History
A brief history of the Local Hospice Lottery - Who, Why, When, and How
'The Local Hospice Lottery began life as the 'Farleigh Hospice Lottery’, initially being formed by Farleigh Hospice as a way of generating a regular and dependable income to help fund the care of people with life-limiting illnesses in the Mid Essex area. This was launched in 1996 following attendance at a Lotteries Conference. Just over 2,000 players were entered into the very first draw in November 1996, having been recruited over a three month period.
After 10 years of running its weekly draw, enhanced by numerous local promotions and door-to-door canvassing, the lottery had established itself as a significant and regular contributor to the funding of the services provided by Farleigh Hospice. In fact, by 2005 the lottery had contributed a total of £1 million to Farleigh Hospice and its proceeds were responsible for funding the care for 1 in 9 of Farleigh Hospice’s patients.
By 2008 the number of people playing the lottery had increased to around 10,000 members and it was responsible for donating a total of around £1.7 million to Farleigh Hospice. However, although this regular contribution helped the trustees of Farleigh Hospice to plan and develop the range of therapies and services it offered, the number of people playing the lottery had remained quite static for some time. For this reason it was recognised that a fresh approach to increasing the membership, and the amount of income raised by the lottery, was needed.
Through attending a workshop at the Hospice Lotteries Association Conference in 2007, the Farleigh Hospice Lottery learned that working with additional hospices as beneficiaries could not only help increase membership and therefore income, but could also mutually benefit other local charities and groups.
Although the lottery recognised that developing such relationships would be hugely beneficial, many things needed to be very carefully considered. What would the new, combined lottery be called for instance? Continuing to use the name ‘Farleigh Hospice Lottery’ would be confusing to people wanting to support other hospices. A more generic name would be required. Also, and as a result, what would be the impact in working with other beneficiary hospices on existing players, and anyone wanting to join to support Farleigh Hospice?
After a period of intense work and research, discussions took place with East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) who had indicated that they were considering developing a lottery themselves, and in March 2008 the Local Hospice Lottery was launched, with EACH as the next beneficiary in addition to Farleigh Hospice.
In the first 12 months of the addition of EACH, the lottery saw membership increase by around 2,100 members with more regular players contributing to local hospice care than ever before.
The success of the Local Hospice Lottery's model of having one set of costs and developing a share of profits for more than one hospice lead St Luke's Hospice to become the third beneficiary charity. The launch of the Local Hospice Lottery to support the community of Basildon and Thurrock, where St Luke's Hospice offers its services, took place in July 2009 with the aim of supporting even more people in need of hospice care.
Through all of this, the Local Hospice Lottery has continued to offer a great chance of winning, a great way of helping, and all for as little as just £1 per week, to all of its players.
