Since The National Lottery’s first draw took place on 19 November 1994, more than £40 billion has been raised for good causes in the areas of arts, sport, heritage and community.

The National Lottery has made more than 5,500 millionaires but its primary purpose is giving to good causes – over 565,000 individual grants have been awarded across the UK, that’s the equivalent of 200 life-changing projects in every UK postcode district.

VOICES is funded by the National Lottery through the National Lottery Community Fund as part of Fulfilling Lives: Supporting people with multiple needs. Stoke-on-Trent is one of 12 areas to share £112m over eight years. The programme is aimed at testing alternative approaches to tackling multiple needs with a view to identifying more effective ways of working and embedding positive practice.

The 25th birthday is a moment to celebrate the extraordinary impact The National Lottery has had on the UK, and to say thank you to National Lottery players for contributing around £30 million to good causes every week, and so from everyone here at VOICES, we thank you all.

The official birthday is 19th November 2019 and from 14 October until 6 December the National Lottery will connect the public to the enormous impact The National Lottery has had on the UK over the last 25 years.

Whether it is supporting the arts, education, environment, film, heritage, older adults, performance, sport, science and veterans or celebrating winners – there is something for everyone to get involved with. All of the events and activities (click here to see the full list) will be photographed and filmed, and there will be lots of great content featuring famous faces and inspiring initiatives for everyone to share.

Check out #NationalLottery25 on twitter to see some of the amazing work going on all over the country…