Mayor Kate Allsop signed up to purchase one of the first tickets for Mansfield’s very own local lottery this morning.

Tickets are available online at www.robinhoodlottery.co.uk and cost just £1.

The online lottery has a maximum prize draw of £25,000 and a range of smaller prizes including tickets and cash prizes from £250 to £2,000. The chance of winning the local lottery top prize is one in a million.

Mansfield District Council established a local lottery to support good causes that deliver a direct benefit to residents across the district. 60p from every ticket sold goes to charities, voluntary groups and support services.

More than 30 local good causes have signed up to benefit from the ticket proceeds so far including: the John Eastwood Hospice Trust; Mansfield District Corps of Drums; Warsop and District U3A; and Ladybrook Community Centre.

Mayor Allsop said: “I am delighted to be purchasing my first ticket for the Robin Hood Lottery. I have chosen to support the Robin Hood Community Fund so that local groups can apply for funding via the council’s grant in aid process. I know that my 60p will be well spent in the community.”

Players can select a good cause to play for and 50p of the £1 ticket goes straight to that organisation, a further 10p is directed to the Robin Hood Community Fund and a further 20p is collected by Gatherwell, the External Lottery Company appointed by the council to manage the lottery on its behalf. The final 20p goes towards the prize fund.

There is just one month to go before the first draw takes place on 28 April, with a weekly draw thereafter.

The good causes that have registered to Robin Hood Lottery include:

Sherwood Colliery Swimming Club
Mansfield Swimming Club
Sacred Sound Healing Arts Centre (SSHAC)
John Eastwood Hospice Trust
Mansfield District Scouts Jamboree Group
Mansfield Welfare Rights
Friends of Yeoman Hill Park
Mansfield Woodhouse Millennium Green Trust
Mansfield District Corps of Drums
Mansfield Swimming Club
Warsop and District U3A
Fountaindale School Fund
Mansfield Community & Voluntary Service
Mansfield Soup Kitchen
Ladybrook Community Centre
Clearways Counselling Service
Suicide Support Group Mansfield (SSG)
Emily Harris Foundation
Forest Singers
My Sight Mansfield
Life Skills Education Charity the home of D.A.R.E
Nottinghamshire Hospice
Learning Ladder Childcare
Home-Start Mansfield
Harmless
Millside Hospital Radio
Nottinghamshire Search and Rescue Team
Forest Town Community Council
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust
Armchair Club Sports Foundation
Mansfield Sea Cadets & Royal Marines Cadets
The Friends of Hornby Plantation
Warsop Athletic FC
Redgate School Fund
Yeoman Park School Fund
1st Mansfield Powell Rangers
AFC Mansfield
Robin Hood Lottery Community Fund
Ashfield RUFC