Small Society Lotteries

All Small Society Lotteries require registration under the Gambling Act 2005. This Registration is needed when your organisation intends to sell printed raffle tickets in advance of the date on which the draw will take place. The Small Society Lottery registration is mainly for charitable purposes.  

Registration

All Small Society Lotteries must be registered with the Local Authority in which its principle office is situated.

You can apply for a licence using the application form below:

• Small Society Lotteries Registration Form (49kB DOC)

The completed application form should be returned with the £40.00 for initial registration.

The registration operates on a calendar year, 1st January to 31st December each year and after the initial registration fee, an annual renewal fee of £20.00 has to be paid within 2 months prior to the 31 December each year if the registration is to remain in force. These fees are set by the Government.

Please visit the Gambling Commission website to ensure that your organisation qualifies under the regulations before you complete the application form. After you have returned the application form with the £40 fee, you will receive confirmation if the licence is deemed granted.

Lottery Submission

The Gambling Commission's Licensing Conditions and Code of Practice require that for each small society lottery held, a lottery submission must be made to the Local Authority within three months of the date of the determination of the lottery. You can download the lottery return form below:

• Small Society Lotteries Return Form (88kB DOC)

Ticket information

All tickets in a society registered with a local authority must state:

• the name of the society on whose behalf the lottery is being promoted;
• the price of the ticket;
• the name and address of the member of the society responsible for the promotion of the lottery.
• the fact that the society is registered with the local authority.
• the date of the draw, or the means by which the date may be determined.

Tickets which are issued through a form of remote communication or any other electronic manner must specify this information to the purchaser of the ticket and ensure that the message can be either retained or printed.

Private, Work or Residents' Lottery

If you feel it is not worthwhile paying £40 for a licence you can still raise funds but need to restrict your sale of tickets. You can do this by holding a ?private?, ?work? or ?residents? lottery where tickets are confined to members of a club, society or institution etc. With this type of lottery, you cannot sell tickets to the public at large.

Non-commercial Lottery

You can also raise funds by running an incidental non-commercial lottery for which no permit or registration is required. These types of lotteries are exempt from registration if:

• No proceeds from the event will be used for the purposes of private gain.
• The lottery is promoted wholly for a purpose other than that of private gain (i.e. for a charitable purpose or good cause).
• The promoters of the lottery will not be deducting more than £500 from the proceeds in respect of the cost of prizes.
• The promoters of the lottery will not be deducting more than £100 from the proceeds in respect of the cost of other expenses.
• There will be no lottery roll over.
• Tickets will only be sold during the event and on the premises where the event is being held.
• The results will be made public while the event is taking place.

Contacts

* The Gambling Commission regulates gambling in the public interest. It does so by keeping crime out of gambling, by ensuring that gambling is conducted fairly and openly, and by protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling. The Commission also provides independent advice to government on gambling in Britain.