The Health Lottery is a
lottery
A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...
that operates on behalf of twelve local society lotteries across Great Britain. It was launched in October 2011 and runs five weekly draws on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Each week a different regional
community interest company
A community interest company (CIC, colloquially pronounced "kick") is a type of company introduced by the United Kingdom government in 2005 under the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004, designed for social ente ...
receives the funds, with 20% of ticket sale proceeds going to local health-related causes. It is operated by
Northern and Shell
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a r ...
.
History
The origins of the Health Lottery predate the
National Lottery, to the failed
National Health Service Lottery which had an abortive launch in 1988, before being declared illegal. The assets of the NHS Lottery were purchased in 2007 by Altala Group Ltd., a company run by Ian Milligan, a former employee of
Camelot Group
The Camelot Group is the operator of the UK National Lottery whose current franchise period started in 2009 and runs until February 2024. It has also operated the Illinois State Lottery in the state of Illinois in the United States since 2018 ...
, the operators of the UK National Lottery. Altala went into administration in 2009, shortly before it was due to be granted its gambling licence, and was purchased by Health Lottery Ltd. After winning the licence, the Health Lottery was sold in February 2011 to
Richard Desmond
Richard Clive Desmond (born 8 December 1951) is a British publisher, businessman and former pornographer.
According to the 2021 ''Sunday Times Rich List'', Desmond was the 107th richest person in the United Kingdom. He is the founder of North ...
's
Northern & Shell
Northern & Shell (holding company name Northern and Shell Network Ltd) is a British publishing group, founded in December 1974 and owned since then by Richard Desmond. Formerly a publisher of pornographic magazines including ''Penthouse'' and ''A ...
group.
The Health Lottery launched in September 2011. Until the summer of 2018, the Health Lottery had operated 51 society lotteries across Great Britain. This structure was formally re-organised in July 2018, to form 12 new larger community interest companies (CICs) covering England, Scotland and Wales. The Health Lottery also re-organised its playing structure to ensure a minimum jackpot of £25,000, and shorten the odds of winning any prize (now 1 in 9.7). In addition, the monthly Mega Raffle was introduced, in which one Health Lottery player wins a guaranteed cash prize of £250,000. The first Mega Raffle was drawn on 1 September 2018.
Game structure
The Health Lottery is drawn five times a week, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays. Participation in the game requires a minimum fee of £1. Winnings range from a free ticket to a jackpot of £250,000.
Broadcasting
First draws for the Health Lottery were broadcast live on the
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
network during an advertisement break of ''
The X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...
'', paid for by
Northern & Shell
Northern & Shell (holding company name Northern and Shell Network Ltd) is a British publishing group, founded in December 1974 and owned since then by Richard Desmond. Formerly a publisher of pornographic magazines including ''Penthouse'' and ''A ...
; they were quickly moved to
Channel 5, which was at the time Northern & Shell's subsidiary. Draws are currently broadcast at around 9:55pm on
Channel 5. It was initially planned to be hosted by
but as Holmes was employed by
Sky News
Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the hea ...
, he was dropped due to a possible conflict of interest.
Melinda Messenger
Melinda Jane Messenger (born 23 February 1971) is an English television presenter and former glamour model and Page Three girl. She presented the magazine programme ''Live from Studio Five'' and was formerly the co-presenter of the reality show ...
was confirmed as the host on 5 October 2011.
To celebrate the first anniversary of the Health Lottery, a new Wednesday night draw called "Win Wednesday" was launched.
On 5 August 2015, it was announced that the Health Lottery would be extended to five nights a week, with previous National Lottery presenter
Anthea Turner
Anthea Turner (born 25 May 1960) is an English former television presenter. She was a host of ''Blue Peter'' from 1992 until 1994, and of ''GMTV'' from 1994 until 1996.
Early life
Turner was born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and educated ...
taking over as host of the new-look draws from 13 August.
Controversy
The game has been criticised for donating only 20.3% of the ticket price to causes, compared with 28% donated by the National Lottery. Spokespersons for the Health Lottery argue that the game will grow the market. Some attention was also given to the possibility that favourable coverage of the lottery in Desmond's ''
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
'' and the ''
Daily Star'' amounted to disguised advertising, which was reported to the
Advertising Standards Authority, who found the issue to be outside their remit. The Culture Secretary
Jeremy Hunt
Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Exchequer since 14 October 2022. He previously served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport ...
announced in October 2011 that the
Gambling Commission
The Gambling Commission is an executive non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for regulating gambling and supervising gaming law in Great Britain. Its remit covers arcades, betting, bingo, casinos, ...
would investigate the legality of the Health Lottery, after questions were raised about the way the lottery was being run and the cost to smaller lotteries nationwide.
Camelot Group attempted to take High Court legal action to have the Health Lottery's gambling licence revoked in 2012, claiming that they had not received adequate protection from the Gambling Commission. Camelot lost the case, a verdict described by Richard Desmond as
Structure
To circumvent the requirements of the
Gambling Act, the Health Lottery is not structured as a national lottery, but rather as twelve different society lotteries, each one representing at least one
local authority
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
area within England, Scotland and Wales.
Each society lottery is licensed by the
Gambling Commission
The Gambling Commission is an executive non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for regulating gambling and supervising gaming law in Great Britain. Its remit covers arcades, betting, bingo, casinos, ...
and operates as an individual
community interest company
A community interest company (CIC, colloquially pronounced "kick") is a type of company introduced by the United Kingdom government in 2005 under the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004, designed for social ente ...
, or CIC. Different CICs take turns in participating in a weekly draw so each week different CICs are represented and every region gets a share of the pot. Money is then donated to support health-related causes within their respective local areas. The Health Lottery ELM Ltd operates as an external lottery manager to oversee the society lotteries. The ELM charges a management fee of 0.5p in every pound, which provides the profit for the lottery owners. The allocation of funds to causes raised by the Health Lottery is determined by the relevant CICs and their partner charity, the People’s Health Trust, and not by The Health Lottery ELM Ltd.
They usually support local charities and grassroots projects.
In 2010 this complicated structure was judged by the
Gambling Commission
The Gambling Commission is an executive non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for regulating gambling and supervising gaming law in Great Britain. Its remit covers arcades, betting, bingo, casinos, ...
regulatory panel to be "close to the line in respect of section 99 of the
ambling
An ambling gait or amble is any of several four-beat intermediate horse gaits, all of which are faster than a walk but usually slower than a canter and always slower than a gallop. Horses that amble are sometimes referred to as "gaited", particu ...
Act" and that while the structure was "capable of being compliant with the Act" it was "finely balanced". Concern was expressed that the individual lotteries were not to be combined into one ''de facto'' national lottery, as to do so would be a breach of the Act.
References
External links
The Health Lottery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Health Lottery, The
Lotteries in the United Kingdom
Gambling in the United Kingdom
Channel 5 (British TV channel) original programming
ITV game shows
Medical and health organisations based in the United Kingdom
Northern & Shell
2011 establishments in the United Kingdom