Competitions

The Countryside Alliance Foundation

Raffle Policies

This document sets out the policies and strategies The Countryside Alliance Foundation has in place to ensure we approach any gambling activities in a socially responsible way.

1. Preventing gambling from being a source of crime and disorder

We will ensure that:

• For our draws, we restrict the number of entries that we sell to any one individual to a maximum of 30 entries or £750 per person, whichever is the highest monetary value.

• If requests for additional entries are received, The Countryside Alliance Foundation reserves the right to undertake further checks with the individual. The supply of extra entries is at the sole discretion of The Countryside Alliance Foundation.

• We keep a record of all tickets sales made through the mail, online or by telephone.

• We reserve the right to reject any entry to our draws should we suspect criminal activity.

• We will report any actual or suspected criminal activity in line with the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

• Please refer to our anti money laundering policy for further details on policies and procedures for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing.

 

1. Ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way

We will ensure that:

• Players have access to clear information on matters such as the terms and conditions of the Draw and the prizes that are available through various methods such as online, in mailings and on promotional materials and application forms.

• We will not contact individuals with direct electronic marketing without their informed and specific consent. Our privacy policy sets out how we collect personal data and how we use it, how we keep the data safe and your right to know what we know about you, make changes or ask us to stop using your data.

• We operate a combined online/offline draw ensuring that each entrant has an equal chance of winning each prize. The draw will be conducted by utilising a Random Number Generator that has been tested and approved by an independent, Gambling Commission approved, third party test house in combination with a blind draw in plain sight of staff. The results of the draw are final

• We publish draw results on our website. Rules are also available on our website. Rules and results are always available on request.

• A record is kept of both online and ticketed sales, as well as tickets not purchased but distributed regardless of whether they are returned or not.

 

3   Under-age Gambling

It is illegal for individuals under the age of 16 to enter into a lottery. The Countryside Alliance Foundation Draws are open to those 18 years or older. Therefore:

• We ensure that our lottery terms and conditions, tickets, entries, entry instructions and websites advertise the minimum entry age limit of 18 and we make efforts to ensure that our draw marketing and promotional literature is not directed at individuals under the age of 18.

• If we have any doubts about an individual’s age, we reserve the right to make additional age verification checks.

• We screen data used for draw marketing to try to prevent inclusion of anyone under the age of 18.

• We ensure all promotional material is age appropriate and will not use imagery which would appeal to those under the age of 18.

• The Countryside Alliance Foundation staff and volunteers who are selling tickets or entries are trained to request that any individual who appears to be under the age of 18 provides proof of age before being allowed to make a draw ticket purchase.

• If for whatever reason, upon winning, any individual is unable to prove that they are 18 or over then any winnings will be forfeited and their entry fee will be returned to them.

Where entries can be purchased online we will:

• Advertise clearly that you have to be over 18 to purchase an entry

• Ensure players will not be able to proceed to the payment page until they have self-certified that they are over the required age to play.

• The draw website will permit filtering software to restrict the access to relevant pages

 

4   Complaints

 

Telephone complaints

• Our ELM's advisers (CFP) handle initial complaints and queries and will complete a log sheet detailing the caller’s and advisor’s contact details, the nature of the complaint and steps taken to resolve the complaint.

• If an initial complaint cannot be resolved, we are notified immediately of the issue and will resolve it internally.

• In the event that a telephone or online complaint cannot be resolved by the ELM (CFP) or representatives of The Countryside Alliance Foundation, CFP will provide free third party arbitration via IBAS.

• All general queries will be logged and held for future reference. Our ELM (CFP) will retain these telephone log sheets for three years.

Written Complaints

• Our ELM’s administration team (CFP) will respond to complaints and queries within 48 hours of receiving the complaint.

• The subsequent logging and resolution procedure is that of telephone complaints. Complaints log sheets and written complaints are retained by our ELM (CFP) for three years.

• In the event that a written complaint cannot be resolved by the ELM (CFP) or representatives of The Countryside Alliance Foundation, CFP will provide free third party arbitration via IBAS.

• All general queries will be logged on the log sheets by the ELM (CFP) and held for future reference.

​

 5  Protection of Customer Funds

• ·All funds from our online ticket purchase are credited to our ELM’s client account held with Natwest on behalf of raffleplayer.com, which is entirely separate from raffleplayer.com’s trading accounts. This is a key requirement of the ELM’s Gambling Commission's licence compliance.  When a raffle takes place, proceeds are paid directly from this account to the charity.

​

6    Problem Gambling

The Countryside Alliance Foundation wants to encourage people to gamble responsibly and seek help should gambling become a problem. Therefore:

• Gambling Limits - we impose limits on the value of draw entries that can be purchased by an individual and we reserve the right to refuse any requests for additional entries.

• Self-Exclusion - for some people, gambling can become a problem. Software is available to prevent an individual accessing gambling internet sites (for further information, see www.gamblock.com.) Those who wish to restrict their gambling activity can exclude themselves from receiving future draw related marketing on request by emailing raffle@ca-foundation.org. Following such request, the player’s name will be removed from our mailing list and he/she will not receive notification of future draws for a minimum time period of 6 months.

Upon receipt of a request for self-exclusion we shall take steps as soon as reasonably practicable to prevent the self-excluder for an initial six month period (or for such extended period as they may have specified) from participating in The Countryside Alliance Foundation Draws. Within two days of receipt of the signed self-exclusion form we shall remove them from all marketing lists used by The Countryside Alliance Foundation.

 

At the end of the initial six months self-exclusion period (or at the end of such extended period as they may have specified), the self-exclusion will remain in place for a minimum of seven years, unless and until they confirm to us in person or over the telephone that they wish to resume participating in the Draws that they are currently self-excluded from. Upon receiving this confirmation, we shall email to them a self-exclusion revocation form. It is the responsibility of the self-excluder to sign this form and to return it to us by email to raffle@ca-foundation.org. All self-excluders are required to take this action in order for our self-exclusion revocation procedures to take effect.

 

Please note that we are not required to, and do not, carry out any particular assessment or judgment as to whether a previously self-excluded individual should again be able to participate in the gambling and/or betting services we offer.

 

We assume no legal duty to the self-excluder in relation to their request to self-exclude. We expressly disclaim any legal liability for the consequences of their continuing to participate in our Draws as a result of a failure by us to implement our self-exclusion procedures following receipt of their self-exclusion form.

 

Anyone considering self-exclusion should contact all gambling and betting companies with whom they have accounts and ask to self-exclude with them too. We also recommend that consideration is given to the installation of software that will block access to internet fixed odds and/or casino gambling websites as described in the Filtering Systems section below.

 

• Information on Gambling Support Organisations - the Draws terms and conditions, website and promotional literature (online and offline) will, as far as reasonably practical, include the begambleaware.org logo and contact information such as the National Gambling Helpline telephone number (0808 8020 133) and the Gambleaware website address (www.begambleaware.org). Through appropriate training, we ensure that all staff and volunteers associated with the lottery are aware of problem gambling issues and that advice is available to individuals from Gambleaware regarding socially responsible gambling and gambling dependency.

 

• The Countryside Alliance Foundation is a provisional member of the Lotteries Council which makes an annual donation to The Responsible Gambling Trust on behalf of its members.  

 

Guidelines for Responsible Gambling

As part of our commitment to promoting socially responsible gambling, the following guidelines are included for the benefit of members of the public who participate in Draws operated by The Countryside Alliance Foundation. Whilst the majority of people do gamble within their means, for some, gambling can become a problem. It may help you to keep control to remember the following:

• Gambling should be entertaining and not seen as a way of making money

• Avoid chasing losses

• Only gamble what you can afford to lose

• Keep track of the time and amount you spend gambling

• If you want to have a break from gambling you can use our self-exclusion option by contacting us

If you are concerned about the amount you are gambling then try asking yourself the following questions:

• Do you/they stay away from work, college or school to gamble?

• Do you/they gamble to escape from a boring or unhappy life?

• When gambling and you run out of money, do you feel lost and in despair and need to gamble again as soon as possible?

• Do you gamble until your last penny is gone, even the fare home or the cost of a cup of tea?

• Have you ever lied to cover up the amount of money or time you have spent gambling?

• Have others ever criticised your gambling?

• Have you lost interest in your family, friends or hobbies?

• After losing, do you feel that you must try and win back your losses as soon as possible?

• Do arguments, frustrations or disappointments make you want to gamble?

• Do you feel depressed or even suicidal because of your gambling?

​

Help and Advice: Gamble Aware

A service giving advice on gambling responsibly: www.begambleaware.org; 0808 8020 133. A full list of organisations which provide help and advice is available through the Gambling Commission website. Go to www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/useful-links and select Responsible Gambling