NHS Lottery Latest News

The new People’s Health Trust grants will be available to locally-based charities and community groups with income of £200,000 a year or less.

20 May 2012 - Natalie Cassidy has taken on the role of ambassador for the Health Lottery amid much controversy. The ex Eastenders star has had some health faux pars in the past such as a celebrity fitness DVD which was once voted the worst celebrity fitness DVD ever in a poll of celebrity-endorsed exercise routines, not to mention her time on Celebrity Big Brother where she favoured cakes and biscuits over a healthy diet. But does this make her a poor choice for ambassador for the Health Lottery?

She has had a battle with her weight struggling to keep down to a size 8. But since having her daughter she has been happy to maintain the weight she is now. She says she is naturally a size 14 but at the moment she is around a size 12 and adamant to stay there.

Twitter users have mocked the decision to make her ambassador for the Health Lottery, claiming she’s a bad example of a healthy person as she is not skinny enough, and sending her cruel taunts on the site. In 2012 which sees the average size of a woman at 16 and all the campaigning to promote healthy figures not skinny figures, that anyone could believe Natalie is not skinny enough to be an ambassador for the Health Lottery. Luckily Natalie is ignoring the comments and says “It’s just important to be healthy and I am.”

What do you think? Is Natalie Cassidy the right person for the job or can you think of someone who you think should be the ambassador for the Health Lottery? Let us know what you think.

Martin Hall, chief executive of the Health Lottery, the external lottery manager which works on behalf of the 51 society lotteries, told a press conference in London yesterday that the organisation was pleased with the start the newcomer had made. He added that concerns that it would divert money from the National Lottery have thus far proven unfounded.

“We’ve got confirmation through data that this is new money,” he said. “We have only just begun.”

The Health Lottery believes it is on track to raise £50m for charities within its first year, Hall said, adding that the £8m raised in the first quarter put it on course. "We will make sure the original [fundraising] objective is the objective we hit," he said.

The National Lottery is hunting for the EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle winner who is in line for the best Christmas present of their life.

Players in Wealden are being urged to double-check their tickets from the draw on November 25 for the unique raffle number.

The search is now on to find the owner of the winning ticket.

Paul Nelson, 44, from Uckfield, forgot he had already played the Health Lottery last week and bought tickets two days in a row with the same numbers. He has become the first winner of the Health Lottery to win the top prize with two separate tickets.

Mr Nelson said he could not believe his luck after scooping Saturday’s jackpot. He only found out he had won when he popped into a local shop on Sunday to see if any of his numbers had come up.

Mr Nelson said he was “amazed” to discover the winning numbers 5, 8, 21, 39 and 44 had come up on both plays.

He said: “I spent £5 altogether on The Health Lottery last week. I’d forgotten I had already played the numbers so ended up playing them again the next day. I can’t believe my luck.”

Mr Nelson had selected the numbers at random but repeated one of his lines on two Health Lottery cards. He said: “I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the money yet but I think we’ll go on a nice holiday first.”

2 November 2011 - The Health Lottery has helped Britain get back on its bike by giving more than £40,000 to keen cyclists.The donation was part of the latest £200,000 payout to good causes that are working to make the country a healthier place to live. The generous handouts also support people with learning disabilities and dementia, and young carers. Sustrans, a charity dedicated to providing more opportunities for people to travel by bike, foot or public transport, was delighted to receive £43,357.

20 October 2011 - Six friends from Galway celebrated last weekend when they picked up a cheque for €250,000 – their Lotto Plus 2 prize from last Wednesday week’s draw. The group, who wish to keep the win private, have been playing the Lotto game together for the past 10 years and have won “a few euro here and there.” ..“We’ve played Lotto and Lotto Plus for many years but never dreamed we’d be sitting in the National Lottery sipping champagne. This is just fantastic news,” said one of the happy winners. Each member will take home just over €41,600. Plans for the win include a new kitchen, paying off some bills and sharing the good fortune with family. The €12 multi draw ticket was bought in Joyce’s Supermarket, Knocknacarra Shopping Centre, Galway on Saturday October 8. National Lottery good causes benefit from all National Lottery products, with one third of all sales (approx) going to fund beneficiary projects around the country, as designated by Government.

20 October 2011 - FINNIS is home to one of a number of local groups who are celebrating after receiving a windfall from the Big Lottery Fund under their Energy Efficient Venues scheme.

The scheme offers lottery cash to local groups to carry out improvements to their community venues so they make savings on their heating and lighting costs and cut down on their spending.

The Parish of Dromara will use its grant of £8,149 on one of its church halls, St Michael’s Hall in Finnis, by carrying out an energy audit to establish ways of becoming more energy efficient.

They will do this by installing new windows and doors and replacing the existing lights with new energy efficient lighting.

Meanwhile, Drumnavaddy LOL 519 in Banbridge have been awarded almost £30,000 to make their hall more energy efficient by carrying out all the works as identified in an energy audit.

The work includes the installation of a condensing boiler and fuel storage with new radiators, insulated pipe-work; double glazed windows and doors; creation of two heating zones; insulation to walls, roof and floor; draught proofing; installation of energy efficient lighting; installation of a point of use water heater and the installation of a wood burning stove.

Tullylish Gaelic Football Club will use their grant to connect their old building to the mains water supply, fitting new pipe work and repairing the car park once this has been completed. An energy audit will also be carried out on the old building with the view to making a second application based on the audit’s findings. They were awarded £7,075.

Based in Rathfriland, Drumlough and Ballygorian Rural Development Association will use their £10,000 grant to insulate the walls and ceilings of the hall.

An electric hob and gas boiler will be replaced including single skin doors, and their current fridge freezer will also be replaced with a more energy efficient model.

Frank Hewitt, the Big Lottery Fund’s NI Chair said, “The Energy Efficient Venues programme is open for applications, but it closes at 12 noon on Friday 1 June 2012.

“It is possible to apply for a small grant followed by a large grant from the programme, but community organisations must be aware that if they plan to do this they need to get their applications for a small grant in to the Big Lottery Fund as soon as possible. This will give them time to have their small grant assessed and awarded and to complete their project before they apply for a large grant.”

To find about more about the Energy Efficient Venues programme visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk, or call the Big Lottery Fund’s Information and Events team on 028 9055 1455.

20 October 2011 - Five overjoyed charities are today celebrating after pocketing more than £185,000 from the new Health Lottery.

The latest payouts will help people with learning disabilities and dementia, young carers and two groups promoting healthy living.

This week good causes in Birmingham and Solihull benefited from the regional grants that are worth £50million a year.

Solihull Carers received £46,801 during the presentation in Birmingham city centre.

It will provide help for carers aged 18 to 30, many of whom have been looking after relatives since they were as young as five.

Organiser Sue Shahmiri said: “Young carers miss out on things people their age do, like going to university. They can get isolated and depressed.”

“This money will give them support, advice on how to get part-time work and education, and a chance to get together.” 

The Alzheimer’s Society received £20,611 to set up its first Singing For The Brain project in Birmingham. 

The activity, using music to stimulate activity, has proved a huge success in other areas.

The Mencap Gateway Active centres, which help people with learning disabilities lead more active lives, received £31,030 to help fund two new centres.

Phil Hetherington said: “This will get things up and running again.”

The School Food Trust, which helps children learn to cook healthy meals, received £44,069. 

The money will fund a new initiative for cooking clubs to improve the diets of men aged 20 to 40 in deprived areas.

Active Travel Champions was given £43,357. It will be handed out through the Sustrans charity, which promotes cycling, to find “champions” to motivate those around them to walk and cycle more.

TV presenter Eamonn Holmes, National Ambassador for the Health Lottery, said: “Maintaining good health in our communities is of paramount importance.”

21 October 2011 - While the recent EuroMillions win of £101 million was one of the most publicised in a long time (see photo), the fact is that only 10% to 20% of lottery winners actually decide to go public with their good news.

The Senior Winners Advisor of UK national lottery operator, Camelot, Andy Carter said that the UK lottery winners usually shy away from publicity and choose not to see their images splashed on national newspapers holding bubbly and a fat cheque.

That means that if you happen to win tomorrow's (Saturday October 22nd) Lotto jackpot, the chances are that the public won't know that it's you who'll take home the top £4.1 million prize.

Carter spoke about his job of advising the new instant EuroMillions millionaires. "You often get people who don't want anybody finding out," he said. "As soon as we get a call, we come out and see you. There have been times I've been told to say I'm a bank manager, an insurance man or an estate agent when a neighbour has popped round and the winner hasn't wanted anyone to know." .."Sometimes I deal with people who live close buy, or with whom I share mutual acquaintances, but I can't say anything. We do share a knowing glance when we walk past each other though."

Carter said that funny things happen in his job. "I once dealt with a man who kept on getting up and walking to the window and looking out," he recalled. "He kept asking me, 'how long is this going to take?' I told him it would probably be about an hour and he told me that his wife had just popped out to Tesco."

Carter said that the man had not told his wife about this win and that he didn't intend to, either. "It's just in our relationship I look after the money side of things and I'm going to deal with this," he told him.