THE NATIONAL LOTTERY HITS £50 BILLION GOOD CAUSE LANDMARK

THE NATIONAL LOTTERY HITS £50 BILLION

GOOD CAUSE LANDMARK

The National Lottery is today (19^th November) celebrating its 30^th birthday by announcing £50 billion has been raised for Good Causes.   

This historic double milestone represents one of the largest ongoing funding programmes for Good Causes in the UK’s history. 

Thanks to National Lottery players, more than £30 million is raised every week for Good Causes, funding over 700,000 projects across community, heritage, sport and the arts in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

In addition to changing the face of communities throughout the nation, more than 7,400 millionaires have been created and over £95 billion paid out in prizes since the launch of The National Lottery in 1994.

To mark the 30-year anniversary and impact of £50bn in Good Causes funding, 30 Game Changing Moments have been immortalised in an exhibition by photographer Thomas Duke – unveiled at The National Portrait Gallery in London and online today. The photographer has used his unique style to highlight some of the most memorable cultural moments of the last three decades made possible with the help of National Lottery funding. His images are available here.

Thomas Duke is known for his project @steppingthroughfilm where iconic photographs are rephotographed within the context of their original location. He travelled the length and breadth of the UK to recreate the moments which recognise our success in sport, arts and film, preserving natural and built heritage and bringing communities together. Actors Michael Sheen and Vicky McClure, Olympian Jess Ennis and Lioness Chloe Kelly, are among several famous faces featured in the exhibition.

Andria Vidler, CEO of Allwyn, operator of The National Lottery said:

“Today marks a remarkable milestone as National Lottery players have now raised £50 billion for Good Causes across the UK.  Over 30 years, this hasn’t just been about numbers – it's been about countless lives changed and communities transformed, while continuing to create millionaires nationwide. As we look forward, our plans to transform The National Lottery are underway and we're committed to raising even more for these vital Good Causes.”

Baroness Twycross, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said:
 
"The National Lottery’s 30th birthday marks a remarkable legacy of building resilient, inclusive and healthier communities across the UK.
 
“Over the last three decades it has funded hundreds of thousands of grassroots projects, getting more people involved in sport and cultural opportunities, as well as supporting our world class Team GB and Paralympics GB athletes.
 
"The National Lottery has raised a staggering £50 billion for good causes since it was established and has transformed numerous landmarks from the V&A Dundee and the Royal Albert Hall to the Angel of the North and the Eden Project.
 
“I am delighted to celebrate The National Lottery’s continued role in improving lives in every part of our country.”

Darren Henley, Chief Executive, Arts Council England and chair of the UK National Lottery Forum said: “The Game Changing Moments featured in the 30th Birthday exhibition launched today are the culmination of years of funding, commitment, training, belief, volunteering, tenacity and much, much more. The National Lottery’s impact on arts, film, heritage, sports, and communities across the UK is unparalleled. For three decades, it has empowered individuals and communities, enabling thousands of transformative projects. As we celebrate this remarkable achievement, we look forward to building on this legacy, ensuring the arts and culture continue to flourish, and supporting even more Game Changing Moments for future generations.”

Vicky McClure, actor and founder of Our Dementia Choir commented: “It was a privilege to join The National Lottery for the launch of the Game Changing Moments exhibition and have my This is England ‘Moment’ featured in it. Each of the moments featured has a backstory and has had ripple effects, and that’s certainly true of mine. My journey as an actor started at Television Workshop and has led me to starting Our Dementia Choir. Support for both from The National Lottery has a game changing impact and means they can help more people and change more lives.”

Three decades of TNL funding has created an unparalleled legacy: powering athletic excellence, protecting cultural treasures, advancing artistic achievement and strengthening communities nationwide. 

Since funding began in 1994, UK athletes have won more than 1,000 Olympic and Paralympic medals. The National Lottery has funded the making of more than 600 films which have won an incredible 551 awards, including 16 Oscars, 128 BAFTAs and 34 Cannes awards. Popular attractions and notable landmarks across the UK such as the Eden Project, the Giant’s Causeway, the Kelpies, the Angel of the North and Wembley have all received support from The National Lottery.

Running alongside these major initiatives are the hundreds of thousands of grants – usually for £10,000 or less – which help small projects to make an amazing difference in their areas.

For the last 30 years no one has done more to change the game in the UK than National Lottery players. But we are just getting started, could National Lottery funding fund your Game Changing Moment? Find out more here: https://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/gamechangers

-Ends-

For further information please contact: nl30@lansons.com / 07580 747 545

Notes to editors:

Images and VTs available here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/mybsdb3ijou2o8jozulty/AFAzEZELhFM_ZCB91ha5TAQ?rlkey=vh91jus9hi67sfq74x0dfr4xb&st=06b06mxs&dl=0

About The National Lottery:

• National Lottery players continue to raise around £30 million to Good Causes every week
• Since its launch in November 1994, The National Lottery has created more than 7,400 millionaires or multi-millionaires across its games. On average, seven millionaires are created every week - that's a new millionaire every day of the year
• But its primary purpose is giving to Good Causes. National Lottery players have raised more than £50 billion for Good Causes and more than 700,000 grants have been awarded across the UK

About the artist:

For The National Lottery’s 30th Birthday exhibition, Thomas Duke (known online as @steppingthroughfilm) has travelled the length and breadth of the UK to recreate 30 Game Changing Moments that the Lottery funded over the last 30 years, in the style that he has become famed for.

Thomas’s rephotographed concept that seeks to ‘see the invisible in the everyday’ becomes symbolic of the journey to and impact of those moments; for each, there is real world context, a backstory, and a ripple effect. And a pivotal and often unknown role played by The National Lottery made in making them happen. 

30 Game Changing Moments 

The 30 Game Changing Moments, made possible by National Lottery funding, featured in the exhibition are: 

• 1994: Sir John Major launches The National Lottery and buys a ticket at a London newsagent  

• 1997: Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre opens in London  

• 1998: Sir Antony Gormley’s ‘Angel of The North’ is unveiled near Gateshead 

• 2001: The Eden Project opens in Cornwall  

• 2002: The Isle of Gigha is bought by its community  

• 2002: Bend It Like Beckham is released  

• 2005: Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson wins two gold medals at the 2005 Paralympic World Cup in Manchester  

• 2006: This is England is released  

• 2007: Dame Darcey Bussell’s has her final curtain call at the Royal Opera House  

• 2010: The King’s Speech is released  

• 2011: Michael Sheen performs The Passion in Port Talbot  

• 2012: The world’s first parkrun on a beach takes place in Portrush  

• 2012: Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Street Parties take place around the nation (including Walton Road, Bristol, pictured) and around the world  

• 2012: The Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre is opened by First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness  

• 2012: Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill wins gold in the Heptathlon at the London Olympics on ‘Super Saturday’  

• 2013: Derry-Londonderry becomes the UK’s first City of Culture 

• 2013: The Mary Rose Museum opens in Portsmouth 

• 2014: The Kelpies by Sculptor Andy Scott are unveiled in Falkirk 

• 2014: Neil Fachie wins gold in the 1000m Time Trial B2 Tandem with his pilot Craig MacLean at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 

• 2014: Bletchley Park reopens after a major restoration  

• 2015: Richard III is reinterned in Leicester Cathedral 

• 2016: Paapa Essiedu plays Hamlet in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production at The Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon 

• 2018: Golden Eagles are reintroduced in Dumfries, Galloway and the Scottish Borders 

• 2018: Geraint Thomas wins the Tour De France and is cheered by fans at a Homecoming Victory Parade in Cardiff 

• 2018: The Remembrance art installation ‘Poppies: Wave and Weeping Window’ is displayed at the Imperial War Museum, London  

• 2022: Chloe Kelly celebrates scoring the winning goal at the 2022 Euros Final at Wembley  

• 2023: Flying Scotsman’s centenary celebrations are launched in Edinburgh  

• 2023: Liverpool hosts the Eurovision Song Contest  

• 2024: Fern the Diplodocus is unveiled at The Natural History Museum   

• 2024: Keely Hodgkinson wins gold in the women’s 800 meters at the Paris Olympics and celebrates her victory at The French Flair Bar