Make a difference through the Goalden Gate
Make a difference through the Goalden Gate
Created on 07 July 2010
AFC Telford United fans are being encouraged to get involved with the Goalden Gate lottery. The Bucks’ co-ordinator for the Goalden Gate is long-time Telford fan Nick Mears, who has been involved with the lottery since AFC Telford United formed in 2004, and I spoke to Nick just before he headed off to South Africa to watch the World Cup.
The Goalden Gate is not specific to AFC Telford United but is a lottery administrated by Midlands Sporting (based at Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Molineux) to which several other Midlands’ football clubs also subscribe. Some supporters have questioned why the club does not operate its own weekly lottery, but Nick explains that this is impractical. “What people don’t realise is that we can’t do our own lottery without buying a license and we’d have to be members of the lottery commission as well. It costs a lot of money which we can’t afford, so the Goalden Gate pay the license fee through all the collections, including those from other clubs, and they do all the administration.” The more entrants from each club who take part in the lottery, the greater the benefit for that club. “From all the money we collect ourselves we get 55p back in the pound,” Nick continues. “55p goes to prizes and administration, such as leaflets and promotions.” Wolves and Walsall are the two biggest clubs involved, but Nick also points out that several of our competitors are affiliated including Kidderminster, Tamworth and Blue Square Bet North newcomers Nuneaton.
Participating in the lottery is easy, with entrants able to pay by standing order either monthly (£4), bi-annually (£26) or annually (£52). Alternatively, players can choose to pay their subscription through Stars Newsagents (alongside their newspaper bill) or by handing their money directly to an agent. In return, as Nick explains, “people get ten computer-generated numbers each week and also enter a birthday draw based on their date of birth. You’ll get the same ten numbers every week and when the computer does the draw on a Monday, if your number comes out, you can win anything from £5 to £1000. The birthday draw also rolls over by £100 each week and that prize has gone as high as £3000.” Inevitably there’s a natural scepticism when it comes to lotteries but Nick emphasises that – even though it’s not always publicised – a number of Telford people have won big. “The Goalden Gate is not related just to Telford people but we have our fair share of winners in the year; some of £150, £300 as well as £5 and £10. We’ve had quite a few £1000 winners too,” he adds. “Sometimes they’re not football-related people and some people don’t want to say anything about it, but I think there were three £1000 winners last year who came to the ground and had a picture presentation on the pitch with a big cheque.”
AFC Telford United benefit significantly from the lottery and the club are understandably keen to grow the number of Telford people playing. “We currently have about 1250 people per week,” Nick adds, “but ideally we want around 1500. The club takes 45p in the pound and in one of our best years we raised around £20,000. Obviously because of the recession that has dropped a little but things are starting to pick up again and the club should be knocking on for around £1,500 per month. The majority of people who enter are not AFC Telford United fans, but that doesn’t matter to us because they’re willing to support the club. We’ve had people in from day one and they pay their pound every week. They’re glad to see that it helps Telford United.”
To swell the number taking part, Nick says that getting more agents who are prepared to give up their time to collect subscriptions is crucial. “If we can get more agents to collect for us, we can get more people enrolled. Feedback from the Goalden Gate tells us that and we know we’re not covering areas where we would get 40-50 people.” Nick is also keen to stress that agents don’t do any cold-selling but merely collect subscriptions from people already registered to play. “We have agents who collect door-to-door,” Nick explains, “but they don’t do any cold-selling. The Goalden Gate do the canvassing, set up a round and the agents just go once a month and collect the £4. We’ve got nine people who collect door-to-door across parts of Telford but there are areas we need covering if people are interested.” Nick was also keen to stress the benefits for agents. “If you help with a round you get free entrance to games and 10% of what you collect. Also, for any prize over £35, the agent who sells the winning ticket gets 10% - so if you get a £1000 winner, that’s a £100 cheque for the agent.”
Anyone who can assist with the Goalden Gate – either by playing or by collecting as an agent – is invited to contact Nick on 07754 832852 or via the club office.