A TOTAL of £144,300 in lottery money has been donated to charity after Islanders failed to claim their winnings from the 2022 Channel Islands Christmas Draw and other games, a freedom-of-information request has revealed.
The lottery office holds onto unclaimed winnings for 53 weeks before distributing them to charities across the Channel Islands.
Islanders who purchased winning tickets for the 2023 lottery have until 13 December 2024 to claim their prize.
The data also revealed that 41.94% of all sales were made in Jersey, with the remaining 58.06% in other Channel Islands.
This follows calls for Jersey and Guernsey to have separate Christmas lotteries, with the most recent event marking the sixth year in a row that the winning ticket was sold in Guernsey.
A petition was launched by Jerseyman Daniel Allen, who complained that “for at least the last few years, the top prize of the Christmas lottery has gone to Guernsey”.
The £500,000 prize went to a syndicate of 40 women, who each took home £12,500.
However, a total of 42 of the 67 drawn prizes – around three in five – were won in Jersey, including the second prize of £50,000 and three of the five £10,000 prizes.
