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Lotto to put its logo on 'good causes'

Marie Woolf Chief Political Correspondent
Tuesday 25 February 2003 01:00 GMT
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The National Lottery's logo is to be pasted on town halls community centres and scout huts that receive money from its "good causes" fund in a campaign to reverse the game's declining fortunes.

Tessa Jowell, the Secretary of State for Culture, is concerned that successful lottery-funded schemes are not closely enough linked to their source of funding.

The more visible image is intended to convince the public that its money is being used well. And the Government is keen to stress the game's role in the successful regeneration of cities such as Newcastle, Nottingham and Birmingham. "We lack community branding and for some the lottery has the wrong image," said a source at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport yesterday.

Saturday night ticket sales for the National Lottery game – now rebranded Lotto – slumped to a record low earlier this month.

Ms Jowell will also announce a merger between two of the bodies responsible for handing out lottery money, the Community Fund and the New Opportunities Fund.

That is likely to lead to job losses and a cut in administration costs of between 14 and 20 per cent a year. The move follows a hate mail campaign directed at Lady Brittan, the head of the Community Fund, after newspaper reports that asylum groups received lottery funding.Some small charities are concerned that the creation of a "super distributor" will mean they do not receive lottery funds.

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