Belfast, Derry City and Strabane, and Antrim and Newtownabbey are the most lottery-funded places in Northern Ireland

Since 1994, the National Lottery has sponsored £1,372,893,219-worth of projects in Northern Ireland. Belfast absorbed most of these funds (£560,084,536), followed by Derry City and Strabane (£145,967,937) and Antrim and Newtownabbey (£127,726,910). Meanwhile, Ards and North Down only ever received £49,842,018, this being the least funded place in Northern Ireland.

This year alone, Northern Ireland received £9,076,561 from the National Lottery, according to a study conducted by Solitaired.com, based on the latest government statistics. The single biggest lottery-funded project in Northern Ireland this year so far was worth £499,506 for the UHUB Therapy Centre C.I.C. in Ards and North Down. Awarded on 23 March, the government data describes the project as “provid[ing] support to children and young people with neurodiversity conditions in Ards and North Down” over a period of four years.

So far, a total of £46bn from the National Lottery has gone towards good causes across the UK, in areas such as education, environment, health, arts and sport. Health, Education, Environment and Charitable Expenditure are the sectors in Northern Ireland that benefitted the most from National Lottery grants over the past 28 years. The latest official government data suggests that these areas in Northern Ireland received a total of £287,001,243. Heritage is the second most lottery-funded sector in Northern Ireland, with £250,728,276-worth of sponsorship since 1994. Arts causes follow at quite a distance behind, benefitting from £190,355,449 over the past three decades.

Belfast received the biggest ever lottery grant in the region. On 11 June, 1997, the National Lottery awarded The Odyssey Trust Company Ltd. £45,000,000 for a single project.

Nationally, Westminster has benefitted the most from National Lottery funds, amounting to a whopping £1,439,592,279 since 1994.

All these funds come from a proportion of ticket sales, as well as any unclaimed prizes within 180 days. Belfast currently hosts one millionaire who has not yet claimed their prize. They have until October 23rd to do so. Between October and December, 2021, UK residents claimed around £38m less than the previous quarter, which was added as returns to good causes.

The latest national survey carried out by the Gambling Commission suggests that 43% of adults took part in some form of gambling activity in the four weeks prior to the survey. This constitutes 4% less than before the pandemic. In the year ending March 31st, 2022, over £8bn-worth of tickets have been sold, of which almost a quarter went to various good causes across the UK.

A spokesperson for Solitaired.com commented on the findings: “If you ever lost a winning lottery ticket, there is comfort in knowing that your prize would have gone to a good cause, quite possibly in your own town.”

Here is how much funding from the National Lottery every local authority in Northern Ireland has received since 1994 until the end of June, 2022:

There are three lottery-funded grants currently available for eligible entities in Northern Ireland, with a maximum funding amount of £500,000. Another seven grants are available nationwide for film- and heritage-related projects, some of which have no maximum funding limit.