New health lottery raise millions for good causes

A new TV lottery which will raise up to £50-million-a-year for health-related good causes launched today. The Health Lottery offers a £100,000 top prize for matching five numbers from 50 and - unlike the National Lottery - gives much bigger prizes to people matching fewer numbers. People who match three numbers will win £50 and those with four numbers, £500. Today's launch was hosted by television presenter Eamonn Holmes, who will front the live draw to be shown on ITV1 and Channel 5 each Saturday from October 8. "I am really excited about being part of something that not only makes people smile every week, but also has the ability to change lives in the longer term. "In these difficult economic times, the Health Lottery will inject a sizeable amount of new money into that local network, and the projects that are supported will help people live longer, healthier lives." No matter how many people win, everyone will get the advertised prize, the Health Lottery said. Tickets will be available from this Thursday in more than 40,000 shops across the UK - 12,000 more than the National Lottery. John Hume, chief executive of the People's Health Trust, said: "We will be working directly with communities to identify practical and sustainable ways in which funding from the Health Lottery can have real impacts on health and well-being in communities experiencing significant disadvantages." It is thought funds will be made available for a wide range of projects, including respite care and counselling for young carers and specialist nurses for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.Martin Hall, chief executive of the Health Lottery said: "The Health Lottery game is a fresh new alternative which has one single good cause at its heart - health. "We will be offering people the opportunity to win a life-changing amount of money while at the same time contributing to tackling real health issues in their own communities. "It is an exciting new launch which will benefit every community in Great Britain." The Health Lottery, which is run by Northern & Shell - owner of Express Newspapers - said that the individual lottery licences are held by 51 Community Interest Companies (CICs). This allows bigger sums of Health Lottery funding to go to local good causes,  and also means that, unlike other lotteries, every single part of Great Britain gets a fair share of the pot.