National Lottery giving £0.5m to Mermaids

[Anothermothersusername]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6524489/National-Lottery-gives-500-000-grant-transgender-lobbying-group.html

I’m absolutely stunned and horrified at this...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3452489-Mermaids-given-500-000-by-National-Lottery-Sunday-Times

Thanks for the link It’s. I’m just so shocked at how fast this is all happening. As a mum of two children it makes me feel sick.

Thats ok - Stonewall's getting nearly as much and Esther Rantzen's losing her grant towards the Silver helpline.

Has the world gone crzy?

Here’s another link hopefully it will work www.thetimes.co.uk/article/lottery-thousands-pay-for-former-trans-stripper-to-sway-public-opinion-6lw9xbwgr?shareToken=b07556def357e6853787357102a661cb&fbclid=IwAR1Cuh3wih8EZ593-01DRTe46FYDoJeNjpB5Q_9yCR7wqB5ZSj1F2gQjRFk

The lottery brand is taking a bashing in the comments.

Ooops - David Davies / David Davis picture mismatch in DM...
(at the time of posting)

I certainly won’t be doing the lottery ever again after this

The Gilligan article suggests that the grants are in breach of rules forbidding donating money to political causes, which is interesting. He also strongly hints st corruption in the process of deciding who the grants go to.

I've really don't think people should stop doing the lottery on the basis of this, for many charities it is the only place that gives large enough grants to give them any stability. If abused women and isolated older people etc. etc. lose out because of Mermsids and Stonewall that would be a great travesty IMO. Things are tough enough as it is for charities. Protest in other ways but don't take money from those that really need it.

don't take money from those that really need it.

But if it isn't going to those who really need it, why would anyone want to support it?

How much goes on administration and how much goes to those who really need it?

Everard

Better I think to donate directly to charities you want to support. I now donate directly to my local women's aid and women's centre.

The side-taking and lack of integrity have started to make me wonder whether we're about to see a number of lottery winners who identify as transgender.

Protest in other ways but don't take money from those that really need it.

You could always donate direct to the charities you want to support. You could set up a standing order for the same amount you would normally spend on the lottery. This has some advantages -

• the charity gets 100% of your donation, not 24% of the cost of your lottery ticket/scratchcard

• the charity knows they will be getting that money regularly and can factor it into their financial planning

• your donation will be unrestricted funds, meaning that the charity can spend it on whatever they need at the time, not have it tied up with a specific project

• the charity will not have had to employ somebody to put together a funding bid - this is a full time job for many small charities.

Obviously your individual £2/week or whatever won't go that far, but if enough people did this instead of buying lottery tickets it could make a big difference.

Better I think to donate directly to charities you want to support. I now donate directly to my local women's aid and women's centre

The problem is though is that most people just won't do this if they stop playing the Lottery, and a grant of a couple of hundred or more over 3 or more years is more useful than a few people donating a fiver a month. I agree donating directly in an ideal world is a better way of getting money to charities, but the reality is that it's unlikely to make much of a difference in the amounts that is likely to be received in practice.

I have cancelled with the National lottery and told them why. Then signed up with people's postcode lottery and told them what will happen if they follow the same path. We can change their minds.

Make it happen!

I don’t gamble anyway so I’ve never played the lottery. When I want donate to a charity I donate directly.