From June Beslièvre.
THE JEP’s front page story of 29 December said Jersey charities are preparing for one of their toughest ever years as the looming recession threatens to cut dramatically the amount they receive in donations.

They should have added that the organisers of our Channel Islands Lottery plan to add to their problems and gamble with the thousands of pounds the Association of Jersey Charities receive each year from our highly successful Christmas lottery by abandoning this and replacing it with the UK lottery – in the lean hope that they will receive an equal amount from them.

We all know the original Jersey Lottery lost its appeal as the prizes were too small. Since running the big Christmas one this has changed and it is well supported. So why not capitalise on the success already in place and run at least three of these big Jersey lotteries a year (when visitors are around), to help the charities recoup any losses from the recession. What is the point of sending hundreds of pounds a year out of the Island when it could stay here and benefit local people?

The Association of Jersey Charities gives money where it is needed most – something that will never happen if this task is taken over by Camelot. Each individual charity will have to apply to Camelot for funding and, believe you me, this is not a task for the faint-hearted. They will have to compete for funding with many thousands of UK charities and smaller charities will find themselves at the bottom of the pile while many very deserving charities will miss out, as has happened in the UK.

People in Jersey can already access UK lottery tickets from friends or through the internet, so why throw away what we already have? You may ask why I don’t approach the States department responsible for this and the answer is, I have – on more than one occasion – to the former Gambling Control
Committee but their answer never came.
Genée Cottage,
Rue de la Hauteur,
St Lawrence.