A CANCER charity chief is backing a campaign calling for the UK Government to overhaul “outdated” funding rules which are denying charities millions of pounds.
Laura Lee, chief executive of Maggie’s, and pictured, right, says more people could be given essential cancer support if the rules are reformed.
At the moment, the amount charities can raise through their own lottery ticket sales is £10 million a year – a limit set in 2005 to protect sales of the National Lottery.
Charities want this raised to £100m a year, with the amount per draw rising from £4m to £10m. Dame Kelly Holmes and Dame Ellen MacArthur are among those calling for a law change which they say would save on administration costs as well as earning more money for charities.
Their argument that charity lotteries do not affect National Lottery sales was backed earlier this year by the Gambling Commission, the official Government regulator, who carried out an investigation into the issue.
The campaigners point out that it’s not just large charities that are affected. As a result of the current fundraising limits, grant-giving trusts funded by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery say they are having to turn down four out of five applications for funding from local charities.
Charity lotteries raised £255m last year, over £21m a month, benefitting charities and communities across the UK, from hospices and air ambulances, to museums, sports teams and community halls.
Lee will add her voice to the campaign at an SNP party conference fringe event today when she will be part of a panel discussing the problem.
She said raising the turnover cap to £100m would give her charity a “greater ability to provide essential cancer support to more people”.
Maggie’s is one of 38 charities with lotteries managed on their behalf by the People’s Postcode Lottery.
“At Maggie’s we rely almost entirely on voluntary donations to run our network of cancer support centres and the support we receive from players of People’s Postcode Lottery enables us to be truly responsive to local need and use funds where they can be best used to support people affected by cancer,” said Lee.
“The way things stand the £10m turnover limit means that, as the number of players grow, organisations such as Maggie’s receive less funding. That is why we support an increase to the annual turnover limit and the draw limit.
“Higher limits in each would potentially see an increase in funds raised and a reduction in administrative costs, which for Maggie’s would mean a greater ability to provide essential cancer support to more people.
“This change would not only benefit Maggie’s but a significant number of other good causes across Great Britain.”
Maggie’s, which has 22 cancer support centres across the UK, has been in a ten-year partnership with players of People’s Postcode Lottery, receiving almost £12m over the past decade.
As a result of the concerns raised by charities and charity lotteries, Civil Society Minister Tracey Crouch MP launched a consultation in June proposing an increase in the amount charity lotteries can raise in ticket sales.
However, Westminster is proposing that the draw limit – the limit on the value of tickets in a single charity lottery draw – is raised from £4m to £5m. Charities want the draw limit raised to £10m to future proof rising administration costs.
The reforms are supported by the Lotteries Council, the Institute of Fundraising, the Hospice Lotteries Association and more than 70 major charities.
“I hope Ministers will listen to the groundswell among the charity sector to press ahead with these changes so that increased funding for good causes can continue to transform lives in communities across the country,” said Clara Govier, managing director of People’s Postcode Lottery. “Ministers have a chance to help raise millions more for charities at no cost to the taxpayer.”
The People’s Postcode Lottery, which now employs 300 staff at its Charlotte Square headquarters in Edinburgh, has given more than £300m to good causes since it launched in 2005.
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