Belfast retailer one of six to star in new Allwyn UK billboard campaign
A Belfast newsagent is one of six UK retailers who are fronting a new Allwyn UK campaign.
The campaign – Local Retail Champions – celebrates the role of retailers in raising funds for Good Causes through selling National Lottery tickets and Scratchcards.
Shopkeeper at Sinclair’s Newsagent in Belfast, Julie Campbell is one of the independent retailers fronting the campaign, with her billboards already making an appearance in the city.
Julie and the five other retailers featured in the campaign are among 469 retailers who have raised over £1 million for Good Causes, with independent retailers collectively having raised over £10 billion for National Lottery-funded Good Causes.
The six retailers, from Belfast, Bristol, Manchester, Ilkeston, Gateshead and Glasgow, will appear on billboards in their local communities and on social media as part of the campaign funded by Allwyn UK, operator of The National Lottery.
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.”
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 racer at 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.
