Greater control over lottery sales is a positive step

Wednesday 07 December 2022

Sales may be down, but the Channel Islands Christmas Lottery has made improvements to the way it controls tickets sales which have benefitted the wider community, according to the man running it.

Jon Taylor is the Senior Lottery Officer for the States of Guernsey. He oversees the Channel Islands Christmas Lottery across Jersey too.

He is responsible for the sale of tickets through approved retailers and also for the sharing of the lottery proceeds to good causes through the Association of Guernsey Charities and its equivalent in Jersey.

Mr Taylor confirmed to Express yesterday that overall ticket sales are down so far this year compared to previous years, but he said sales were up last week compared to the same period a year ago. He said that could lead to an upsurge in sales before the draw is made on 20 December.

Pictured: Jon Taylor during the run up to the 2021 Christmas Lottery draw.

A review of the way the CI Lottery is run after the 2019 draw saw ticket prices reduced from £3 back to £2. Public feedback also indicated the majority wanted more prizes.

Sales had been in decline since before the covid pandemic hit but Mr Taylor said that changed peoples' spending habits too.

Mr Taylor said that changes have also been made to the way ticket sales are controlled in recent years - and he says that is one area in which the benefits are proving to be very positive.

In Guernsey, Guernsey Post is the main distribution agent for the Bailiwick. It sells tickets to individual retailers - including all of the larger supermarket chains and smaller sellers.

Mr Taylor said this has led to great transparency over who is buying tickets.

"The lottery sales are more controlled now. We control tickets sales so there is more transparency, so where they are sold and we can monitor where they are selling. If there is a problem with significantly high sales in one area we can take a look at it.

"We have a good relationship with Tracy Rear at Independence and we can work with them to help anyone with gambling problems."

Pictured: Independence helps people with gambling, alcohol, or drug addictions.

The jackpot is currently around £400,000 and he is hoping it will reach £600,000 by the draw date. That would mean it falls slightly short of last years total and is way off the million pound jackpot won in previous years.

"The lottery is still raising significant money for good causes and people are still winning. But, the prizes are more spread out," he said. "The range of winning is there.

"We are determined by the economics though. If we sell a million tickets then the prize will be over £600,000, and there's all the other prizes too and a lot of money for charity too. Someone will win a lot of money, and it is a life changing amount of money."