Where the Good Causes Money Goes: The 12 National Lottery Distributors Explained
How National Lottery good causes funding is split by law between 12 distributors, from Sport England to the Heritage Fund, and why the system is now under review.
In the UK, EuroMillions is one of the games run under the National Lottery licence, so the share of sales that goes to good causes follows the same rules as the rest of the National Lottery. Since the first draw in November 1994, the National Lottery has raised more than £53 billion for over 680,000 projects, according to the UK government. Less well known is how that money is divided and who decides where it goes. The answer is a structure set out in law, with twelve organisations at the centre.
From ticket sales to good causes
Over the current licence period, the expected average allocation of each £1 spent across National Lottery products is:
| Where it goes | Per £1 |
|---|---|
| Prizes to players | 56p |
| Good causes | 23p |
| Lottery Duty to the Treasury | 12p |
| Retailer commission | 3p |
| Operating costs | 5p |
| Operator profit | 1p |
These are averages across all National Lottery games and the whole licence, not figures specific to EuroMillions or to any single year. In 2025, the National Lottery took more than £8 billion in ticket sales, and £1.7 billion was granted to good causes from those sales.
It's worth keeping in mind that buying a lottery ticket is a form of gambling, not a donation. The good causes share is how the system is funded, not a reason to play.
One central fund
The money for good causes is held in the National Lottery Distribution Fund, which was set up in 1994 and is managed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. From there it is passed to the distributors, which then award grants.
Four causes, with shares fixed in law
Under the National Lottery Act 1993, the money is split between four causes:
- Charitable activities, health, education and the environment: 40%
- Sport: 20%
- Arts and culture: 20%
- Heritage: 20%
The twelve distributors
Each cause is handled by one or more public bodies, which also have set shares. Working from the statutory percentages, the share of total good causes funding for each comes out roughly as follows:
| Distributor | Cause | Approx. share of total funding |
|---|---|---|
| National Lottery Community Fund (UK-wide) | Community, health, education, environment | 40% |
| National Lottery Heritage Fund (UK-wide) | Heritage | 20% |
| Arts Council England | Arts | 14.0% |
| Sport England | Sport | 12.4% |
| UK Sport (UK-wide) | Sport | 4.6% |
| British Film Institute (UK-wide) | Arts (film) | 2.7% |
| Creative Scotland | Arts | 1.8% |
| sportscotland | Sport | 1.6% |
| Arts Council of Wales | Arts | 1.0% |
| Sport Wales | Sport | 0.9% |
| Arts Council of Northern Ireland | Arts | 0.6% |
| Sport Northern Ireland | Sport | 0.5% |
For scale, over the ten years to March 2026, government figures show about £6.2 billion in awards from the Community Fund, £2.4 billion from the Heritage Fund, £2.4 billion from Arts Council England and £1.9 billion from Sport England.
Independent, and "additional"
Distributors are public bodies overseen by the UK government or by the Scottish, Welsh or Northern Ireland governments, but they decide on grants independently, at arm's length. Awards range from a few hundred pounds to several million.
A second principle is "additionality": National Lottery money is meant to support things the government would be unlikely to fund, rather than replace core public spending. In practice, that means lottery money can support health-related charities, for example, but it isn't used for standard school budgets, NHS clinical salaries or defence.
A system now under review
The current structure dates largely from 1994, with a few changes since. In 2019, the Big Lottery Fund and related bodies were merged into the National Lottery Community Fund, and the Heritage Lottery Fund was renamed the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Creative Scotland was formed in 2010, and the UK Film Council's lottery role passed to the BFI in 2011.
In July 2026, the government opened a 12-week call for evidence on how good causes funding should be distributed, which closed on 23 September 2026. It says it remains committed to both the arm's-length principle and additionality, and that the findings will feed into policy proposals to be published later.
In summary
For National Lottery products, including EuroMillions in the UK, a share of sales is directed by law to four causes and passed through twelve distributors that decide on grants independently. The overall split is fixed by statute, and the way it works is currently being reviewed.