National Lottery reveals top fundraising independent retailer in the West Midlands
19th December 2013
• £2.9 million raised for life-changing projects by Cheadle Post Office and its
customers
• Children from St Giles’ Catholic Primary School, who recently received
National Lottery support to create allotment areas at the school, present a
commemorative plaque, and their first vegetables, to say thank you
A Cheadle retailer was today celebrating being named The National Lottery’s top
fundraising independent retailer in the West Midlands.
To date, customers of Cheadle Post Office in the town centre have helped raise a
staggering £2.9 million for life-changing National Lottery projects.
To mark the outstanding achievement, children from local St Giles’ Catholic Primary
School presented Postmaster John Jones and his wife, Margaret, with a
commemorative plaque to say thank you.
St Giles recently received National Lottery support to create allotment areas within
their grounds and the children also brought along some of the very first vegetables to
be grown at the school: winter cabbage, kale and lettuce.
John Jones, Postmaster of Cheadle Post Office. said: “We were amazed to be told we
are the top fundraising independent retailer in the West Midlands. It’s great to get
recognition for the hard work we put in to promoting and selling The National Lottery,
and it’s wonderful to know that it really benefits local projects like St Giles and their
allotment areas.”
Margaret Jones, who looks after the National Lottery at the store, added: “It really was
lovely to have the kids here with their newly grown vegetables. The plaque will take
pride of place in the store, so that our customers can see what a truly life-changing
difference they make.”
The National Lottery supports a wide range of arts, sport, heritage, charity and
voluntary projects. To date, National Lottery players have raised over £30 billion for
National Lottery projects, with more than 420,000 individual awards made across the
UK – an average of 135 lottery grants for every postcode district.
In total, over £2 billion has been invested into more than 31,000 National Lottery
projects throughout the West Midlands region.
St Giles’ Catholic Primary School received £8,500 this summer from the BIG Lottery
Fund, which is the National Lottery’s largest distributor, to create allotment areas within
the school grounds so that pupils and the wider Cheadle community can learn how to
grow and prepare healthy food.
St Giles’ Catholic Primary School teacher, Pam James, who was responsible for
obtaining the National Lottery support, accompanied the children to the presentation.
She said: ‘We were delighted to present the plaque to John and Margaret Jones. We
know how much it means to get National Lottery funding. It was crucial in enabling us
to create the allotment, which is not just for the children but for the local community as
well – and we know that there are hundreds and thousands of projects all over the UK
which nave also benefitted from support. Shops like Cheadle Post Office and their
customers should be really proud that they are helping make a real difference.’
Jackie O’Sullivan, Director of the National Lottery Good Causes, said: “The National
Lottery supports projects people really care about, such as education projects like the
on at St Giles’ Catholic Primary School. We couldn’t do it though without the efforts
and support of independent retailers, such as the team at Cheadle Post Office and their
customers who play The National Lottery.”
For more information on projects that have received National Lottery funding, go to:
www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk
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Notes to editors
For more information on this story, contact:
Jonathon Deacon | jd@jdbrightly.com | 07831 746 725
For more information on National Lottery Good Causes, contact:
Michael Thompson, Head of Media, National Lottery Promotions Unit
Michael.Thompson@lotterygoodcauses.org.uk | 0207 211 3894 | 07734 295 745
• The operator of The National Lottery, Camelot, delivers on average over £35 million each week to
National Lottery Good Causes.
• To date, over £30 billion has been raised and more than 420,000 individual awards made across
the UK since 1994 – the biggest programme of civic and social regeneration since the 19th
Century.
• The National Lottery has so far given away over £49 billion in prizes and created more than 3,400
millionaires or multi-millionaires since its launch in 1994.
• Accounting for 83% of total sales, retail is the largest National Lottery sales channel. Camelot
works with over 36,700 retailers across the UK, with independents making up the majority.
• Camelot is committed to raising money for the Good Causes designated by Parliament. Camelot
is not responsible for distributing or awarding these funds.
• For further information on Camelot, The National Lottery and its games, please visit:
www.camelotgroup.co.uk and www.national-lottery.co.uk.
• Players of all National Lottery games must be aged 16 or over.