A NEW joint-lottery to support good causes in Taunton and West Somerset has been given the thumbs up by West Somerset Council’s Scrutiny Committee.

The new venture between Taunton Deane Borough Council and West Somerset Council is an ambitious proposal aiming to provide funding for the voluntary sector as the councils can no longer afford to give out community grants.

The weekly online lottery will have a top prize of £25,000 and tickets will cost £1, with participants encouraged to set up direct debits for tickets.

Cllr David Westcott presented the item at Thursday’s meeting and emphasised that the council would not make any profit for itself from the lottery but it would enable continued support for good causes in the community.

Five such lotteries exist in other parts of the country, and tickets break down so that for a £1 ticket, 60p goes to the good cause, 20p goes to the prize, 17p spent on running costs and 3 per cent VAT.

Good causes register to take part, and players can opt to select which cause their money goes toward, meaning that West Somerset donations will stay in West Somerset and the same for Taunton Deane.

Managing director of external lottery management company Gatherwell Ben Spear said there would be initial set up fee of £3,000 plus a separate marketing budget required of around £3,000 per year.

Cllr Bryan Leaker raised concerns over whether an authority with a population as small as West Somerset and Taunton Deane would be able to support the lottery but Mr Spear said he had every confidence it would.

Cllr Martin Dewdney spoke in favour of the lottery, saying he ‘wished the project every success’.

“Small amounts of money can go a long way for small community groups and I think this is a great initiative and has much better odds than the National Lottery!,” Cllr Dewdney said.