Please make every effort to come to the AGM. However, if for any reason you are not able to attend and cannot send a deputy, please contact Kay Price  on 01403 252419 or at [email address available when you sign in] before the meeting. It is important for the wellbeing of the game that those of you who are involved in the organisation and structure of stoolball attend this meeting to express your views.

Agenda

1. Chairman’s welcome
2. Apologies for absence
3. Minutes of the 29th Annual General Meeting
4. Matters arising from those minutes
5. Chairman’s Report
6. Treasurer’s Report
7. Presentation of President’s Award
8. Election of Officers. Existing post holders are:
   • President: Shirley Reed
   • Chairman: John Price
   • Vice-Chairman: Kevin Hilliard
   • Hon. Secretary: Kay Price
   • Hon. Treasurer: Trevor Parsons
   • A minimum of five officers to undertake specific roles: Melissa Mantle, Michael Ledwich,  Rick Mason, Toni Wheatley, Barbara and John Fitzpatrick

   Barbara and John are not seeking re-election. Proposed:

   • Ruth Arthur (Forest Green Stoolball Club in Surrey)
   • Becky Hull (Forest Green Stoolball Club in Surrey)
9. Election of new Vice Presidents. Existing Vice-Presidents are:
   • Ann Peck
   • Marian Stanbrook
   • John Pritchett
   • Delia Saunders
   • Brian Johnson
   • Mick Cawley
   • Gwyn Griffith
   • Richard Emsley
   • Peter Cheesman
   • Edward Keates
10. Independent Examiner: Stoner, Cottingham of Horsham
11. Any other business

1. Present

• Shirley Reed (President)
• John Price (Chairman)
• Kevin Hilliard (Vice-Chairman)
• Kay Price (Secretary)
• Trevor Parsons (Treasurer)
• Michael Ledwich (Insurance)

2. Apologies for absence

• Rick Mason (Website Administrator)
• Barbara Fitzpatrick (Marketing/Publicity)
• John Fitzpatrick (Umpires)

3. Minutes of the last officers’ meeting

The minutes were signed and approved as a true record.

4.Matters arising from the last meeting

1. BingoLotto, discontinued due to lack of support after four weeks
2. Sussex County Sports Partnership –. Service Agreement under discussion. A draft document has been received and returned with comments
3. Applications to Tesco and Sainsbury submitted in August asking if stoolball equipment can be included in their 2010 catalogues as a result of their sports voucher initiatives will need to be followed up

5. Catch Rule update

Forms have been received from Speldhurst and Penshurst in the West Kent Ladies Stoolball League, both clubs are in favour of the current ruling.

6. Treasurer’s report

Trevor Parsons reported on the set of figures which will be presented at the Annual General Meeting in November. As previously agreed by the Management Committee, the Alliance and Leicester account in the name of National Stoolball Association will now be closed so that all Stoolball England funds will be with NatWest. It is intended to open a Deposit Account which will earn interest on money not in current use.

Trevor reported that he now felt he had a firmer grip on the stocks of equipment and that stoolball wickets were now being included as new item of equipment with a potential cost price of £140 per set. He was happy with the set of accounts at the end of his first year in office and they would be presented to the Auditors, Stoner Cottingham, at the beginning of November.

7. Newsletter

Shirley Reed reported that she would be completing the next edition of the newsletter to circulate at the AGM. There were a few leagues that had yet to send in their season’s results but she would follow these up as soon as possible. Shirley asked if an article on looking after bats and other stoolball equipment could be included and John Price agreed to action this request.

8. Annual General Meeting of Stoolball England

The Secretary reported that the AGM had been agreed for Sunday 29 November at 10.30 for an 11am start, but that the booking of the Renshaw Room at Wivelsfield Village Hall had yet to be acknowledged. It was confirmed that John and Barbara Fitzpatrick would not be continuing in their roles next year and replacements would need to be found, however the remaining members of the Management Committee were happy to continue for another year. It was also agreed that as a mark of appreciation for all the work that Keith Younger has done for Stoolball England over the last few years, he should be presented with a President’s Award. There were no names for Vice-Presidents proposed.

9. Stoolball equipment – manufacture of wickets

Trevor Parsons referred to these during his Treasurer’s report and it is encouraging to report that a blacksmith has been found to make the metal bases (similar to the Curtis Lloyd bases) and the remainder of the wicket is being finished by Keith Younger. To date 11 sets have been completed together with metal pins and these will be on sale for next season.

10. Any other business

1. Safari Sports – Stoolball England were invited to visit their premises at West Molesey to inspect their stock of stoolball equipment which was duly approved as satisfactory
2. Dubai – a request to play Stoolball in Dubai has been received
3. India – two more requests have been received from India, both answers were copied to Sangram Gadgil who is founder of the Indian Stoolball Federation
4. New mixed stoolball clubs – two newly formed clubs, Burgess Hill and East Hoathly have been formed in the last three months and a further club is planned in Cowfold, although they are not quite so advanced in their planning as the first two
5. Sri Lanka – a coaching trip is confirmed to commence on 6 January for 14 days. Coaching will be carried out at Hillwood College, Kandy during the trip and a further three days coaching will take place at Trinity College, Kandy which will be open to students from other schools in the area
6. Stoolball Coaching Manual – this manual is close to completion, just the front cover to design, and quotes have been received and approved for printing. This will be a splendid addition to our stoolball publications
7. Tri-fold leaflet – subject to some rearrangement of the text, the leaflet will be ready for printing in the next month
8. Stoolball England Management Committee nominees – it was agreed to approach Becky Hull and Ruth Arthur to join the committee in a coaching development role.

Date of next meeting: Annual General Meeting to be held on Sunday 29 November 2009, 10.30 for 11am start, in the Renshaw Room at Wivelsfield Village Hall.

The meeting closed at 10pm.

Kay and John Price, 5 November 2009

1. Present

Stoolball England Management Committee members:

• Shirley Reed (President)
• John Price (Chairman)
• Kay Price (Secretary)
• Trevor Parsons (Treasurer)
• Rick Mason (Website Administrator)
• Barbara Fitzpatrick (Marketing/Publicity)
• John Fitzpatrick (Umpires).

Leagues and associations represented:

• Mid Sussex Mixed Stoolball League: Rick Mason
• Sussex County Stoolball Association: Kay Price, Margaret Bertin and Barry Bertin
• Mid Division (SCSA): Daphne Hunt
• North Division (SCSA): Keith and Doris Younger and Sybil Voller
• Sussex County Umpires Association: John Fitzpatrick
• West Kent Ladies Stoolball League: Miranda Brockman
• West Kent Mixed Stoolball League: Richard Emsley
• Wessex Friendly Group: Shirley Reed

2. Apologies for absence

• Kevin Hilliard (Vice-Chairman)
• Michael Ledwich (Insurance Officer)
• Melissa Mantle (Coaching)
• Toni Wheatley
• Mike Hearn (East Division, SCSA)
• Alan Kirby (Chanctonbury Ladies Stoolball League)
• Cindy Cavie (Eastbourne Red Triangle League)
• Jacqui Davidson (Hailsham Mixed League)
• Anne Hardwick (West Kent Ladies Stoolball League)
• Pat Wyatt (Coastal Ladies Stoolball League).

The Chairman, John Price, welcomed everyone to the 2nd General Meeting of the year and in particular Miranda Brockman from West Kent Ladies Stoolball League who was attending a Stoolball England meeting for the first time.

3. Minutes of the General Committee meeting

The minutes of the previous General Committee meeting held in March (proposed Barbara Fitzpatrick and seconded by Doris Younger) were signed and unanimously approved as a true record.

4. Matters arising

In response to a question from Doris Younger, Rick Mason was able to confirm that there has been increased usage of the Stoolball England website in 2009. This season, the Chanctonbury League has been publishing their fixtures and results, and in 2010, Eastbourne Red Triangle Mixed League intends to do the same. It was agreed that this is very encouraging.

5. Treasurer’s Report

In his report Trevor Parsons was very encouraged with the current sales figure of £10,096 which showed an increase of 20% over the 2007-8 figures. He also reported that income from the affiliation fees was good; the coaching courses held at University College, Chichester and Greenway School in Horsham had been very successful and it was good that Stoolball England was now in a position to submit CRB applications. The surplus of more than £5,000 meant that there was more money available to invest in the game.

6. Summary of Stoolball England activities from March-September 2009

A document listing all these activities was circulated to all members at the meeting. However, prior to this item being discussed, John Price took the opportunity to congratulate Sybil Voller from Bluebells Stoolball Club who are in North Division, Sussex County Stoolball Association, on becoming the first accredited stoolball club.

John Price quickly went through the 16 items listed in the document which included news on our application to Sport England to become the recognised governing body of stoolball; progress of stoolball overseas; CRB checks; the coaching project in Horsham; the Sussex Girls’ under 14s tournament in July; taking part in the second Brighton & Hove fortnight of sport; Level 1 coaching courses; news of new clubs and spreading the gospel of Stoolball in South East England.

Shirley Reed told the meeting that stoolball was also being played at an aboriginal school near Alice Springs in Australia. Rick Mason reported that a second stoolball international had been played between members of the Lewes Hungarian Society and local players.

In conclusion, a vote of thanks was given to Stoolball England by Sybil Voller and Keith Younger.

7. Feedback from Affiliated members

Mid Sussex Mixed Stoolball League and Lewes League: Rick Mason, a member of both leagues, told the meeting that in the Mid Sussex League games were of 12 overs, while in the Lewes League, games consisted of 8 players and 10 overs. He reported that Mid Sussex only had four teams this year, but that potentially there were more teams joining next season. It was also suggested that new teams from Burgess Hill and East Hoathly could be possible newcomers. They were also trying to start a mixed indoor league this winter and an appeal for teams had been placed on the Stoolball England website.

West Kent Mixed Stoolball League: Richard Emsley reported that this league was being restarted next season with potentially four teams, Hildenborough, Leigh, Groombridge and Fordcombe. On 14 June they had organized a mixed tournament which attracted 8 teams and this was won by Fordcombe. Richard was confident that this league would be up and running in 2010.

West Kent Ladies Stoolball League: Miranda Brockman, in her first year as Secretary, reported that it had been an interesting season. She told the meeting that West Kent Ladies now had its own website which had been set up by Sophie Richardson. Sophie had undertaken this project as part of her university course and it had been very successful. Fordcombe were the 2009 league champions with Bidborough runners-up. In their league tournament, Groombridge were the winners with Bidborough again runners-up.

Mid Division, SCSA: Daphne Hunt from Ringmer Stoolball Club and President of Sussex County Stoolball Association reported on behalf of her Division that it had been a very closely fought league this year with Adastra tying for top place with Barcombe. They had already held their presentation evening and this was followed on 20 September with President v Chairman matches for seniors and under 17s which were very entertaining. They were due to hold a quiz night on 25 September to finish the seasons’ activities.

Sussex County Stoolball Association: Margaret Bertin, their Secretary for over 30 years, reported that Sussex had enjoyed a very successful season with Horsted Keynes, champions in Central Division, Stone Cross in East Division, Adastra and Barcombe tied at the top of Mid Division, Fletching in North Division and Angmering in West Division. The inter-divisional championship was won by East Division beating West Division in the final and she congratulated Angmering who won the grand slam of stoolball, winning their own division title, the Champions’ Tournament at Seaford (beating Horsted Keynes in the final), the Sussex Knock-out Cup (beating Stone Cross) and the Sussex League Cup (beating Horsted Keynes).

North Division, SCSA: Sybil Voller, their Secretary, also reported a tie at the top of the North Division league table with Fletching beating Maresfield in the play-off. She told the meeting that her club, Bluebells, had been advertising for more players and was thrilled to report that three young players from St Paul’s School in Burgess Hill were joining them in 2010. Sybil and a club colleague, Delia Saunders, also ran an indoor league which had been running for 20 years and was still proving very popular, with 12 teams playing regularly in the winter months and a further three teams on the waiting list.

Keith Younger, a member of East Grinstead Stoolball Club and a Vice-President of SCSA: Keith reported that it was his pleasure to carry out repairs on wickets, bats and anything else he could help with. He told the meeting that he had obtained a tender on behalf of Stoolball England for the manufacture of metal wicket bases and pins, and once completed, he would be providing the wooden uprights and marine ply squares faces to complete the wickets. He also stated that he was currently organising the production of a branding iron of the Stoolball England logo which will be used to stamp the newly made wickets.

Wessex Friendly Group: Shirley Reed reported that she had 12 friendly teams in her group. Every season, they ran a Cancer Tournament and this season they had raised over £2,000 for the MacMillan charity. Of the teams in their group, there are currently two teams in Hampshire, her own club Steep and Liphook. She also took the opportunity, as the publisher of the bi-annual Stoolball England Newsletter, to ask everyone present for their 2009 league results and any other items of interest to include in the next edition due to come out in November.

Sussex County Umpires’ Association: Their long standing President, John Fitzpatrick, reported that following a first-ever umpire complaint this season, his association had found it necessary to introduce a complaints’ procedure. He found it very painful that this situation had occurred and hoped that it remained a one-off situation.

Junior stoolball clubs: Trevor Parsons, the Stoolball England Treasurer who has a young daughter playing for Adastra Stoolball Club, took the opportunity to encourage any club with a junior team to approach their local or parish councils and find out if they have a youth opportunity fund. His daughter has been successful in obtaining money on two separate occasions to provide kit and equipment for her junior team at Adastra.

8. Any other business

The meeting then discussed the “catch rule” which had been passed over at the rules review in October 2008 so that it could be discussed more fully by individual clubs before any more changes to this rule were agreed. Details of the history of this rule were circulated together with a form for each club to complete. Following further discussion, it was agreed that this document should be emailed/posted to all associations and leagues to circulate to their member clubs.

Date of the Annual General Committee meeting was discussed, but no firm decision was made.

The meeting closed at 10.15pm.

Kay and John Price, 25 September 2009

1. Present

• Shirley Reed (President)
• John Price (Chairman)
• Kay Price (Secretary)
• Trevor Parsons (Treasurer)
• Rick Mason (Website Administrator)
• Barbara Fitzpatrick (Marketing/Publicity)
• John Fitzpatrick (Umpires).

2. Apologies for absence

• Kevin Hilliard (Vice-Chairman)
• Michael Ledwich (Insurance)

3. Minutes of the last Officers’ meeting

The Minutes were signed and approved as a true record.

4. Matters arising from the last meeting

1. BingoLotto, due to start again in September and can be advertised on the Stoolball England website
2. Sussex County Sports Partnership – as a sport not funded by Sport England, Stoolball England are being asked to pay £300 plus VAT in order to ensure continuing support from SCSP staff. Dialogue with Central Council of Physical Recreation (CCPR) and Sport England still ongoing.

5. Treasurer’s report

A financial report up to end of August was circulated to Management Committee members by the Treasurer and it showed that the sales figures had reached £10,000 for the first time. The surplus for the period was £1,427.94.

6. Insurance report and rules update

There was no insurance update available. Regarding the catch and bowling rule (feet outside the line of the bowling crease returns on delivery), it was agreed that the bowling rule in particular needed more clarification. It was also agreed that the subject of the catch needed to be discussed at the General Meeting in September and a document to send to the clubs should be available then.

7. Website report

Rick Mason reported that he had entered into a hosting deal with a playing colleague who was starting up his own business and in future will share the costs of the website. He reported that the Alresford League will be starting up again in 2010 and from information received from Richard Emsley, Chairman of West Kent Ladies Stoolball League, the West Kent Mixed League is hoping to begin again next season. Rick also told the meeting that Google figures showed a definite improvement this season and two more teams may be joining the Mid Sussex Mixed League next year and 4 more teams were talking about joining the Lewes League.

He was hoping that the four indoor leagues would put their fixtures and results on the website. As there was little activity during the winter months, it would provide some more interest. He also explained that if clubs added the number of individual runs scored when they entered the results, it would be possible to make additional team statistics available.

8. Publicity material

1. Coaching manual: Still some editorial work needed. Action: Kevin
2. Tri-fold leaflet: a photo needs to be changed and then it is ready to print. Action: Kevin
3. Business cards: A sample business card was included in the presentation made by Rick when he devised the new logo. It was agreed that a number of blank cards were needed in addition to those where names are required, i.e. for John and Kay. Action: John and Kay

9. Stoolball equipment and stock levels

1. A quote had been received from a manufacturer to make the metal bases of 40 sets of wickets (80 bases) and metal pins. It was agreed to go ahead with the quote. Action: John
2. Applications have been made to Tesco and Sainsbury to include stoolball in their 2010 “sports voucher” catalogues. No news to date. Action: Kay to follow up

10. Any other business

1. An email has been received from India showing interest in stoolball from another source. The response was copied to Sangram Gadgil from the Indian Stoolball Federation.
2. Sussex County Sports Partnership e-news detailed a business session of stoolball taking place at the Arun Centre in September
3. Natalie Payne from Horsham Leisure Link took two sessions of stoolball at Pulborough Cricket Club and a further one at The Weald School in Billingshurst
4. In September there will be another stoolball session in Horsham Park organised by Horsham District Council
5. Contact made with John Bromhead who would like to carry out a schools’ survey to find out the “History of Stoolball in Schools”
6. Dialogue with Andrew Lusted from the Sussex County Archive in Lewes who has historical knowledge about Miss Betty Brand, a player whose bats are in our stoolball archive. Andrew is currently writing a history of Glynde Cricket Club and mentioned the stoolball team who played at Glynde who were called “the Glynde Butterflies”. Stoolball England were able to supply him with two poems which were written in 1861 about competition between the Glynde Butterflies and the Chailey Grasshoppers.

Date of next meeting: 2nd General Meeting on Monday 21 September 2009 at the Renshaw Room at Wivelsfield Village Hall.

The meeting closed at 10.15pm.

John and Kay Price, 25 September 2009

1. Present

• Shirley Reed (President)
• John Price (Chairman)
• Kevin Hilliard (Vice-Chairman)
• Kay Price (Secretary)
• Trevor Parsons (Treasurer)
• Rick Mason (Website Administrator)

Apologies for absence:

• Michael Ledwich (Insurance)
• Barbara Fitzpatrick (Marketing and Publicity)
• John Fitzpatrick (Umpires)

2. Minutes of the last Officers’ meeting

The minutes were signed and approved as a true record.

3. Matters arising from the last meeting

There were no matters arising.

4. Treasurer’s report

A financial report up to end of July was circulated to Management Committee members by the Treasurer and it showed good sales figures of £8,918.92 for the year to date and a sizeable income from the coaching courses undertaken at University College, Chichester in autumn 2008 and latterly at Greenway School in Horsham at the end of May 2009.

The Treasurer explained that the expenditure for the Schools Coaching Project which had been undertaken during the summer term was unlikely to be claimed in time for this year’s balance sheet but it would be covered in the next financial statement. In Michael Ledwich’s absence, the Treasurer also reported that insurance had been taken out by 110 clubs this year. He asked if the equipment agents could carry out a stock take during September and let him have the figures in good time for the end of the financial year on 30 September.

Since the matter had financial implications, John Price told the meeting about a letter Stoolball England had received from the Sussex County Sports Partnership (SCSP) requesting that a yearly subscription of £300 plus VAT be paid if stoolball was to continue receiving the same level of support as it had in the past. It was explained in a follow-up meeting with Sallie Harper that because SCSP funding had been drastically reduced this year, they could only support the 46 sports funded by Sport England and that any other sports wanting SCSP support would need to pay a yearly subscription.

Following the meeting, John Price had spoken with a member of staff from the South East regional office of Sport England and the Central Council of Physical Recreation (CCPR) about the problem and at the time of the meeting was waiting for Greg Clements from Sport England in London to come back from holiday. He mentioned that when leaving a message with Sport England, he asked about the Stoolball England National Governing Body “recognition” application currently lodged with them, but was told that nothing had happened to date.

The meeting was in agreement that whilst we still wanted to be part of the SCSP, it was not felt reasonable that we should have to pay £300 plus VAT for the privilege. Further steps would be taken once responses were received from Greg Clements and Richard Norman from CCPR.

5. Insurance report and rules update

As reported during the Treasurer’s report, 110 clubs took part in the insurance scheme this year, a small increase in numbers from last year. Michael Ledwich also reported that Stoolball England had received £350 from the Insurance brokers which was as a result of an overpayment.

It was also reported that there needed to be some guidance sent out to umpires regarding the “No Ball” rule, Rule 10. A letter had been received from an umpire and it was agreed that if the rule was causing confusion, it should be clarified in time for next season.

Action: Michael Ledwich and John Fitzpatrick

6. Web site report

Rick Mason reported that he had added more statistics to make use of the information being provided by clubs. Stoolball England also needed to impress on leagues and associations that if they enter their fixtures and match results then a great deal of time would be saved by the automatic generation of league tables. This would be particularly important to the larger leagues like the Eastbourne Red Triangle. In addition, publicising a league’s fixtures is also good publicity for the clubs in that league and lets any casual browser on the Stoolball England website know what is going on in their locality. If the total information about mixed (league and friendly), ladies (league and friendly) and junior teams was available on the website, it would cut out a number of unnecessary emails asking about local clubs and contact names.

7. Publicity material

1. Coaching manual: The manual needs to be edited. Action: Kevin
2. Tri-fold leaflet: a photo needs to be changed and then it is ready to print. Action: Kevin
3. Business cards: These to be designed ready for next season. Action: John and Kay

8. Any other business

1. BingoLotto will be starting up again in September. Publicity has been provided by CCPR to put on our website during August. Trevor Parsons volunteered to take over the promotion of the new game.
2. Horsham Schools Coaching Project: Beneficial rub-offs – Two sessions of stoolball are planned in August to attract youngsters to the game and a third one is taking place at The Weald School in Billingshurst. Ian Ford from Horsham Leisure Link is also planning a stoolball coaching session through his “Health Promotion in the Workplace” scheme and Becky Hull and Ruth Arthur have been asked to assist. Finally, all those schools with stoolball equipment have had their wickets and bats refurbished so that they will be ready for use next summer.
3. Two items from Shirley Reed – Northchapel Stoolball Club – funding to improve the sports pavilion has been raised by villagers in memory of Shirley Bufton, a long standing player for the club who died last year.
4. Milland Charity Cup – this event is run every year with 8 teams taking part. There are four matches in first round, home and away, where the difference in match score after the first match is calculated and the surplus is taken into account in the next match. The income from raffles at the end of each game goes to the charity. With the four first round winners, there are two semi-finals and the final winner of the event chooses the charity that the money should go to.
5. Discussion on stoolball wickets at the next meeting.

Date of next meeting: 28 August 2009

The meeting closed at 10pm.

Kay and John Price, 25 August 2009

BingoLotto is a live TV game that will air weekly on Virgin 1 from 13 September 2009. Participants will be able to buy a game card for £2 from any Tesco till point in Britain allowing them to play alongside the TV game that offers multiple chances to play and win throughout the hour long TV game.

For every game card sold, a fantastic 20% will be donated to UK good causes. More than 130 governing bodies of sport and recreation will receive funding through BingoLotto and, with many grassroots sports clubs already feeling the pinch, this new initiative is likely to be a saviour for many clubs.

A pilot series of BingoLotto in 2008 raised over £100,000 which has already been distributed to governing bodies through Central Council of Physical Recreation (CCPR), the alliance of sport and recreation bodies, allowing clubs to support their members despite the economic crisis.

Dave Luscombe from the Auto Cycle Union explains the difference BingoLotto has already made and will continue to make: “As a sport we are overlooked by all sporting funding bodies and don’t receive funding from anyone, The Auto Cycle Union only receives funding from BingoLotto and this support has the potential to make a massive difference to the sport and help and increase participation across all motor cycle sports.”

Charles Bartholomew from UK Athletics adds: “Funding from BingoLotto provides an additional funding stream that can support projects (or aspects of them) that might otherwise get overlooked by the World Class Performance Programme.”

BingoLotto are planning a huge nationwide advertising campaign to promote the launch, and with Tesco’s involvement, anticipate that sales will exceed and eclipse those of Series 1 in 2008. With game cards available to buy from every Tesco store across the UK from Monday 7 September, this means more opportunities to buy, play and win and of course, more potential funds available for clubs.

In addition to this national advertising and promotion, sporting organisations that have signed up to be one of the beneficiaries of the scheme, will be encouraged to promote BingoLotto as much as possible within their own networks and in their clubs. Word of mouth is a powerful tool – and the more game cards that are sold, the more funds will become available to be shared between the participating organisations. To raise awareness, BingoLotto will be sending out emails to the beneficiary organisations prior to the launch and promotional posters will also be available at www.bingolotto.tv for members to download and display in clubs and offices.

There is massive potential for BingoLotto to raise millions of pounds for UK sports. The programme originates in Sweden and since it started 15 years ago 1.5 billion game cards have been sold, providing just under £1 billion to sports clubs and charities in Sweden.

For further information, interview requests and case studies please contact Alex Duxbury at PHA Media at [email address available when you sign in], or on 020 7025 1375 or 07867 784 715.

Notes to editors

BingoLotto is owned and was started by Intelligent Gaming Solutions (IGS) 15 years ago on a start-up channel in Sweden and to date 1.5 billion tickets have been sold, generating £3 billion in sales and providing just under £1 billion to sports clubs and charities.

BingoLotto is a live TV bingo game on Virgin1 which is played using a £2 bingo game card. The game cards will be exclusively available at all Tesco till points throughout UK stores (excluding ROI) from autumn 2009.

BingoLotto will officially launch in September 2009. Tesco customers will be invited to purchase a bingo game card which will enable the holder to play from the comfort of their home in a weekly live TV bingo game which will be aired on Virgin 1. BingoLotto offers multiple chances to play and win throughout the hour long TV game. With every bingo game card there are more than 15 opportunities to win a prize such as cash jackpots of up to £100,000, cars, holidays, consumer electronics and more.

The main BingoLotto beneficiaries are CCPR (The Central Council of Physical Recreation) and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).

If you wish to find out more about how your organisation can benefit from BingoLotto and share in the funding, please contact Richard Norman at CCPR ([email address available when you sign in])