The Channel Island Lottery is the State

lottery A lottery (or lotto) is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find som ...

in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

run jointly by the

States of Jersey The States Assembly (; Jèrriais: ) is the parliament of Jersey, formed of the island's 37 deputies and the Connétable (Jersey and Guernsey), Connétable of each of the Parishes of Jersey, twelve parishes. The origins of the legislature of ...

and

States of Guernsey The States of Guernsey (), officially the States of Deliberation and sometimes referred to as the Government of Guernsey, is the parliament and government of the British Crown dependency of Guernsey. Some laws and ordinances approved by the ...

. The first draw was held in 1975.

History

The Channel Islands Lottery was founded in 1975 with the merger of the Jersey Lottery and the Guernsey Lottery. The Jersey Lottery was established in 1966 and the Guernsey Lottery in 1971. The game is the oldest lottery in the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

, established before those in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

(1987) and

the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

(1994). Jersey's share of the profits from the lottery were initially used to finance the transformation of

Fort Regent Fort Regent is a 19th-century fortification and leisure centre on Mont de la Ville (Town Hill), in St. Helier, Jersey. The fort is in close proximity to the fortified South Hill Engineers Barracks at La Collette and overlooks the 16th-century E ...

into a sports and entertainment complex. On the completion of that project, the States of Jersey agreed that the Jersey part of the profits from the Channel Islands Lottery should be applied to charitable purposes, through the Association of Jersey Charities. A scratchcard instant game was introduced to revitalise the traditional draw in 1997. On 29 June 2012, a summer draw was launched with a million £2 lottery tickets going on sale. The main prize, had all tickets being sold, would have been £1 million, with a further £300,000 in smaller prizes. However ticket sales were much lower than anticipated, and the main prize was only £150,000, with £300,000 in smaller prizes. The summer lottery was cancelled in 2013.

Proposals to replace with the United Kingdom National Lottery

Since the launch of the

National Lottery National Lottery may refer to: *National Lottery (Ireland), the state lottery of Ireland *National Lottery (United Kingdom), the lottery franchise in the United Kingdom *South African National Lottery, established in 2000 *A number of countries con ...

in the United Kingdom in 1994 there have been proposals to replace the Channel Islands Lottery by making United Kingdom lottery ticket sales available in the Channel Islands. The

Government of Jersey The Government of Jersey () is the executive body of the States of Jersey and is the central government of the Bailiwick of Jersey. The government is led by the Chief Minister (currently Lyndon Farnham, since 2024), who nominates all the remain ...

favours this as this would triple the amount given to good causes. However some residents feel this would lose them their independence. Foreign tickets are not currently sold in the Islands. The Islands are not eligible for Good Causes Funding, although the UK National Lottery Act 2006 provides for the eventuality that the Channel Islands may participate. The UK's other

Crown Dependency The Crown Dependencies are three offshore island territories in the British Islands that are self-governing possessions of the British Crown: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey, both located in the English Channel and toge ...

, the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

participates in the UK National Lottery.

Games

The main game is a scratchcard game where the maximum prize is £20,000 which replaced draw based games in 2004. There is also the Christmas Super Draw which is part scratchcard, part draw based. The jackpot for the 2016 Christmas Draw was £1,120,220.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Economy of Jersey Economy of Guernsey Lotteries Lottery games 20th-century establishments in Guernsey 20th-century establishments in Jersey