Charity donations from the National Lottery fell by £600,000 last year as more punters switch to scratchcards and online draws that pay more in prizes but hand less to good causes
- Camelot, which runs the lottery games, paid out £4.1billion in prizes in 2018/19
- The sales of instant win games rose £290.1million to reach a massive £3.1billion
- The amount handed over to good causes was £1.6billion – or around £30million a week – and takes the total over the past 25 years to more than £40billion
The amount of money donated to good causes by the National Lottery fell £600,000 last year despite its games raking in an extra £250million.
Camelot, which runs the lottery games, paid out £4.1billion in prizes over the 2018/19 financial year – a rise of £200million – and created a record 406 millionaires.
The reduction in donations to charities and community groups came as punters gambled more on instant win games, such as scratchcards and online draws. These pay out more in prizes and hand less to good causes than Lotto and Euromillions draws.
Camelot, which runs the lottery games, paid out £4.1billion in prizes over the 2018/19 financial year – a rise of £200million – and created a record 406 millionaires
The sales of instant win games rose £290.1million to reach £3.1billion, while the sales of tickets for draws fell by £35million to £4.1billion. Camelot blamed the reduced ticket sales on fewer big rollover jackpots.
Overall sales were up £255.1million compared to the previous year, at £7.2billion.
The amount handed over to good causes was £1.6billion – or around £30million a week – and takes the total over the past 25 years to more than £40billion.