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Lottery funds go towards London 2012 Olympic Games – January 12th 2012

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The UK National Lottery is helping to fund one of the biggest events of the year – the London 2012 Olympic Games, with £1.5 billion going towards the international sporting event.

According to the UK government, £750 million of this is being raised through the sale of Olympic-themed lottery tickets and a further £750 million will be earmarked from the National Lottery Distribution Fund.

In addition to helping fiscally support the games, the UK National Lottery is also holding events that will allow lotto fans to get a real taste of what is to come, as it is holding an Olympic Park Run that will offer sporty men, women and children the chance to cross the finish line even before the world’s most accomplished athletes.

Set for March 31st, the five-mile course concludes at the Olympic Stadium – which was partly funded using lotto finances – giving 5,000 people the chance to run on the tracks that will be treaded by the likes of Usain Bolt and Jessica Ennis.

Further to supplying a portion of the money for the new stadiums and arenas, the UK National Lottery is also providing backing for the athletes in Team GB.

The lotto states that a proportion of its Good Causes fund is targeted at giving the country’s most talented sportspeople and paralympians the money to further their training, receive the best medical and scientific support and have access to the world’s top coaches.

There are more than 1,200 athletes that are backed by the UK National Lottery and the organisation claims it has contributed to bringing home 438 medals for Team GB at past Olympic and Paralympic Games events.

Camelot – the official UK lottery organisation – has generated more than £27 billion in lotto funding for good causes since it started business in 1994 and in the period up to March of this year, around 28 per cent of total UK National Lottery revenue is expected to have gone to charities.

The next UK National Lottery draw is set to take place on Saturday (January 14th) and players can enter to be in with a chance of taking home the £4.1 million estimated jackpot.