Small society lotteries
Gambling Act 2005 requires small society lotteries to be registered with the local authority where the principal head office of the society is situated in order to operate lotteries/raffles.
Registrations may be approved if the society meets certain requirements as set out in the Gambling Act 2005
In order for an application to be legally registered Gambling Act 2005 requires that the society must be established for a charitable and/or non-profit making purpose such as a charity or fund raising society.
Section 19 defines a society as such if it is established and conducted for the purpose of one or more of the following:
- for charitable purposes
- for the purpose of enabling participation in, or of supporting, sport, athletics or a cultural activity
- for any other non-commercial purpose other than that of private gain
It is not permissible to establish a society whose the sole purpose is to facilitate lotteries, it must have some other purpose.
Read the lottery guidance notes (PDF, 78 KB)
New registrations
The fee for a new registration will be £40 with a renewal fee of £20 due annually.
Renewals
In order to maintain the registration, an annual fee of £20 will be payable each year at least two months prior to the anniversary of the original registration. Please note should the annual fee not be paid it will cause the small society registration to lapse. Consequently should you continue to hold lotteries under the Gambling Act 2005 without the relevant authorisation you could be committing an offence and liable for legal action.
Small society lottery limits
The total value of tickets to be put on sale per single lottery must be £20,000 or less, or the aggregate value of tickets to be put on sale for all lotteries in a calendar year must not exceed £250,000.
If an operator plans to exceed either of these values then they will be classed as a large lottery operator, and must be licensed with the Gambling Commission instead.
Lottery returns
A statement of arrangements and proceeds made must be submitted no later than 3 months beginning on the day on which the draw (or last draw) in the lottery took place.
Exemptions
There are exemptions for certain types of lotteries/raffles.
For example, if you are operating a tombola or prize raffle as part of an event, like a school fete, this may be exempt from registration.
Generally, where the tickets are sold and drawn on the same day as part of an event, you do not need a registration.
Please note that if you are operating a Small Society Lottery without being registered with Hillingdon Council you could be committing an offence.