Small lotteries registration
A “small lottery” registration, issued by us, allows small lotteries to be run to raise money for charitable, sporting and other purposes other than private gain by societies.
The term “societies” includes clubs, institutions, organisations or branches.
To be legally classed as a small society lottery, it must fulfil the main criteria:
- A non-commercial society
- In neither the current calendar year, nor any past three years, the proceeds of any one lottery has been capable of exceeding £20,000, and the aggregate proceeds of all lotteries promoted by you hasn't exceeded £250,000
- The lottery is promoted for the purposes of the society
- At least 20% of the lottery proceeds are applied to the society purposes
- No prize is greater than £25,000
- Tickets comply with certain conditions, including that they're all the same price
What you must do
The promoter of the lottery must complete the application form and return it to the address on the form.
A £40 fee is payable on first registration and an annual fee of £20 after that.
Throughout the period the lottery is promoted, the society that promotes it must be registered with a licensing authority in the area where their main office is located. If we believe that office is situated in another area, we will tell the society and the correct authority as soon as possible.
After registration, the promoting society must send us a return form within three months of the lottery draw, or the last draw, and pay an annual renewal fee to us.
What we must do
Under the terms of the Gambling Act 2005, we will pass details of registrations to the Gambling Commission.
Your right to appeal
Grounds to refuse a registration application include:
- Refusal or revocation of an operator licence in the past five years
- Not being a non-commercial society
- A person connected with the promotion being convicted of a relevant offence
- False or misleading information being given in connection with an application
The society will be given the chance to make representations by written correspondence or at a formal hearing if we refuse an application. The applicant or society has a right of appeal to the local magistrates' court within 21 days of the decision.