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After Thoughts by Jane Taylor
Terminally challenged
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A while back, at one of the many Lottery meetings I go to, someone (not me) made a really bright suggestion for a way of strengthening the link between the Lottery and funding for projects. Why not put ticket sales terminals into some of the big
organisations, public and private, that have been Lottery funded? Such as art galleries, museums, the new science
centres, libraries and so on. It was Camelot’s relaunch of the Lottery, with its big push to be nice to good causes, that made me recall this idea, so I decided to put it about a bit. I have to admit I had not appreciated how hard it is these days to become a Lottery ticket seller: as Camelot explained at their press launch, they expect each of their retailers to sell 3,000 tickets a week minimum, otherwise their terminals get confiscated. Actually, because Camelot is very New Lottery these days, they get sent on re-education
pro-grammes first, to try and stiffen their motivation and sales figures. But the message is: sell tickets or lose your terminal. That being the case, my local leisure centre is never going to be a serious commercial candidate for a terminal. But some of the country’s major entertainment venues or visitor attractions could be. I did a quick phone-around of an unrepresentative threesome: the Eden Project (£43m Lottery cash, two million visitors in its first year and everyone’s favourite project); the Royal Opera House (£78m, one million visitors a year and the media’s least favourite project); and Tate Britain – not the new Lottery-funded Tate, but the old one which has just hosted a Camelot good causes relaunch party (£27m and three million visitors a year).
Tate Britain’s director of business strategy, Alex Beard, told me they’d already considered the possibility, in 1995 and in 1998, but decided against it both times primarily for ‘brand’ reasons. ‘The profile of our visitors doesn’t match Lottery ticket purchasers,’ he explained. Wasn’t that just snobbery? I asked. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘in terms of brand fit.’ But he was insistent that they would do whatever else they could to help promote the Lottery good causes.
On to the poor old Royal Opera House, which has had seven years of media grief for its Lottery funding. The head of communications, Chris Millard, said they had never considered having a terminal, not least because the goods in their shop are of a rather specialist nature (opera and ballet stuff) so it probably wouldn’t be commercially viable there. What about the foyer? I volunteered, as this is the fabulous area through which thousands pass daily, including many for whom buying a Covent Garden opera ticket is probably on their list of things to do if they ever win the Lottery. Bit of an aesthetic problem there, Chris Millard mused. We lapsed into uneasy silence. I think I sensed a lack of enthusiasm. On to Eden. George
Elworthy, operations manager, doubted that they’d ever considered selling Lottery tickets. He’d have to check. Nope, he confirmed, never been discussed. ‘But we’re keen to discuss it. We’re going to raise it at our next meeting.’ Slightly chastened, I had to explain I wasn’t actually in a position to offer him a terminal – he’d need to talk to Camelot. But I am delighted that he is up for one. Only trouble is, will Camelot let him have one? Sue
Slipman, Camelot good causes executive, is insistent that they’ll only supply a terminal if it is going to pay its way. Somehow, I think that is a challenge that Eden might fancy taking on.
PS: I also asked Sue what Camelot thought about a National Lottery Day. Very enthusiastic, she told me. As long as it wasn’t all left up to them to
organise, they were definitely in support. Who’s volunteering to run it, then?