People’s Postcode Lottery

Thank you to players of People’s Postcode Lottery for their generous support of ActionAid.

Thanks to players, we have raised over £16 million in flexible funding towards for our work supporting women and girls around the world. This is awarded to ActionAid by the Postcode International Trust.

The relationship is built on trust and enables long term, flexible funding with less restrictions meaning that ActionAid can allocate funds to where the needs are greatest, in areas that are often harder to fund, and that we can report in a way that works best for our partners and the communities we work with.

With the support from the players, ActionAid has been able to fund key projects that have led to cross organisational progress, for example on strengthening our feminist principles, decolonising our work, and improving our anti-racism-approach.

This video showcases the diverse work enabled by the players of People's Postcode Lottery.

Salome, 14, at her primary school, Kenya. Salome ran away from home aged 12 to avoid FGM and child marriage.

Jennifer Huxta/Actionaid

The People’s Postcode Lottery has helped to protect girls like Salome from FGM

Salome was only 12 when she ran away from home to escape female genital mutilation (FGM). When her father called a cutter early one morning she fled, walking over 200km to find a school to take her in and protect her.

I didn’t know anywhere to go, I just ran in one direction… I slept overnight in a tree the first day.

Now, Salome is safe, but she is still not in contact with her family. With the support of players of the People’s Postcode Lottery, ActionAid is working to end FGM so that girls like Salome will no longer be forcibly cut.

We provide direct support to women and girls who have escaped FGM. We help communities to learn and openly talk about its damaging effects, and we train women to form Women’s Watch Groups to report cases of FGM.

Sign up to the People's Postcode Lottery today and help support our work.

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Examples of how players of People’s Postcode Lottery are supporting our work globally

With players’ support, ActionAid has been able to work across 29 countries to end violence, respond to crises and fight poverty so that all women, everywhere, can create the future they want.

In Zimbabwe, over 26,000 women, girls and people with disabilities are working with their communities and schools to address power imbalances and challenge social norms to combat gender-based violence and create stronger inclusive spaces for girls and people with disabilities.

Across Somaliland, Kenya, Senegal and Ethiopia, ActionAid has also been working alongside the Africa-Led Movement to end Female Genital Mutilation, working to raise awareness and secure laws against the practice.

By supporting ActionAid’s Emergency Action Fund, People’s Postcode Lottery are also helping the organisation to respond as soon as crises occur, such as during the Ebola outbreak, the Rohingya refugee crises, and many others. 

Thanks to players’ support, ActionAid has also been able to work with more communities on building resilience against the impacts of climate change and other crises. As a result, ActionAid is now expanding this vital work in northern Mozambique, and South Central Somaliland.

By enabling ActionAid to bring women leaders to United Nations COP (Conference of Parties), they were able to share their experiences of how climate change is devastating their communities and amplify their demands to bring about meaningful change.

At COP27, this work helped lead to a historic decision to establish a loss and damage fund for countries that are facing extreme climate impacts and disasters.

By giving unrestricted and flexible funds, players of The People’s Postcode Lottery has also allowed ActionAid to fund innovative pilot projects such as the recent Girl-Led research, led by 36 girls across Bangladesh, Indonesia and Ethiopia, paving the way for a radical change to the charity runs its programmes, putting girl’s needs at the heart of the work. It has also allowed ActionAid to run Women by Women, a unique photographic campaign championing the inspirational stories of women and girls and the remarkable talent of women photographers worldwide

These are just a few examples of how players of the People’s Postcode Lottery are making a huge difference – their support stretches far beyond this and continues to achieve amazing things every day.

The small print

People’s Postcode Lottery manages lotteries on behalf of 20 Postcode Trusts. People play with their chosen postcodes for a chance to win cash prizes. A minimum of 33% from each subscription goes directly to charities and good causes in Britain and internationally. Players have raised more than £700 million so far. For details of the charities and good causes which are promoting and benefitting from the lottery draws, please visit www.postcodelottery.co.uk/good-causes/draw-calendar
It costs £10 a month to play and winning postcodes are announced every day. The maximum amount a single ticket can win is 10% of the draw proceeds. For details, please visit www.postcodelottery.co.uk/prizes
New players can sign up to pay using direct debit by calling 0808 109 8765. New players who sign up online at www.postcodelottery.co.uk can pay using direct debit, debit card or PayPal.
Postcode Lottery Limited is regulated by the Gambling Commission under licence numbers: 000-000829-N-102511 and 000-000829-R-102513. Registered office: 2nd Floor, 31 Chertsey Street, Guildford, Surrey, England, GU1 4HD