by Renee Israel
According to the UK National Lottery operator, Camelot, one lucky Briton
becomes a new instant millionaire every 30 hours.
Camelot announced this interesting fact with the release of its financial
statement for the past year, showing bumper sales across the board.
Camelot said that 288 people in the United Kingdom joined the Millionaire's
Club last year, and there could be even more next year if the same financial
numbers are reached.
With dreams to become instantly rich, and hard economic times, more than 70%
of the adult population plays the National Lottery in one way or another. Some
may play the traditional twice-a-week Lotto draw, while others prefer scratch
cards or playing the EuroMillions lottery.
The sale of National Lottery products climbed 12.1% compared to the year
before, it was reported. This number was impacted positively by a number of huge
EuroMillions rollover jackpots (one of £161 million!) which definitely boosted
sales as players rushed to purchase tickets ahead of the draws.
Since 2002, lottery sales have grown by 35%.
UK Lottery Gives Billions to Good Causes
In the past year, thanks to the boost in sales, Camelot was able to donate
£1.8 billion to good causes. This was a growth of £160 million compared to the
previous year.
The Olympics will also benefit from the rise in ticket sales, with Camelot
having reached its goal of raising £750 million for the Games. All in all, the
National Lottery will contribute £2.2 billion to the Olympic and Paralympics
Games.
"I'm delighted to announce that we've hit our £750 million funding target for
London 2012 ahead of schedule," said the Managing Director of Camelot, former
Channel 4 boss, Andy Duncan.
"It's part of an overall National Lottery contribution of up to £2.2 billion
towards the Games, making it the biggest-ever lottery-funded project to date and
one that will leave a lasting sporting legacy for the entire UK."
National Lottery is Life Changing
Duncan thanked the millions of players for their part in the UK National
Lottery record sales, and said that it was only due to them that Camelot had
managed to reach its goals and report on high sales numbers.
"Our business is all about raising as much money as possible for the good
causes and creating millions of winners and this year's record-breaking figures
show we've done exactly that," he said.
Duncan called the National Lottery "life-changing" for the hundreds of
winners as well as the beneficiaries of lottery funding.
