Register a Small Non-commercial Lottery

Introduction

You’ll need to register if you’re going to operate a small non-commercial lottery.

You can operate more than one lottery in a single year but you must not sell more than:

• £20,000 worth of tickets in a single draw
• £250,000 worth of tickets across all draws you host, within a single year

If you’re going to sell more than this, you’ll need permission from the Gambling Commission instead.

Your registration will last for one year.

Fee

You’ll need to pay £40 to register and £20 each year, at least two months before your registration expires.

After a draw

You’ll need to send us a Returns Form (PDF 198kb) no later than three months after each draw. The Form must be signed by two members of the lottery’s society who are 18 or older and appointed in writing.

The Form must include the:

• date of the draw
• value of the prize and any deductions for expenses or prizes - no more than 80% of the proceeds
• total proceeds  as well as any rollover
• cost of administering the draw - no less than 20% of the proceeds

You must also tell us if any expenses weren’t paid for by the proceeds of the draw.

You’ll need to email the Form to our Licensing team at licensing@swale.gov.uk.

Ticket requirements

Tickets must:

• cost the same
• be sold by someone who is 16 or older to someone 16 or older
• not be sold on the street but can be sold from a kiosk, shop or by calling ‘door-to-door’

You must take payment for a ticket before it can be used in the draw.

Lottery tickets can be printed or digital, including email or text message, and must include the:

• name of the promoting society
• price of the ticket, which must be the same for all tickets
• name and address of the promoter for the society, or the external lottery manager if there is one
• date of the draw, or information which enables the date to be determined

Prizes

Prizes can include cash or some other type of prize but the cost of prize must not be more than 80% of the total proceeds of the draw, including any other expenses.

Revoking a registration

We may revoke your registration under certain circumstances, including if you’ve provided false or misleading information on your application or you’ve had an operator’s licence revoked in the last five years.