National Lottery Awards Celebrate Worthy Projects
Last Updated: Thursday 24th September 2020, 11:05
As Lotto players look forward to another chance to pick up fantastic prizes in tonight’s draw, a star-studded ceremony has taken place in recognition of the many projects which have done great work with National Lottery money. The Good Causes Fund receives 28p from every £1 spent on ticket sales in the UK, with the money distributed across different categories including health, education, environment, charities, sports, arts and heritage.
The National Lottery Awards take place every year and people are encouraged to nominate local projects which have made a big difference. An independent judging panel then picks out ten projects per category before a final public vote, and the winners were all invited to attend an event earlier this month hosted by John Barrowman and featuring many celebrities, including stars from Strictly Come Dancing.
This year’s winners were Ministry of Stories (Arts), BoxClever (Education), The 360 Observatory (Environment), Strathcarron Hospice@Home (Health), First World War in the Air (Heritage), Erskine Celebrates the Commonwealth Games (Sport) and Future 4 Me (Voluntary), who will all receive an extra £2,000 to spend on their project. Edna Smith, an 80-year-old grandmother from Leicester, was also surprised with a Special Achievement Award for her tireless work as a Home-Start volunteer, which has made a difference to the lives of hundreds of families.
You can find out more about Good Causes which benefit from the lottery and feel proud that even if you don’t win a prize on tonight’s Lotto, your money will go towards such inspiring initiatives as those which were honoured at the 2015 National Lottery Awards.
You can buy tickets for this evening’s draw by playing online or visiting authorised retailers, and there is an estimated jackpot of £2 million on offer if anyone can match all six main numbers. There were two participants on Saturday who split the top prize of just over £4 million, and since the start of September there have been eight players who have hit the jackpot. For a chance of becoming the ninth lucky jackpot winner of the month, get involved now and fortune might just be on your side. Good luck!