Playmonday charity lottery launches

Playmonday, an online lottery that takes place every Monday is to launch in the UK on 8th May. It offers players a much better chance of winning the (smaller) jackpot than the National lottery along with larger lower tier prizes and the chance to specify which charity you want your donation to go to. More about the Monday Lottery.

A higher proportion of money will go to the charities. For every pound spent with monday, 30p goes direct to charity. That’s five times more than with The National Lottery. Monday has partnered with 70 UK charities including Barnardos, The British Red Cross, St John Ambulance, Marie Curie Cancer Care, and World Wildlife Fund.

The announcement of an immanent launch (players can register from 20th April with the first draw taking place on 8th May) sent the shares in Chariot UK plc, who are organising the draw on behalf of its charity partners, soaring by as much as 14 percent.

Chariot, chaired by Tim Holley, who was chief executive of Camelot when it handled the launch of the National Lottery, said, “People want a fairer lottery. This common frustration has led to the creation of monday. We’ve taken three years to develop this and know it will succeed because it rewards players and charities alike. We like to think that monday is the lottery for unlucky people – the vast majority who have played the lottery since it started but have never won anything. At a pound a week that’s potentially £592 spent with no return. With monday people will have a much better chance of winning.”

Lawrence Wood, the Chief Executive of The Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre added: “Having applied for two National Lottery grants in the past, and been rejected for the most minor of reasons after months of preparing our bids, the opportunity to now receive money we really need is truly amazing and humbling.”

The group said "monday", with a small 'm', will be the first serious rival to Camelot's National Lottery, which has raised more than 15 billion pounds ($26.8 billion) for good causes since its launch in 1994, and will function under laws that allow charities to run their own lotteries.

- 20/4/06