Lotteries

Register to hold a small society lottery to raise funds of up to £20,000 for your organisation

If you are a non-commercial society, you can apply for a licence to hold a lottery, such as a raffle or prize draw, to raise funds for your organisation. A ‘society’ is an organisation or group that promotes charitable causes, sport, cultural activities or other non-commercial activities.

A small society lottery licence allows you to raise funds of up to £20,000. If the total value of your ticket sales will exceed £20,000, you will need to apply for a large society lottery licence from the Gambling Commission.

For more information, see the Gambling Commission’s guide to running a small society lottery.

Resister to hold a small lottery

Please note that your main office must be registered in Three Rivers District to apply for a small society lottery licence.

Apply for a small society lottery registration (PDF, 608 KB)

Please return your completed form to licensing.team@threerivers.gov.uk. There is a fee of £40 for new registrations. Please call customer services on 01923 776611 to pay for your registration when you submit your application.

You will need to pay an annual fee of £20.00 if you wish to stay registered. Please call 01923 776611 to pay for your annual fee before the anniversary of your registration.

Organising your lottery

All lottery tickets must state:

  • the name of the organisation promoting the lottery
  • the price of the ticket (which must be the same for all tickets)
  • the name and address of the member of the charity or non-commercial organisation responsible for promoting the small lotteries or, if there is one, the external lottery Manager
  • the date of the draw

Prizes can be up to the value of £25,000.

After your lottery

At least 20% of the funds you raise must go towards promoting the charitable or community aims of your organisation.

After your lottery, raffle or draw, has taken place, complete and send a small society lottery return form to licensing.team@threerivers.gov.uk. You must submit your completed form no later than three months from the date of the final draw.

Small society lottery return form (PDF, 548 KB)