Rugby Lotto celebrates a year of supporting good causes

And to celebrate, a bonus birthday lotto draw takes place on 9 May with £250 of Amazon vouchers on offer to one lucky player, together with the weekly chance to win the £25,000 jackpot.

Rugby Borough Council launched the community lottery to support the work of charities and community organisations, with nearly 40 borough-based good causes now benefiting from the lotto every week.

For every £1 ticket bought, good causes receive 50p with a further 10p going to a general, Rugby Community Fund.

The remaining cash goes into the lotto prize fund and to Gatherwell, the company which runs the lottery on behalf of the council.

Causes which have signed up to Rugby Lotto include school parent-teacher associations, sports clubs and health charities.

Pawprints Dog Rescue, which helped with the lotto launch campaign, has benefited to the tune of £4,500 during the first year - a much-needed contribution towards the charity's veterinary bills.

And Anita Twigger, Pawprints Dog Rescue's head of operations, said Rugby Lotto looked set to become a vital lifeline for the charity with fund-raising hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

"Our intake numbers have doubled since the start of the lockdown and we've had to cancel all our planned fund-raising events for the foreseeable future." Anita said.

"We rely on funding from Rugby Lotto to help meet our veterinary costs, which were £34,000 in 2019 and look set to reach a record £40,000 this year."

Other causes which have signed up to the lotto include Rugby Take Heart, a charity affiliated to the British Heart Foundation which has raised £1,000 from ticket sales, and the Rugby Autism Network, which has generated £1,500 to support its work.

Fay McSorley, the charity's chairperson, said the lotto money supported the network's Get Active programme, which gives families the chance to enjoy half-term activities such as bowling, ice skating and karting.

She added the Rugby Lotto website offered a range of marketing resources to help charities promote the lotto to supporters.

"The marketing resources have helped us promote the lotto on our Facebook page, and directly to members of the network's chat group," Fay said.

"With emails to our associate members and encouraging our members to spread the word to family and friends, it has helped build support and raise funds for our work."

Good causes can sign up for Rugby Lotto on the website: www.rugbylotto.org/good-causes

Residents can buy tickets for Rugby Lotto on the website, either nominating a charity to receive money from the tickets or choosing to donate to the Rugby Community Fund.

The website publishes the results of the weekly draw every Saturday.