Gambling, machines and lottery permits
Small society lotteries
If you want to run a small society lottery, and your principal office is based in Lichfield District, you do not need a licence, but you do need to be registered with us.
What is a small society lottery?
Small society lotteries are promoted for the benefit of a non-commercial society.
A society is non-commercial if it is established and conducted:
- for charitable purposes
- for the purpose of enabling participation in, or of supporting, sport, athletics or a cultural activity
- for any other non-commercial purpose other than that of private gain.
A small society lottery:
- does not have proceeds that exceed £20,000 for a single draw
- does not have aggregated proceeds from lotteries in excess of £250,000 in any one year.
For more information see types of lottery you can run without a licence.
If you want to run a small society lottery, please complete the registration form and return to licensing@lichfielddc.gov.uk.
Fee
There is a fee of £40 to register your lottery and an annual fee of £20 for each year after that. We will notify you when you annual fee is due. You can pay your registration and annual fee online.
Lotteries that exceed the small society lottery limit
If you wish to run a lottery that exceeds the small society lottery limit, or in the course of running a small society lottery, your:
- proceeds exceed £20,000 for a single draw
- aggregated proceeds from lotteries exceed £250,000 in any one year.
You must apply to the Gambling Commission for an operating licence.
Small society lottery returns
You must complete a lottery return form after each lottery or raffle draw and return to us within 3 months of holding the draw. If you are running a 100 club or similar with weekly or monthly draws you can complete one return each quarter detailing all of the draws in that period and submit it to us no later than 3 months after the date of the first draw.
Small society lotteries - changes to draw dates
If you are a registered small society lottery and need to change the date of your draw, you must contact us to check whether there are specific terms and conditions you must adhere to.
If you put back the date of the draw, it will need to take place as soon as practically possible.
You must also make every attempt to notify those who have purchased tickets in the lottery/raffle of the change to the draw date. This can be done through a number of channels including email, a telephone/text message, website, newsletter and local newspaper.