Zeeland coastal lab named Dutch Postcode Lottery’s first Dream Project

More than 6 million euro to go to testing area combining coastal preservation, economic interests and natural beauty.

Martin Hemminga is the lucky winner of the first Postcode Lottery Dream Fund

UTRECHT, the Netherlands, 4 February 2010
Het Zeeuwse Landschap has been named as the first organisation to receive 6,250,000 euro from the Dutch Postcode Lottery’s Dream Fund. The lottery’s Dream Fund provides support for large, innovative, potentially high-impact projects benefiting people and nature.

Postcode Lottery managing director Marieke van Schaik presented the contribution to Het Zeeuwse Landschap director Marten Hemminga at the lottery’s Goed Geld Gala 2010. The lottery revealed how it would allocate its 2009 revenues to charity at the gala on 4 February.

More beneficiaries

The Postcode Lottery will distribute a total of 256 million euro this year to charities, representing 5 percent growth since 2008. In addition to the Dream Project funding, the lottery will provide ten new ngo’s with longterm support, bringing its total number of steady beneficiaries to 75. Six initiatives will also receive one-time grants, 12 extra projects by existing beneficiaries will receive contributions, and eight organisations already associated with the Lottery will see their yearly funding raised.

Fair trade
The ten new beneficiaries share a concern with sustainable products and fair trade. The Fairfood Foundation will receive 500,000 annually for the next five years. Fair Trade Original, Max Havelaar and the Landelijke Vereniging van Wereldwinkels will jointly receive 1 million euro over the next five years; they will use the funding to raise sales of fair trade products in the Netherlands. Solidaridad will receive 1 million euro a year to help farmers in developing countries to produce their goods in a fair and non-damaging way and take them to the fair trade market.

Seal sanctuary renovation
The famous Seal Rehabilitation and Research Centre Lenie ’t Hart badly needs updating. A large-scale renovation will add new indoor and outdoor pools, a water purification installation and larger quarantine rooms. Thanks to a one-time 1 million euro grant from the Postcode Lottery, sustainable building can begin, and the costs of the new water purification installation will be completely covered.

Support for extra projects
Extra lottery draws raised almost 22 million eur for charity in 2009. This amount will be allocated to existing beneficiaries for 12 concrete projects. The DOEN Foundation and Skanfonds will receive money for the project Samen Online Nederland, in which young people teach elderly, often lonely, care home residents to use computers. The Liliane Fonds will use its extra lottery contribution to support more children with disabilities in Nicaragua. The money will fund a permanent mobile team at the Los Pipitos institute that will help children in remote parts of the country.

3 billion euro for charity
The Dutch Postcode Lottery’s deposits in 2009 grew by 5 percent, to 513 million euro. Half of this amount – more than 256 million euro – will go to 75 ngo’s working on behalf of people and the environment. This disbursement raises the amount the Lottery has distributed to charity since 1989 to nearly 3 billion euro.