National Lottery donated £143m to migrant charities since 1994
An exclusive investigation reveals the National Lottery has donated more than £143m to migrant charities since 1994, raising questions about funding.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
An exclusive investigation has revealed that the National Lottery has given more than £143 million to charities supporting migrants since 1994. The money has gone to a range of groups, including Refugee Action, which received more than £5.8 million, the Scottish Refugee Council, which got £4.8 million, and the British Refugee Council, which received almost £10 million.
Among the projects highlighted is a scheme that spent £2 million helping a Sudanese asylum seeker learn how to claim Universal Credit, and an Afghan service providing information on registration with the NHS, finding mosques and halal shops, and employability.
Some of these charities have previously campaigned against government asylum policy, including the Rwanda plan. But the National Lottery Community Fund has responded by saying it does not fund political campaigns or activities.
The National Lottery raises around £1.8 billion a year for good causes. The £143 million given to migrant charities since 1994 amounts to less than 1% of the total distributed over that period.
The investigation has raised concerns that lottery players may not be aware of the exact destinations of their money. Some argue the money is spent on causes that are not neutral, and that the charities have a political agenda. Others defend the funding as a legitimate and compassionate way to help people fleeing war and persecution.
The National Lottery Community Fund spokesperson said: "We support projects in all communities across the UK to help people thrive, strengthen communities and improve lives. Many of the organisations we fund do campaign on issues that are important to them. But we do not fund political campaigns or activities."
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | GB News |
|---|---|
| A petition for a national inquiry has over 39,000 signatures. | |
| Refugee Action received more than £5.8 million from the National Lottery. | |
| The abandoned Rwanda scheme cost £700 million and would have cost £10 billion if fully implemented. | |
| The British Refugee Council received nearly £10 million from the National Lottery. | |
| The National Lottery has spent over £143 million on migrant charities since 1994. | |
| The Scottish Refugee Council received more than £4.8 million from the National Lottery. | |
| The UK spends over £500,000 a day detaining and moving illegal migrants, amounting to £185 million a year. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The GBN Tonight segment, hosted by Martin Daubney, treated the investigation as a major exclusive, framing the figures as a possible misuse of public money. It focused on the political campaigning of the charities, with guest Rafe Heydel-Mankoo calling them 'highly partisan activist organisations' and arguing that working class lottery players would be shocked. The program also included a debate in which Nigel Nelson defended the funding as legal and legitimate.
- “When you buy your lottery ticket every week, were you aware that millions of pounds were going to left-wing migrant activist groups?”
- “The National Lottery Fund is there to fund good causes. But I think many people who buy tickets will be shocked to find that what is being funded actually are highly partisan activist organisations that many would say are working against the British national interest.”
The Patrick Christys Tonight Late... segment took a more informal and sarcastic tone, mocking the Sudanese man's claims about how to claim Universal Credit and linking the funding to broader concerns about left-wing NGOs. It included a debate in which a guest defended the spending as compassionate, while the host questioned who decides where the money goes. The program also touched on Lottery funding for other groups such as LGBT organisations.
- “It's relentless, this stuff. Everywhere you look, you go and pay your phone bill with Vodafone, and then it turns out they're giving out free SIM cards to asylum seekers. You buy a Lottery ticket and it turns out 140 million quid has been given to help a Sudanese bloke who probably arrived here illegally get universal taxpayer-funded credit.”
- “The idea that people that are in, you know, a difficult way, that have come to this country fleeing war, that they should be helped to cover their costs to survive, is a perfectly compassionate and decent thing that most British people care about.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.