Players of the Penrith Lottery will in future be able to opt to support a range of local good causes, a launch event for the new-look venture heard last week.
The event, staged at the town’s George Hotel, was attended by people who are already paid-up members of the lottery, committee members past and present and representatives of town groups to which it has given grant funding.
Also present was Carol O’Neill, business development manager at Gatherwell, the national management company which is to take over the running of the Penrith Community Lottery Fund.
Richard Utting, chairman of the Penrith Lottery, spoke of his pride in all the project had achieved since it was first launched in 2010.
More than £177,000 had been given out to local groups and good causes and there had been 42 jackpot winners.
Groups and individuals had been able to apply for grants of up to £2,500 and those to benefit over the years had included Hospice at Home Carlisle and North Lakeland, Penrith mountain rescue team and the Winter Droving festival.
Membership had ebbed and flowed over the years, said Mr Utting, and with around 200 people active as members, now had seemed an appropriate time to “reactivate and refresh” the project.
The partnership with Gatherwell would bring a range of benefits, including marketing and administration support and a much-increased jackpot prize of £25,000. A key difference between the “old” and the “new” lottery would be the ability of other local good causes to piggyback on the Penrith Lottery to raise funds for themselves, with a small proportion of ticket revenue going to the overall town fund.
Initially, people will be able to sign up to be a member of the Penrith Community Lottery Fund only — with all the details at www.penrithlottery.com/support/penrith
But following a launch event in March, other town groups will be able to get on board with their own fundraising lottery, under the umbrella of the main Penrith draw.
Approaches are currently being made to a host of town groups who may want to take advantage of the new fundraising opportunity.
Existing members of the Pride in Penrith Lottery are being encouraged to re-register for the new lottery, with tickets being priced at £1 instead of the previous £2.
One of those involved from the start of the Pride in Penrith Lottery is Kelvin Dixon, of Seagraves and Dixon lighting, who spoke at Wednesday’s event, saying: “This is a natural progression, looking back to the early years when people were knocking on doors trying to get people to sign up.
“The work that everybody put into it, from the early days, is a credit to you. Well done, on behalf of all those who have been involved.”
The “good cause” launch event is set to take place on 20th March.
