The 2019 Christmas Lottery draw took place in Jersey and was operated by the Trading Assets Lottery team during the televised draw on ITV’s Channel Report.
This year saw a different format for the Christmas lottery, with a guaranteed top prize of £1m and a prize pool of £2.3m. Lottery presiding officer Jon Taylor said the Christmas jackpot remains the jewel in the Channel Island lottery games.
‘Our mandate within the States of Guernsey and Jersey is to maximise sales so we can raise money for good causes and charities. Last year (2018) in Guernsey there were over 40 charities that benefited,’ he said. ‘Sales were slightly down on last year, which I think is down to a combination of 50 days of rain and just a general challenging retail environment.’
The random number generation system used for the draw was operated by draw officer Catriona Edwards with support from reserve officer Sue Burbridge.
“The team at Trading Assets were invited across by the States of Jersey to operate the live draw on Jersey’s behalf. The top prize went to a Guernsey ticket sold at Vale Garage and the second prize of £50,000 and the five prizes of £10,000 were all won in Jersey. The winner requested anonymity but I can confirm the £1million prize was won by a deserving and popular local family. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Catriona and Sue for their calm professionalism in operating the draw system under the scrutiny of a live audience.”
A review of the 2019 Christmas Lottery will now be carried out including a Channel Island wide survey to help develop the 2020 Christmas game.