A group working to restore a canal in Lichfield have thanked players of a local lottery for helping to raise thousands of pounds.
The Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust said more than £4,000 had now been handed over from sales of tickets in the Lichfield Community Lottery.
The initiative, which was launched by Lichfield District Council in April, sees 60p of each £1 ticket donated to a good cause of the player’s choice.
Christine Howles, communications director of the Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust, said:
“When I first heard about the new lottery I signed up for the online introduction session and wasn’t disappointed.
“I only got halfway through the session and signed up there and then. It was very easy to set up the profile for our charity and then wait with anticipation for launch day.
“We can login to our easy-to-use lottery admin panel and it’s full of useful information about how many supporters we have week on week and how many of them win.
“We also get our customisable leaflets and social media graphics, which are updated regularly, so it’s easy for us to promote through our channels.
“When launch day came, we started promoting our page through social media and to our members, and we immediately had people signing up.
“By the time of the first draw, we’d increased our supporter target several times and had 151 supporters.
“We were very pleased to see four of those win a prize in the first draw and we’ve had winners almost every week – but no jackpot wins yet. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that one of our growing number of supporters will win the jackpot one day.”
Christine Howles, Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust
Cllr Richard Cox, cabinet member for community engagement, said he was pleased to see so many good causes benefit from the lottery.
“It’s absolutely wonderful to hear the canal trust’s positive experience of being a part of Lichfield Community Lottery.
“They work to raise the profile of the lottery and boost their supporters, which you can really see in the amount of money they raise each week.
“We are proud to have signed up 50 local good causes to the lottery in the first six months, and they are now benefitting from extra funding.
“However, we are keen for more clubs, charities and groups to come on board. It’s such a simple way to add to your fundraising efforts and offer people a fun way to support your good cause.”
Cllr Richard Cox, Lichfield District Council
Organisations can find out how to sign up to the Lichfield Community Lottery at www.lichfieldcommunitylottery.co.uk.