This week, the faces of six independent retailers located in Belfast, Bristol, Manchester, Ilkeston, Gateshead and Glasgow will appear on billboards in their local communities, and on social media, in a campaign created to recognise the contribution of independent local stores in raising more than £10billion for National Lottery Good Causes.

Allwyn UK, operator of The National Lottery, who has funded the campaign, invited these retailers to take part because they have each helped raise more than £1 million for Good Causes since they began selling National Lottery tickets and scratchcards in their shops.

The retailers starring in the campaign are:

• Julie Campbell, Shopkeeper at Sinclair's Newsagent in Belfast
• Pinku Patel, Store Manager of Causeway Card Shop & Newsagents in Bristol
• Aftab Bhatti, Owner of Dynasty News in Glasgow
• Priti Patel, Owner of John’s News in Ilkeston
• Umar Nasir, Assistant Manager of The Paper Shop in Manchester
• Phil Lawrence, Co-owner of Choices Newsagent in Gateshead

Alastair Ruxton, Chief Impact Officer at Allwyn UK said:“The £10 billion milestone is an incredible achievement by independent retailers, but a number alone doesn’t tell the full story. 'Local Retail Champions' is about putting the people behind that contribution centre stage and showing the impact independent retailers help make possible in communities across the UK.

“We want independent retailers to feel proud of the role they play in raising much-needed funding for National Lottery Good Causes and for their communities to recognise it too.”

Julie Campbell, shopkeeper at Sinclair's Newsagent, said: “Our family has been running Sinclair's Newsagent for 26 years, so it’s lovely to see the shop recognised in this way. Raising more than £1.2 million for Good Causes across the UK is something we can share with our customers, as they’ve helped make it happen. With projects like Templemore Baths here in East Belfast, you can see what National Lottery funding means locally. That makes this feel about much more than having my face on a billboard.” 

Pinku Patel, store manager of Causeway Card Shop & Newsagents, said: “To know that National Lottery tickets sold at Causeway Card Shop & Newsagents have helped raise more than £1.5 million for Good Causes across the UK is something we can all be proud of. It’s a contribution made possible by our customers, and this campaign is a chance to celebrate that together.  From local community projects to much-loved Bristol venues, National Lottery funding supports so much across our city. It’s great to know that our shop and customers are playing a part in making that possible.” 

The Local Retail Champions campaign launched last month, with films made with three retailers, located in Kent, Wales and West Yorkshire. They each received a visit from a famous face with a connection to their local area – Joanna Page, presenter and actress, Nicola Adams, the first female boxer to become an Olympic champion Olympian and Matt Weston, double Olympic gold medal skeleton racerat the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

Allwyn UK has also sent letters to over 22,000 independent retailers who sell National Lottery tickets and scratchcards thanking them for their individual contribution.  Of those, 1,623 shops have raised more than £500,000, 469 have raised more than £1m, and 28 have broken the £2m mark. Remarkably, two shops have each raised more than £3m for Good Causes.

On average, 23p of every pound spent on The National Lottery goes to Good Causes, which has supported more than 680,000 projects across arts, community, heritage and sports since its launch in 1994.