Lottery triumphs in boosting vital funds for local good causes

Edition: Summer 2021

Charities both nationally and locally have been severely impacted by the effects of the pandemic and desperately need to raise more funds, which makes the role of the Council’s Community Lottery more important than ever.

Ivy enjoying her drawing at the Springboard centre

Launched in September 2019, the Horsham District Community Lottery has now raised some £59,000 for a wide variety of the District’s voluntary and community groups.

1,800 tickets are sold weekly with some 990 regular weekly players. Since September 2019 some 93 local charities, volunteer groups, community groups and local good causes have registered with the lottery and have benefitted from the considerable funds raised.

One of the organisations which now benefits from the lottery is Horsham based children’s charity Springboard.

Springboard is an inclusive play centre. It encourages all children to play, be creative, explore and learn from one another in a stimulating, fun and inclusive environment.

The centre is used for a range of services including ‘Stay and Play’ sessions and provision of short breaks for children and young people with disabilities, as well as venue hire and children’s parties.

The Horsham District Community Lottery has been so good for Springboard and we are delighted to be involved with it. We are a small, local charity and don’t have the resource to run our own lottery, but being able to be a part of this lottery means that local residents can support us in a fun way.
We have benefitted regularly from generous people who have donated to us through it, and it has given us a platform to let the wider community know what we do.

Ben Burt, Springboard Chief Executive

About the lottery

Everyone buying a ticket can choose which community group they want to support. There are many different types of organisations to support, from sports clubs, school associations and amateur dramatic societies, to local environmental groups, community projects and those giving support to the vulnerable members of our community.

At these difficult times for so many organisations we would still encourage more groups and players to get involved – it’s free to join, easy to sign up and every group has the potential to raise vital funds for their work.

All groups involved are also given marketing support to help them reach out to their supporters in what we know are increasingly challenging times for them.

Tickets cost just £1 each, with 60p in each pound going to support local good causes.

The Horsham District Community Lottery is run on behalf of Horsham District Council by external provider Gatherwell, which already runs a similar scheme for many other local councils.