Camelot Beats London 2012 Target
14 May 2006

Camelot has beaten its target for the first year of fundraising for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

New figures released today by the National Lottery operator show that at the end of the last financial year (2005/06) returns to the Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund from sales of dedicated games in support of London 2012 had reached £16.3 million - 16.4 per cent, or £2.3 million, ahead of the £14 million target set by Camelot for the year.

The National Lottery will contribute up to £1.5 billion towards funding the infrastructure of the London 2012 Games. Of this, £750 million will come from a series of designated lottery games1 to fund this support of the infrastructure of the London Games.

The most recently launched of these dedicated games is the National Lottery Scratchcard and Instant Win Game2, Dash For Cash, offering a £10,000 top prize and overall odds of winning a prize of better than 1 in 5. Dash For Cash scratchcards were distributed to retailers at the end of April, with a total prize fund of £11 million available to win at launch.

The first of the dedicated games in support of London 2012 – the scratchcard Go For Gold – was launched in July 2005, immediately after the 2012 Bid decision was announced, and was the fastest-selling £1 scratchcard launched by The National Lottery since November 2002. The game proved so popular that a second edition was issued in September 2005.

Another dedicated scratchcard, the winter-sports themed Win Gold, was released at the beginning of 2006 to coincide with the Olympic Winter Games in Turin. Since then Dash For Cash has so far outstripped all other Olympic Themed Games in its first few weeks of sales, showing continued enjoyment of the new scratchcards on offer and support from the public for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Camelot is already preparing to launch more games dedicated to London 2012 during 2006.

Dianne Thompson, Chief Executive of Camelot, commented: “We are thrilled that sales of dedicated games in support of London 2012 have got off to such a strong start. The fact that sales have exceeded our first year target demonstrates the tremendous enthusiasm with which National Lottery players have embraced the opportunity to help raise the funding required to stage the London Games.

“We look forward to building on this achievement and bringing to market an exciting and diverse portfolio of dedicated games in support of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. By playing these games, our players not only have the chance to strike gold themselves, but they also have a fantastic opportunity to get behind London 2012 and be a part of something really special.”

The National Lottery has already invested more than £3 billion into sport at every level in the UK since launching in 1994 - from schools, community clubs and local facilities, right through to elite performance athletes.
Camelot will be revealing its year-end sales on 15 May.

Associated Link: http://www.camelotgroup.co.uk/
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