People's Postcode Lottery

The Postcode Lottery format was introduced by the Dutch company Novamedia BV, which launched its first postcode lottery in the Netherlands in 1989. Novamedia now runs six lotteries using cause marketing: Nationale Postcode Loterij, Vrienden Loterij and BankGiro Loterij in the Netherlands, Svenska Postkodlotteriet in Sweden, People's Postcode Lottery in Great Britain and, since July 2016, Deutsche Postcode Lotterie in Germany. Together, they claim to have contributed over €8.6 billion to charitable organisations around the world.[2] According to the OECD, the United Postcode Lotteries provided USD 366.8 million in 2018 for development in the form of grants.[3]

People's Postcode Lottery was launched in the north of England in 2005 as a pilot scheme. After a successful launch, it expanded into Scotland in 2007 and Wales in July 2010. The lottery uses cause marketing, claiming to have been established to raise money for charity and to increase awareness of the work of the various charities and causes supported by its players.

People's Postcode Lottery is a subscription lottery. Players sign up to pay monthly in advance by direct debit, debit card or PayPal. There are ten draws each month with prizes every day.

A player's tickets are based on their playing postcode, which is most commonly their home postcode. A given postcode in Britain will usually represent a group of houses. If more than one resident has tickets in a winning postcode, all playing neighbours collect prizes.

In accordance with restrictions under the Gambling Act 2005, the maximum amount which can be won by a single ticket is £500,000 or 10% of the total draw proceeds. This figure increased from £400,000 on 29 July 2020.[4]

A minimum of 32% of the ticket price from players' £10 monthly subscriptions goes to various trusts, which in turn provide funding to charities and community projects across Great Britain and internationally. Some £330 million has been donated.[5] As an external lottery manager, People's Postcode Lottery manages a number of society lotteries promoted by different charities.[6] Each month, specific trusts and charities are supported by the prize draws.[7] Over 4,000 causes have received support. Charities receiving funding from players include:

People's Postcode Lottery has a number of celebrity "ambassadors". In March 2018, these included David Attenborough, Brian Blessed, Judi Dench, Shobna Gulati, Tim Healy, Stephen Jardine, Ellen MacArthur, Aggie MacKenzie, Carey Mulligan, John Stapleton and Emma Thompson.[9] Fiona Phillips became an ambassador for People's Postcode Lottery at the end of 2012, leading the organisation's DRTV campaigns.

Presenters Judie McCourt, Danyl Johnson, Jeff Brazier and Matt Johnson visit People's Postcode Lottery winners to present them with their cheques, attend Postcode Million events and take part in People's Postcode Lottery advertising campaigns.

From 2008 to 2010, People's Postcode Lottery sponsored Postcode Challenge, a quiz show hosted by Angus Purden on STV.

Novamedia has worked with a number of leading TV production companies and public and commercial broadcasters to support the promotion of its lotteries. Novamedia inspired and paid Endemol to produce TV game shows such as Deal or No Deal and 1 vs 100.

• Official website