Camelot Group plc is the operator of the National Lottery. Camelot is a private company, wholly owned by five shareholders; Cadbury Schweppes PLC, Consignia Enterprises Ltd, De La Rue Holdings plc, Fujitsu Services Ltd and Thales Electronics who each share a 20% stake in the company. Camelot Group is responsible for sales of lottery tickets in the UK.

Income from each pound spent on a lottery ticket is divided as follows:

• 50p is paid to winners in prizes


• 28p is given to the Good Causes as set out by Parliament


• 12p is passed on to Government in lottery duty


• 5p is paid to National Lottery retailers on all National Lottery tickets sold


• 4.5p covers Camelot's operating costs, which comprise of running the lottery network and computer system, marketing expenses, player and retailer support services and administration costs


• 0.5p is Camelot's profit in the second licence, down from just under 1p in the first licence.

Camelot, the lottery operator, raises the money for Good Causes, approved by Parliament.

Government allocates funds to each of the six Good Causes approved by Parliament, which select and allocate funds to 16 distribution bodies, including the New Opportunities Fund, the Community Fund, the Arts Councils, the Sports Council and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. These in turn decide which beneficiaries should receive funding.

The Camelot Foundation is an independent grant making trust, funded by a £2 million per annum donation from Camelot Group, as part of its corporate social responsibility programme. The annual donation to the Camelot Foundation comes from Camelot Group’s operating profits (0.5 p per £ of lottery ticket sales). The Camelot Foundation focuses on supporting charities across the UK that have innovative ideas for supporting marginalised young people, and for re-connecting them with the mainstream of UK life. It is not a distribution body for the Good Causes money, and has no connection to the National Lottery distributing bodies.