Published on Friday 05 March 2021
BH Coastal Lottery celebrates two years of helping local good causes and residents this week. The lottery was launched in March 2019 to raise money for local charities, voluntary organisations and other good causes. It initially supported local causes in Bournemouth, and was extended to Christchurch and Poole on 1 April 2020 after the formation of BCP Council.
BH Coastal Lottery is a platform that enables the voluntary and community sector in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole to fundraise to provide services to local residents. To date, the lottery has raised funds to help 120local good causes.
All supporters who buy a ticket for just one pound have the chance to win prizes of up to £25,000 in the weekly draw. Every ticket has a one in fifty chance of winning a prize, giving supporters better odds on winning than the National Lottery and the Health Lottery. From every ticket sale, 60p goes directly to local charities and good causes, with the remainder being put towards prizes, operating costs and VAT.
BH Coastal Lottery is indebted to the generous residents who are supporting the good causes by buying tickets. Cash prizes won so far total at just under £45,000. There have also been two lucky winners of a family stay in the luxury beach lodges and also a winner of a digital entertainment bundle. In addition, there have been over 5,498 winners of three free tickets. But it’s not all about the winning, it’s about supporting the voluntary sector and residents, with many supporters generously donating their cash prizes back to the good cause they wished to help in the first place.
The success of BH Coastal Lottery has resulted in over £38,000being raised and made available for small local good causes to support in the local response efforts during the pandemic. The Lottery Small Grants Scheme was launched to support the small, volunteer led groups making a huge difference locally. This was swiftly followed by the Emergency Small Grants Scheme to support voluntary organisations responding to the needs of vulnerable people during COVID-19. These grants of up to £2,500 each enabled local good causes to work specifically on projects to provide direct help to the local community including:
- the provision of food boxes for families in need
- home learning resources for vulnerable children
- essential supplies to vulnerable women
- support for vulnerable residents who were self-isolating and had reached a financial or food crisis.
Councillor Jane Kelly, Lead member for Engagement, BCP Council said:
"We are so pleased with the results that BH Coastal Lottery has achieved for our local good causes and residents. It is especially encouraging that the funding from the lottery has helped our vulnerable residents during the pandemic, particularly during the first lockdown where so much help was provided. I look forward to hearing about the projects which will be funded by the lottery to help our residents in the future."
To find out more about BH Coastal Lottery and to buy a ticket online, please visit our website: www.bhcoastallottery.co.uk
You can find a full list of the local causes here.