Did you know?
The Manx Lottery Trust has replaced the former Public Lottery Trust, a charitable body that provided grant assistance to a wide range of deserving bodies during a period of 23 years from its inception in February 1986.
Our History
The Manx Lottery Trust came into being under the provisions of a Trust Deed dated 21st May 2008 and is registered as Public Charity No.1021 in the General Registry.
The Manx Lottery Trust replaced the former Public Lottery Trust.
A Direction/Declaration made by The Treasury on 27th May 2009, together with an Order made by His Honour the Deemster Kerruish on 20th April 2009, each authorised the transfer to the Manx Lottery Trust of all funds held in the accounts of the former Public Lottery Trust.
Annual reports are made to Tynwald and include details of grant recipients, fund distributed or committed during a particular year, and the balance of funds remaining available for distribution. Copies of these reports can be obtained from the Tynwald Library.
The former Public Lottery Trust (PLT) was an independent charitable trust, established by Tynwald in February 1986 with the following objects: -
“to support and specifically to make payments from time to time to any one or more of the purposes specified in the Trust Deed dated 3rd February 1986 made under the Treasury Act 1985 and in particular: - to any purpose which is charitable and is for the public benefit; or to any charity registered under the Charities Registration Act 1989 and any other purpose which, in the opinion of the Trustees, is consistent with the general object of the Trust provided that no payment shall be made to any person or body that is not resident in the Isle of Man”.
Initially, the PLT was funded by the proceeds of the Isle of Man Government Lottery until its cessation in 1997, and since December 1999 was funded by a share of the excise duty generated by the sale of the United Kingdom National Lottery tickets on the island.
Successive trustees always endeavoured to exercise their powers in a fair and helpful way with a desire to support as many deserving causes throughout the Island as possible. Applications were subjected to careful scrutiny with a small number being formally refused and a few enquiries being met with advice that applications would not be appropriate. The latter were usually outside the terms of reference of the Trust or unable to demonstrate sufficient financial need to warrant grant assistance.
The present trustees continue to maintain a responsible policy in distributing Trust funds as widely as possible to benefit the people of the Island and are privileged to be in a position to help many individuals, charities and organisations in a worthwhile and positive manner.
Organisations of all types and sizes can apply for assistance, either on behalf of individuals or for specific projects, and all applications are considered on merit and subject to the availability of funds.
There is no political direction or interference in the Trust’s activities and objectives. Thus trustees enjoy independence of action when allocating financial assistance, a freedom which is greatly appreciated and which enables them to act on local knowledge and provide support to all sectors of the local community at grass roots level.
The trustees finance and monitor an Emergency Fund established to enable social workers to provide immediate assistance to needy individuals in emergency and exceptional situations for which no statutory or voluntary funding is readily available. The Fund was established in February 1991 and is managed by senior officers of the Social Services Division of the Department of Health & Social Security. Payments from the Fund cover matters such as poverty, youth issues, low income, health, disability, care and the elderly. Although only relatively small sums of money are involved, such assistance enables social workers to react quickly and make a significant difference to people’s lives at times of crisis.
Examples of recent grant awards can be viewed on our Grants page.