New Guildford Community Lottery Launches Next Week

Published on: 18 Sep, 2018
Updated on: 17 Sep, 2018

A new online lottery designed to help address needs in and around Guildford is being launched next week by Guildford Borough Council.

The lottery, called Guildford Community Lottery, is set to raise awareness and funds for important local causes.

On September 24, a launch event will explain how the lottery works but also how local organisations such as charities, sports clubs, art groups, and more can benefit from participating.

Guildford Mayor Mike Parsons and Peter Cluff, prime movers behind the new lottery.

Tickets will cost £1 with 60p going towards participating local causes as well as 10p going to the charity Guildford Philanthropy. On top of that, the Executive has also made a commitment to provide council match-funding of up to £20,000 for all private donations made to the new fund in the 2018/19 mayoral year.

Guildford Philanthropy is a fund held by the Community Foundation for Surrey which aims to help the less fortunate members of the borough. It does so by supporting projects that help less fortunate people in receiving training opportunities, work experience and other benefits.

The community fund also helps local charities, community and voluntary organisations in tackling needs in the area. Since its establishment in 2014, the fund has supported a few projects including the Guildford Bike Project, Glade, and Trash Canteen.

Another charity the lottery will help is Guildford Mayor Mike Parson’s chosen charity: Guildford Young Carers.

In the interview below, Mike Parsons and Peter Cluff, chairman of Guildford Philanthropy, explain how the lottery will help many across the area:

Peter Cluff said: “Guildford is an affluent place, but areas of needs have to be addressed.”
Statistics from Surrey-i census shows that in Guildford:
• 2,360 children live in poverty
• 4,360 households live in fuel poverty
• 17,300 people have a limiting long-term illness
• 9,400 residents provide unpaid care to family and friends
• nearly 6,000 adults don’t have any qualifications
• 14,500 adults live with a common mental health disorder

Guildford Young Carers, under the umbrella of Guildford Philanthropy, is a charity helping children that act as “young carers”. Young carers are children, some as young as eight-years-old, that take on responsibilities an adult would normally bear such as cooking, preparing food for a family group, or simply giving emotional support.

In return, these responsibilities can cause negative outcomes to the child such as falling behind at school. For instance, Mike Parsons witnessed a case where a young carer, having to take care of the household after school, was being bullied because he was falling behind in his lessons. The charity, with the help of Surrey University, took him to a safe place to help with homework which made his life at school more comfortable.

Within the identified 300 young carers in the town, only 10% are registered. The mayor hopes that this innovative charity will help them in finding balance between home and school.

The council match-funding of up to £20,000 will help Guildford Young Carers in supporting these young people. Costs supported by Guildford Young Carers vary from non-statutory support in school, educational support outside school, IT or other equipment, to school trips, sports activities, and much more.

Both Mike and Peter have high hopes for the community lottery as it can help so many organisations at once as well as Guildford Philanthropy and Guildford Young Carers.

If good causes and groups in the community would like to attend the launch and consider signing up for the new lottery, contact: guildford.lottery@guildford.gov.uk .