Some lotteries do not require a licence or registration. These are:

(a) incidental lotteries - must be held at an event (either commercial or non-commercial), eg. a charity dinner, exhibition, festival, fete

(b) private lotteries

• private society lotteries - only members of the society and those on the society premises can participate in the lottery
• work lotteries - only people who work together on the same premises may participate
• residents' lotteries - only people who live at the same premises may participate

(c) customer lotteries - only customers at the business premises may participate

If all tickets are sold on the same day as the draw is taking place this would not require registering.

Registration of non-commercial society (Small Society Lottery)

This is for lotteries promoted for the benefit of a non-commercial society and is established and conducted:

• for charitable purposes
• for the purpose of enabling participation in, or of supporting, sport, athletics or a cultural activity
• for any other non-commercial purpose other than that of private gain.

A Small Society lottery:

• cannot exceed proceeds of £20,000 per single draw and
• cannot exceed an aggregate of £250,000 from proceeds in any one year

It is not a licence, but the society must be registered with the local authority in the area where the principal office of the society is located.

Registration of a non-commercial society (Small Society Lottery)

A fee of £40 is required to register. Once the application has been received and accepted we will contact you for payment.

Please supply a copy of your terms and conditions and your constitution to enable this licensing authority to establish that you are a non-commercial society.

An annual fee of £20 required to retain the registration.

Further information about raffles and lotteries can be found on the Gambling Commission website.