Miscellaneous - National
Lottery
The National Lottery was
supposed to be 'A Good Thing'. But as people
eventually realised that they had more chance of
seeing the Pope in a porn film than answering the
door to the Camelot rep, ticket sales have
plummeted along with the prize money available.
And then came the scandal of where the loot
creamed off for "good causes" actually
went. In the last seven years, ex-servicemen's
charities have received a total of £1m in
handouts from the Lottery's Community Fund.
In the same period, over £68m has gone to
organisations involved with asylum seekers and
refugees, £18m of that in the last year alone.
Does such a distribution of wealth remotely
represent the wishes of the Great British Public
who coughed up that money in the first place?
Especially when you look in detail at where the
money has actually gone. Stonewall, the gay
charity, copped for £1.5m. The London Lesbian
and Gay Switchboard got £200,000 to set up a
nationwide network of gay helplines.
Why are we spending £478,585 through something
called Helpage International to "improve the
status of old people in Central and South
America"? What about the bloody status of
old people in this country? And why are we
spending £395,000 to improve consumer rights in
Eastern Europe, £262,216 to promote disabled
rights in West Africa, £258,000 to help Rwandans
make a living from pottery, £255,028 to monitor
human rights in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan
and £200,000 to improve the lives of Bolivian
miners?
And what did the Action Group for Irish Youth do
with the £204,459 given to them to
"investigate the welfare of Irish travellers
in Britain"? The Blue Cross animal charity
got £180,421 to expand a telephone helpline for
people mourning a pet, while the Scottish
Prostitutes Education Service got £81,553 to
give vice girls aromatherapy massages. Meanwhile
the Leeds Wounded Warriors Welfare Committee
can't get £80.000 for a new coach to take
ex-servicemen on days out. They don't read The
Guardian, you see.
Bosses
who handed millions of National Lottery cash to
asylum seekers will be axed in a massive
shake-up. The controversial Community Fund is to
be shelved along with the New Opportunities Fund.
They will merge with the old Millennium
Commission and a People’s Jury of ordinary
punters set up to dish out the money. The
sweeping changes have been ordered after Camelot
complained the refugee row is costing £1MILLION
a week in lost ticket sales.
A Government insider said, “The time has
come to make sure the people who play the game
ensure their hard-earned money is spent wisely.
You can’t have the great and the good
deciding these things exclusively from their
ivory towers.” Eight regional People’s
Juries of up to 25 players will have a full say
on how Lottery funds are shared out. Culture
Secretary Tessa Jowell wants a common sense
approach after loopy grants led to a boycott of
the game. The falling profits spell disaster for
the voluntary groups relying on handouts.
The Community Fund triggered fury by giving
£60million to asylum seekers and refugees and
offering just £1million to war veterans. And
backing for the National Coalition of
Anti-Deportation Campaigns sparked outrage in old
soldiers’ groups who were refused a penny.
Only recently, the row reignited when a group of
refugees was awarded £¼million of Lottery money
for English lessons — even though none had
successfully won asylum.
A
couple who won £7.6 million on the National
Lottery have come to the rescue of a group of
Second World War veterans who risked cancelling a
trip to honour fallen comrades. Ray and Barbara
Wragg, from Sheffield, were touched by the plight
of the Monte Cassino Veterans' Association, which
was unable to secure £12,500 in Lottery funding.
The money was needed to pay for 50 war heroes to
travel to Monte Cassino in Italy on the 60th
anniversary of the devastating battle in which
they fought. Their failure to get the money came
as it was revealed a Lottery grant of £39,500
had been approved for guided tours of gay
landmarks in Manchester.
Mr and Mrs Wragg's gift is just the latest offer
of generosity since they won the Lottery
three-and-a-half years ago. The couple have
already given away £5.5 million to their family
plus various charities and good causes. Mrs Wragg
said, "They are getting on a bit and this
trip is something a few of these veterans may
never get a chance to do again. You appreciate as
you get older that there is no rehearsal in life
and if you can help someone else you
should." John Clarke, a former sergeant in
the Black Watch and secretary of the veterans'
association, said they were touched by the offer.
He said, "I'm overcome, overjoyed. I never
thought people cared that much."
The £12,500 will pay half the travel costs for
all 50 veterans to go on the trip. But with other
offers coming in since the news broke, Mr Clarke
said they may be able to cover the whole cost and
possible invite other veterans. The group had
approached the Community Fund, one of the bodies
which distributes Lottery money, to ask for help.
A spokeswoman for the Fund said no formal
application was made but they did advise the
veterans they needed a written constitution to
stand a chance of getting a grant.
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