Allwyn UK has added another layer to its social responsibility commitments as operator of the UK National Lottery, partnering with the organisers of the latest City of Culture in Bradford.
The UK division of Czech-founded, Swiss-based lottery operator Allwyn Entertainment has partnered with Bradford 2025 City of Culture, investing in the project in the process.
City of Culture is a long-running UK government initiative which sees a designated city host a variety of cultural events throughout a calendar year. It also often serves a revitalisation function with the chosen city benefiting from substantial funding.
The designation is awarded every four years. Previous designated cities are Northern Ireland’s Derry, North West England’s Liverpool, the Yorkshire city of Hull, and West Midlands city of Coventry.
For Bradford 2025, Allwyn has committed part of its Social Value Fund, an annual £1m allocated as part of its social responsibility commitment as National Lottery operator. The firm’s funding will focus on training, development and other opportunities within the West Yorkshire city of Bradford.
Daniel Bates, Executive Director of Bradford 2025, said: “Our volunteers are the heart and soul of our UK City of Culture year. They’ve welcomed people to the district and had the opportunity to learn valuable skills, meet new people and experience a whole range of cultural events right on their doorstep.
“Many have said they feel a renewed sense of pride for Bradford and feel positive and excited about its future. I’m thrilled to have Allwyn on board to help us develop the volunteer programme so our existing volunteers can continue their amazing work, and even more people can reap the many benefits that volunteer opportunities create.”
Allwyn took on the reins as National Lottery operator back in February 2024, having won the contract in 2022. The firm had to deal with a legal challenge from Camelot UK, the former lottery operator, after winning the contest, but was able to settle this and subsequently acquired the firm.
It has continued to run into some difficulties, however. A legal battle against Richard Desmond, a UK media mogul who was also bidding for the contract, is currently underway at the High Court, while upgrades to lottery systems earlier this year hit some teething issues – though the firm has also received good feedback from many other retailers.
Allwyn’s partnership with Bradford City of Culture is a good way for the firm to showcase its good causes funding role to the public, with the company having set a goal of achieving returns to good causes of £60m a week by the end of its 10 year licence in 2034.
“The vibrant sights, sounds and stories coming out of Bradford over the last ten months have been incredible,” said Andria Vidler, Allwyn CEO. “And National Lottery players have played a key role in this success, with over £15.6m in Good Causes funding going towards organisations in Bradford district creating work to celebrate Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture celebrations.
“Volunteering stands at the heart of The National Lottery. Whether in sport, the arts, heritage or the community, volunteers are the common thread weaving together countless National Lottery-funded projects. Evidence shows that volunteering is also one of the most effective ways to contribute to health and wellbeing, especially for marginalised groups in the UK.
“As the National Lottery operator, we wanted to build on this enormous achievement by making our own contribution to help support the legacy of this year of culture – securing a lasting and positive change for the people and communities of Bradford.”