Hilary Clinton backs Alliance MLA's bill in support of People's Postcode Lottery in Northern Ireland - but approach is challenged

In a video message to a special reception yesterday in Stormont yesterday, former US Secretary of State and Chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast Hillary Clinton called on leaders across government and civil society to “seize this amazing opportunity” to significantly boost charity funding.

The reception focused on legislative changes, proposed in a private members bill by Alliance MLA Sian Mullholland, that would allow the People’s Postcode Lottery to operate in Northern Ireland.

The People's Postcode Lottery is a subscription-based lottery where a monthly ticket of £12.25 allows players to win daily cash prizes. A minimum of 30% of the ticket price goes to charities.

Ms Mullholland says her bill aims to help generate millions of pounds for charities which are under "immense pressure" because EU funding has ended, public funding is strained, and charities are seeing a surge in demand for their services.

The People's Postcode Lottery says it would raise £25 million for NI charities in the first five years, rising to £7 million a year from year five.

In her video message, Mrs Clinton said: “When we heard that People’s Postcode Lottery might come to Northern Ireland, we wanted to lend our voices in support. To leaders across government and civil society we can only say, ‘seize this amazing opportunity!”

Also speaking at the reception was Richard Spratt of Cancer Focus NI, who said he was "a strong advocate" for the new lottery.

However Simon Calvert, Deputy Director of the Christian Institute, questioned the move.

"Northern Ireland doesn’t need more gambling," he said. "I don’t think squeezing money out of the poor with false promises of ‘getting rich quick’ is the best way of raising money for charitable causes.”

Last week a panel of over twenty MLAs from all Stormont parties fired a warning shot about gambling in NI.

Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan, Chair of The All Party Group on Reducing Harm Related to Gambling, called for urgent action from the Health Minister following a report from the 2024 Gambling Prevalence Survey. Commissioned by the Department for Communities, he said, it reveals "alarming" levels of gambling-related harm in Northern Ireland.