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nudgezyo@reddit

Goes to stupid "so called "good causes , there's a list somewhere

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bobdebilda@reddit

A lot of the funding that has enabled our Olympic team to be so successful comes from the lottery.

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