Arts Council England

11/19/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/19/2024 09:07

The National Lottery’s 30th birthday

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The National Lottery's 30th birthday

19 November 2024
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Today (Tuesday 19 November) the National Lottery celebrates 30 years since the first Lotto draw in 1994.

Over the last few months, we've been celebrating alongside the National Lottery, as a thank you to National Lottery players who've helped raise £50 billion for good causes across the UK. This money has been game changing for the Arts Council (one of National Lottery's twelve distributors), allowing us to support thousands of projects, including over 27,000 different creative and cultural projects in the last five years alone.

The celebrations so far

To celebrate this momentous occasion, we've been sharing and highlighting some of the amazing projects we have funded, thanks to National Lottery players. From National Lottery Project Grants enabling Blind painter Angela Charles to continue with her practice, to Creative People and Places recipients like No More Nowt, who give local communities access to creativity and culture - there's no denying that the National Lottery has changed lives across the country.

Game Changing Moments

Today, the National Lottery are unveiling a photography exhibition at The National Portrait Gallery in London and online, bringing back to life 30 Game Changing Moments from the last three decades, that were all made possible thanks to National Lottery players.

The exhibition is the last of five installations unveiled by National Lottery since September. It will showcase images by Thomas Duke, known for his project @steppingthroughfilm, celebrating iconic moments funded by the National Lottery in arts and film, heritage, sport, and community. Actors Michael Sheen and Vicky McClure, Olympian Jess Ennis and Lioness Chloe Kelly, are among several famous faces featured in the exhibition.

The previous installations have included:

Crossed Finger Selfie Day

To continue celebrating the National Lottery's 30th birthday, today we're gathering on social media to thank National Lottery players for helping to change lives. Thousands of people across the country will be posting their crossed finger selfie to show their followers that they're part of an incredible network of people and communities who've benefitted from £50 billion of good causes investment in the last 30 years. If you want to join us, check out these ideas to get you started.

For the last 30 years no one has done more to change the game in the UK than National Lottery players. With ongoing public support, we look forward to another thirty years of incredible game changing projects, people and moments, thanks to National Lottery players.

Darren Henley, CEO of Arts Council England and chair of the UK National Lottery Forum said: "The Game Changing Moments featured in the 30th Birthday exhibition launched today are the culmination of years of funding, commitment, training, belief, volunteering, tenacity and much, much more. The National Lottery's impact on arts, sports, and communities across the UK is unparalleled. For three decades, it has empowered individuals and communities, enabling thousands of transformative projects. As we celebrate this remarkable achievement, we look forward to building on this legacy, ensuring the arts and culture continue to flourish, and supporting even more Game Changing Moments for future generations."

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Image Captions
  • 1 Courtesy of Discover Creative Careers Week
  • 2 Rambert's Peaky Blinders The Redemption of Thomas Shelby, photo by Johan Persson
  • 3 SWHT curator of archaeology Amal Khreisheh © SWHT
  • 4 Logo © Arts Council England.
  • 5 Arts Council England logo
  • 6 © Fernando Manoso-Borgas