Law and Disorder
The Forces Lottery will only conduct its lotteries with a registered External Lottery Manager (ELM). The ELM will:
- keep a record of all tickets distributed and entries bought
- provide information for any possible police checks on raffle or lottery ticket sellers
- operate from secure premises, with fire safes in situ, and contractors such as G4S
- process entries and handle entry payments, which are paid directly into the society lottery bank account. The society retains the appropriate banking reports and reconciliations.
Fair and Open Draws
Weekly lottery draws are conducted at the ELM. Draws are conducted at random using either a random number generator or using a blind draw. Draw results are published on The Forces Lottery website and winner information is available on request. Rules/terms and conditions are published on the website. A copy of the rules is also available on request. In the event that a weekly lottery is cancelled, advance entry payments will be refunded. In the event of insolvency, weekly lottery entrants who have made pre-payments will be a priority creditors.
Responsible Gambling / Problem Gambling
The Forces Lottery have put in place the following procedures to encourage people to gamble responsibly and seek help should gambling become a problem:
- The Gamble Aware website address are included on all entry forms and related websites.
- The Forces Lottery is dedicated to encouraging people to gamble responsibly, and recognise the signs of problem gambling (see Gamble Aware).
- There is a limit to the number of weekly lottery entries that can be bought by an individual. The maximum for the lottery is 20 weekly entries, however some causes have chosen to further reduce this number.
- Players can request self-exclusion from the lotteries. Their details will be held on a log and they will be refused entry and excluded from raffle/lottery promotional mailings for a defined period. Please click here to view our Self Exclusion policy.
- Players can request the number of lotteries they would like to participate in on a yearly basis.
To view our full Responsible Gambling policy, click here.
Protection of Children and the Vulnerable
The following procedures are in place to prevent under age players from participating in the weekly lottery:
- It is clearly stated that it is an offence for lottery entries to be sold to, or by, a person under 16 years of age. The minimum age for entry is detailed on all marketing materials and entry forms.
- Individuals under 16 years of age are excluded from any 3rd party data or the charity’s own supporter data to be used for raffle or lottery promotional purposes.
- For individuals who have paid online or over the telephone with a debit card, a search may be undertaken with a third party for the purpose of verifying that they are aged 16 or over (or 18 if so determined by the Society).
- Any player who is found to be less than 16 years of age (or 18 if so determined by the Society) will automatically forfeit the right to any prize. This fact is stated on the reverse of all entry forms. They will have any monies paid in relation to the weekly lottery returned to them.
- In the event that a vulnerable person’s carer requests that they no longer receive promotional mailings, we will suppress the vulnerable person’s details from our mailing database immediately. If the person has been sent a lottery pack as a result of their details being supplied to us through an acquired list, we will give the carer details of how they can contact the list owner to request details are removed from the original list.
Full lottery Terms and Conditions can be found here.
Complaints Procedure
Complaints are dealt with by an ELM or the society and details are formally recorded on the Complaints Log. The Complaints Log and written complaints will be kept on file for 3 years. The Complaints Manager aims to respond within 5 days of receipt of the complaint. If the complainant is unhappy with the resolution, they are further advised to put their complaint in writing to the Qualified Person:
Complaints ManagerThe Forces Lottery Sterling Management Centre Ltd Furness Gate Peter Green Way Furness Business Park Barrow-in-Furness CumbriaLA14 2PE