Christmas jackpot adds £100k and keeps rising

Tuesday 30 November 2021

Channel Islands Christmas Lottery ticket sales are starting to pick up, with the jackpot now at £400,000 - and there are hopes it will reach the same value as last year's.

In 2020, the top prize was just under £700,000, despite ticket sales in Jersey dipping as the island faced stringent covid restrictions during the run-up to Christmas.

The 2021 tickets went on sale on 4 October, and the draw is being held in Jersey on 23 December. The climbing prize started at £300,00 and it has now reached £400,000.

Ticket prices are £2 each again this year, after the price was dropped from £3 back to £2 last year.

Pictured: The Channel Island Lottery ticket price was out up to £3 each in 2018, before dropping back to £2 each last year.

The increase to £3 a ticket in 2018 was not welcomed by many punters with 73% of respondents to a 2020 survey saying they would prefer the tickets to return to £2 each.

Speaking at the time, the Senior Lottery Officer in Guernsey, Jon Taylor, said the decision to reduce the ticket price and to reintroduce a climbing prize was based on customer demand. 

He said: “these changes reflect the feedback that we have received from islanders who took part in the survey. We hope that in light of this, and the challenges faced by the community and the charity sector this year, these decision are well received by our players.”

Now, for the second year in a row since ticket prices were reduced back to £2, lottery agents are reporting increasing sales as the draw date approaches with some saying sales are "increasing significantly" as 23 December gets closer, 

Ciara Devlin, Head of Lottery at Guernsey Post, said “sales are picking up across the islands now and we expect the first prize will get up towards last year’s first prize of £696,740 as we sell through our ticket allocation."

Pictured: Tickets for the 2021 Christmas Lottery went on sale at the beginning of October, with the draw in Jersey on 23 December. 

Jon Taylor agreed and said he was pleased with the improvements made to the local lottery.

"The number of tickets sold in Guernsey for the 2020 Christmas draw saw an increase year on year, in part as a response to the return of the £2 ticket price, which has been maintained for the 2021 draw," he said. "However last year sales dipped in Jersey, because at the time they were unfortunately heading back into lockdown."

With some covid measures remaining in place across the Channel Islands, it remains to be seen what impact that may have on overall ticket sales, but Mr Taylor is hoping one new initiative will help encourage sales.

“This year we have also introduced an Advent Calendar instant game to complement the traditional Christmas draw game and tickets for this are selling well across the islands. That will help generate even greater returns for worthy causes through our Christmas operations in 2021.”