National Lottery Promotions Unit
National Lottery Promotions Unit
Memorandum accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2010
The National Lottery Promotions Unit (the “NLPU”) is a joint venture between Camelot UK Lotteries Limited (“Camelot”), Lottery distributors and the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (“DCMS”) and is jointly funded by Camelot and the Lottery distributors.
The NLPU was set up in direct response to National Lottery players wanting to know more about which projects receive funding from the Lottery.
The Unit aims to raise public awareness of and support for the benefits of the distribution of Lottery funding across the UK, thereby contributing to the brand health of The National Lottery. NLPU campaigns target Lottery players and highlight the range of projects funded by The National Lottery through national, consumer, regional and online media.
One of the Unit’s biggest campaigns is The National Lottery Awards, which celebrate Lottery projects and the people behind them. The Awards culminate in a prime time BBC One TV show featuring the UK’s favourite Lottery-funded projects, as voted for by the public. In 2009, this activity delivered 1,479 editorial articles, and 91% of them delivered the message that The National Lottery Awards are the annual search to find the UK’s favourite Lottery-funded projects.
In addition, the NLPU also delivers campaigns which take information about Lottery funding direct to local communities. In April 2009, a creative, highly visual roadshow placed giant Lottery balls in situ in eight regions around the UK, and used media relations and marketing activity to highlight the benefits of Lottery funding to communities. And in Spring 2010, a campaign using eye catching branded VW vans and featuring performances from local Lottery-funded projects took place in six regions across the country. Research carried out among people who came to the events found that 98% said that it raised their awareness of Lottery funding in their area.
In addition to campaigns, the NLPU team also carries out feature placement, raising the profile of Lottery-funded projects and highlighting the human interest stories behind them. Raising awareness of such projects can bring tangible benefits. As well as raising their media profile, projects have reported increased footfall, an increase in referrals, more volunteer enquiries and an expansion in services as a knock on effect of their participation in the Unit’s campaigns.
And Lottery players continue to want to know where their money is going. In February 2010, research carried out by GfK NOP, found that one in three people expressed an interest in knowing where the money from The National Lottery is spent, and of this group, the main sources of information they would use are the internet and newspapers.
All media coverage resulting from NLPU activity is independently evaluated. During the period ending March 2010, key results were as follows:
- 94% of the coverage was strongly favourable
- 65% of UK adults/69% of Lottery players were reached
- 99% of articles delivered a key message
- The most frequently delivered message was “Lottery funding is making a difference to local communities” (in 94% of coverage)
The NLPU is funded one third by Camelot and two thirds by the Lottery distributors (the "Partners"), and is accountable to a Management Board comprising representatives from the three key stakeholders: Camelot, Lottery distributors and DCMS, with the National Lottery Commission attending as an observer (the “Management Board”). The Chair of the Management Board throughout this reporting period was Carole Souter, Chair of the England and UK Lottery Forum.
The NLPU was established as part of Camelot, and until February 1, 2007, Camelot was responsible for the management of its finances and operations (HR, legal, IT etc). This responsibility passed to the Big Lottery Fund in February 2007, and Peter Wanless, the Chief Executive Accounting Officer of BIG is currently the Chief Accounting Officer for the NLPU.
In accordance with the Lottery Licence, the funding for the NLPU is drawn down at the start of the financial year based on the agreed budget for NLPU activities in that year. The funding is deposited in a ring fenced commercial bank account. Interest earned on balances held is used to reduce the Partner's future contributions.
In the period under review the Director of the NLPU was Lisa Quinn.