In the news: Councillors agree to discontinue the Basildon Borough Community Lottery
Councillors have formally agreed to discontinue the Basildon Community Lottery at a meeting of Basildon Council's Policy Executive Committee on Thursday 17 March 2022.
The lottery will be wound down to closure over a period of 3 months as per the agreement with provider Gatherwell. The council will work with Gatherwell to ensure any outstanding funds raised are distributed to the registered good causes.
There are 31 local causes signed up as beneficiaries of the lottery. The causes that are currently supported by the lottery will continue to be supported by Basildon Borough Council through other funding, including community grants.
Cllr Andrew Baggott, Leader of Basildon Council and Chairman of the Policy Executive Committee, said: "The decision to discontinue the lottery will not affect the good causes benefitting from it, we will continue to support these in addition to the causes already being supported by the council.
We want to protect our residents and those most vulnerable in our community from gambling and mitigate the risk of addiction and financial hardship. While this decision may be disappointing to those who gamble responsibly, it is important we take the necessary steps to ensure that our communities and local good causes are properly supported with consistent and appropriate levels of funding."
ENDS
Published Monday 21 March 2022