BGC hails success of Grand National Charity

The Betting and Gaming Council has hailed the success of the Betting and Gaming Council Grand National Charity Campaign which has raised more than £15,000 for good causes this year.

The event involves parliamentarians who are invited to place a wager on the outcome of the Grand National, a flagship horseracing event held last Saturday, April 13, which reunites horse racing aficionados from all over Great Britain and beyond.

This year’s edition of the charity event saw more than 50 participants, raising the sum that will be allocated to various charities which will be picked by the Members of Parliaments themselves.

In this year’s participants, there were a number of MPs who actually picked Mullins, the winner of the Saturday race, with Christian Wakeford, Maria Caufield, Liam Kerr, Preet Gill, Peter Aldous, Justin Tomlinson, and Greg Smith all backing the winning horse.

Meanwhile, the Betting and Gaming Council will make sure that every nominated charity will receive at least £250 with the rest of the donations going towards charities that the MPs themselves pick.

Michael Dugher, the outgoing Chief Executive of the BGC, has welcomed this opportunity and the significance of The Grand National in general. Dugher said that the event was watched by 600 million from all over the world, and that 12 million adults in the United Kingdom had placed a wager on the race, attesting to its unflagging popularity.

"I want to pay tribute to all the thousands of people who work in betting shops to help support hard-pressed high streets and local economies. I would like to thank all those MPs who took part for supporting so many fantastic good causes and for taking the time to visit constituents working in betting shops," Dugher said.

The Grand National is also expected to bring in £3m in tax revenue for the state and another £2m in horse racing levy which goes directly to supporting the industry.

Meanwhile, the BGC has used the opportunity to remind that its members, big names in the gambling industry, such as William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral, Betfred, and many others, support 110,000 jobs and bring in £4.2bn in direct tax and another £7.1bn in gross added value to the country. The numbers are based on an EY report that was commissioned by BGC.

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