Wyre Forest Community Lottery Celebrates its 1st Birthday!
Wyre Forest Community Lottery Celebrates its 1st Birthday!
Good causes in Wyre Forest look set to receive more than £38,000 thanks to Wyre Forest Community Lottery.
To date more than 60 local groups have signed up as part of a fun and effective way to raise funds for their valued services in the community.
The lottery offers weekly cash prizes of up to the £25,000 jackpot for £1 per ticket.
50p of the £1 ticket goes directly to the cause of your choice with a further 10p going to the community fund, which is used to further support local good causes. The remainder is put towards prizes, operating costs and VAT.
Forest Dog Rescue is one of the good causes which has benefited from the lottery. So far they have raised nearly £3,000.
Alison Jones, Treasurer and Trustee from the charity said:
“Since we joined, we have been extremely lucky to have the support of our followers, which has enabled us to receive regular donations from the lottery. This money is usually put towards medication or vets bills for the dogs in our care. This also includes dogs that have been adopted from us but had a medical issue that leaves the new owners unable to obtain insurance for that particular problem. This is a commitment that we honour which ensures the best ongoing care for those dogs, but as you can imagine, can be quite expensive.
“If you are a charity in the local area, however large or small, it really is worth signing up to the lottery and asking all your followers to sign up as it is no cost to the charity and it can only help you to raise much needed funds.“
Nadia Mattison is Chair of Friends of St. Bartholomew’s PTA which raises money for the primary school.
“The lottery is a great continuous fundraiser for our charity, especially during the pandemic. Since starting we have raised more than £700 and this has helped fund the second phase of a healthy play and wellbeing trail within the school grounds. I would advise any good causes thinking of apply to join to do so and promote it as much as possible to help with your fund raising efforts.”
The lottery was set up by Wyre Forest District Council but it does not receive any money from the scheme. It is run by established lottery operators, Gatherwell.
Councillor Mary Rayner, Wyre Forest District Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance and Capital Portfolio said:
“We are thrilled with how Wyre Forest Community Lottery has taken off and the money it’s raised for good causes in its first year. We want this to grow though and more good causes to join. It is a fun and effective way of fund-raising for local not-for-profit groups. This could be a PTA, a sports club or any other charity which is looking for a sustainable way to raise funds.”
Good causes not only benefit from 50% of the profits from ticket sales from their page they also receive a host of marketing materials as well as their own Wyre Forest Community Lottery webpage! Good causes can sign up for free at any time, it is easy to do by visiting www.wyreforestcommunitylottery.co.uk
To find out more about how to play or how to sign up as a good cause there will be a stand outside Kidderminster Town Hall on Thursday 25 November between 10am and 1pm.