UK Postcode Lottery
Encyclopedia
The People's Postcode Lottery (sometimes referred to as the UK Postcode Lottery) is a lottery
in the United Kingdom
, launched in the north east of England
on 31 August 2005. The lottery has since expanded across Scotland and the rest of Great Britain. It follows the example of Dutch and Scandinavian systems that preceded it.
The lottery is in aid of charity, and works by using an entrant's postcode
plus a unique three-digit number as their ticket number. For example; NE1 1AB 001. The lottery is run by Postcode Lottery Ltd, originally on behalf of The GoodFund.
A draw of a single ticket originally took place every Wednesday, using a computer
similar to the Tote
. Now five Street Prize draws take place per month, each occurring on a Thursday. There is a prize pot of over £35,000 with each Street Prize draw. All tickets playing in the winning postcode share £30,000 while those in the postcode sector share a £5,000 Sector Prize. There are also 500 further winning postcodes in each Street Prize draw. In addition to these weekly Street Prize draws, the lottery also launched a Daily Draw in 2011 in which each day, tickets in a single chosen postcode share £1,000.
During the initial launch phase only one draw took place per month, with weekly draws being around Christmas
2005.
The tickets are purchased by subscription and each costs £10 a month. Money is collected for the tickets every month by Direct Debit
or by Credit Card
. This has the advantage of ensuring the jackpot for each draw is known well in advance and the money for the charities is kept consistent. It also allows for prize money to be credited into a ticket holders bank account
within 28 days, as each ticket is linked to a specific bank account. The Postcode Lottery actively promotes this form of payment, as it means that players do not have to travel to collect a ticket each week, or forget to buy their ticket; in reality this actually has the main effect of cutting costs down to allow more money to be paid to charity.
The Postcode Lottery supports local charities across Scotland, England and Wales, including Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres, Missing People and several Wildlife Trusts.
s were used to inform the public of a promotional competition in which 5 MINI Coopers were given away (one for each post code district in the north east). These were followed up by a cold call campaign from the sales office of the Postcode Lottery.
Local radio was used extensively to promote the launch of the lottery, with adverts being played every half hour on Metro Radio and Magic 1152
. Metro Radio presenter "Goffy" signed up as the lottery's local ambassador and was featured in the lottery's printed adverts. These adverts have appeared in local papers (Evening Chronicle, the Herald and Post
and the Sunderland Echo
.
On the morning of the 7th it was revealed that the winner's street was Second Avenue, which initially lead to some confusion as there are two Second Avenues in DH2. The winner's street was revealed as the Second Avenue off Waldridge Road in Chester-Le-Street
. A street party was organised for that evening hosted by Metro Radio & TFM's Danielle Nicholls who revealed the winner's postcode to be DH2 2EH. The winner was 28 year old retail manager Mary Burnip, who was the only person in her postcode to buy a ticket.
Danielle Nicholls presented her with a cheque for £25,000. The district prize of £129 was shared between 77 people in the DH2 Postal district.
Now Street Prize winners are revealed weekly, with the winning postcode generally publicised on the day of the draw - every Thursday. The winning postcode is followed by photos and a press release about the winner.
was launched in the Netherlands
in 1989 and so far has raised nearly €3.5 billion for charities such as Amnesty International
, Greenpeace
, World Wide Fund for Nature
and Oxfam
and given out nearly €750 million in prizes. Internationally, the Lottery is backed by high profile figures such as Nelson Mandela
and Bill Clinton
.
Based on this success, the organisers, Novamedia, began to look at expanding into other markets, launching in Sweden
in 2004.
Around this time, it was decided to trial the lottery as a regional launch in the UK, where the various regional development bodies bidded to have the lottery trial in their region. ONE North East was successful in its bid to have the Postcode Lottery launch in the North East of England, specifically within postcode areas, NE, DH, DL, TS & SR (Newcastle, Durham
, Darlington
, Teesside
& Sunderland).
The choice of the North East was mainly made because a high proportion of the population already play the successful National Lottery
, but the majority of funds raised by the National Lottery are spent in London
and the South East of England. They tend to go to good causes, such as the construction of new hospitals or the Millennium Dome
for example, rather than registered charities.
Novamedia set up The GoodFund as its charity foundation in the North East. It was quickly registered as a charity and as a Lottery Promoter, then created Postcode Lottery Ltd to run the lottery. Now People's Postcode Lottery promotes the lottery on behalf of its charity partners - details of which can be found on the People's Postcode Lottery website.
Novamedia set up a central office in Richmond for the lottery's customer services, and chose a Newcastle upon Tyne
based call centre company Echo U to run its sales call centre. Echo U opened a new office on Newcastle Quayside to handle the business. As of late 2010, People's Postcode Lottery is run from two offices - one in Edinburgh, and the original office in Richmond.
Lottery
A lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize.Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, launched in the north east of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
on 31 August 2005. The lottery has since expanded across Scotland and the rest of Great Britain. It follows the example of Dutch and Scandinavian systems that preceded it.
The lottery is in aid of charity, and works by using an entrant's postcode
UK postcodes
The postal codes used in the United Kingdom are known as postcodes. They are alphanumeric and were introduced by the Royal Mail over a 15-year period from 11th October 1959 to 1974...
plus a unique three-digit number as their ticket number. For example; NE1 1AB 001. The lottery is run by Postcode Lottery Ltd, originally on behalf of The GoodFund.
A draw of a single ticket originally took place every Wednesday, using a computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
similar to the Tote
Tote
Tote may refer to:*Tote, abbreviation for Tote board, the name for the computerised system which runs parimutuel betting, calculating payoff odds, displaying them, and producing tickets based on incoming bets...
. Now five Street Prize draws take place per month, each occurring on a Thursday. There is a prize pot of over £35,000 with each Street Prize draw. All tickets playing in the winning postcode share £30,000 while those in the postcode sector share a £5,000 Sector Prize. There are also 500 further winning postcodes in each Street Prize draw. In addition to these weekly Street Prize draws, the lottery also launched a Daily Draw in 2011 in which each day, tickets in a single chosen postcode share £1,000.
During the initial launch phase only one draw took place per month, with weekly draws being around Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
2005.
The tickets are purchased by subscription and each costs £10 a month. Money is collected for the tickets every month by Direct Debit
Direct debit
A direct debit or direct withdrawal is an instruction that a bank account holder gives to his or her bank to collect an amount directly from another account. It is similar to a direct deposit but initiated by the beneficiary...
or by Credit Card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
. This has the advantage of ensuring the jackpot for each draw is known well in advance and the money for the charities is kept consistent. It also allows for prize money to be credited into a ticket holders bank account
Bank account
A Bank account is a financial account recording the financial transactions between the customer and the bank and the resulting financial position of the customer with the bank .-Account types:...
within 28 days, as each ticket is linked to a specific bank account. The Postcode Lottery actively promotes this form of payment, as it means that players do not have to travel to collect a ticket each week, or forget to buy their ticket; in reality this actually has the main effect of cutting costs down to allow more money to be paid to charity.
The Postcode Lottery supports local charities across Scotland, England and Wales, including Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres, Missing People and several Wildlife Trusts.
Promoting the launch
In the build-up to the 2005 launch of the Lottery, mailshotMailshot
Mailshots are bulk mail advertising sent through the mail in the United Kingdom to potential customers to advertise goods or services.-History:...
s were used to inform the public of a promotional competition in which 5 MINI Coopers were given away (one for each post code district in the north east). These were followed up by a cold call campaign from the sales office of the Postcode Lottery.
Local radio was used extensively to promote the launch of the lottery, with adverts being played every half hour on Metro Radio and Magic 1152
Magic 1152
Magic 1152 is the name of an Independent Local Radio station in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. It forms part of the Magic network owned by Bauer Radio. It shares a studio complex with sister station Metro Radio at the 55 Degrees North complex, next to the Tyne Bridge...
. Metro Radio presenter "Goffy" signed up as the lottery's local ambassador and was featured in the lottery's printed adverts. These adverts have appeared in local papers (Evening Chronicle, the Herald and Post
Herald and Post
The Herald and Post is the name given to various weekly freesheets that deliver to households in much of the United Kingdom. The title is published by a variety of publishers; each edition consisting mainly of advertising and promotional pieces, with news items often sourced from sister publications...
and the Sunderland Echo
Sunderland Echo
The Sunderland Echo is an evening newspaper serving the Sunderland, South Tyneside and East Durham areas of North East England. The newspaper was founded by Samuel Storey, Edward Backhouse, Edward Temperley Gourley, Charles Palmer, Richard Ruddock, Thomas Glaholm and Thomas Scott Turnbull in 1873,...
.
The first draw
The first draw was made on the 31st August 2005 as scheduled. The winner's identity was kept secret until the 7th September, although it was revealed that the winners Postal District was DH2.On the morning of the 7th it was revealed that the winner's street was Second Avenue, which initially lead to some confusion as there are two Second Avenues in DH2. The winner's street was revealed as the Second Avenue off Waldridge Road in Chester-Le-Street
Chester-le-Street
Chester-le-Street is a town in County Durham, England. It has a history going back to Roman times when it was called Concangis. The town is located south of Newcastle upon Tyne and west of Sunderland on the River Wear...
. A street party was organised for that evening hosted by Metro Radio & TFM's Danielle Nicholls who revealed the winner's postcode to be DH2 2EH. The winner was 28 year old retail manager Mary Burnip, who was the only person in her postcode to buy a ticket.
Danielle Nicholls presented her with a cheque for £25,000. The district prize of £129 was shared between 77 people in the DH2 Postal district.
Now Street Prize winners are revealed weekly, with the winning postcode generally publicised on the day of the draw - every Thursday. The winning postcode is followed by photos and a press release about the winner.
Background to the launch
The Nationale Postcode LoterijNationale Postcode Loterij
The Nationale Postcode Loterij is a national lottery of the Netherlands. It was founded in 1989 by Novamedia, a marketing agency for charitable organizations...
was launched in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in 1989 and so far has raised nearly €3.5 billion for charities such as Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
, World Wide Fund for Nature
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...
and Oxfam
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
and given out nearly €750 million in prizes. Internationally, the Lottery is backed by high profile figures such as Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
and Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
.
Based on this success, the organisers, Novamedia, began to look at expanding into other markets, launching in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
in 2004.
Around this time, it was decided to trial the lottery as a regional launch in the UK, where the various regional development bodies bidded to have the lottery trial in their region. ONE North East was successful in its bid to have the Postcode Lottery launch in the North East of England, specifically within postcode areas, NE, DH, DL, TS & SR (Newcastle, Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
, Darlington
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...
, Teesside
Teesside
Teesside is the name given to the conurbation in the north east of England made up of the towns of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar, Billingham and surrounding settlements near the River Tees. It was also the name of a local government district between 1968 and 1974—the County Borough of...
& Sunderland).
The choice of the North East was mainly made because a high proportion of the population already play the successful National Lottery
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
, but the majority of funds raised by the National Lottery are spent in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and the South East of England. They tend to go to good causes, such as the construction of new hospitals or the Millennium Dome
Millennium Dome
The Millennium Dome, colloquially referred to simply as The Dome or even The O2 Arena, is the original name of a large dome-shaped building, originally used to house the Millennium Experience, a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millennium...
for example, rather than registered charities.
Novamedia set up The GoodFund as its charity foundation in the North East. It was quickly registered as a charity and as a Lottery Promoter, then created Postcode Lottery Ltd to run the lottery. Now People's Postcode Lottery promotes the lottery on behalf of its charity partners - details of which can be found on the People's Postcode Lottery website.
Novamedia set up a central office in Richmond for the lottery's customer services, and chose a Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
based call centre company Echo U to run its sales call centre. Echo U opened a new office on Newcastle Quayside to handle the business. As of late 2010, People's Postcode Lottery is run from two offices - one in Edinburgh, and the original office in Richmond.