Going for Gold: Think Lucky with The National Lottery

'The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is the largest single project The National Lottery will ever help to fund. It will be a source of pride to the nation'

All this luck bodes well for players of the new National Lottery scratchcard called Go For Gold, that costs £1 per ticket with 1 in 4.93 odds of winning prizes ranging from £1 to £2,012. The first in a series of dedicated games to help raise the National Lottery funding required to stage the London Games, Go For Gold was launched in July 2005. Sales have far exceeded expectations, with over £1m per week going into the London 2012 development pot, and so a second version of the scratchcard has already been introduced - it's on sale at retail outlets now. An online Instant Win Game has also been released and is available to play at www.national-lottery.co.uk. These are the first Lottery games where players will know exactly which good cause will benefit as a result.

Sport and The National Lottery are great mates. Since the Lottery's inception 11 years ago, £3bn has been invested in sport in the UK - from school and community sporting clubs to funding for world-class athletes. Cardiff's Millennium Stadium and the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, 2002, also benefited. Locations that will be used for the 2012 Games' sailing and rowing events - Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy in Dorset and the rowing facility at Dorney Lake in Berkshire - have already received lottery funding to turn them into international standard venues.

A contributing factor to London winning the bid was the legacy that the 2012 Games will leave behind. Not only will it regenerate a run-down part of the city that's crying out for investment, but the excitement caused by hosting the games will provide rich inspiration for our athletes of the future. Between now and 2012, The National Lottery will continue to pour funds into the development of British sportsmen and women and is dedicated to improving the country's sporting infrastructure.

The National Lottery will play a major role in ensuring that the 2012 Games are one of the most successful games ever. Up to £1.5 billion raised by the people who buy Lottery tickets will go towards the cost of hosting the London Games, of which £750 million will come from a series of dedicated Lottery games, like Go For Gold. This is the biggest single source of public funding for London 2012.