Staff Lottery T&Cs

Explore the terms and conditions of our Staff Lottery. Learn about eligibility, prize details, draw procedures and more. Support your official Charity while taking part in our exciting lottery draws.

Eligibility

The Staff Lottery is a private lottery run by NHS Lothian Charity for NHS Lothian staff.
Participation is restricted to NHS Lothian staff, including bank staff, and only those on the NHS Lothian payroll.
Participation is strictly for 18-year-olds and over. Participants must confirm this during the registration process.
Bank staff who wish to participate in the Staff Lottery are required to set up a Direct Debit directly with NHS Lothian Charity on the charity website for entry payments. This will be deducted on the 1st of every month, starting from September 2024, for participation in the draw at the end of each month. This is to ensure that the payment for entry is always collected on time, as due to the ad hoc nature of bank shifts, payment from the NHS Lothian payroll team is not guaranteed.
New Direct Debit instructions from bank staff who wish to participate must be completed by the 14th of the month before participation commences. Your bank needs at least ten working days to process your instruction.
To be eligible to win a prize in a draw, you must be employed by NHS Lothian before the 1^st of the month that the draw takes place in, and have wages to cover your entry fees. If you leave your employment with NHS Lothian, you can no longer take part in the Staff Lottery. If, for any reason, an ex-employee does have a winning entry, this is null and void, and the draw will roll over to the following month.
Staff are still eligible to participate should they be on a period of leave, i.e., sick leave or maternity leave.
Participation in each month’s draw depends on the payment of entry. If payroll is unable to collect payment for any reason, then participants will automatically be excluded from the draw. You will be contacted by the fundraising team in these circumstances.
Participation is not transferable, and prizes will only be paid to the registered participant. The only exception to this is in the unfortunate circumstance that a winning participant dies before winnings can be dispersed. In this case, if a person can prove, to NHS Lothian Charity’s reasonable satisfaction, that they are entitled to claim on behalf of the deceased player’s estate, the winnings will be transferred.

Entry and participation

The cost of each entry is £1.
Each participant may purchase up to a maximum of ten entries per month. See our Code of Best Practice below.
When you sign up to participate, you will specify the number of entries you would like to purchase every month. You can increase or reduce this amount at any time by contacting the fundraising team. The team must be informed before the 1st of the month for any changes to take effect in the next month’s draw.
All payments for entries must be made in advance of each draw. Payment will be deducted from salaries paid on the last Thursday of every month (except in December), or the first of the month by Direct Debit for all bank staff.
Staff Lottery entry numbers are the participant’s payroll numbers. Your entry number is repeated in the draw should you have purchased multiple entries.
The winning entry number is selected electronically using a random number-generating tool. The draw takes place the Monday following each payday and is witnessed by at least two authorised members of the charity team.
The winning participant will be publicised on NHS Lothian Charity’s dedicated lottery web pages, and the charity’s NHS Lothian Intranet page, if they give permission for us to do so, each month on the Tuesday following each payday, the last Thursday of each month (except in December). The fundraising team will also contact the winners directly using the contact details provided.
All lottery entry payments will be deducted from your net salary payment by the payroll team automatically each month. Except for any bank staff who wish to participate, payments will be collected by Direct Debit by the Charity on the first of each month.
To amend your entry amounts, please notify the fundraising team at NHS Lothian Charity at [email protected] before the 1st of the month in which you would like the changes to take effect.
If, for any reason, the payroll team, or the bank for bank staff participants, are unable to collect payment of entry on any given month, your entry number will not be entered into that month’s prize draw. The fundraising team will contact you to make you aware of this.
To cancel or pause your participation, please notify the fundraising team at NHS Lothian Charity one month in advance of your cancellation. Notifications must be received by the 1st of the month, or the deductions from that month’s salary will be taken. Direct Debits can be cancelled directly with your bank up to three days before the due date, but please also notify the fundraising team at [email protected].

Prizes

Each month there is a guaranteed minimum prize pot of £2,800 in total. NHS Lothian Charity aims to increase prize levels as and when the number of lottery participants allows.
Our current monthly guaranteed prize pot is first prize is £1,000, second prize is £500, then three prizes of £200, two prizes of £100, eight prizes of £50, and ten £10 prizes. This may be reviewed as the Staff Lottery becomes more established.
All proceeds after deducting prize winnings will be allocated to NHS Lothian Charity’s general fund which supports all patients, visitors, and staff, across all sites and services in NHS Lothian.
Prize money up to the value of £3,000 will be paid directly through the payroll system, the month following the draw. Any prizes over £3,000 will be paid by cheque within four weeks of the prize draw.
Participants must inform NHS Lothian Charity promptly of any change to contact details.
NHS Lothian Charity reserves the right to suspend the Staff Lottery for any period. During this time, all entry payments will be suspended, and participants will be informed with as much notice as is practical. All participants will be notified in writing of any planned suspension, and any details regarding the resumption of the Staff Lottery.

NHS Lothian Charity – Staff Lottery Code of Best Practice

Regulation

NHS Lothian Charity abides by the terms and conditions of our gambling license, as issued by Edinburgh City Council. You’ll find more information on the license on their website.
The terms of the gambling license state that at least 20% of the income raised through ticket payments will be donated to NHS Lothian Charity for each draw.
NHS Lothian Charity Staff Lottery is a charity fundraising product, and the Charity follows best fundraising practices, as set out in the Fundraising Code of Practice. Please also see NHS Lothian Charity’s fundraising guarantee.
NHS Lothian Charity is a Scottish Registered Charity No: SC007342, regulated by the Scottish Charity Regulator, OSCR.

Responsible Gambling

Participants are limited to purchasing ten entries per month. This is designed to safeguard against any potential gambling-related harms.
NHS Lothian Charity is committed to ensuring that information about how to gamble responsibly and how to access information and help in respect of problem gambling, is readily available to all.
If participants are worried about the effects of gambling on themselves or someone they know, information can be found on the Gamble Aware website or by calling the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133. We encourage our participants to gamble responsibly. For more information on responsible gambling, please visit the Gamble Aware website.
If anyone is gambling more than they want to, then they have the option to self-exclude from future lotteries. If participants would like to be excluded from future lotteries, they must download, complete, and return this self-exclusion form to [email protected] or post to Vanessa Healey, Planned Giving Manager, NHS Lothian Charity, Waverley Gate, 2-4 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh EH1 3EG.
Alternatively, call the fundraising team on 0131 465 5850 and they can support participants to self-exclude.
This exclusion will remain in place for a minimum of 6 months, and participants must contact the fundraising team if they wish to play again after that time.
NHS Lothian Charity will use personal information to enable participants to take part in the Staff Lottery. Participants may be asked to give consent to receive other updates from the Charity. Participants won’t be contacted for any other purpose than Lottery updates and administration unless consent is explicitly given for the Charity to do so. For more information about how NHS Lothian Charity uses personal data see the Privacy Policy.

Comments, concerns, or complaints

Any comments, concerns, or complaints relating to NHS Lothian Charity’s Staff Lottery should be sent in writing to [email protected] or posted to NHS Lothian Charity, Waverley Gate, 2-4 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh EH1 3EG.

We are committed to promoting responsible gambling. For information and support for those affected by problem gambling, visit BeGambleAware.org or call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133. Lines are open 8.00am to midnight.