Letters: Lottery effect on income of charities

From Lord Gowrie

Sir: The Rowntree Report ("Rich communities gaining most from lottery grants", 17 July) accused the National Lottery of transferring money from poorer communities to benefit the rich. However, the Arts Council of England is already using lottery funds to support a large number of voluntary and community initiatives. For example, we have funded organisations that are providing arts training or facilities for people with disabilities and people who are economically disadvantaged. These include the Royal School for the Deaf in Derby for a signed video library, and Raw Material, an organisation in the King's Cross area of London providing multimedia training to young unemployed people.

Our aim is to ensure that every city, town and village in the country benefits. One-fifth of the lottery funds for good causes will be given out by the National Lottery Charities Board, which already has nearly pounds 150m waiting to be distributed. Many of those organisations already receiving lottery funding from the Arts Council and the other distributors are charities or community groups. Overall lottery money will provide very significant additional resources for charities.

It is, in my view, patronising to the less well-off to assume that the only human needs are material or medical. We all need to lift out eyes to the hills and we all need to have fun.

Yours faithfully,

Gowrie

Chairman

The Arts Council

London, SW1

17 July