Charities bet on British mobile lottery habit

Mobile gambling is really taking off in the UK according to research house Juniper. By 2007, Brits will blow £240 million* on mobile lottery entries, with more than eight million of us taking part on our mobile phones.

The report forecasts that the total world market for mobile gambling will be worth €16bn (£10.8bn), with charitable lotteries such as Mobile Lottery accounting for around a third of this figure.

If this forecast is correct, mobile lottery entries will be the largest single method that Brits use to give money to charitable causes, on average £7.30 annually.

Paltry as this figure sounds, it actually beats the amount of money collected by any other means alone, including street collection, sponsorship and jumble sales.

But before we write off the entire population of the British Isles on the grounds of miserly behaviour, the study also points out that a higher personal donation to charity than this is made today by more than half of us (55 per cent). Phew.

You can see the full report here. ®

*Assuming a £1 entry fee