Leading local businessman Roger Saul, the founder of the world-famous Mulberry fashion brand and Kilver Court designer outlet shopping village, is to help launch a new lottery aimed at funding voluntary and community groups in Mendip.
The Shape Mendip Lottery, which has been established by Mendip District Council, gives players the chance to scoop a £25,000 jackpot prize while also helping community organisations to raise funds themselves.
Mendip District Council will be one of the first local authorities in the country to run a lottery.
The Shape Mendip Lottery will be online and draws will take place weekly. For each £1 ticket bought, 60% of the ticket price will go to support community groups throughout the district, though there will also be an option for players to support a specific organisation, and 20% will go to prizes. No money will go to the council.
Players of the Shape Mendip Lottery will choose six numbers. To win the jackpot, the ticket must match both the numbers and the sequence they are drawn in. Players can win smaller prizes if their ticket matches the sequence of the first or last two, three, four or five numbers drawn.
The official launch of the new lottery will take place at Kilver Court on Monday 20th February at 10.30am, which is also when the first tickets will go on sale.
The first weekly draw will take place on Saturday 25th March at 8pm. Players can buy tickets online by visiting the Shape Mendip lottery website – www.shapemendiplottery .co.uk Any local community groups and organisations who would like to have the chance to benefit from the lottery can join by visiting www.shapemendiplottery. co.uk
Cllr Philip Ham, portfolio holder for transformation said, “The Shape Mendip Lottery is a new and exciting way for people to help raise funds for local community and voluntary groups and the vital work they do within Mendip.
“The council already distributes grants to these valued local groups, but like many public sector organisations we are facing unprecedented demands on our budget, so we see the lottery as an innovative new funding opportunity for voluntary and community groups.
“We are hopeful it will capture the imagination of local people who want to support community groups in Mendip, while being in with the chance of winning a top cash prize too. I’m delighted that Roger Saul is backing the lottery and hope that the people of Mendip will also support this new initiative.”
Roger Saul said, “I’m delighted to have been invited to support the launch of the new Shape Mendip Lottery. Across Mendip there are community groups working incredibly hard to improve the lives of people living locally, but I know that these groups face an on-going challenge in finding sufficient funding, so the new lottery will provide a vital new funding stream for them.
“Community and voluntary groups need to be entrepreneurial and think of innovative ways to raise additional funds. The Shape Mendip Lottery is a fantastic example of this and shows what can be achieved by a council working proactively with the local community for the benefit of the local community.”
Mendip has had its licence for the lottery approved by the Gambling Commission and has appointed Gatherwell, an external lottery manager, to run the lottery.
To find out more about the Shape Mendip Lottery go to www.shapemendip lottery.co.uk
